What’s the show about?
We say our show is about the unpublished stories behind the world’s most compelling science, as told by the researchers themselves. Doug’s mom says “It’s like the Sunday Book Review … it’s interesting; I get the important information, and don’t have to read the whole thing.” Ryan’s mom explains it this way: “You guys interview scientists from all over the world. They tell how they got into science and things about their particular field of science.”
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So how can I get my own sense of what the show is like?
We suggest listening to an episode whose topic of interest to you is the best bet. You can also use the “Search” drop down at the top of any page to search for a topic you’re interested in. Or you can just choose the discipline you’re interested in and click “Search” to list all episodes tagged with that discipline.
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When did you launch the show?
Our first episode aired July 25, 2017.
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What kind of science do you cover?
We work to secure diverse guests from a wide variety of scientific disciplines. You can browse or search past episodes by scientific discipline via the “Search” drop-down at the top of any page on this site.
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How often are new episodes aired?
Every other Tuesday or Wednesday, except for some special episodes, for a total of 26 episodes per year.
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How can I listen to new episodes?
You can subscribe for free via iTunes via the Apple Podcasts (iTunes) app, on Google Podcasts or Google Play, in any 3rd party iOS or Android podcast app, via email, on TuneIn, or via RSS. You can also ask your Amazon Alexa device to “Play Parsing Science podcast.”
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How can I listen to older episodes?
In addition to any of the options listed above, you can also find back episodes listed here.
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How do you identify potential guests?
We read a lot of science news, and post what we find to be the most interesting on our Twitter feed. From this we identify studies that have been published within the preceding 12 months, typically in a peer-reviewed journal, though occasionally as a preprint or in book form. We then ask the lead and/or corresponding author(s) if they’d be interested in speaking with us. If so, we then schedule a time to do so that’s most convenient to them.
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How do you interview guests?
We talk with and record guests over the internet, using Zencastr. All conversations are recorded through headset microphones. If they don’t have one, we’ll mail a set to the guest in advance of their interview (after which they’re theirs to keep). For post-production, we presently use Avid’s Pro Tools.
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How long is a typical interview?
We ask for 90 minutes with each guest, with the main discussion about their publication taking approximately 60-75 minutes. After recording, we edit interviews down to about 25-30 minutes, then record interstitial commentary to make the conversation flow within our timeframe.
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What happens to the remaining 30-45 minutes of the recording?
Guests’ responses that are just too long to fit into the episode as aired are included as Bonus Clips.
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Tell me more about these Bonus Clips.
After the onset of coronavirus pandemic in 2020 we made Bonus Clips for all of our episodes freely available to all listeners. Previously, only Patreon donors had exclusive access to these clips. Both mp3s of full episodes, as well as any Bonus Clips from all episodes, can be downloaded via the link present on each guest’s page.
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Are text transcripts available for your episodes?
Yes. Since September 2018 transcripts for each episode as aired are available on each guest’s page on parsingscience.org. These might not appear immediately for recently aired episodes as the process of transcribing the episodes takes a bit of time.
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How do I cite an episode?
Suggested citations for each episode are available on each guests’ page. Each citation also includes a DOI, with the associated metadata stored on figshare.
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I’m a teacher. Do you have advice for using Parsing Science in my classroom?
Yes. See here for ideas on how your students can make use of our episodes, interview scientists on their own, or even design a replication study.
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We post the latest science news 4-5 times per day both on Twitter and Facebook, and eventually archive our shows on our LinkedIn page. In addition, we release a digest each Saturday highlighting the seven most popular science stories from the previous week. You can subscribe to the digest for free here, or check out past issues in our news archive.
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How can I suggest an episode?
If you have a particular science article or book in mind — and it’s been published within the past 12 months in a peer-reviewed journal, a major book publisher, or is currently in preprint — you can suggest it here, or leave us a message at 1-866-XPLORIT (1-866-975-6748). You’re also welcome to recommend your own research, so don’t be shy!
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How can I learn who’s scheduled for upcoming shows?
See here for a list of upcoming guests. If the episode hasn’t yet been recorded, we invite you to send us your questions for the guest the bottom of that page, or by leaving a message at 1-866-XPLORIT (1-866-975-6748).
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How can I help?
The best way to help is by reviewing our show on iTunes so that others can find out about it. If you like the show, you can also subscribe to it for free. Listeners may also support the show by donating as little as $1/month via Patreon. We also have a free weekly email digest highlighting the week’s most popular science news (back issues are available in our news archive). You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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What’s your privacy policy?
We try to collect as little personal data as possible, but we do typically require your email address in order to obtain suggestions for future episodes, send newsletters and other site-related messages, and/or for your mailing address for promotions involving tangible goods. For more information, see our privacy policy and our cookie policy.
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What other shows do you recommend?
Lots! We’d originally hoped to style the show after the magnificent Song Exploder, but soon realized that we really required a Q&A format to discuss scientific research. Other science-related podcasts we enjoy are The Altmetric Podcast, American Scientist, AAAS Science, Big Picture Science, C&EN’s Stereo Chemistry, Daniel & Jorge Explain the Universe, Data Skeptic, eLife, Everything Hertz, Hidden Brain, Inside the Petri Dish, Nature, No Jargon, Partially Derivative, Physics Central, Planetary Radio, PNAS Science Sessions, Quirks & Quarks, ReproducibiliTea, Research in Action, Social Science Bites, Speaking of Psychology, Teaching in Higher Ed, The Dirt, The Naked Scientist franchise, The Positive Psychology Podcast, The Science Show, Short Wave, BigThink’s Think Again, Time to Eat the Dogs, Two Psychologists Four Beers, Undisciplined, and Very Bad Wizards. Got another? Let us know by leaving a message at 1-866-XPLORIT (1-866-975-6748).
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I’d like to talk with you about sponsoring the show.
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I have a different question.
Great! We’d love to hear from you. Send us an email at or leave us a message at 1-866-XPLORIT (1-866-975-6748). You can also DM us via Twitter.
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