When we hear the term tumor or cancer, the image that often comes to mind is a bunch of bad cells next to normal ones, and growing. Like many things, it's just not that simple. How do the normal cells turn bad? Can our immune systems detect the cancer cell and kill it? Why does some, initially successful, chemotherapy stopped working? Why does cancer spread? These are all great questions, since cancers of one kind or another, will affect so many of us either as patients, friends, or loved ones. Well, basic science is providing some critical answers. In today’s episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Ajit Nirmal discuss just these questions.

Key Takeaways:

• If we didn't have an immune system, we'd all get cancer.

• Drug resistance continues to be the principal limiting factor to achieving cures in patients with cancer.

• Once a normal cell has turned cancerous, it is likely dividing much faster than a normal cell. This rapid cell division is error-prone and can lead to the accumulation of mutations at a much faster rate.

"I truly believe, with adequate basic understanding of the molecular underpinnings of cancer evolution, and how the tumor microenvironment helps it or promotes it, we will be able to predict the best course of action to target all cancer cells up until the very last one, and consequently to the patient." — Dr. Ajit Nirmal

Connect with Dr. Ajit Nirmal:

Professional Bio: https://scholar.harvard.edu/ajitjohnson/home

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajitjohnsonnirmal/

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Jodi Gilman discuss the implications of cannabis use on health and safety. Dr. Gilman explains that THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, binds to cannabinoid receptors in the brain, affecting areas involved in emotion, memory, and decision-making. Cannabis use can lead to long-term brain alterations, particularly in adolescents, frequent users, and those using high-potency products. Dr. Gilman highlights the risks of cannabis-induced psychosis, depression, and anxiety, especially in those with a family history of psychosis. She also notes the lack of evidence for medical marijuana's efficacy and the challenges in detecting cannabis impairment.

Key Takeaways:

• Edibles typically last longer than smoked or vaped cannabis, but it takes longer to feel the effects. It can take 30-60 minutes to reach the brain.

• The three things that make cannabis risky are the age you start to use cannabis, the frequency of use, and the potency of the product you are using. Those three factors increase the likelihood of long-term alterations on the brain, structurally and functionally.

• Cannabis is a psychoactive substance, like alcohol, tobacco, nicotine, and cocaine; it is addictive to some people. It is estimated that 1 in 5 people who use cannabis will become addicted.

• THC impairs attention, it impairs coordination, and it impairs reaction time - all of these are critical for driving. THC is thought to double the risk of a crash.

"People think cannabis is safe, like bubble gum. It’s not bubble gum. It's a psychoactive compound that affects your brain, and you really need to be cautious about these products." — Dr. Jodi Gilman

Connect with Dr. Jodi Gilman:

Professional Bio: https://researchers.mgh.harvard.edu/profile/4080912/Jodi-Gilman

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodi-gilman-474a4ab4/

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Robert Meade, an expert in thermal physiology, discuss the dangers posed to human health by the rising heat. Dr Meade explains that extreme heat is a combination of air temperature and humidity, which can strain the body's ability to regulate temperature. He notes that older adults and women may be more vulnerable to heat stress due to reduced sweating and cardiovascular function. They talk about the differences between heat stress and heat stroke and how to identify symptoms to keep an eye on if you are in a hot environment. The discussion highlights the challenges of accurately measuring heat-related deaths and the importance of adaptive strategies, such as cool roofs and reflective pavements, to mitigate heat stress. Dr. Meade also mentions an ongoing study in India on the heat stress experienced by informal workers.

Key Takeaways:

• Heat stress is more than just temperature and humidity. Activity, clothing, location, and anything else that impedes and impacts the body can change the level of heat stress.

• What constitutes extreme heat will vary from person to person.

• Evaporative cooling is impacted by humidity - it's much harder to evaporate fluid from the skin into the air when there's already a lot of moisture in the air.

• The impacts of heat on the body are difficult to correctly identify in hospitals or medical records.

"The response the body takes to help maintain safe internal body temperatures implicates many bodily systems. Heat has a kind of widespread cascading effects that are just really hard to correctly identify." — Dr. Robert Meade

Connect with Dr. Robert Meade:

Professional Bio: https://hsph.harvard.edu/profile/robert-meade/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-meade-09536520a

X: https://x.com/robertdmeade

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Brandon Sparks discuss the phenomenon of involuntary celibacy (incels). Dr. Sparks, an applied forensic psychologist, explains that incels are men experiencing long-term involuntary celibacy, often due to social exclusion and bullying during adolescence. Incels, primarily aged 18-30, are less likely to be in education or employment. The term "incel" originated from a woman's project at Carleton University. Incels often self-identify online, where they discuss the "Black Pill" philosophy, a nihilistic view of society. Dr. Sparks highlights the need for empathy and understanding to address their isolation and frustration.

Key Takeaways:

• The modern iteration is often “incel” refers exclusively to men who are experiencing involuntary celibacy and they've been experiencing this for quite some time. They've come to believe that they can't form romantic or sexual relationships, and that's causing them an extreme amount of distress.

• For women who identify with the experience of an incel, they are often called “femcels”.

• There's a lot of incels that are looking to talk to people and to share their experiences.

• One of the biggest risk factors in adolescence is the people who are already being left behind. This seems to indicate that there's certainly a subset of people who struggle to catch up.

