
PNAS Science Sessions
Welcome to Science Sessions, the PNAS podcast program. Listen to brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in PNAS, plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us.
Latest episodes

Oct 9, 2023 • 10min
Penalties tied to motherhood
Cecilia Machado and Douglas Almond discuss the impact of a first child on the career trajectory of mothers.

Sep 25, 2023 • 10min
Motherese in bottlenose dolphins
Laela Sayigh asks whether dolphins use "motherese" when communicating with their calves.

Sep 11, 2023 • 10min
Racial disparities and climate policy
Pascal Polonik and Kate Ricke explain why reducing greenhouse gas emissions does not always improve environmental equity.

Aug 28, 2023 • 11min
What illusions tell us about silence
Ian Phillips, Rui Zhe Goh, and Chaz Firestone explore how people perceive silence through auditory illusions, challenging traditional views on hearing. The podcast discusses the 'one silence is more' illusion, the illusion of silence impacting time perception, and the concept of event-based warping. It also covers the silence-based warping illusion and oddball silence illusion, and how the perception of silence is influenced by context.

Aug 14, 2023 • 11min
Growth mindset and educational outcomes
Intervention targeting high school teachers to improve student retention and diversity in STEM fields. Importance of teachers' mindsets on students from disadvantaged groups. Success of values alignment framework in promoting behavior change among teachers. Potential of teacher-focused interventions to improve educational outcomes and reduce inequalities.

Jul 31, 2023 • 10min
How dehorning affects rhino behavior
Vanessa Duthé explains how dehorning affects the behavior of black rhinoceroses.

Jul 17, 2023 • 9min
Why legalese persists
Eric Martínez explains why legal documents are written in hard-to-read language.

Jul 3, 2023 • 8min
Gender gap among migrant scientists
Researchers explore trends in the gender gap among internationally mobile scholars.

Jun 19, 2023 • 10min
Communal nesting in bird-like dinosaur
Mattia Tagliavento talks about the evolutionary transition from dinosaurs to birds using isotopes in Troodon eggshells.

Jun 5, 2023 • 10min
Racial disparities in air pollution exposure
Pengfei Liu shares findings on racial disparities in exposure to the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide.