What do Enlightenment-era paintings, 19th-century American fashion magazines, and Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” have in common? They’re all strong examples of what fatphobia has to do with race, class, and gender discrimination. This week, learn all about the origins of anti-fat bias, and how it persists today, with Professor Sabrina Strings.  Sabrina Strings, Ph.D. is a Chancellor's Fellow and Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Irvine. Sabrina has been featured in dozens of venues, including BBC News, NPR, Huffington Post, Vox, Los Angeles Times, Essence, Vogue, and goop. Her writing has appeared in diverse venues including, The New York Times, Scientific American, Ethnic and Racial Studies, and Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. Her book, Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia (2019), was awarded the 2020 Best Publication Prize by the Body & Embodiment Section of the American Sociological Association. You can follow Dr. Strings on Twitter @SaStrings and check out her website sabrinastrings.com. Want to learn more? Here are some books and resources she recommends: Da’Shaun Harrison's The Belly of the Beast Sonya Renee Taylor’s The Body Is Not An Apology Dr. Joy Cox’s Fat Girls In Black Bodies Roxane Gay’s Hunger Tressie McMillan Cottom’s THICK Dr. Jill Andrew’s work NAAFA Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.  Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This fall, pro-union sentiment in the US rose to 68 percent—the highest it’s been since 1965. We’re living through a major moment for labor organizing, and we have so many questions! How did we get here? Who got us here? And what’s at stake for workers across the country today? Kim Kelly joins Jonathan to discuss the power of collective bargaining, worker solidarity, and her new book FIGHT LIKE HELL, an intersectional history of labor movements in the US. Kim Kelly is an independent journalist, author of FIGHT LIKE HELL: The Untold History of American Labor. She has been a regular labor columnist for Teen Vogue since 2018, and her writing on labor, class, politics, and culture has appeared in The New Republic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Baffler, The Nation, and many others. Previously, she was the heavy metal editor at “Noisey,” VICE’s music vertical, and was an original member of the VICE Union. A third-generation union member, she was born in the heart of the South Jersey Pine Barrens, and currently lives in Philadelphia with a hard-workin’ man, a couple of taxidermied bears, and way too many books. Want to learn even more about the US labor movement?  Follow Kim on Twitter @grimkim and on Instagram @kimkellywriter.  Pick up a copy of FIGHT LIKE HELL, out now! And check out Kim’s FIGHT LIKE HELL reading list, which you can access for free on her Patreon. Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.    Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook.   Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in.   Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Headshot Credit for Kim Kelly: Elizabeth Kreitschman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

*A note from Jonathan and the Getting Curious team: We are covering the latest SCOTUS developments on Instagram and Twitter @CuriouswithJVN. Head there for insights from past guests, resources, and relevant episodes from our archive. We invite you to listen to this episode whenever feels right for you, and we hope that you’ll find comfort and energy from it.*   The birds are chirping, the flowers are blooming, and we have a spring in our step because Professor Beronda Montgomery is back on Getting Curious, for an episode all about trees! How do trees know when to unfurl their leaves in the spring? Do they have growth spurts? What’s bud grafting all about? Learn all that and more—plus, catch up on the latest from Jonathan and Mark’s garden.      Beronda Montgomery is a writer, science communicator, and currently a Michigan State University Foundation Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics. Beronda will soon be Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean at Grinnell College. Her recent book is Lessons from Plants (2021, Harvard University Press).   If you aren’t already obsessed with Professor Montgomery and following her on all the socials, she’s on Twitter @BerondaM and @PlantLessons, and on Instagram @Beronda_M and @PlantLessons. Her website is berondamontgomery.com. And you can follow her New Scientist column here!   Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook.   Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in.   Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What was it like to trans gender if you were living in 18th or 19th century England or America? This week, Professor Jen Manion joins Jonathan to explore the world of “female husbands,” people who were raised as girls but lived as men. Listen in to learn about these resilient individuals’ lives; how they were treated by their partners and the press; and how they paved the way for queer and trans communities today.  Jen Manion is a writer, historian, and advocate whose work examines the role of gender and sexuality in American life. Jen was the first in their family to graduate from college and is now a Professor at Amherst College.  You can follow Professor Manion on Twitter @activisthistory, on Instagram @manionjen, and at www.jenmanion.com. And make sure to grab a copy of Female Husbands, published by Cambridge University Press. Want to learn more? Here are some resources referenced in the episode: Digital Transgender Archive Library of Congress Digital Archives Some additions to your watch (and reading!) lists: Gentleman Jack Albert Nobbs And more resources Professor Manion recommends: Transgender Children in Antebellum America (OutHistory.org) Histories of Sexuality and the Carceral State (NOTCHES) The Performance of Transgender Inclusion (Public Seminar) Don't Pop the Champagne Yet on “They” (Public Seminar) Why Do You Call Us Ladies? (Public Seminar) Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.  Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sometimes, when we get real excited about an episode, we stick our hands under our armpits and SNIFF ’EM! And this week, we’re real excited, because we have none other than THE superstar Molly Shannon on the show. Listen in as she and Jonathan discuss her comedy career, her new book Hello, Molly!, and how they crossed paths long before Jonathan was cast on Queer Eye. Molly Shannon is an Emmy-nominated and Independent Spirit Award-winning actress and comedian. You know her from her Saturday Night Live, Other People, The Other Two, The White Lotus, and so many other incredible film and television projects. She’s in the upcoming Showtime series I Love That For You, and her new memoir Hello, Molly! is out now. Make sure to follow Molly on Instagram @theofficialsuperstar.  Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.  Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in.   Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coral are teeny tiny animals just two layers thick, and yet they create the biggest structures made by any biological creatures on the planet—like, the size of Italy big. Literally HOW! This week, Dr. Juli Berwald and Jonathan dive deep on all things coral, from their mating behaviors to their “badass merger” with algae to coral reefs’ critical importance to life in the ocean and on land. Juli Berwald received her PhD in ocean science from the University of Southern California. She’s the author of Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone and a contributor to The New York Times, Nature, National Geographic, and Slate. Her new book Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs is out now. You can follow Dr. Berwald on Twitter and Instagram @juliberwald. Her website is www.juliberwald.com.  Interested in learning more about coral reefs and sunscreen? Discover more here! Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.  Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This one’s for everyone who watched Bridgerton and wondered: could I get it in Georgian England?! Dr. Sally Holloway joins Jonathan to discuss the ins and outs of love and courtship in this era, including gifts and letters people would exchange, 18th century contraception, and the historical equivalents of ghosting and catfishing.   Dr. Sally Holloway is a historian of gender, emotions, and visual and material culture over the long 18th and nineteenth centuries, and is a Vice Chancellor’s Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University. She is the author of The Game of Love in Georgian England: Courtship, Emotions, and Material Culture (Oxford, 2019), which will be published in paperback in June.   You can follow Dr. Holloway on Twitter @sally_holloway.   Here are some visual resources to pair with the episode:   “The Unwilling Bridegroom, or Forc’d Meat Will Never Digest”   “Sympathetic Lovers”   Eye Miniature   18th c. Sheep's Gut Condoms   The love letter from William Martin to Hannah Smith, sent on February 15, 1714, is from the Hampshire Record office in Winchester, ref. 3M51/684. You can find their contact details here.   Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.    Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook.   Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We love a reason to be extra, and Jonathan’s new book Love That Story: Observations from a Gorgeously Queer Life goes on sale next week, so we’re dropping an extra episode to celebrate! Listen in to hear Jonathan read a chapter from the Love That Story audiobook, all about overcoming body issues and learning to love themselves.     Before you dive in, please note that in this chapter, Jonathan discusses their experiences with binge eating and food restriction. So take this episode at your own pace, or revisit it when and if it feels right for you to do so.   If you’re listening before April 11, there’s still time to pre-order Love That Story–and if you do, you can download a bonus chapter of the audiobook! Visit any local independent bookseller to order the hardcover, and then go to libro.fm/lovethatstory to get the instant download.    Want to support a queer-owned bookstore with your purchase? Here are some of our faves:   Women and Children First   Astoria Bookshop   A Room of One’s Own   Also—Jonathan’s going on a book tour! There are dates in New York, LA, Chicago, Austin, and virtually. Visit jonathanvanness.com/booktour to find a stop near you. Here’s some of what’s in store:   Politics & Prose with Sixth & I   Posman Books with 92Y   Seminary Coop with Chicago Humanities Festival   Book Soup @ Zipper Hall   Book People @ The Library Foundation   Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.    Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in.   Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook.   Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIN; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As we count down to this year’s Trans Day of Visibility, there’s a lot to be thankful for: trans creativity, resilience, community. There’s also a lot on the line for trans people and those who love them. Adri Pèrez and Chase Strangio of the ACLU join Jonathan to discuss the importance of protecting trans rights, what attacks on the trans community say about state power, and what a coordinated resistance could look like. Adri Pèrez is the policy & advocacy strategist for the ACLU of Texas, where they lead LGBTQIA+ advocacy on the Sexuality & Gender Equality team. You can follow Adri on Instagram @adriperextx and on Twitter @AdriPerezTX. Chase Strangio is Deputy Director for Transgender Justice with the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project and a nationally recognized expert on transgender rights. You can follow Chase on Instagram and Twitter @chasestrangio. Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.  Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in.   Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIN; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What comes to mind when you think of the Himalaya? For Jonathan, it’s a whole lot of questions! This week’s guest Dr. Mona Chettri gives us a glimpse at life in the eastern Himalaya, including how political borders have shaped the region; what’s changing amidst rapid development; and what the future might hold for young residents.   Mona Chettri is a Post-Doctoral Research fellow at the Australia-India Institute, University of Western Australia. She has worked extensively on urbanisation, ethnicity, environmental politics and development in the eastern Himalayan borderlands of Sikkim, Darjeeling and east Nepal.  She is the author of Constructing Democracy: Ethnicity and Democracy in the eastern Himalaya (Amsterdam University Press, 2017) and co-editor of Development Zones in Asian Borderlands (Amsterdam University Press, 2021). Her current research focuses on the intersections between gender, labour, urbanisation and infrastructure in the Sikkim-Darjeeling Himalaya, India and Himalayan immigrant labour in Australia.    You can follow Dr. Chettri on Instagram @monagtk, on Twitter at @mona_chettri, and on Facebook at mona.gtk.   For more information on the eastern Himalaya, check out The Confluence Collective and Sikkim Project.   Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.  Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in.   Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIN; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Blah,” said Toad. “I feel down in the dumps.”    “Why?” asked Frog.    “I’m thinking about how there’s never been an episode of Getting Curious about us.”   Frog opened up his podcast feed.   Toad peered over his shoulder.   “Toad, there it is! An episode of Getting Curious with herpetologist Kelly Zamudio! All about where we live, how we interact, and why we’re so important to biodiversity.”   They pressed play—and now, they invite you to do the same.   Kelly Zamudio is an evolutionary biologist and her research focuses on the origin and maintenance of diversification in vertebrates (especially reptiles and amphibians). Her lab integrates field research in population biology, demography, and landscape/habitat change with lab research on the genetic underpinnings of population diversification, speciation, and conservation genetics. Kelly has a particular fondness for frogs and their reproductive modes. You can follow her on Twitter at @KZ_UTAustin. Her lab website is zamudiolab.org.   Keep up with the latest on frogs at AmphibiaWeb and Amphibian Species of the World.    Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.  Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in.   Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIN; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Old MacDonald had a farm—and on that farm he had rich terrain for an episode of Getting Curious. Join Professor Gabe Rosenberg and Jonathan as they explore what agricultural history has to do with our modern understandings of sex, gender, and sexuality. They cover the concept of “animal husbandry,” 4-H clubs, the story of a pig looking for love, and so much more.   Gabriel N. Rosenberg is Associate Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies and History at Duke University, where he studies how gender, race, and sexuality have shaped the history of the modern food system.    His first book, The 4-H Harvest: Sexuality and the State in Rural America, was a gendered history of the iconic rural youth organization, and he is currently writing a book about the interconnections between livestock breeding and the emergence of the human eugenics movement. He writes frequently for The New Republic and has held research fellowships at the National Humanities Center, Yale University, the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, and the American Philosophical Society.   You can follow him on Twitter @gnrosenberg and subscribe to his Substack newsletter “The Strong Paw of Reason” at bearistotle.substack.com.   Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.    Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in.   Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook.   Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIN; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 processing; and food sustainability.  You can follow her on Twitter @SelinaWangPhd and Instagram @profselinawang, and keep up with her work at selinawang.com. Her lab is on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube @UCFoodQuality. Want to keep up with all things olive oil? Professor Wang recommends reading the Olive Oil Times. Join in on the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.  Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson. Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital. Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIN; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com. Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 science communication and education. You can follow Tina on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @tinalasisi. Her website is www.tinalasisi.com, and you can explore more of her work at linktr.ee/tinalasisi. Want to support other Black Biological Anthropologists? Dr. Lasisi recommends following @BlackinBioAnth on Twitter and Instagram, and @rockstaranthro on Instagram. Join in on the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.  Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson. Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital. Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIN; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com. Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 @CuriousWithJVN.    Keep up with our very special guest host Mark Peacock on Instagram @marklondon.   Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson. Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital. Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIN; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com. Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Twitter @nadiabrashier and read more about her research at nadiabrashier.com.   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. Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook.   Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson. Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital. Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIN; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com. Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Her restaurant, Leith’s, had a Michelin Star, she is a past winner of the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year and has been a Director on many boards, including British Rail and Belmond Ltd. She chaired The School Food Trust tasked with improving school meals and an education company turning round failing schools. She was the instigator of the Fourth Plinth contemporary sculpture project in Trafalgar square and is currently a judge on the Great British Baking Show, and Advisor to the government’s Review of Hospital Food. She likes salmon fishing, gardening and home life.   You can follow Prue on Instagram and Twitter @PrueLeith, and at PrueLeith.com.   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.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in.   Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 College. Chris works in the general area of sedimentary basin analysis. When not studying rocks, Chris gives geoscience lectures to the public and schools, and he’s appeared on several Earth Science-focused television productions and podcasts. Chris is engaged in efforts to improve equality, diversity, and inclusivity in Higher Education. He runs, too! You can follow Professor Jackson on Twitter @seis_matters, and on Instagram @christopheraidenleejackson. Want to learn more about volcanoes?  Dive into resources from the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program here. Read up on the life and legacy of US Geological Survey volcanologist David Johnston— And check out the work of volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft, who are the subjects of the documentary feature Fire of Love, playing now at Sundance. 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. Love listening to Getting Curious? Starting this Friday, January 28, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Mark your calendars, and head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to set a reminder. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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: Healing Indigenous Landscapes Through Indigenous Science (out now!), she breaks down why western conservationism isn’t working–and offers Indigenous models informed by case studies, personal stories, and family histories that center the voices of Latin American women and land protectors. You can follow Dr. Hernandez on Twitter and Instagram @doctora_nature, and keep up with her work at www.jessicabhernandez.com.  For more resources about Native and Indigenous lands, visit landback.org and native-land.ca.  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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 College. She began her work with figure skating in 1993 while with the United States Olympic Committee Athlete Performance Division and has continued to work with the sport for the last 21 years.  Her work in skating has included studying the biomechanics of figure skating jumps, focusing on 3D kinematics of national and internal level figure skaters, studying injury demographics in competitive and non-competitive skaters, and developing an instrumented blade to study impact forces in figure skating.      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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Canadian Black Scientists Network is on Twitter and Instagram @canblacksci.   For more resources referenced in this episode, make sure to check out the work of Professor Karen Warentkin at Boston University, including the presentation Crossing boundaries, disrupting binaries: A queer perspective on studying behavioral diversity.   Many thanks to Dr. Senthurran Sivalinghem at University of Toronto for permission to use the amazing spider footage featured towards the end of this conversation.   And thank you to Dr. Jessica Ware for sparking our curiosity here! Dr. Ware’s episode of Getting Curious about cicadas, dragonflies, and other insects is a perfect follow-up listen.   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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 leading to five nominations at the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for the album’s first single, “Right On Time.” You can follow Brandi on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @brandicarlile and find more of her work on brandicarlile.com.  