What do microbes, the soil, and climate change all have in common? Dr. Jo Handelsman studies microbes at the University of Wisconsin. She researches the vast array of microbes that live on us or in us, and also the even greater number that lurk in the soil beneath our feet. In this fascinating episode, Alan Alda talks with Dr. Handelsman, who served as the previous science advisor to President Barack Obama and as the Associate Director for Science at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, about why both the microbes within and below us are so important to our survival. Alan and Dr. Handelsman begin this conversation talking about the weather, which these days often leads to talk that’s far from small.

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