"Incel philosophy as we know it, based on forum analysis they've created this worldview called the “Black Pill”, which is a nihilistic perspective of the world. It's this very transactional view of relationships, which is quite problematic because they're viewing women as master manipulators, playing this big game plan, and that men are just a means to an end for them." — Dr. Brandon Sparks

Connect with Dr. Brandon Sparks:

Website: https://www.brandontsparks.com/

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=vWzf3QMAAAAJ&hl=en

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brandon-Sparks-4

Twitter: https://x.com/brandon__sparks

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/brandonsparks.bsky.social

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

In this episode, Therese Markow discusses the impact of budgetary cuts on scientific research and the Nations Report Card from the Department of Education. She explains what the funding from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation supports, and argues how cutting overhead costs to 15% shuts down scientific progress. She also highlights the importance of the Nations Report Card, which has tracked student performance since 1969, for informing educational policy. Markow urges listeners to contact their representatives to reinstate funding for the National Report Card.

Key Takeaways:

• Laboratories are in buildings - buildings with plumbing, lights, air conditioning, heat, power to operate equipment, and more that all require maintenance, These are paid for by the overhead, not from the research grants

• Test results are critical for understanding where improvements need to be made in education, both private and public. We want our students to be competent.

• When people aren’t reading, they are missing information that is vital to their wellbeing and the well-being of their communities.

"When you hear complaints that these overhead costs are excessive or a rip-off, think about it. Clearly, they're essential and they shouldn't be cut." — Therese Markow, Ph.D.

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

We all believe in something, from Santa Claus, to the global shape of the earth, to babies needing to be taken care of for survival. While some of our beliefs are intuitive or have evidence, many are not. Sometimes the evidence that we believe to be true is faulty. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. James Alcock discuss how these beliefs are built, how we interpret situations to create beliefs, and why we, as a society, have so many common beliefs. As humans, we like to believe we are rational beings, but so many of our beliefs are happening automatically, without our conscious thought or from common teachings that we are all exposed to from those in authority. Therese and Dr. Alcock also discuss further complications regarding belief, such as conspiracy mentalities, imagination inflation, and memory contamination and the role that these elements of complication can play in trying to suss out what to believe in this world full of many shades of gray.

Key Takeaways:

• We cannot learn everything in one lifetime so, as a society, we come to rely on authorities and shared, inherited beliefs.

• There is no evidence that people can bury trauma. The problem with trauma is people can’t forget.

• Due to mental desire to belief and idiosyncratic movements, humans often see things that are “magic” or “unexplainable” due to our own actions.

"The problem is, if we don’t have the capacity and we don’t have the motivation to critically examine the evidence, then we won’t distinguish between evidence that really is factual and evidence which is wrong." — Dr. James Alcock

Connect with Dr. James Alcock:

Wikipedia Page: James Alcock

Book: Belief: What it Means to Believe and Why Our Convictions are so Compelling

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Loretta Mayer discuss the growing problem of urban rat populations, exacerbated by climate change and the ineffectiveness of traditional poisoning methods. Dr. Mayer discusses the non-lethal contraceptive method for rats and mice, developed from her research on reproductive physiology, and successful field tests that have shown significant reduction in rodent populations around the world. Finally, they discuss the non-profit Wisdom Good Works as well as Wisdom Good Bites and their aim to improve public health and environmental conditions by reducing rodent-borne diseases and improving rodent health.

Key Takeaways:

• Rats are the most successful reproductive mammal on earth, with the ability of a single female to generate over 15,000 prodigy over her lifetime.

• The rat contraceptive has a half-life of less than 15 minutes, meaning there is no possibility of transferring the contraceptive to a predator like a cat or a raptor.

• Rats are smart, and they learn. If you’re trying to feed them poison, they will learn, and they will avoid it.

"The literature is quite deep on these rodents. They love to be tickled. They have compassion for other rodents. They are very closely connected to their conspecifics." — Dr. Loretta Mayer

Episode References:

• Another unwelcome consequence of climate change: An explosion of urban rats by Karen Kaplan - https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-01-31/climate-change-could-cause-an-explosion-of-urban-rats

Connect with Dr. Loretta Mayer:

Professional Bio: https://wisdomgoodworks.org/about-us/

Website: https://wisdomgoodworks.org/ & https://wisdomgoodbites.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loretta-mayer-b4025914/

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Charles Piller discuss the slow progress of Alzheimer’s treatments. Based on his research and findings as an investigative journalist, as well as his newest book, Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer’s, they discuss the complexity of the disease, msiconduct in the research, and the other problems the research is facing despite the funding for it being at an all time high. Charles comments on the FDA's reliance on industry-affiliated advisors, the revolving door phenomenon, and why the new anti-amyloid drugs are not as practical as they might seem on the surface with limited effectiveness, high costs, and high liability. Finally, Charles emphasizes the need for diverse research strategies and better regulation to protect patients and families traversing this complex disease.

Key Takeaways:

• There are more than 7 million people with Alzheimer’s in the US. In addition, there are 11 million family caregivers or loved ones taking care of these patients, which is an enormous issue and burden, both financial and emotional.

• The Amyloid Mafia idea is behind the concerns that the competitive pressure has reduced the extent of the types of ideas that are being fully examined in the treatments for Alzheimer’s.

• While science is often self-correcting, it can take time. It is important for forensic image sleuths and journalists to expose misconduct and other scientific errors or wrongdoings to speed up that process of science, acknowledging and correcting the errors.

"In the marketplace of scientific ideas, competition is almost always valuable to test and press the progenitors of these ideas into being able to think flexibly and to try to prove out the ones that are the ones that are the most effective." — Charles Piller

Connect with Charles Piller:

Professional Bio: https://www.science.org/content/author/charles-piller

Book: Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer’s - https://www.amazon.com/Doctored-Fraud-Arrogance-Tragedy-Alzheimers/dp/1668031248

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.