Author: Shelley Schlender

 

Halloween Sadism – (Starts 2:45)  Criminologist Joel Best researches questions such as, Do Halloween apples harbor razor blades?  and “Has anyone ever died of poisoned Halloween candy?” One answer might surprise you.

Detecting DeepFake Video Criminals  (Starts 16:50) Deep fake images of financial officials during a video conference have fooled people into wiring bad actors millions of dollars.  Detecting video conference deepfakes requires huge amounts of computing power.  CU Computer Scientists Sangtae Ha and Tuan Tran are are part of a team developing a detection system that uses over 100 times LESS computing power, and still flag the fakes.

Hosts: Shelley Schlender, Juliana Krigsman
Show Producer & Engineer  Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Susan Moran

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:21 — 33.5MB)

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Legal and Environmental Expert Chris Winter explains the Boulder Vs Suncor lawsuit, what it’s about, what’s at stake, and why it’s become the lead case, being heard at the US Supreme Court, about whether lawsuits attributing climate change damage to a corporation are allowed to be tried in court . . . or not.  This episode also explains some upcoming public talks and forums happening at the Wolf Law Center at CU Boulder.

Host & Show Producer: Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Susan Moran

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:32 — 36.4MB)

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One million Americans get knee replacements every year, for a cost of up to $70,000 per knee, plus a year-long recovery.  CU-Boulder scientist Stephanie Bryant leads a team that’s developing a single-shot hydrosol that helps the body regenerate cartilage in the knee, so it can heal in just a few weeks, and cost much less than a knee replacement.  Bryant will present her findings on October 20th at the CU-Boulder Biofrontiers Institute.  Go Here to get more info and reserve a ticket for this talk.

Hosts: Shelley Schlender, Joel Parker
Show Producer: Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Susan Moran

 

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:24 — 33.5MB)

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CU Boulder Computer Scientist Aaron Clauset says military leaders frequently underestimate the ultimate length and size of a war.   Clauset offers a new way to measure wars, not just by counting deaths at a war’s end – his research shows how death rates change, throughout a war.  This provides insights into what causes wars to escalate, and carries the hope of leading to more ways to avoid wars or help them end.

Go here to reserve a spot, for Clauset’s 6 PM, September 22nd, public presentation, at the CU Boulder Biofrontiers Butcher Auditorium.  Clauset titles his talk:  A Fragile Peace: What the statistics of war tell us about our future.”

Host/Producer: Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:00 — 37.1MB)

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Teaching through screens is part of getting kids ready for the digital world.  But when do tech and screens help students and when do they get in the way?  CU-Boulder Journalism Student Juliana Krigsman explores these questions with teachers, with Boulder Valley School District’s Academic Services Director Lynn Gershman, and with CU-Boulder Psychology and Neuroscience Professor Rosalinde Kaiser.

Host: Benita Lee
Show Producers: Juliana Krigsman and Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

Listen to the show here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:57 — 37.1MB)

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A heart attack forced Boulder community leader and journalist Sam Fuqua to need emergency care.  While being wheeled into the operating room, Sam hoped to soothe his anxiety by hearing some favorite music.  His hope had scientific merit.  Studies like this indicate that surgery patients who get to choose what music plays during surgery, require fewer painkillers and have an easier recovery.

Music might seem a simple and easy comfort to offer surgery patients, but when How on Earth’s Mac Hebebrand asked some local surgery centers about their views on music, almost all declined the interviews . . . all, except for Boulder Heart Cardiologist Nelson Trujillo.

Stay tuned to hear Cardiologist Nelson Trujillo‘s discussion about music during surgery, and to find out what happened to Sam.

Host: Mac Hebebrand
Show Producers: Shelley Schlender & Mac Hebebrand
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:20 — 33.4MB)

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Colorado River Water (starts 1:00)   Steep cuts are ahead in the use of Colorado River water by Arizona and California.  But what about Colorado?  For answers, we talk with CU-Boulder’s Doug Kenney, water law expert and  chair of the Colorado River Project.

Ghostbots (starts )  AI apps offer to help people  “talk” with the dead.  CU Boulder Information Scientists  Jed Brubaker and Jack Manning and Boulder Unitarian Church Community Outreach minister Jeremy Nichol share research and insights about how these apps work and user responses.

Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer/Engineer:  Shelley Schlender

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:45 — 34.0MB)

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Poking the Squid –  Good Reads calls author and illustrator Perrin Roosevelt Ireland’s new book a brilliantly funny, beautifully illustrated graphic nonfiction book that shatters our puritanical and binary notions of nature..

Hosts/Producers/Engineers: Shelley Schlender, Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:07 — 37.3MB)

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Global conflicts are revealing vulnerabilities in the global reliance on imported fossil fuels and centralized power.  Energy Analyst Kyle Datta says energy security needs may speed the adoption of renewables and “as a side effect,” reduce the rise of global warming.

For Datta’s full speech, which he presented with videos at the 2026 Gold Lab Symposium, go here.

Host/Show Producer: Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Susan Moran

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:55 — 37.0MB)

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Protest It, Respect It, Defend  It, Use It (starts 1:00) Friday at Denver Patagonia and Saturday at Boulder Patagonia environmental activists Annie Leonard and André Carothers discuss their new book

Silent Sky (starts 2:00) Viva Theater celebrates the unsung heroism of female astronomer Henrietta Leavitt.  Silent Sky runs April 22 – June 7th at Boulder’s Dairy Arts Center

Gold Lab Symposium (starts 6:26) Thursday and Friday, this all day health and science symposium shares dialogues with Nobel Prize Winners, Indigenous Knowledge Holders, Computational Scientists and more, at CU-Boulder’s  Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building  Register On Line.  for live sessions or remote.

Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Show Producer: Shelley Schlender
Engineer: Abby O’Brien

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:50 — 36.9MB)

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