SIO489: TikTok Banned #Skinnytok and It Was Right to Do So
Release Date: 09/03/2025
SIO511: What a Recent Chappell Roan Incident Teaches Us About Sexism
Serious Inquiries Only
Well, what do you know - it's a day that ends in y so the internet has a woman to hate. You might have seen some of the chatter about child-hating Chappell Roan lately, and it's just so depressing every single time one of these hate campaigns rears its ugly head. Lydia joins the show as resident Chappell Roan fan to discuss what actually happened, and why society so quickly jumps on these opportunities to hate women. (Alex Nguyen - Mother Jones, 4/14/2026) (Kat Tenbarge, 3/30/2026) Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? !
info_outline
SIO510: Digging Into the Science of the Placebo Effect
Serious Inquiries Only
Popular media will tell you that placebos, inert inactive substances taken as if they’re medication, can work miracles. …Placebos don’t “work”. But what does that even mean? And if that’s true, why would we include a placebo group in a study? Is there anything remotely like a “true”’placebo effect, where belief in a medication could influence the body? Jenessa walks us through scientific study design, statistical artifacts, and one study that shows maybe just maybe there’s a little something like an actual placebo “effect”… but it’s still not magic! Tune in...
info_outline
SIO509: What Project Hail Mary Gets Right (And Very Wrong...) About Biology
Serious Inquiries Only
Everyone's favorite biologist and dinosaur enthusiast Dr. Eric Jaffe is back! Project Hail Mary is a very fun, and quite good, sciency movie that is cleaning up at the box office right now. You should see it! Eric is going to take us through the biology of the movie (and book) and what it gets right, and what it gets quite wrong.
info_outline
SIO508: The Data Shows That Authoritarianism Is Very Often Successfully Reversed. Yes, Really.
Serious Inquiries Only
“Yes we can” vote and protest our way out of authoritarianism. It’s a classic case of academic literature never making it to mainstream consumption. Hang around social media long enough and you’ll hear that we’re basically screwed. A complete fascist take over is either extremely likely, inevitable, or it’s already here. And there’s not much we can do about it. Unless some other country invades us, we’ll be waiting for a civil war or a bloody military coup to hopefully maybe turn things around. That’s what history teaches us, right? Literally the opposite. An incredible data...
info_outline
SIO507: Shirley You're Joking, Minnesota Fraud Man!
Serious Inquiries Only
It's part 2 of the Minnesota fraud stuff. We get a little more Nick Shirley, dumbest person ever to testify in congress. And then I debunk the main claims against Gov. Walz and AG Ellison. Did Walz un-stop the payments to Feed Our Future? Did Ellison meet with, and then get campaign donations from the fraudsters?
info_outline
SIO506: Minnesota Fraud and the Death of Information
Serious Inquiries Only
So now that we've covered a real hearing with brave whistleblowers that got NO attention, it's time to look at what happens over on the other side of the aisle.
info_outline
SIO505: The ICE Whistleblower Hearing Was Astonishing. It Needs More Attention.
Serious Inquiries Only
Last month, there was a devastating hearing featuring a victim of ICE, an ICE whistleblower, and a previous DHS attorney. It revealed what, in any other time, would have been a massive scandal likely resulting in multiple firings. But we live in the bad times, which means this hearing took place in a maintenance shed barely on Congressional property during lunchtime put on by a ragtag team of the few remaining people who give a shit about constitutional rights. I take you through the hearing, and then next episode we're going to compare this to the Minnesota fraud hearings, of which the MAGA...
info_outline
SIO504: The Other Kind of Nut Allergy. Well, Both Kinds, I Guess?
Serious Inquiries Only
Part 2! Even more fun Quibbies. Allergies Bansal, A.S., Chee, R., Nagendran, V., Warner, A., & Hayman, G. (2007). . Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology, 17, 189-191. Testosterone University of Zurich (2009, December 9). . ScienceDaily. Eisenegger, C., Naef, M., Snozzi, R., Heinrichs, M., & Fehr, E. (2010). Nature, 463, 356-359. ADHD and TikTok Verma, S. & Sinha, S.K. (2024). . Australian Psychiatry, 0, 1-7. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? !
info_outline
SIO503: Viral Post Claims Texas Has More Democrats Than Republicans. Is That True?
Serious Inquiries Only
It's Quibi Time (tm) with Jenessa! (Don't worry, I'll explain...) It's 2 debunks for the price of 1, or actually 5 debunks for the price of 2, because this is a two-parter! Here are the first two: AI girlfriend Caramela, S. (2025, January 31). . Vice. Fiorillo, C. & Bartlett, S. (2025, January 28). . The Mirror. Koetsier, J. (2025, April 29). Forbes. Mashable. (2025, May 22). . Yahoo!Life. (2025, May 11). . NDTV World. Ulanoff, L. (2025, May 22). . Techradar. Texas voter registration (2025, August 7). . Independent Voter Project. (Thomas saw this about it) . L2. ....
info_outline
This Is The Dark Place. Why Aren't We Acting Like It?
Serious Inquiries Only
I had a lot I needed to say about the ICE murders of Rene Good and Alex Pretti. And about the fascists who lie to our faces and know we can't do anything about it. And the concentration camps we already have. I did video because there was so much visual element to this, so watching would be best.
info_outlineDr. Jenessa Seymour joins to discuss why TikTok's move here is aligned with what we know about eating disorders from the literature, and what happens when the internet doesn't draw a line like this.
Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here!
Please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!