In this week's episode, hosts Milan Mammen and Kuljeet Chohan interview Emilie Potts, a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering, to talk about what we still don’t fully understand about concussions, brains, and biological sex differences.

Sharing what it's like to bridge engineering and neuroscience, Emilie explains what surprised her most about female vs male brains and the life lessons she took from her PhD.

Recorded on Tuesday, January 20, 2026 Produced by Evelyn MacKay-Barr Theme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

In this week's episode, hosts Anthony Cruz and Bruno Mesquita interview Shahnaz Shahid Ali, a PhD student in Nursing under the supervision of Dr. Panagiota Tryphonopoulos. Shahnaz's research explore midwives' experiences providing physical and mental health care to women during pregnancy, childbirth, and afterbirth. Tune in to learn how sociocultural factors shape midwifery practice, where gaps exist in screening and referral pathways, and how improved training and structured mental health care systems can lead to better outcomes for mothers and families.

Follow this link to learn more about Shanaz.

Recorded on Tuesday, January 13, 2026 Produced by Milan Mammen Theme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

In this week's episode, hosts Ryan Baxter and Mark Ambrogio interview Ran Jiang, a PhD candidate in Music Education, in Western's Don Wright Faculty of Music. In her research, Ran explores how certain norms sometimes go unquestioned in music; especially, by non-disabled people. Music-making is sometimes associated with an "ideal" body, such as having above-average dexterity. In her field work, Ran works with secondary school students in China who use computer software and DIY electronics to expand what musical instruments are and who they are for. In their conversation, Ryan, Mark, and Ran also discuss piano music and what it is like at Western's music faculty, as a place for research in music, music-making, and as a community. Ran's supervisor is adam patrick bell, who, in addition to teaching at Western, is also the Canada Research Chair in Music, Inclusion, and Accessibility.

Recorded on Tuesday, January 6, 2026 Produced by Mark Ambrogio and Ryan Baxter Theme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)