Sunday Nice Things: Normal Curves

Under the Influence with Jo Piazza

Jo Piazza, Influence Inc.

Society & Culture, Parenting, Kids & Family, Personal Journals, Technology

4.3 • 787 Ratings

🗓️ 27 April 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dropping a great new podcast in your feed today. Normal Curves is a podcast about sexy science & serious statistics. Ever try to make sense of a scientific study and the numbers behind it? Listen in to a lively conversation between two stats-savvy friends who break it all down with humor and clarity. Professors Regina Nuzzo of Gallaudet University and Kristin Sainani of Stanford University discuss academic papers journal club-style — except with more fun, less jargon, and some irreverent, PG-13 content sprinkled in. Join Kristin and Regina as they dissect the data, challenge the claims, and arm you with tools to assess scientific studies on your own. Join Regina Nuzzo and Kristin Sainani as they dissect the infamous Sweaty T-Shirt Study and the stats behind sex, smell, and mate choice. Find all the episodes of Normal Curves here. Join our newsletter community here. Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey all. Joe here and I am dropping a new episode of a new podcast into your feed for
0:11.9	Sunday Nice Things. Normal Curves is a podcast about sexy science and serious statistics.
0:19.8	If you've ever tried to make sense of a scientific study and the
0:22.9	numbers behind it that just didn't seem to add up, you are not alone. I love this show so much.
0:30.8	The hosts are two professors who discuss academic papers, funstile, like funsies. There's no
0:37.3	jargon, it's irreverent, it's PG-13 in a way that I love. So get in there, get a listen. You can binge it all at Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts, normal curves. You're going to love it. It's a lot of fun.
0:54.0	I think you're going to like this, Tristan.
0:57.8	Really?
0:58.5	And by like, I mean hate.
1:00.9	So I might have some criticisms, is what you're saying.
1:03.1	Maybe a couple.
1:08.8	Welcome to normal curves.
1:10.7	This is a podcast for anyone who wants to learn about scientific studies and the statistics behind them.
1:15.8	It's like a journal club, except we pick topics that are fun, relevant, and sometimes a little spicy.
1:22.4	We evaluate the evidence, and we also give you the tools that you need to evaluate scientific studies on your own.
1:29.3	I'm Kristen Sinani. I'm a professor at Stanford University. And I'm Regina Nuzzo. I'm a professor
1:34.3	at Gallaudet University and part-time lecturer at Stanford. We are not medical doctors. We are
1:40.2	PhDs, so nothing in this podcast should be construed as medical advice. Also, this podcast is separate from our day jobs at Stanford and Gallaudet University.
1:49.5	Kristen, today we are going to look at a classic paper in the scientific literature, commonly known as the sweaty T-shirt study.
1:57.5	Ooh, interesting nickname.
1:58.6	It is. And along the way, we are also going to learn about things like pheromone dating parties,
2:04.5	pheromone dating websites, and choosing your dating partner by sniffing up his armpits.
	...

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