Free Associations

Free Associations

Author: Population Health Exchange Language: English Episodes: 156
Ever wonder what happens when you let a group of curious minds wander through the tangled undergrowth of health, medicine, and human life? That’s the essence of Free Associations, a podcast from the Population Health Exchange. We ditch the sterile lecture format to embrace the beautiful, often chaotic reality of science as it’s actually practiced. Each episode feels like a lively conversation you might overhear in a lab hallway or a community clinic, where ideas connect in unexpected ways. You’ll hear explorations that weave together personal stories, the latest research, and the natural world, all while keeping a firm footing in evidence. This isn’t about delivering tidy answers, but about reveling in the questions that make health and science so profoundly human. The result is a series of discussions that are as much about fitness for the mind as they are about the body, challenging assumptions and drawing lines between disciplines we often keep separate. Tune in for thoughtful, meandering dialogues that aim to make the complex landscape of population health feel more accessible and a lot more interesting. We’re here to follow the threads wherever they lead, and we invite you to come along for the ride.
Episodes
Episode 14.5 - The author responds: HIV incidence in Uganda (Bonus) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:02
In this special bonus episode, we have our first guest, Dr. Kate Grabowski, the author of the study we reviewed on HIV incidence in Uganda in episode 14. She talks with Matt and sets the record straight on a few issues w…
Episode 14 - Why is HIV incidence dropping in Uganda? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:11
Matt, Chris, and Don weigh in on an area they finally have some expertise in (HIV) by reviewing a study of HIV prevention in Uganda, the gang tries to explain the difference between “efficacy” and “effectiveness,” and Ma…
Episode 13 - A tough pill to swallow? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:34
Matt, Chris, and Don try to act like grownups in discussing a study of the effects of fecal transplants delivered through oral capsules to treat C. difficile infection, Matt mispronounces yet another medical term, p-valu…
Episode 12 - The sham podcast: Heart stents and angina? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:26
Matt, Chris, and Don discuss a fascinating study that contradicts much of the previous evidence on the benefits of heart stents for angina, Matt learns how angina is really pronounced during a discussion of ethics in med…
Episode 10 - It’s alive!!! A live podcast, featuring fat and carbs? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:40
Matt, Chris, and Don bring the podcast to a live audience and then feed them burritos before asking whether fat and carbs are killing us, wrestle with whether the ranking of a journal is a safe proxy for the quality of t…
Episode 9 - Is watching hockey the same as exercising? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:44
Matt, Chris, and Don get checked into the boards on this new study on watching hockey and heart rates (seriously), get called for high sticking over their take on how big a study needs to be, and Chris warns us about the…
Episode 8 - Could kids in Uganda do this podcast better than we can? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:50
Matt, Chris, and Don decide whether school kids in Uganda can be taught to evaluate the validity of health claims (hey, isn’t that our job?), take their best shot at conveying their strategies for determining who study r…
Episode 7 - Freaky associations between flu vaccine and miscarriage? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:31
Matt, Chris, and Don put down their Halloween candy long enough to debate whether H1N1 flu vaccine can cause spontaneous abortions in pregnant women, attempt to discern whether or not it is ok to divide up your data (goi…