Libsyn Directory

Patrick Wyman: Lost Worlds

Release Date: 05/05/2026

Dr. Alice Marwick: The Manosphere, Feminism, Misandry, Misogyny

Critically Speaking

What starts as advice on fitness, dating, or success can lead young men into a world of grievance and reshape how they see women, masculinity, and themselves. Dr. Alice Marwick unpacks how the manosphere works, why it’s growing, and the real-world harm it can cause. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Alice Marwick examine the manosphere’s origins, business models, influence on young men, and links to misogyny, harassment, and extremist movements. They discuss what the manosphere is, how it appears in different environments, and the social impact of these manosphere influencers....

Dr. Jonathan Cherry: CTE - Repeated Head Injuries

Critically Speaking

CTE isn’t just an NFL story, and a diagnosed concussion isn’t the only warning sign. Dr. Jonathan Cherry explains how years of repetitive impacts may quietly change the brain, and why researchers are racing to find a way to detect it during life. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Jonathan Cherry discuss his research into understanding how repetitive head injuries cause progressive brain changes and their work to learn how to detect the disease during life. They break down the difference between CTE and concussions, explain who is more likely to get CTE, and explain the links...

Dr. Cheryl Rosenfeld: Placentas - How They Affect Later Adult Health

Critically Speaking

Things you do or are exposed to early in life, including during fetal development, can actually affect your health later in adulthood. Normally, we're unaware of it, and it's difficult to make the connection. Today, Dr. Cheryl Rosenfeld dives into some of the research regarding placentas and their key implications in every life. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Cheryl Rosenfeld discuss how prenatal exposures can alter placental function, fetal brain development, and later-life health, with varying effects based on fetal sex. They expose the dangers of BPA and substitutes such as BPS,...

Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo: The Next Pandemic - Are We Prepared?

Critically Speaking

The U.S. declared measles eliminated in 2000 — so why are we seeing more cases and deaths than in the last 30 years? Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo reveals the hyper-local vaccination gaps driving the resurgence, and why preparing for the next pandemic starts on your block, not in Washington. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo discuss the recurring nature of pandemics that require prevention, preparedness, and coordinated action from global, national, and local organizations, institutions, and communities. They discuss the current preparedness systems, where they are working, and...

Daniel Aaron, M.D., J.D.: Lack of FDA Food Safety Oversight

Critically Speaking

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Daniel Aaron discuss the inadequate oversight of food additives by the FDA, particularly the agency's GRAS or “Generally Recognized as Safe” process, which allows unsafe additives to reach the market without proper scrutiny. Dr. Aaron highlights industry conflicts of interest, the lack of reporting requirements, the need for stricter regulation to protect public health, and discusses what is needed for the FDA to be better able to make impactful changes. Key Takeaways: The majority of food additives in the US are not vetted by...

Dr. Paul Schulz: Hot News About Preventing Alzheimer's

Critically Speaking

Have you ever wondered what the purpose of staying up to date on your vaccines is? Well, new research is showing that not only does it help to prevent the disease the vaccine is protecting you from, but it may also reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s and other dementia related diseases. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Paul Schulz discuss the exciting discovery that influenza vaccines may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by up to 40%. Dr. Schulz’s research suggests that high-dose vaccines (offered to those over the age of 65) are more effective, particularly in women....

Dr. Zaldy Tan: What if it's Dementia?

Critically Speaking

Worried about what your forgetfulness really means and whether it’s just aging or the start of something more serious? Listen in as memory expert Dr. Zaldy Tan breaks down the different types of dementia, how early detection really works, and what you can do now to protect your brain and plan for the future. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Zaldy Tan discuss his new book, “What to Remember When You Are Forgetting,” which addresses cognitive decline and dementia. Dr. Tan discusses the main types of dementia, the importance of early diagnosis, and how dementia varies from...

Dr. Darren Linvill: Detecting Rampant Disinformation

Critically Speaking

Have you ever wondered how trolls, bots, and paid influencers are quietly manipulating what you see online and why even smart, skeptical people fall for it? Today, disinformation expert Dr. Darren Linvill pulls back the curtain on the tactics that bad actors are using to try and shape our beliefs. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Darren Linvill discuss the various forms of digital deception and the strategies used by state actors to manipulate global discourse. Dr. Linvill distinguishes between misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation and gives examples of each,...

Timothy Caulfield: The Certainty Illusion

Critically Speaking

Drowning in wellness hype, viral “experts,” and five-star opinions that feel more real than facts? In this episode, law and public health scholar Timothy Caulfield exposes the certainty illusion — how “scienceploitation”, predatory journals, and weaponized opinions quietly shape what we believe about our health. Today, Therese Markow and Timothy Caulfield discuss Tim’s latest book, break down the misinformation drivers that are contributing to the delegitimization of scientific expertise, and the three illusions that are being used to distort public perception. From...

Dr. Aly Cohen: Killers in the Environment

Critically Speaking

The last few decades have seen a continuing rise in really serious and often fatal health problems. The list is long: cancer, heart disease, diabetes, infertility, autoimmune diseases, and autism, just to name a few. While vulnerability to disease often has an underlying genetic predisposition, there have to be environmental triggers to set these diseases in motion. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Aly Cohen discuss just these topics and what we can look for on a daily basis, as well as the small changes that we can, individually, do to make our lives a little healthier. ...

More Episodes

In this episode, Therese Markow and Patrick Wyman discuss Patrick’s latest book, Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World. Patrick also discusses his journey as a historian from studying the Fall of Rome to popular history. He emphasizes the importance of understanding past climactic changes and their impact on human societies, including the development of agriculture and the rise of social hierarchies. Patrick also highlights the significance of migration and the diverse burial practices that reveal aspects of ancient societies’ beliefs and social structures.

Key Takeaways:

Human history is not stable, and it always starts with the climate. Climate and environment are the unavoidable parameters within which everyone is living, and, whether people are aware of them or not, they are responding to the pressures and shifts that are happening climatically around them.
Abandonment of sites and cities happens over time and often for a variety of reasons that are always specific to the climate systems and problems of that particular area.
Modern science, like ancient DNA extraction, now allows us to learn more about dynamics in ancient periods that we never could have seen before.
Funerary practices vary across the world in ancient times, as they do in modern times. Often, it is based on one of two poles: when people die, are their spirits potentially dangerous (ghost society) or potentially beneficial (ancestor society)?
Every single one of the billions of people who lived was living a life that was full, rich, sophisticated, and complex.
As humans, we have been through big, crazy stuff, and yet we are still here and still thriving. Humanity is incredibly durable, and we can make it through some really, really bad times if we work hard and work together.

"Migration is humanity's most basic tool for getting out of bad situations and finding better ones. The simplest possible thing you can do if things get bad wherever you're living is to move somewhere else. And this has been our response at every time and on every geographic scale over the course of human existence." — Patrick Wyman

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