Don’t want to read but want to get some microbiology in your life? Or maybe you need something to get your through your long day in the lab. Here are some of my favorite podcasts with microbial mentions. If you have another suggestion, feel free to drop it in the comments below!
Gastropod
Hosted by Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley
Food, history, and science. I’m in! Each episode of Gastropod has a theme usually centered around one type of ingredient or dish, food culture, or a topic at the intersection of food and health. While not all episodes involve microbial foods, many episodes do touch on our favorite microbial foods: sourdough bread, cheese, kombucha, and wine, for example. A frequent guest on this show is food microbiologist Ben Wolfe.
Sample episodes:
This Podcast Will Kill You
Hosted by Erin Welse and Erin Allemann Updyke
This Podcast Will Kill You is hilarious and conversational. It’s hosted by a disease ecologist and an epidemiologist who started the podcast while in grad school. Each episode typically features an infectious disease or public health topic.
One of my favorite parts of each episode: the quarantinis, drinks whose names are based on the disease name or topic covered in the episode. And, quarantini during COVID-19? Yes, please.
Sample episodes:
Petri Dish
Hosted by Sean Allen and Nathan Allen
Petri Dish covers many areas in biology in a conversational style. It’s comedic, not so serious, and I find myself laughing as I listen. The show is full of great information and a subset of episodes focus on microbiology and immunology.
Sample episodes:
- Measles, or, Why People are Dumb
- Fungus: The Good, The Bad, and The Zombie
- Bacteria’s Weapons of War
This Week in Microbiology
Hosted by Vincent Racaniello with co-hosts Elio Schaechter, Michael Schmidt, and Michele Swanson.
This Week in Microbiology is one of the many podcasts produced by the American Society for Microbiology. This podcast is great for microbiologists or other biologists looking to stay up to date on microbiology research as it covers research papers. However, it contains a lot of microbiology-specific terminology.
Sample episodes:
