Audiommunity

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Health & Fitness
**Audiommunity**

A podcast about our bodies’ never-ending fight with the outside world

Latest Episodes:

Episode 58 - Proverbial boiling frog pot Aug 19, 2026

Show notes

In this Episode, Matt and Kevin talk politics of science. Again.

God, this is exhausting.

Links

* No paper this time - we’re riffing on the Cancelled Emory Grant

* Institutional comments from Emory and Tufts on the proposed OMB rule

* Some analysis of the content of OMB comments from Drug Monkey

* Reporting on the new “golden age” of science, which means defunding universities

* Our world in data - academic freedom index

Get full access to Audiommunity Org at www.audiommunity.org/subscribe

Episode 57 - F'ing magnets, how do they work... in pigeons? Jul 06, 2026

Show notes

In this episode, Matt and Kevin (mostly) take a break from politics to discuss pigeon migration using magnetoreception, with macrophages! Maybe.

Links

* The paper: Homing pigeon navigation relies on superparamagnetic macrophages under overcast conditions

* An Immense World by Ed Yong, a beautiful book about animal senses.

* Wikipedia article on magnetotactic bacteria.

* Previous Audiommunity episode about headbutting that Matt mentions in the intro

* Take action to prevent that OMB rule change that would put political hacks in charge of nearly $1 trillion in government grants.

Get full access to Audiommunity Org at www.audiommunity.org/subscribe

Episode 56 - It's the institutions Jun 29, 2026

Show notes

In this episode, Matt and Kevin discuss a new proposal from the US Office of Management and Budget that would (among other things) wrench control of funding decisions out of the hands of experts and put it in the hands of political hacks.

Also… no actually that’s it. We spend our whole time on this. Go write a comment on the proposed rule change, contact your representatives. This is it folks - American science doesn’t recover from this, at least not for a long time.

Links

* The paper (that we didn’t end up talking about): Gut microbiota promotes immune tolerance at the maternal-fetal interface

* The best summary of the new rule and what to do about it, from a former NIH insider

* A tool from the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) to help you craft an original comment with the help of AI, if you’re into that sort of thing. But don’t be lazy - make it personal!

* A guide from Stand Up For Science on how to writing a comment opposing the rule change

* NIH reporter, where you can look up everything you could ever want to know about funded grants

* If you are a professor, sign up for the American Union of University Professors

Get full access to Audiommunity Org at www.audiommunity.org/subscribe

Episode 55 - Slow down and organize Apr 29, 2026

Show notes

In this episode, Matt and Kevin discuss a paper from a few years ago showing how faster, longer signaling, more adaptable neutrophils are actually worse at their job! Specifically, knocking out a GPCR kinase GRK2 impairs the ability of neutrophils to turn off their swarming behavior impairs their ability to deal with infections.

Also, we’re thick with analogies - neutrophils are by turns mobs, berserker warriors, or agents of a fascist state.

Links

* The paper: Neutrophils self-limit swarming to contain bacterial growth in vivo

* Previous episode about neutrophils and NETs: Episode 5 - When the carnies roll in

* National Geographic documentary: The Secret History of Bees

* Atlantic article about a dumb new conspiracy theory about scientists dying

Get full access to Audiommunity Org at www.audiommunity.org/subscribe

Episode 54 - Poop is lumen Apr 07, 2026

Show notes

In this episode, Matt and Kevin discuss a new paper showing a new technique to add poly-A tails to every RNA in a tissue section, enabling capture by spot-based sequencing technologies. This let’s them see microbes and host-encoded non-messenger RNAs, giving a much better view into intestinal biology.

Plus, Matt thinks it’s funny they’re taking tissue slices though fecal pellets and Kevin routinely says “microvillus” when he means “villus”, and pretends to know the anatomy of the intestines when he clearly doesn’t, despite being an Assistant Professor in the GI division at a hospital.

Links

* The paper - Spatial transcriptomics maps host–gut microbiome biogeography at high resolution

* The technologies - 10x Visium, StereoSeq, and CosMx

* Wikipedia - human digestive system

Get full access to Audiommunity Org at www.audiommunity.org/subscribe

Episode 53 - Something catastrophic Mar 06, 2026

Show notes

In this episode, Matt and Kevin discuss a new paper from Matt’s old boss that shows that repeated “vaccination” against a completely harmless protein from chicken egg whites stimulates broad-based protection against a host of viral and bacterial pathogens, not to mention prevents mice from developing allergies.

So should everyone rush to drip LPS and ovalbumin into their noses? Mmmm… not so fast.

Plus, we kvetch about new NIH policies for the politburo-tization of grant review. A new era of American Lysenkoism is here!

Links

* The paper: Mucosal vaccination in mice provides protection from diverse respiratory threats

* The new NIH policy on grant review - doesn’t sound so bad, but you need to read it in context.

Get full access to Audiommunity Org at www.audiommunity.org/subscribe

Episode 52 - Close to the squeezey part Feb 02, 2026

Show notes

Oh hey, look, we’re on substack now!

In this paper, Matt and Kevin discuss a new paper identifying and describing a new kind of macrophage (or is it a dendritic cell?) they call “adenophages”. The cells live in salivary and other exocrine glands, and are really good at phagocytosis and antigen presentation. But they also help squeeze out spit?

Links

* The Paper: Adenophages are an atypical macrophage population in exocrine glands sustained by ILC2-derived GM-CSF

* Wikipedia article on salivary glands

Get full access to Audiommunity Org at www.audiommunity.org/subscribe

Episode 51 - F is for Flume Dec 22, 2025

Show notes

A retrospective on audiommunity, and some solid rants about the importance of science,
science communication, and government funding.
Get full access to Audiommunity Org at www.audiommunity.org/subscribe

Episode 50 – Kevin has learned a tautology Dec 10, 2025

Show notes

In this episode, Matt and Kevin stick with the brain,
this time looking at the immunological implications of
a variant of a gene called Apolipoprotein E
that has been linked to Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.
It's a long one, and we get snarky in this one folks!
Buckle up!
Get full access to Audiommunity Org at www.audiommunity.org/subscribe

Episode 49 - Scatch that itchy worm in your head Nov 19, 2025

Show notes

In this episode, Matt and Kevin are joined by [Nicole Ackermans](https://nicoleackermans.com)
to discuss her recent review paper tracing human thoughts about headbutting
from 10,000 BCE to the present day.
How are animals like bighorn sheep and woodpeckers protected
from brain injury?
Actually, wait... **are** they protected from brain injury?
Get full access to Audiommunity Org at www.audiommunity.org/subscribe

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