Episodes

Can a single tube of blood really detect dozens of cancers before symptoms appear? We dive into the science behind Galleri, a blood test that claims to detect more than 50 types of cancer from a simple blood draw. Recent head...

Odds ratios show up everywhere in medical research—but do readers, journalists, and even researchers always know what they mean? In this episode, we tackle one of the most common statistical misunderstandings in science: trea...

Does coffee trigger atrial fibrillation — or have doctors been warning people away from caffeine without strong evidence? We dig into two recent randomized clinical trials testing whether caffeinated coffee causes dangerous h...

Can exercise actually be bad for you if you don’t get enough sleep? A widely shared claim says yes—that working out while sleep deprived may speed up aging. In this episode, we put that claim under the microscope. We examine ...

Are young people really having less sex? Headlines about a “sex recession” suggest a dramatic decline—but what do the data actually show? In this episode, we trace that claim back to the research behind it—and find a story th...

Diagnostic testing: what do those statistics actually tell you? Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value . . . you’ve probably seen these terms before. Maybe you memorized them for a test. But do you actually know ...

Epidurals are widely used and widely trusted for pain relief during labor. So when a 2020 study reported that they might be linked to autism, it raised a troubling question: could a routine medical decision have long-term con...

Every year we spring forward and lose an hour of sleep. But do we also lose a few heart cells? Some headlines claim that heart attacks spike by 24% after daylight saving time begins. In this episode we trace that number back ...

How many carbs do you need to run your best marathon? Recent headlines suggest that 120 grams per hour is the magic number. But what’s the science behind that claim? To find out, we dug into the study fueling the hype — and w...

Can a list of questions really make two strangers fall in love? In 2015, a viral New York Times Modern Love column claimed psychologists had discovered a formula for love: 36 increasingly personal questions, plus four minutes...

While we’re on a short break between seasons, we’re revisiting some of our favorite episodes from Season 1. This week, we’re re-releasing our debut episode on pheromones and sexy sweat, with some added commentary up front.. S...

While we’re on a short break between seasons, we’re revisiting some of our favorite episodes from Season 1. This week, we’re re-releasing our exploration of how your diet can affect your skin – now with added commentary! Wrin...

While we’re on a short break between seasons, we’re revisiting some of our favorite episodes from Season 1. This week, we’re re-releasing our deep dive into vitamin D and the origins of the so-called deficiency epidemic, with...

Description Nobody expects Batman—but when he shows up in a crowded subway car, are people suddenly more likely to help a passenger in need? This week on Normal Curves, we unpack a recent quasi-experimental field study involv...

Does the temperature of your coffee six months ago really predict whether you feel gassy today? This week we dissect a new nutrition survey study on hot and cold beverage habits that claims to connect drink temperature with g...

Does a little alcohol really make you speak a foreign language better? This week we unpack a quirky randomized trial that tested Dutch pronunciation after a modest buzz—and came to the opposite conclusion the researchers expe...

What do chickenpox and shingles have to do with your brain? This week, we dig into two 2025 headline-grabbing studies that link the shingles shot to lower dementia rates. We start in Wales, where a birthday cutoff turned into...

What if a haunted house makes your date look hotter? This week we dive into the infamous Scary Bridge Study — the 1970s classic that launched a thousand pop-psych takes on fear and lust. It’s the one with the swaying bridge, ...

Ultramarathoners push their bodies to the limit, but can a giant pre-race dose of vitamin D really keep their bones from breaking down? In this episode, we dig into a trial that tested this claim – and found a statistical en...

P-values show up in almost every scientific paper, yet they’re one of the most misunderstood ideas in statistics. In this episode, we break from our usual journal-club format to unpack what a p-value really is, why researcher...

Exercise has long been hailed as cancer-fighting magic, but is there hard evidence behind the hype? In this episode, we tackle the CHALLENGE trial, a large phase III study of colon cancer patients that tested whether prescrib...

Are we all secretly ageist when it comes to dating? We put the stereotype that older men prefer younger women under the microscope using data from thousands of blind dates. What we found surprised us: the “age penalty” was re...

ChatGPT is melting our brainpower, killing creativity, and making us soulless — or so the headlines imply. We dig into the study behind the claims, starting with quirky bar charts and mysterious sample sizes, then winding thr...

Can correcting misinformation make it worse? The “backfire effect” claims that debunking myths can actually make false beliefs stronger. We dig into the evidence — from ghost studies to headline-making experiments — to see if...