Curiosity Weekly

Sharks are vanishing from South Africa’s coast and Alison Towner knows why. One of the world’s top great white experts and a leading woman in STEM, Alison joins Dr. Samantha Yammine to break down her new Shark Week specials: Air Jaws: Return of Colossus and Great White Assassins and reveal what’s really happening to these iconic predators. Then, Sam dives into new findings about hammerhead shark migration and why that little blue seafood label matters for ocean conservation. Plus, Paul de Gelder shares what to watch for in How to Survive a Shark Attack. All premiering during Shark Week, starting July 20, 2025 on Discovery!   Link to Show Notes HERE  Follow Curiosity Weekly on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Dr. Samantha Yammine — for free! Still curious? Get science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.

Shark Week returns July 20 on Discovery!   This episode is the Shark Week audio companion Part 1! Dr. Samantha Yammine dives into the most surprising shark science of 2025, from sharks that make noise to the nano-scale ‘sharkitecture’ inside their skeletons. Sam also interviews Forrest Galante, wildlife biologist and featured Shark Week expert in Alien Sharks. Plus, Luke Tipple, an underwater face on this year’s Shark Week, explains why people are Dancing With Sharks in 2025. Don’t miss it!   Link to Show Notes HERE  Follow Curiosity Weekly on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Dr. Samantha Yammine — for free! Still curious? Get science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers. 

The skincare industry is riddled with false advertising, misleading labels, and supposed “miracle cures.” So, as a consumer, how are you meant to know what’s fact and what’s fiction? Today, host Dr. Samantha Yammine explores the science behind skincare, from how the collagen industry is causing deforestation in the Amazon for a product that might not actually work to why it’s important to get enough vitamin D. Then, Sam is joined by skincare expert Dr. Michelle Wong, aka @labmuffinbeautyscience to chat about all things sunscreen and the science of SPF.   Link to Show Notes HERE  Follow Curiosity Weekly on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Dr. Samantha Yammine — for free! Still curious? Get science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers. 

You’ve heard of the attention economy, but what about the intention economy? Rather than competing for consumers’ attention, our devices are now attempting to predict our purchasing patterns through AI. And who better to discuss that issue than Dr. Cansu Canca, a leading expert in AI ethics and founder of the AI Ethics Lab? She joins Senior Producer, Teresa Carey, to discuss this shift in how we use technology. Sam also digs into a concept called reverse bedtime procrastination and why it’s keeping us from getting a good night’s sleep. And finally, Sam investigates the ins and outs of the Dance Your PhD contest.   Link to Show Notes HERE  Follow Curiosity Weekly on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Dr. Samantha Yammine — for free! Still curious? Get science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers. 

Genetic testing has had some ups and downs over the past few years, with wide swaths of data sets setting a precedent for potential individualized healthcare. But, oftentimes, that data misrepresents African-descended individuals and doesn’t paint the whole picture. Population geneticist Dr. Janina Jeff Ringo joins host Dr. Samantha Yammine to discuss what we can learn from genetic testing, and the gaps that sociologists are trying to fill in.   Sam also explores a fascinating new study that claims to have nailed down the perfect cacio e pepe recipe and a potential solution to the growing strain on global rice yields.   Link to Show Notes HERE  Follow Curiosity Weekly on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Dr. Samantha Yammine — for free! Still curious? Get science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers. 

It’s Pride Month! To help us celebrate, Dr. Samantha Yammine is joined by Dr. Shawn Hercules, a queer, non-binary cancer researcher and science communicator. They’ll discuss Shawn’s research into breast cancer among people of African ancestry, how policies around gender affirming care can positively affect healthcare at large, and the importance of diverse voices in scientific research. Sam also explores the right to disconnect – aka how important it is to log off from work and give your brain some rest. After that, she explains the ins and outs of deep sea mining and how it has the potential to disrupt deep sea ecosystems.   Link to Show Notes HERE  Follow Curiosity Weekly on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Dr. Samantha Yammine — for free! Still curious? Get science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers. 

The key to protecting our oceans is understanding them. So, today, host Dr. Samantha Yammine leans into learning about the power and struggles of the environments that keep our planet blue. From the power of bioluminescence and how it’s changed how we study molecular biology to the importance of salt for our bodies and cultures, there is so much to absorb when it comes to our oceans. Then, producer Teresa Carey speaks with Dr. Gabby Ahmadia from the World Wildlife Fund about the importance of community-based conservation, research in coastal communities and how, with the right methodologies and funding, there is hope for our ocean’s health in the future. Link to Show Notes HERE  Follow Curiosity Weekly on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Dr. Samantha Yammine — for free! Still curious? Get science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers. 

You might think you have nothing to hide on your devices but everyone does. From bank accounts to passwords to travel plans, protecting your digital privacy is one of the biggest issues we face today. Digital privacy expert Eva Galperin joins host Dr. Samantha Yammine to discuss the importance of protecting your data and how to best do so. Sam also explores recent updates on a nuclear battery that can keep devices charged for years as well as a man who might be the key behind creating a universal antivenom to protect against snakebites.   Be sure to watch #ImplosionTheTitanicSubDisaster on Wednesday, May 28 at 9pm on Discovery. It's a two-hour special that uncovers the extraordinary story of what caused the OceanGate disaster in 2023 and how it might have been prevented. For the first time ever, Josh Gates unveils groundbreaking new footage including an unsettling interview and a problematic test dive inside the Titan only months before the submersible started missions to the Titanic shipwreck.  Link to Show Notes HERE  Follow Curiosity Weekly on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Dr. Samantha Yammine — for free! Still curious? Get science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.  

Looking up at the dark sky on a clear night means seeing the lit up little satellites move their way around the night sky. Those satellites might be pretty to look at but researchers are currently working to solve a decades-old problem: what happens when they encounter space junk? Today, producer Teresa Carey speaks with Dr. John Crassidis from the University of Buffalo about this issue and what options aerospace engineers have to solve it. Then, host Dr. Samantha Yammine digs into a recent paper that explores the physics behind the perfect cup of coffee and the recent sighting of the elusive colossal squid.   Link to Show Notes HERE  Follow Curiosity Weekly on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Dr. Samantha Yammine — for free! Still curious? Get science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.