The Full Moon: Is It Messing With Us?

Science Vs

Spotify Studios

Education, Science, Health & Fitness

4.4 • 11.7K Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

People swear that weird stuff goes down on a full moon. In fact, even SERIOUS folks like the nerds who work in ERs will tell you that something is off about those nights. And what’s amazing is that science has actually looked at this. And … there is some weird stuff here! From animals to ERs to our circadian rhythms to our menstrual cycles, we’ll find out — is something afoot during a full moon? We talk to Emeritus Prof. of emergency medicine Dr. Wendy Coates and circadian rhythm researchers Prof. Horacio de la Iglesia, Prof. Kristin Teßmar-Raible, and Prof. Charlotte Helfrich-Förster. Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsFullMoon In this episode, we cover: (00:00) What do people think the full moon is doing to us? (03:54) How the moon influences animals (07:47) Does the full moon make ERs busier? (15:09) Does the full moon affect our sleep? (22:11) HOW is the full moon messing with us? (31:05) Does the full moon affect our menstrual cycles? This episode was produced by Meryl Horn, with help from Wendy Zukerman, Rose Rimler, Michelle Dang, and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Mix and sound design by Bumi Hidaka. Fact checking by Marlowe Starling. Music written by Bumi Hidaka, Bobby Lord, Emma Munger, So Wylie, and Peter Leonard. Thanks to all the researchers we spoke to for this episode, including Dr. Ron Flick, Dr. Michael Smolensky, Michael Bevington, Dr. Laurel Symes, Professor Laura Prugh, and Dr. Maarten Nijsten. Special thanks to Kevin Walsh and all the folks who chatted with me about the full moon. Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Wendy Zuckerman and you're listening to Science Burses.
0:05.0	This is the show that pits facts against the full moon.
0:09.7	Does it change who we are?
0:13.3	This episode about the full moon has been one of our most requested episodes this past year.
0:20.0	You asked for it.
0:21.7	So here it is.
0:26.9	And to start our journey, we sent senior producer Merrill Horn out to brave the streets of New York City.
0:34.1	Picture it.
0:35.5	There's a chill in the air.
0:37.6	Out in the east, the full moon was on the rise.
0:41.5	And she ventured into a park to hear firsthand what people experience when there's a full moon.
0:48.1	Makes people wild.
0:49.8	It makes them carnal.
0:51.1	It's a carnal thing happening.
0:53.1	Everyone does not act right. It's terrible. I think people are just whiling out. Clause out, you know. I'm blaming the moon. That damn moon. Some people said that the full moon stirred up all this drama in their lives. One guy said that sometimes he doesn't even go out when there's a full moon. I'm going to stay in that night. I'm going to play it safe.
1:11.9	Just like because I know I could feel weird or do crazy stuff.
1:16.8	Folks said you just knew it was going to be a full moon that night.
1:20.9	Because people at work would be going bonkers.
1:24.7	And this is in the research too.
1:26.1	It shows that some healthcare workers think the
1:28.7	full moon makes their patients behave stranger. One survey even showed that some doctors and nurses
1:35.1	think they should get full moon hazard pay. Meryl heard about this as well at the park.
	...

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