Free Associations

Matt, Chris, and Don discuss a study on whether commonly used contraception increases HIV risk, the gang discuss how to improve the communication of science, and Don finally does standup comedy. Journal club article: Contraception and HIV study

Matt, Chris, and Don discuss the relationship between ability to smell and mortality, the gang discuss the role that journals have to play in combating false medical claims, and Matt explains his concerns about the future of sandwiches. Journal club article: Olfaction and mortality study

Matt, Chris, and Don determine whether you really need to walk 10,000 steps per day, the gang discuss a paper that had two discussion sections which came to two different conclusions, and Don enlightens us on whether couples look alike. Journal club article: 10,000 steps study

Matt, Chris, and Don have been traveling recently so for this episode we bring you another collection of the best of Amazing and Amusing. Enjoy!

Matt, Chris, and Don look at the impact of medical scribes on doctor productivity, the gang discuss a journal that only publishes unsurprising results, and Don grosses us out with facts about viruses. Journal club article: Medical scribes study

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a study of the risk of HIV transmission when a person is successfully taking HIV treatment (spoiler: the risk is 0), the gang discuss what a “risk factor” is, and Matt channels his inner Harry Potter. Journal club article: HIV transmission study

As we are nearing our 50th episode we wanted to take a look back at one of our favorites. Enjoy this rebroadcast of the poop pill episode. Journal club article: Fecal transplant study

Matt, Chris, and Don look at how living on the wrong side of a time zone affects your health, the gang discuss when it might be ok to conduct a trial without patient consent, and Matt wines. Journal club article: Time zone study

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a study of the impact of cannabis use on psychosis, the gang discuss something called ethics dumping, and Chris goes on a rant about naked mole rats. Journal club article: Cannabis study

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a new treatment for postpartum depression, the gang discuss some statistical pitfalls in personalized medicine, and Chris schools us all on cat behavior. Journal club article: Brexanolone study

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a study of whether complementary medicines during cancer treatment impact survival, the gang discuss when it is ok to self-plagiarize, and Don has some breaking news about cheese. Journal club article: Complementary medicine and cancer study

Matt, Chris, and Don look at yet another study that found no link between the measles mumps rubella vaccine and autism, the gang discuss whether email is making us stupid (stupider?), and Matt has some news about beer. Journal club article: MMR and autism study

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a study among the Amish to look for causes of asthma, the gang discuss an update to Plan S, and Chris notices an interesting pattern around STI transmission. Journal club article: Asthma among the Amish study

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a study that tested whether e-cigarettes are better than traditional approaches for helping people quit smoking, the gang discuss the value of “null” findings, and Matt has a message for cheaters. Journal club article: E-cigarettes study

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a study of a desensitization treatment for those with peanut allergy, the gang discuss whether artificial intelligence will replace us, and Matt learns how quickly he can put us all to sleep with a boring conference talk. Journal club article: Peanut allergy study

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a study that used an antibody to treat Alzheimer’s disease, the gang goes back to the well to talk about conflicts of interest, and Matt tells us the secret to good course evaluations! Journal club article: Alzheimer’s study

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a study using month of birth to explore whether attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is over-diagnosed, the gang discusses a study on how patients feel about having their clinical trial data shared, and Don enlightens us on which Legos taste best. Journal club article: ADHD and month of birth study

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a study of the effects of eating organic foods on risk of cancer, the gang discusses the role of data safety and monitoring boards in clinical trials, and Matt gives his shortest amazing and amusing ever. Journal club article: Organic food and cancer study

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a study of whether herpes virus is associated with dementia, the gang discusses a new database of retracted studies and what it tells us, and Don gives us the ICD10 codes we never knew we needed. Journal club article: HSV and dementia study

Matt, Chris, and Don look at two studies on asthma medication dosing, the gang discusses whether ad hominem attacks on science are more effective than attacks on the science itself, and Matt finally figures out which host is more popular. Journal club articles: Asthma dosing study 1 Asthma dosing study 2

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a massive cross-sectional study on the relationship between exercise and mental health, the gang discusses whether critiquing science gives fodder to those who wish to dismiss science, and Don finally solves all our manuscript issues. Journal club article: Exercise and mental health study

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a study that used a unique approach, analyzing observational data like a randomized trial, to look at the effect of a common NSAID on cardiovascular disease, the gang discusses a study attempting (and often failing) to reproduce results originally published in Nature and Science, and Chris, yet again, finds […]

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a trial that focuses on whether melatonin can help people with a sleep disorder, the gang discusses a provocative editorial that says nutritional epidemiology is deeply flawed, and Chris learns the dangers of ignoring Matt’s emails. Journal club article: Melatonin study

Matt, Chris, and Don take on a study from China on the relationship between smog and cognitive function, the gang discusses a new policy by EU funders preventing their grantees from publishing in paywalled journals, and Chris insists he gets two Amazing and Amusings. Journal club article: Smog and cognitive function

It’s our one year anniversary! Chris and Don are away this week so rather than have Matt talk to himself, we thought we’d go back and revisit some of our favorite Amazing and Amusing segments from the past year. Thanks for listening and for a great year!