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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  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 flavors, colors and textures into American homes and kitchens, as viewers have watched Pati thoughtfully and enthusiastically guide them through the various geographic regions of the country.    Pati is also the host of the recently released PBS Primetime special La Frontera, which highlights the unique foods and culture along the Texas-Mexico border, and has authored three cookbooks including the recently released Treasures of the Mexican Table.   You can follow Pati on Instagram and Twitter @PatiJinich, and learn more about her work at patijinich.com.   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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Make sure to check out Kelli’s storytelling series Queer Memoir at Caveat. Mary Johnson loves life. Her award-winning memoir An Unquenchable Thirst reveals the secret life inside her 20 years as a nun with the Sisters of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. As a Humanist Celebrant, Mary creates ceremonies for weddings, memorials, and all life’s transitions. Mary is also host of The Book Canopy and is working on a second book and a video series. You can follow Mary on Twitter @_MaryJohnson and at maryjohnson.co.  Want to hear more from Kelli and Mary, and other former Missionaries of Charity? Check out the excellent podcast series The Turning: The Sisters Who Left, inspired by Mary’s Memoir and produced by Rococo Punch and iHeartMedia. Find out what today’s guests 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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 descendants as they navigated practices and policies of anti-Blackness, xenophobia, denationalization, and white supremacy in Panama and the United States. Her research can also be found in Black Perspectives (September 14, 2021), Caribbean Review of Gender Studies (Issue 12, 2018), the International Journal of Africana Studies (18:2, Fall-Winter 2017), and the Global South (6:2, Fall 2013).   You can follow her on Twitter @KCorinealdi, and read more of her work here.    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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Scissors in 2018 and Beautiful People: The Boutique in 1960s Counterculture, which is up now!   You can follow her on Instagram @thehouseofscissors.   Want to learn more about scissors? Check out these resources:   Handmade scissors in Sheffield at Ernest Wright   Scissors being made at Ernest Wright   Scissors maker William Whiteley & Sons, Sheffield   Scissor Collecting Magazine Dial M For Murder   The Secret Life of Scissors exhibition in The New York Times   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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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, and European settlers, is Assistant Professor in History and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is a scholar of Native American history and North American Wests, and her research examines the continuities of Ojibwe sovereignty in the context of settler colonialism in both the United States and Canada, centering Ojibwe ways of knowing.    You can follow her on Twitter @historianhuettl.   Want to learn more about the Oregon Trail?    See whose land you’re living on, or learn more about the Native nations whose land was crossed by the Oregon Trail: Native-Land.ca   Visit the only Oregon Trail museum run by Indigenous people: TAMÁSTSLIKT CULTURAL INSTITUTE   Explore the Fort Laramie Treaty through an interactive case study: Fort Laramie Treaty Case Study   Read Margaret’s work: “Treaty Stories: Reclaiming the Unbroken History of Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Sovereignty”   Learn more about Indigenous representations: IllumiNative.    Check out some Indigenous-centered games:   When Rivers Were Trails Invaders Growing Up Ojibwe Never Alone   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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 telling more effective, empathetic and evidence-based data stories.   You can follow Professor Feigenbaum on Twitter @drfigtree.   Want to learn more about tear gas? Here are some recommended resources:   Tear Gas: An Investigation — Amnesty International   RiotID (@RiotID on Twitter)   Welcome to Omega Research Foundation | Omega Research Foundation   Chemical Weapons Research Consortium   DTP   Physicians for Human Rights: Through evidence, change is possible. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Times published change agent, working to improve the political and social landscape for marginalized populations in the South through her consulting firm Intrepida Strategy. As a Human Rights Commissioner for the City of Austin, she has contributed to legislation to reduce sexual assault and human trafficking, mandate paid sick leave and abortion funding, decriminalize and alleviate homelessness, and target other social determinants of health.  Most notably, Alicia continually advocates for the rights of intersex people like her, for which she was awarded the Ceci Gratias Guardian Award by the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce in 2019. Alicia is committed to fostering body autonomy and culturally competent healthcare for all. Make sure to follow Alicia on Instagram and Twitter @xoxy_alicia. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 misinformation. She received her PhD in 2020 in Information Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.   You can follow her on Twitter @kolinakoltai. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 health and social impacts of climate change.   You can follow her on Twitter @HeatherFRandell, and at www.heatherrandell.com   Want to learn more about dams? Here are three short films worth checking out:   Guardians of the River Belo Monte: After the Flood (2016) A River Runs Through Us   And here’s a recent article from the New Yorker on the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 conversation!   For more on Amanda and her work, including upcoming performance dates, make sure to follow her on Instagram and Twitter @amandaseales, and head to smartfunnyandblack.com.     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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 State University (NCSU), where she investigates seismic hazards and earthquake effects on civil infrastructure.  Her team at NCSU collaborates with seismologists, geologists, and structural engineers to understand how the response of soils and rocks to earthquake loading can influence the damaging potential of earthquakes.  Her research group’s work has also been recognized with EERI best paper awards in 2014 and 2018, and she has served in reconnaissance missions after the 2018 M7.1 Anchorage, Alaska earthquake, and more recently the 2021 M7.2 Nippes, Haiti earthquake.   You can follow Professor Cabas on Twitter @amcabas, and keep up with her work at NCSU on Twitter @NCStateCCEE and on the Cabas Research Group site.   Want to learn more about earthquakes? Here are some recommended resources:   Seismological Society of America (SSA)   Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI)   American Society of Civil Engineers - GeoInstitute   US Geological Survey (USGS), Earthquake Hazards   Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure Cyberinfrastructure component, DesignSafe-CI   Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure Natural Hazards Reconnaissance component, RAPID   Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS)   GeoHazards International (GHI)   ShakeAlert, Early Warning System   RaspberryShake Personal seismograph   NCSU Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering Department   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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 affecting access to medicines and vaccines across the Global South and in the United States.   You can follow Priti on Twitter @pritikrishtel. I-MAK is on Twitter @IMAKglobal and at i-mak.org.   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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on  Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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, Loss, and What We Ate. You can follow Padma on Instagram and Twitter @padmalakshmi. Tomatoes For Neela is out now. 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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Superintendent, and most recently Commissioner of Education for the State of Connecticut.   You can follow Secretary Cardona on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @SecCardona.   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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com, and full versions of each of the conversations excerpted in today’s episode are available for free wherever you’re listening to the show. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 out what today’s guests 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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Metropolitan Museum of Art. James is on Twitter @JamesDoyleMet and on Instagram @jamesdoylenyc.   Want to learn more? Check out some of James’ writing for the Met, including: Ancient Maya Sculpture Ancient Maya Painted Ceramics Olmec Art 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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are in for a real treat this week as Dr. Sarah-Elizabeth Byosiere joins Jonathan for an episode all about dogs! How do dogs perceive colors and sounds? What are best practices for dog training? Is alpha behavior a real thing? And are Jonathan’s dogs Pablo and Elton on track to be best friends?!   Sarah-Elizabeth Byosiere, Ph.D., is the Director of the Thinking Dog Center and Assistant Professor at Hunter College (CUNY) where she focuses on studying the behavior and cognition of domestic dogs, and occasionally cats.   You can follow Dr. Byosiere on Twitter @SEByosiere, and follow the Thinking Dog Center on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @HunterTDC.   Want to learn more about dog behavior? Here are some recommended resources: How to Choose a Dog Trainer Guide to Cooperative Care Companion Animal Psychology Blog Bark Magazine Fear Free Pets Whole Dog Journal The Other End of the Leash Blog Pet Professional Guild IAABC Foundation 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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One in four women and one in two trans people will experience intimate partner violence in the United States, and the primary obstacle to safety for survivors is financial security. Sonya Passi joins Jonathan to discuss what it looks like to reframe intimate partner violence as a structural economic issue, and what it will take to give survivors the support they need to thrive.   As a sensitivity warning, this episode discusses intimate partner violence in detail. We hope that centering an episode on this important topic helps to bring awareness to survivors’ experiences, and the incredible work that Sonya and other advocates are doing through organizations like Freefrom.   Sonya Passi is the founder and CEO of FreeFrom, a national organization on a mission to create pathways to financial security and long-term safety for survivors of gender-based violence. Sonya and her work emphasize the creativity, resourcefulness, and power that each survivor has to achieve financial independence, and to build communities that support individual, intergenerational, and collective healing.   Keep up with Sonya and Freefrom’s work on Instagram @freefromdotorg, Twitter @freefromorg, and Facebook @freefrom.org.   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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the eve of the Tokyo Olympics, we’re turning our attention to another era of athletic competitions: the ancient Olympics. Professors Sarah E. Bond and Joel Christensen join Jonathan to discuss these early games and what they reveal about ancient Greek and Roman politics, religions, gender roles, and more. After you listen, make sure to check out Dr. Bond’s first appearance on the show: Would I Have Been The Toast Of The Ancient Mediterranean? Sarah E. Bond is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Iowa and the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Her book, Trade and Taboo: Disreputable Professionals in the Roman Mediterranean, was published with the University of Michigan Press in 2016. Follow her on Twitter @SarahEBond. Joel Christensen is Professor and Chair of Classical Studies and Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs at Brandeis University. He also runs the blog sententiaeantiquae.com and the associated Ancient Greek and Roman (and Cats) Twitter account @sentantiq. He has published introductory books on Homer with Elton T. E. Barker (Beginner’s Guide to Homer, One World, 2013) and Erik Robinson (A Commentary on the Homeric Battle of Frogs and Mice, Bloomsbury, 2018) and recently completed The Many-Minded Man: the Odyssey, Psychology, and the Therapy of Epic with Cornell University Press (2020). Find out what today’s guests 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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Getting Curious, we’re going from table to farm to learn more about where our food comes from, and who is producing it. Activist and lawyer Mónica Ramírez joins Jonathan to discuss the history of farmwork in the United States, the labor conditions facing contemporary farmworkers, and the work she and her peers are doing to prioritize legal and mental health support for farmworker communities.   Mónica Ramírez is an attorney, author and activist. She is the founder of Justice for Migrant Women and co-founder of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, The Latinx House, and Poderistas (formerly She Se Puede). Mónica has received numerous awards, including Harvard Kennedy School’s first Gender Equity Changemaker Award, Feminist Majority’s Global Women’s Rights Award and the Smithsonian’s 2018 Ingenuity Award. She was named to Forbes Mexico’s 100 Most Powerful Women’s 2018 list and TIME Magazine included her in its 2021 TIME100 Next list. Mónica is also an inaugural member of the Ford Global Fellowship. Follow Monica on Instagram @activistmonicaramirez and Twitter @MonicaRamirezOH. Justice for Migrant Women is on Instagram and Twitter @mujerxsrising, and at justice4women.org.   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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Getting Curious, Sister District’s Lala Wu and Gaby Goldstein are here to remind us that there are no off-year elections, only odd-year elections—and we’re in the midst of a major campaign season. Lala and Gaby break down why this year’s state legislature races are a bellwether for the midterms, what’s going on with redistricting, and how you can get involved in electing progressives across the country. Once you’ve listened to the episode, make sure to check out Gaby’s first appearance on Getting Curious, in 2018 (“How Do We Flip Red States Blue In The Midterms?”) and head over to Instagram for a 2020 conversation with Sister District’s Rita Bosworth. Sister District is a grassroots organization of over 50,000 members, which provides hands-on field and fundraising support to endorsed state legislative candidates. Sister District Action Network, their affiliated c4, focuses on political research, civic engagement and state legislator support. You can learn more at https://sisterdistrict.com/. Sister District is on Twitter and Instagram @Sister_District and on YouTube and Facebook at Sister District. Lala Wu is thrilled and humbled to be the first woman of color to take the helm as the Executive Director of Sister District. In her previous role as the Director of Engagement & Partnerships, she successfully led the expansion of the organization's volunteer infrastructure to over 150 chapters in 31 states. Prior to co-founding Sister District, Lala was a clean energy and land use attorney. Lala is on Twitter @_lala_wu_. Gaby Goldstein is an attorney, political strategist, and health & state policy enthusiast. As Co-Founder at Sister District, she is building progressive power in state legislatures and helping legislators succeed once elected. She serves as Political Advisor at Sister District Project, and as Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at Sister District Action Network. Gaby Goldstein is on Twitter @gaby__goldstein. Find out what today’s guests 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 music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last June, LGBTQIA+ activist, journalist, and media personality Ashlee Marie Preston joined Jonathan on Instagram Live for a conversation about Pride, racial justice, and everyday acts of resistance. To round out Pride this year, we’re releasing that conversation as a podcast episode.   Follow Ashlee Marie Preston on Instagram @ashleemariepreston and Twitter @AshleeMPreston, and learn more about her work at YouAreEssential.org. Make sure to revisit her first appearance on Getting Curious, recently released from our archives: “Am I A Self-Karen?”   Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. While you're on Instagram, check out some of our other Instagram Live conversations with activists, politicians, scientists, and more friends of the show. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices