Today we have Shannon Odell on the podcast. Odell is a Brooklyn based writer, comedian, and scientist. She co-hosts and produces Drunk Science, an experimental comedy show deemed “a stroke of genius” by Gothamist and a finalist in TruTV’s comedy break out initiative. She also co-created, writes, and stars in the Inverse original series “Your Brain on Blank”, where she explains the science behind how everything-from alcohol to caffeine to puppies- affects the brain. She can also be seen at Weill Cornell Medicine, where she is a Neuroscience PhD candidate studying the epigenetic underpinnings of hippocampal function. You can visit Shannon’s YouTube channel here.
In this episode we discuss:
- How Shannon got into science comedy
- How science can be funny
- Similarities between the personalities of comedians and scientists
- Political correctness in comedy and science
- How science communication is often so humorless
- Your brain on… the flu.
- Your brain on… breakups.
- Your brain on… puppies.
- Your brain on… caffeine.
- Your brain on… social media.
- Epigenetics and the effects of early life adversity on the brain
- How science can inform treatment options
- Barriers for women entering science
BONUS
