Ah, Benny's parents, thanks for coming.

Hiya.

So, Benny has really blossomed this term.

You're telling me, he outgrew his bike. We sold it, on eBay.

Oh, that's not quite what I meant.

It's free to sell on there.

Free to sell?

Easy too. Sold Benny's bike, your guitar, my jacket.

You sold my guitar?

Shall we talk about Benny?

When it's this easy to sell for free, you can't help but say when it's eBay.

Things people love. T's and Cs apply, exclusive vehicles.

Welcome to Science Talk, the weekly podcast of Scientific American for the seven days starting October 24th.

I'm Steve Murski. This week on the podcast,

GERMS. We'll talk with journalist Jessica Snyder Sacks, author of the new book, Good Germs, Bad Germs,

plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Jessica Snyder Sachs is a

contributing editor at Popular Science and Parenting Magazines. She's been adjunct faculty in journalism at Fordham at popular science and parenting magazines.

She's been adjunct faculty in journalism at Fordham, NYU, and Kane University.

Her first book was called Corpse. More on that later.

The new germ book is subtitled Health and Survival in a Bacterial World.

I called Sacks October 18th at her home in Maplewood, New Jersey.

Hi, Jessica. Good to talk to you. Hey, Steve. Good to be with you. You've got this book out about germs, about bacteria, and our relationships with them. The timing of our conversation is really good

...