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Causes or Cures
For the Nerds and the Nerd Nots
Causes or Cures is an independent health podcast hosted by "Dr. Eeks" (ErinKate Stair, MD, MPH). It is an offbeat, grassroots show driven by curiosity and a genuine love of making complicated health topics easier to understand.
Dr. Eeks is a public health professional specializing in applied epidemiology & health communication. By day, she works on challenging public health issues. By choice, she spends some of her free time asking scientists, physicians, researchers, authors, clinicians, and other fascinating people questions she hopes everyone else is wondering too.
Along the way, the podcast has wandered into everything from memory and longevity to self medicating animals, migraines, gene drive mosquitoes, strange public health history, the spiritual realm, and the occasional existential detour. If it has something to teach us about health or what it means to be human, it is probably fair game.
Recurring segments include Public Health is Weird, which uncovers strange but true stories from public health history, WTF Health News, where Dr. Eeks breaks down bizarre or buzzworthy health headlines, and Eeks Speakeasy, a more personal corner of the podcast where curiosity occasionally spills over into life, philosophy, and whatever else deserves a drink and a discussion.
A few housekeeping notes...
This podcast is for information, curiosity, and conversation. It is not medical advice.
Although Dr. Eeks has an MD, she does not practice medicine. She is a full time public health nerd and will never tell you what to do with your own health. If you have a medical question, your healthcare provider knows you far better than a podcast ever could.
Guests are invited because they have something interesting to contribute, not because Dr. Eeks agrees with every opinion they hold. Likewise, she does not endorse miracle supplements, mysterious oils, magic socks, potions, or anything that promises to solve all of life's problems.
If an episode is sponsored or underwritten by a company she genuinely enjoys working with, she will always tell you.
Causes or Cures is also not a news site. It is a place for thoughtful conversations. Dr. Eeks believes people can disagree respectfully, ask difficult questions, change their minds, and occasionally laugh at themselves along the way. Some of the best conversations she has ever had happened in hole in the walls, on sidewalks, and in places where nobody was trying to win an argument.
Sometimes Barnaby, her dog and unofficial executive producer, contributes his thoughts as well. Fortunately, he is a pretty smart dog.
Above all, Dr. Eeks hopes this podcast encourages people to stay curious, compassionate, honest, open minded, and engaged. Freedom of discussion is a beautiful, delightfully messy thing, and one worth protecting.
The views expressed on this podcast are Dr. Eeks' own and do not reflect the views of any organization she contracts with or consults for.
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Want to sponsor or underwrite an episode?
Causes or Cures works with a limited number of sponsors and episode underwriters in health, science, and public health. Partnerships are kept separate from editorial content and guest selection. If your organization might be a fit, reach out at: erin@bloomingwellness.com
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Causes or Cures
You’re Out of Your Mind? A Neuroscientist & Cartoonist Explain Your Brain’s Craziest Quirks. With Dr. Dwayne Godwin & Dr. Jorge Cham
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In this episode, Dr. Eeks is joined by neuroscientist Dr. Dwayne Godwin and cartoonist Dr. Jorge Cham, the creative duo behind Out of Your Mind, a book that makes neuroscience both fun and digestible—perfect for Nerds and Nerd Nots alike (yes, that’s my podcast tagline). They kick things off with love—what it is, why we fall for some people and not others, and whether science could create a love potion that turns romance into a biochemical hostage situation. From love, they move to hate and how some people actually get addicted to hate. They'll also discuss AI—whether it could ever develop consciousness and what that might mean for humanity—before diving into addiction and the ongoing debate over how much of it is choice versus biology. They'll talk about happiness, whether money can actually buy it, and a bizarre true medical case of a man who, after a brain surgery gone wrong, was left permanently stuck in the present moment. Finally, they'll explore what happens when we die and whether the authors ever get existentially bummed out thinking about how fragile and robotic we really are. If you like science with a side of humor and deep, slightly absurd questions, this episode is for you.
Dr. Dwayne Godwin is a neuroscientist, educator, and professor in the Department of Translational Neuroscience at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. His research focuses on abnormal brain rhythms, exploring calcium channel function, epilepsy, and traumatic brain injury to develop potential treatments for neurological diseases. Beyond the lab, he is passionate about science outreach, co-creating Mind in Pictures for Scientific American Mind and contributing to blogs for the Society for Neuroscience and the Museum of the Moving Image.
Dr. Jorge Cham is a Daytime Emmy-nominated, best-selling cartoonist and the creator of PHD Comics, a popular online comic strip about academia. He is the co-creator, Executive Producer, and Creative Director of Elinor Wonders Why, a top-rated PBS Kids animated series. Cham has co-authored several popular science books, including We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe and Frequently Asked Questions about the Universe, as well as the children’s book Oliver’s Great Big Universe. He also co-hosts and co-creates the hit podcast Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe. Originally from Panama, Cham earned his Ph.D. in robotics from Stanford University and was a researcher at Caltech.
You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.
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