Evidence with jokes, doubts, and receipts.
Science Vs is a brisk science show built around everyday questions, strange case reports, and claims that deserve a closer look. Recent episodes test running fears, phone friction, Artemis, young-onset colon cancer, and the very awkward history of sex research.
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Science Vs is a science show for claims that have gotten too loud, too viral, or too weird to ignore. It is brisk without feeling thin. Recent episodes move from running injury risk to Artemis, then from compulsive scrolling to colorectal cancer symptoms in younger adults. The show likes a big question. Will running wreck the body? Is the Moon useful as a step toward Mars? Can adding friction to an app actually stop a person from scrolling? Why would nipple touch trigger sudden sadness for some people? Those questions are treated with curiosity first and certainty last. The structure is familiar but effective: start with the thing people are saying, bring in lived experience or a vivid case, then follow the evidence until the simple answer gets more complicated. The show is comfortable being funny around science, especially when the material is awkward, bodily, or absurd. It is also careful when the stakes rise. Episodes about colon cancer, Alzheimer's, and mental health slow down enough to make symptoms, delays, and human consequences clear. The reporting often turns on translation. A study about glute strength becomes a practical explanation of hips, knees, and injury risk. A lunar resource argument becomes a clearer look at Helium-3, Mars, and international bragging rights. A phone-habit experiment becomes a test of nudges, pop-ups, and physical barriers. The show also has a taste for case reports, especially the sort of medical story that sounds almost impossible until the biology is walked through step by step. Guest-led episodes can lean into one person's expertise or book, as with Mary Roach and sex research. Shared episodes can widen the frame, as with a Proxy story about fact-checking a mother-in-law with Alzheimer's. Across all of it, Science Vs keeps the listener close to the actual question: what is known, what is overstated, and what remains genuinely strange.
Made for: For curious listeners who like health, tech, space, bodies, and behavior explained without classroom stiffness. It especially suits people who enjoy skeptical reporting but still want the story to move.
What sets it apart: Science Vs pairs evidence checks with a loose, quick conversational style, so studies, symptoms, and expert tape feel lively rather than sealed off. It is unusually comfortable moving from silly bodily details to serious medical and social consequences in the same episode.
There are a lot of fads, blogs and strong opinions, but then there’s SCIENCE. Science Vs is the show from Spotify Studios that finds out what’s fact, what’s not, and what’s somewhere in between. We do the hard work of sifting through all the science so you don't have to and cover everything from 5G and ADHD, to Fluoride and Fasting Diets.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Science Vs makes evidence appraisal entertaining by showing how studies, headlines, personal experience, and firm beliefs can point in different directions.
Science Vs turns familiar claims into questions that evidence can actually answer. Wendy Zuckerman moves easily from full-moon effects and scrolling habits to food chemistry, sexual research, and colon cancer, pairing plain explanations with experiments, interviews, and close…
Wendy Zuckerman brings moon lore and orgasm headlines into the lab before you repeat them.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A clear, evidence-first look at why running feels good and sometimes goes wrong.
Science Vs traces the uneasy deal running makes with the body: the lift of runner's high on one side, the worry about injury on the other. It explains the mechanics in plain language, and the clearest stretch is the one that turns the role of the glutes into something easy to…
An Artemis II episode that weighs the case for the Moon without losing the wonder.
Science Vs treats Artemis II as more than a return trip to the Moon. It asks what going back is for, then measures the case for lunar mining, Helium-3, Mars, and the idea that the Moon may help answer larger questions about the universe.
A practical look at scrolling, app design, and the tradeoffs in adding friction.
The discussion treats scrolling less as a moral weakness than as a design problem, with a landmark verdict involving Meta and Google setting the stage.
A funny, careful tour of sex research's most awkward and revealing corners.
Science Vs turns Mary Roach's Bonk into a quick tour of sex research, and the charm is that it keeps the awkward parts funny without dropping the science.
A clear look at why colon cancer in young adults gets missed.
Science Versus frames Becca Lynch's story as a plainspoken account of how early colon-cancer symptoms in younger adults can slip by. It works best when it stays close to the details: more frequent bathroom trips, blood, pencil-thin stool, and a lemon-sized tumor that helps…
A grim medical mystery that stays convincing because every step gets tested.
Science Vs takes a gruesome case from Lesotho and treats it like a slow, careful investigation: a lover's quarrel, a stomach wound, and a claim so strange it feels almost implausible.
A birthday episode that pairs listener affection with Science Vs at its most argumentative.
Science Vs marks its 10th birthday by putting listeners in the foreground, then turning to a longer argument about ivermectin that shows the show still knows how to provoke a reaction.
Food science, salt, time, and a sharp reminder that flavor is work.
Science Vs treats food science as something practical, not abstract, and Wendy Zuckerman keeps the focus on the small kitchen moves that matter, from salting pasta to cooking vegetables.
Steven Novella and a rotating panel dissect weekly science news and debunk pseudoscience claims.
Bob McDonald anchors weekly multi-segment interviews on new research, from cricket courtship to moon missions.
Vox reporters trace how Botox, brain-speech implants, and scientific disputes actually happened.
Running sounds simple until the body starts objecting.
Artemis II has people looking at the Moon again.
How do we stop the scroll?
How do you study sex without making it weird?
Becca Lynch was living the kind of packed life where bathroom weirdness could get shoved to the side.
This episode explores Sad Nipple Syndrome, a curious medical phenomenon where nipple touch triggers intense feelings of sadness, despair, or discomfort, as described through personal anecdotes.
Science Vs hosts a segment called Case Files, examining a 1988 British medical journal report about a 15-year-old in Lesotho with no vagina who became pregnant after a knife fight.
This episode explores a journalist's struggle with fact-checking his mother-in-law who has Alzheimer's, using emotional investigative journalism to address this nuanced family dilemma.
This episode critiques online relationship advice and explores science-backed strategies for conflict repair and identifying red flags in relationships.
This episode investigates the science behind tear gas and the effects of ICE raids on communities, focusing on recent events in Minneapolis.
This episode explores findings from the longest-running scientific study on happiness, debunking common myths and revealing what truly leads to a happy life.
This episode examines the scientific evidence behind the CDC's new vaccine recommendations and whether the U.S.
This episode investigates whether AI is harming our ability to think critically, weighing scientific evidence on both sides.
This episode examines whether manifestation techniques are scientifically supported by reviewing research on goal achievement.
This episode investigates the scientific evidence for chiropractic treatment, featuring personal stories and expert analysis.
Ten years in.
Cooking is science, right?
This episode examines the environmental impact of AI, focusing on its high electricity and water consumption through data centers, while also presenting counterarguments that its effects may be exaggerated compared to other activities.
This episode examines the scientific debate over whether saturated fats or vegetable oils are healthier, challenging conventional nutrition advice.
This episode examines the scientific evidence on whether daylight saving time changes are harmful to health and which permanent time is better.
This episode investigates the scientific evidence behind the claimed benefits of semen retention and not ejaculating.
This episode examines the claim that declining birth rates are a crisis, fact-checking pro-natalist proposals and political rhetoric.
This episode investigates whether sugar is as harmful as claimed and compares natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup to refined sugar.
Science Vs takes on the full moon with Wendy Zuckerman and senior producer Meryl Horn, starting from New York City park interviews where people blame the moon for wild behavior, work chaos, and period timing.
This episode explores the extraordinary sensory abilities of animals through an interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Ed Yong about his book 'An Immense World'.
Investigating whether taking Tylenol during pregnancy increases the risk of autism in children, based on scientific studies and a forthcoming government report.
This episode explores the phenomenon of AI companions, featuring a truck driver who developed a romantic relationship with a GPT-5 chatbot.
This episode explores common concerns about memory decline through personal anecdotes and scientific inquiry, focusing on everyday forgetfulness and its emotional impact.
The host previews upcoming episodes exploring memory loss, the full moon's effects, and manifesting, all through a scientific lens.
This episode investigates the rising rates of autism diagnoses, examining the data and controversies behind the trend.
This episode examines the scientific evidence behind the ketogenic diet, including its effects on weight loss, energy, and mental health.
The episode investigates a mysterious discovery about disorganized chromosomes in mouse egg cells, leading to a larger scientific finding.
This episode investigates a historical event where a militant group took over a hospital, using scientific analysis to understand the context and outcomes.
Science Vs examines whether we've crossed a climate tipping point, with comic Michael Hing, discussing record-breaking heat and the lack of hopeful climate stories.
This episode examines the scientific evidence on how social media affects our mental health and behavior.