Jordy Cernik was diagnosed with Cushing’s Syndrome a few weeks after his first child was born. He went through two pituitary operations, an adrenalectomy, pneumonia, and hospital life support. And while recovering from these procedures, he died in the hospital. When he woke up, things got weird.

Engineer: Andrew Kramer
Theme Song: Rory Jackson
Additional Music: Rory Jackson, Ashwan, Doxent, Cuarto, Sheeba 
Special Thanks: Sean Sugrue
This episode was supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

The Reset

Marco Tempest is not your average magician. He uses robots to do magic tricks on stage. But the real trick? How easily he can get an audience to believe that robot is close to human. We delve into why we fall for illusions, and how that's helping the field of robotics.

Fooled Ya

Hacking your hearing aid to implanting NFC tags into your hands -- we are now in the age of DIY Bio. We dive into the growing underworld of body modification from the backrooms of tattoo shops to the lab in your kitchen.

Upgrade

In the 1970s, a geochemist and a biologist banded together to solve a mystery at Lake Oneida in upstate New York. What they found is changing the way we think about human life, and where the origins of life come from.

(Photo courtesy National Environmental Education Foundation/Flickr)

Mystery At The Lake

Birds of a feather may flock together... but they don't sing together if they live in the city. The din of city life is creating new divisions between bird species. We talk (and sing!) about why the Barry Whites of birds are slowly disappearing in San Francisco.

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Trace Elements: The Musical

The 5th episode of Trace Elements podcast was a special musical edition, which included a cover of the Bee Gees' Stayin Alive (we swear-- it's relevant to the episode) with Alison Bruzek on oboe, co-host Cristina Quinn on piano and Andrew Kramer on drums. There's just something satisfying about playing the Bee Gees on very un-Bee Gees instruments.

Stayin Alive and Trace Elements theme song

A 5-part science podcast series, on PRX's Transistor.

Trace Elements

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