On this week’s show: A rundown of our favorite online news stories, and some of our favorite moments on the podcast this year

This is our last show of the year and it’s a fun one! Dave Grimm, our online news editor, gives a tour of the top online stories of the year, from playful bumble bees to parasite-ridden friars.

Then, host Sarah Crespi looks back at some amazing conversations from the podcast this year, including answers to a few questions she never thought she’d be asking. Highlights include why we aren’t just shooting nuclear waste into space, and how mapping ant diversity is like mapping the early universe.

Past shows mentioned in this episode:

What saliva tells babies about human relationships

A global map of ant diversity

Gut bacteria that nourish hibernating squirrels

Securing nuclear waste for 100,000 years

Why rabies remains

Why sunscreen is bad for coral

Saving the Spix’s macaw

Waking up bacterial spores

Collecting spider silks

Don’t miss this year’s podcast series on books in food, science, and agriculture, hosted by Angela Saini.

Take our audience survey at https://www.science.org/podcasts.

This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.

[Image: Peter Trimming/Flickr; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

[alt: squirrel relaxing on a branch with podcast symbol overlay]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; David Grimm

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg3947 

About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast