This episode’s dedicated to our main squeeze: olive oil. Professor Selina Wang joins Jonathan to discuss olive oil varieties, processing, and fraud—yes, fraud! Plus, Jonathan gets clarity on why they can’t bear to eat an olive but can’t get enough of olive oil. Prof. Selina Wang is an Associate Professor of Cooperative Extension at the Department of Food Science and Technology at UC Davis. Her mission-oriented research and teaching focuses are food quality and purity; fruit and vegetable process...
Mar 02, 2022•58 min•Ep 203•Transcript available on Metacast What do you get when a biological anthropologist studying hair and a hairstylist compare notes? A stunning new episode of Getting Curious. Join Dr. Tina Lasisi and Jonathan as they explore the evolutionary history of human hair, measuring hair variation, and the twists and turns of Jonathan’s hair school textbook. Tina Lasisi is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Biological Anthropology. Her research is on the evolution and genetics of human variation in pigmentation and scalp hair. She also works on ...
Feb 23, 2022•1 hr 24 min•Ep 202•Transcript available on Metacast This week on Getting Curious, Jonathan’s in the guest seat! You submitted your questions for Jonathan on social media—and we have answers. We’re talking Getting Curious the podcast and Netflix series, self-care, gymnastics, gardening, and so much more. And for those of you who wondered when Jonathan’s husband Mark would make his podcast debut? We’ve got an answer for that, too. Join in on the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @Curio...
Feb 16, 2022•55 min•Ep 201•Transcript available on Metacast Have you ever read a headline that seems just plausible enough—when you realize it’s fake? This week, Dr. Nadia Brashier joins Jonathan to discuss how our brains process misinformation, why even one exposure to a falsehood can increase our odds of believing it, and what we can do to debunk fake news. Dr. Nadia Brashier is an Assistant Professor of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University. She studies why people fall for fake news and how we can intervene. You can follow Dr. Brashier on Twitte...
Feb 09, 2022•53 min•Ep 200•Transcript available on Metacast It’s Prue Week on Getting Curious! On the Great British Baking Show (aka the Great British Bake Off), it’s clear that Prue Leith has excellent taste. But what’s Prue up to when she’s not judging crème pat, frangipane, and the occasional soggy bottom? This week, Prue and Jonathan dish on how Prue developed her palette, their shared love of gardening, and what’s on their creative plates this year. Dame Prue Leith, DBE, DL is a businesswoman, journalist, novelist, cookery writer and broadcaster. He...
Feb 02, 2022•56 min•Ep 199•Transcript available on Metacast Since 1997, Jonathan has been haunted by a question: could a volcano erupt a la Dante’s Peak and turn a local creek into a river of hot acid? This week, Professor Chris Jackson answers all of Jonathan’s burning questions about how volcanoes are formed, what happens when they erupt, and how Pierce Brosnan’s character in Dante’s Peak would have fared against a real pyroclastic flow. Chris Jackson is Chair in Sustainable Geoscience at the University of Manchester and spent 16 years at Imperial Coll...
Jan 26, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep 198•Transcript available on Metacast Indigenous peoples represent about five percent of the world’s population—and sustain nearly 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity. This week, Dr. Jessica Hernandez joins Jonathan to discuss the principles of Indigenous science, Indigenous land stewardship, and what it will take to heal Indigenous landscapes. Dr. Jessica Hernandez (Maya Ch’orti’ & Binnizá) is a transnational Indigenous scholar, scientist, and community advocate based in the Pacific Northwest. In her new book Fresh Banana Leaves...
Jan 19, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep 197•Transcript available on Metacast What happens when you add JVN to E = mc²? You get an episode of Getting Curious all about physics, explored through one of Jonathan’s favorite topics: figure skating! This week, Dr. Deborah King joins Jonathan to break down the biomechanics behind skating techniques, the cutting edge technology she’s using to research ice sports, and how we can watch the winter Olympics like scientists. Dr. Deborah King is a professor of biomechanics in the Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences at Ithaca Col...
Jan 12, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep 196•Transcript available on Metacast As the itsy bitsy spider crawls up the water spout, it dawns on her: her exoskeleton doesn’t fit. Is it a fashion emergency—or her moment to shine? This week, Dr. Maydianne Andrade joins Jonathan to share the ins and outs of spider growth, behavior, and reproduction. Dr. Maydianne Andrade is a professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough, and president of the Canadian Black Scientists Network. You can follow Dr. Andrade on Twitter @WidowWeb, and at maydianne.com. The...
Jan 05, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep 195•Transcript available on Metacast We’re ending this year on a high note with none other than Brandi Carlile! She and Jonathan talk Brandi’s incredible music career, queer faith, and Dolly Parton—and Jonathan asks hard-hitting questions like, “Did you know you’d grow up to be Brandi Carlile, Brandi Carlile?” Brandi Carlile is a six-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, performer, producer, New York Times best selling author and activist. Her new album In These Silent Days was released this past fall to widespread acclaim ...
Dec 29, 2021•50 min•Ep 194•Transcript available on Metacast This week’s episode is as nourishing as they get, as chef Pati Jinich joins Jonathan to discuss cuisines along the US-Mexico border, holiday foods she associates with growing up in Mexico, and what we can learn from taking a bite out of a burrito. Pati Jinich is a James Beard Award-winning Mexican chef who has dedicated her career to building a shared understanding between her two home countries: Mexico and the United States. Her long-running PBS series Pati’s Mexican Table has brought Mexican f...
Dec 22, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep 193•Transcript available on Metacast If you’re a regular listener of Getting Curious, you know how much Jonathan loves the Sister Act films. But how realistic were they? This week, former nuns Kelli Dunham and Mary Johnson share what it was like to serve with Mother Teresa (yeah, that Mother Teresa) in the Missionaries of Charity—and why they left the congregation. Kelli Dunham is a comic, writer, nurse, and genderqueer ex-nun. You can follow Kelli on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube @kellidunham—and at kellidunham.com. Ma...
Dec 15, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Ep 192•Transcript available on Metacast In 1903, a Frenchman and an American granted the United States ninety nine years of control over the Isthmus of Panama. No Panamanians signed that treaty. This week, Professor Kaysha Corinealdi and Jonathan explore the political history and legacy of what came next: the Panama Canal. Kaysha Corinealdi is an interdisciplinary historian of modern empires, migration, gender, and activism in the Americas. Her forthcoming book Panama in Black centers the activism of Afro-Caribbean migrants and their ...
Dec 08, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep 191•Transcript available on Metacast This week’s episode is a cut above the rest, as we explore the history and cultural significance of scissors. Join Jonathan and design historian Teresa Collenette as they talk ancient spring scissors, Victorian-era chatelaines, Jonathan’s go-to hair shears, and Teresa’s incredible collection of more than 100 pairs of scissors. Teresa Collenette is a design historian, curator and collector. Teresa has curated several exhibitions with the Fashion and Textile Museum, including The Secret Life of Sc...
Dec 01, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep 190•Transcript available on Metacast Can you map out the Oregon Trail? If you just flashed back to playing The Oregon Trail video game in your sixth grade computer lab, get ready for a journey. Jonathan and Professor Margaret Huettl explore how Native knowledge systems established the Oregon Trail; how Native peoples experienced non-Native settlers moving West; and how Indigenous communities today are reckoning with this past to build a better future. Margaret Huettl, a descendant of Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibweg, Assyrian refugees, ...
Nov 24, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep 189•Transcript available on Metacast You may have seen tear gas marketed as a “non-lethal” or “less lethal” weapon. The truth is more dangerous. This week, Professor Anna Feigenbaum breaks down what’s in tear gas, who manufactures it, and what its poisonous history reveals about profit motivation and modern policing. Professor Anna Feigenbaum works at Bournemouth University in the South of England. She is the author of Tear Gas (Verso 2017). Her recent project The Data Storytelling Workbook (Routledge 2020) provides a guide to tell...
Nov 17, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep 188•Transcript available on Metacast Have you ever met a redhead? Someone with green eyes? Someone with intersex traits? If you answered yes to the first two questions, you can likely answer yes to the third: being intersex is as common as having red hair or green eyes. And that’s almost definitely an undercount. This week, Alicia Roth Weigel lays out what it means to have intersex traits, why so many intersex children face medical abuse, and what justice looks like for intersex people. Alicia Roth Weigel is a Forbes and New York T...
Nov 10, 2021•56 min•Ep 187•Transcript available on Metacast Chances are, you’ve been exposed to vaccine misinformation. And you could be at risk of believing it. This week, Dr. Kolina Koltai joins Jonathan to explore how vaccine misinformation travels online, why it’s so dangerous, and how you can stop it from spreading. Dr. Kolina Koltai is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on the anti-vaccine community’s use of sociotechnical systems to find, share, and assess vaccine misinf...
Nov 03, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep 186•Transcript available on Metacast Dams, what’s their story? Are they scenic sites? Harmful structures? This week, Professor Heather Randell and Jonathan go on a journey through dam history, ecology, and sociology. Listen in to learn about why dams are built; who they serve; and how they can cause displacement, change river ecology, and contribute to climate change. Heather Randell is an Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology and Demography at Penn State. She studies how dam construction affects local communities as well as the h...
Oct 27, 2021•58 min•Ep 185•Transcript available on Metacast You know those hangout episodes of your favorite TV shows? This episode’s like that, but in podcast form. Grab a seat and spend an hour with Jonathan and comedian, producer, writer, actor (and more!) Amanda Seales. The two explore their shared passion for gymnastics, how Amanda crafts her Instagram-famous comedy songs, and why it can be a compliment to be called “difficult.” Want another round with Amanda and Jonathan? Head over to Amanda’s podcast Small Doses for the second half of their conver...
Oct 20, 2021•50 min•Ep 184•Transcript available on Metacast Even the best earthquake early warning systems will give you only five to eight seconds of notice before you experience ground shaking. This week, Jonathan and geotechnical engineer Ashly Cabas take more than an hour exploring seismic waves, soils, risk assessment, and other earthquake fundamentals so that you can be prepared in the event of a natural hazard. Ashly Cabas, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina St...
Oct 13, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep 183•Transcript available on Metacast Actress, executive producer, activist, and best-selling author Gabrielle Union joins Jonathan to discuss radical transparency, allyship, and her new book You Got Anything Stronger? You can follow Gabrielle on Twitter @itsgabrielleu and Instagram @gabunion. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more...
Oct 06, 2021•51 min•Ep 182•Transcript available on Metacast America’s first medical patents date back to the 1790s—and patents still inform our every prescription, vaccine, and pharmacy run. This week on Getting Curious, Priti Krishtel joins Jonathan to break down the basics on medical patents. Why do they exist? Who do they serve? And how equitable are they? Priti Krishtel is a health justice lawyer and co-founder of I-MAK, a non-profit building a more just and equitable medicines system. She has spent nearly two decades exposing structural inequities a...
Sep 29, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep 181•Transcript available on Metacast This week, Demi Lovato joins Jonathan to discuss the difference between accomplishment and joy, finding serenity off stage, and Dolly Parton’s tour bus. You can follow Demi on Instagram and Twitter @ddlovato. If you loved hearing Jonathan and Demi together, make sure to subscribe to their podcast 4D with Demi Lovato for a special episode coming out soon! Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode ...
Sep 22, 2021•51 min•Ep 180•Transcript available on Metacast Some of us have our best ideas in the shower. Others have the best ideas for how to shampoo and condition while we’re taking those showers. This week, Jonathan sits down (in person!) with Ramya Viswanathan, chemist and principal formulator for JVN Hair, to discuss the science of haircare. You can follow all things JVN Hair on Instagram @jvnhair, and at www.jvnhair.com. For hair tutorials, behind the scenes footage, and other exclusive JVN Hair content, head over to JVN Beauty on YouTube. Find ou...
Sep 15, 2021•43 min•Ep 179•Transcript available on Metacast Need a palate cleanser? Have we got an episode for you. Padma Lakshmi joins Jonathan to discuss the key to a great grilled cheese, the ingredient that makes her chicken stock sublime, her new children’s book Tomatoes For Neela, and so much more. Padma Lakshmi is the creator and host of Hulu’s Taste the Nation and host and executive producer of the Emmy-winning Bravo series Top Chef. She is the bestselling author of two cookbooks, the Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs, as well as her memoir Love, ...
Sep 08, 2021•40 min•Ep 178•Transcript available on Metacast School is back in session, and so is Getting Curious! This week, Jonathan sits down with Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to better understand Pell Grants, Pre-K, and how the Department of Education plays a role in each child’s education. Dr. Miguel A. Cardona currently serves as the 12th Secretary of Education. Since beginning his journey as an educator, Secretary Cardona has served as an elementary school teacher, school principal, Performance and Evaluation lead administrator, Assistant ...
Sep 01, 2021•40 min•Ep 177•Transcript available on Metacast Refresh your beach playlist with a second serving of Getting Curious LIVE! For our last episode of the summer season, we’re giving you a taste of some top-shelf interviews recorded on Kesha's Weird & Wonderful Rainbow Ride Cruise, at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, and backstage at Jonathan’s Road to Beijing tour in Brisbane. Featuring interviews with Detox, Thorgy Thor, Bob The Drag Queen, Erin Gibson, Nicole Byer, and Mawaan Rizwan. Find out what today’s guests and former gues...
Aug 25, 2021•48 min•Ep 176•Transcript available on Metacast We’re celebrating the dog days of summer with two weeks’ worth of our favorite Getting Curious tapings from festivals, tour stops, and even a cruise. This week, cool down with interviews recorded live at Clusterfest and Outside Lands in San Francisco, and Vulture Fest in New York. The guests are amazing, the humor is on point, and the admission is free. Featuring interviews with Cat Cohen, Ayo Edebiri, Julio Torres, Jaboukie Young-White, Michelle Wolf, Florence Welch, and Justin Theroux. Find ou...
Aug 18, 2021•52 min•Ep 175•Transcript available on Metacast Join Jonathan and archaeologist James Doyle as they explore early Mesoamerican arts, cultures, and communities on this week’s Getting Curious. Listen in to learn about the numeral and writing systems that connected Mesoamerican societies thousands of years ago, the significance of commodities like jade and marine shell, and the ways in which Mesoamerican traditions continue today. James Doyle is an assistant curator in the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas for the Metro...
Aug 11, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep 174•Transcript available on Metacast 