Matt, Chris, and Jen talk about a study of whether low-dose aspirin to prevent vascular events should be weight dependent, the gang revisits placebo effects and wonders if it is all just regression to the mean, and Jen focuses on the empathy of our dogs. Journal club article: Low dose aspirin study

Jennifer Rider joins us in the studio as our first ever guest host. Matt, Chris, and Jen discuss a pragmatic trial of smoking cessation, the gang examines the pros and cons of surrogate endpoints, and Chris schools us all on horse dentistry. Journal club article: Smoking cessation trial

Matt, Chris, and Don review the literature on whether food labelling can reduce purchase and consumption of calories, the gang discusses a series of trials that were found to have errors and what it means for science, and Chris calculates the sum total of all living things on earth. Journal club article: Food labelling and […]

Matt, Chris, and Don examine a study that looked at whether a vaccine to prevent tuberculosis can treat Type 1 diabetes, the gang discusses the “Loss of Confidence Project” and what to do when you no longer have faith in one of your studies, and Matt reports on an N of 1 study that suggests […]

Matt, Chris, and Don do their second ever live podcast, exploring a study on the effects of sleep on mortality, the gang discusses a proposal to change the definition of statistical significance, and Chris goes rogue and has three amazing and amusing articles. Journal club article: Sleep duration and mortality study

Matt, Chris, and Don examine a trial done in India using synbiotics to prevent neonatal sepsis, the gang discusses a study that looked at whether scientific productivity has been increasing over time, and Don gives us just a study title for his amazing and amusing. Journal club article: Synbiotics to prevent sepsis study

Matt, Chris, and Don discuss a new treatment for lung cancer (immunotherapy), the gang discusses a controversy that occurred when a large clinical trial decided to change its endpoint, and Chris dives into the world of linguistics (again). Journal club article: Pembrolizumab lung cancer trial

Matt, Chris, and Don look at a case study of a drug company antidepressant trial in adolescents that was re-analyzed by different authors who came to different conclusions, the gang discusses the pre-registration movement in psychology and what it might tell us in medical research, and Matt finds out what happens to all those unreported […]

Matt, Chris, and Don finally take on one of their own studies on the effectiveness of outpatient pneumonia treatment in Pakistan and see how it holds up, the gang discusses what to do when your study has flaws, and Chris tells us what happens if you don’t get funding as a junior faculty member. Journal […]

Matt, Chris, and Don tackle a study on the effectiveness of opioids vs non-opioids for treatment of back, hip, and knee pain, then the gang discusses the new NIH rules on how a clinical trial is defined, and Matt reads us some academic love poems. Journal club article: Opioids vs non-opioids for back, hip, and […]

Matt, Chris, and Don are joined by Ludovic Trinquart and Mike LaValley from the BUSPH Biostats Department to discuss a massive meta-analysis on the effectiveness of antidepressants, then we talk about the pros and cons of meta-analysis, and Don gives us some driving advice. Journal club article: Antidepressants effectiveness

Matt, Chris, and Don discuss a study from Scotland on the introduction of the HPV vaccine and the impact on prevalence of HPV, the gang discusses what the goal of peer review is, and Matt gets on twitter to find out the latest on significance. Journal club article: HPV in Scotland

Matt, Chris, and Don puzzle out whether a diet low in gluten has an effect on coronary artery disease, the gang discusses whether it is ok to have prior beliefs when critiquing a study, and Don explains how sandwiches are killing the planet. Journal club article: Gluten and heart disease

Matt, Chris, and Don look at the science behind a supplement aimed at improving memory, the gang debates whether industry has a conflict of interest in running their own research, and Matt explains why Don is to blame for his hearing loss. Journal club article: Apoaequorin and memory study

Matt, Chris, and Don debate a new meta-analysis on the evidence behind calcium and vitamin D supplements for prevention of fractures, Matt once again explains why he hates null hypothesis significance testing, and Don alerts us to the dangers of listening to heavy metal. Journal club article: Vitamin D and calcium study

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 we got wrong and we talk about the wider impact of her work on […]

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 Matt gets dangerously close to a word we’re not allowed to say. Journal club article: HIV prevention in […]

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-values are finally, though not fully taken on (taken down?), and Chris reveals the enlightening truth that “jellyfish ain’t babies”. Journal […]

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 medical research, and the three answer the question of just how bad Vegemite really is. Journal club article: Heart […]

Matt, Chris, and Don run an obstacle course (metaphorically) through a study on exercise and academic achievement (our first listener generated topic), then Matt lobs dodgeballs at Chris to pin him down on why he’s so skeptical about observational studies, and Don seems to suggest it’s ok to talk on a cell phone while crossing […]

Bonus content! Matt, Chris, and Don answer questions from a live audience.

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 the articles within, and Chris finally teaches us why bees don’t use back scratchers. […]

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 dangers of pizza deficiency syndrome. *We recorded video for this episode as well. […]

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 results generalize to and Chris finds the answers in rubbing his bald spot. Journal Club Article: Informed health […]

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 (going on fishing expeditions?) and Matt explains why he didn’t make it all the way through The […]