we'll go anywhere to find a quiet place for an interview...anywhere.

we'll go anywhere to find a quiet place to do an interview...

For our show this week, we spoke to many surgeons about their music choices in the OR. 
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/thepulse/item/84076-is-your-surgeon-listening-to-metallica-possibly
Dr. Dr. Amitabha Mitra, Plastic Surgeon at Hahnemann Hospital has especially good taste!

What does this doctor listen to while performing surgery?

Sound from one of the short-lived Thomas Edison Talking Dolls, circa 1890. 

Thomas Edison Talking Doll

When you can't know what will happen, you try to fill that void with ideas and plans. It's what Maggie Mitchell did when she was pregnant with her first child. She imagined birth, and prepared for it best she could. But, plans often don't work out...

Venturing into the unknown

Pam Gilbert started hearing things that other people couldn't. Soon, the sounds were taking over her entire life. 

Hear what it's like inside her head

Dr. Lloyd Minor, an expert in disorders of the inner ear, explains how he figured out Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence. 

Pigeons and human hearing?

Sunspring, a short film starring Thomas Middleditch, features an unexpected plot twist: it was written by a computer algorithm named Benjamin. Hollywood filmmaker Oscar Sharp and artificial intelligence researcher Ross Goodwin tell host Maiken Scott they created this script bot to help writers reach beyond their own abilities and maybe just reinvent how we tell each other stories.

Are bots ready to write the next blockbuster movie?

After nearly passing out on stage during a major concert last year, Philly rapper Freeway was diagnosed with kidney failure. The new reality has meant four-hour sessions of dialysis three times a week.
He recently kept an audio diary of his session for The Pulse. 

The above audio is a condensed mix of excerpts from that diary. Hear more of Freeway's story on The Pulse: 

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/thepulse/item/100120-how-kidney-failure-changed-philly-rapper-freeways-music-and-life

Full episode: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pulse/id772127662?mt=2

Freeway's audio diary: a day in dialysis

Why is physics often called "the mother of science?" Pulse host Maiken Scott talks with science writer Jennifer Ouellette, her blog is "cocktail party physics." http://twistedphysics.typepad.com 
Jennifer surprised herself by falling in love with physics, and enjoyed spending her time with people who think of cows as spheres.
This was part of The Pulse episode "Mothering" http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/thepulse/item/103595-mothering

Physics: The Mother of Science

At Double Brook Farm in New Jersey, farmer Jon McConaughy wants to give animals a better life — and death. This piece was produced by Paige Pfleger.

This is what a 'kinder slaughter' sounds like

In 1973, Pennsylvania science teacher Stephen Berr and his wife Barbara boarded a cruise liner – along with some of the greatest scientific minds of their time. Neil Armstrong, Isaac Asimov and Scott Carpenter were among the passengers on the SS Canberra.
Also on board were thousands of dollars worth of scientific equipment. This was a ‘floating college’ on its way to the coast of West Africa – to witness the total solar eclipse. While on board, Stephen Berr made a short film documenting the trip.  I met up with him and his wife to talk about the experience.

Watching the eclipse with Neil Armstrong and Isaac Asimov

Shawn, Israel, Erma and Emanuel have used drugs in and around this half-mile-or-so stretch of tracks in the Fairhill and Kensington section of Philadelphia. Charito is a volunteer nurse and advocate. 

The city and railroad company recently started clearing out this longtime encampment and surrounding embankment. Listen to the full story on its decades-long history on this week's episode of The Pulse: www.whyy.org/thepulse

Voices from the tracks

Cubicles seem to inspire existential angst in many office workers. They've become a symbol for feeling boxed in, with no opportunities for growth. But - it was never meant to be this way. Hear how the cubicle was first envisioned as the "Action Office" meant to facilitate a free flow of ideas among 'knowledge workers.' [Featuring amazing sound from the archives of the Herman Miller Company]

From "Action Office" to cubicle

Alice Gorelick, August 2017

A day on the river

Keeping pollution out of the river

A fish returns home

The flooded town of Pinhook

50 years ago, Lou Farren and Brad Ward were overseas, fighting in the same war. They didn't meet then, instead, fate brought them together on a Philadelphia hospital ward.

Two vietnam vets become "lung brothers"

10-minute excerpt from The Pulse episode on disability.

For a long time disability meant one thing — limitations. Think about the word disabled: its literal meaning is broken, not functioning. In a world largely built by and for those considered typical, people with disabilities are often boxed out — from jobs they want, places they want to visit and activities they could love. But that’s changing as advances in science and technology intersect with evolving conceptions of disability. On this episode of The Pulse, we explore the idea that “disability” resides not in people, but in the systems, schools, workplaces and communities that don’t make a way for inclusion and participation.

We highlight a growing movement to change the culture in medicine which has often sidelined disabled doctors. Doctors with disabilities speak up - and say their experiences will improve patient care.
We speak with Teresa Blankmeyer Burke, she is philosophy professor who is deaf. Her work probes how we define disability – and when it’s really just difference.

The Pulse: Make (a) Way excerpt

The life of Sarah's phone case - from enchanting glitter to oily burning mess in one fast minute

Sarah's glittery phone case

For an upcoming episode of The Pulse, I had a conversation with Ian Chillag about his new podcast "Everything is Alive." 
We used to work together at WHYY back in the day.
We talked about how he comes up with ideas for the podcast, and how making it has changed how he thinks about every day objects.

Conversation with Ian Chillag, creator of "Everything is Alive"

The Pulse brings you stories at the heart of health, science and innovation. A production of WHYY in Philadelphia, hosted by Maiken Scott

WHYY The Pulse

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