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Curiosity Weekly

Science Loves a Binary. Dr. Shawn Hercules Is Breaking It Down

Curiosity Weekly

Warner Bros. Discovery

Self-improvement, Science, Astronomy, Education

4.6935 Ratings

🗓️ 11 June 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s Pride Month! To help us celebrate, Dr. Samantha Yammine is joined by Dr. Shawn Hercules, a queer, non-binary cancer researcher and science communicator. They’ll discuss Shawn’s research into breast cancer among people of African ancestry, how policies around gender affirming care can positively affect healthcare at large, and the importance of diverse voices in scientific research. Sam also explores the right to disconnect – aka how important it is to log off from work and give your brain some rest. After that, she explains the ins and outs of deep sea mining and how it has the potential to disrupt deep sea ecosystems.  

 

Link to Show Notes HERE 

 

Follow Curiosity Weekly on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Dr. Samantha Yammine — for free! Still curious? Get science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers. 


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Transcript

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0:00.0

Summer is just around the corner, and that means one thing in my books.

0:06.7

It's Pride Month.

0:08.2

Sure, it's easy to scroll past parades, rainbows, and party picks on social media,

0:12.8

but pride is also about reflection.

0:15.4

It's about honoring the experiences and contributions of two-spirit, LGBTQIA-plus people, past and present, and recognizing that even as society evolves, there's still work to do.

0:26.6

Gender identity is central to this story.

0:29.6

There would be no Pride Month without the courage of gender nonconforming leaders like Marcia P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, who helped ignite the modern queer rights movement

0:38.5

during the Stonewall uprising. Today, nearly 60 years later, misconceptions about queer and trans

0:44.4

lives still run deep, including in science and health care. That's why I'm so excited to share

0:50.0

today's interview with Dr. Sean Hercules, a queer non-binary cancer researcher and science

0:55.2

communicator. We'll explore their work on breast cancer and women of African ancestry,

1:00.1

why inclusive research is essential for better care, and how they're shaping policy around

1:04.9

gender affirming care. Before that, I'll dig into the neuroscience behind the right to disconnect,

1:10.3

also known as how the

1:11.6

expectation to be everything, everywhere all at once when it comes to work, is stressing us out.

1:17.5

We'll also explore the pros and cons, but mainly cons, behind the recent uptick in deep sea mining.

1:24.1

I'm Dr. Samantha Amin, and this is Curiosity Weekly from Discovery. Let's get into it.

1:30.9

Sometimes I feel like the work day never really ends. I know you know the feeling, especially for

1:35.9

those of us who work from home. Work is everywhere. It's all the time, and burnout is so real.

1:42.2

But now some governments are stepping in, creating a growing global movement

1:45.8

called The Right to Disconnect. It's a concept that's picking up steam as new research tells us

1:50.8

more about what after-hours work is doing to our brains. Don't get me wrong, no matter what the

...

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