Will AI replace astronomers, how healthy are ultraprocessed foods, and a peek behind the scenes of ‘The Normals’

Science Magazine Podcast

Science Podcast

News, News Commentary, Science

4.3 • 842 Ratings

🗓️ 4 June 2026

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

First up on the podcast, freelance science journalist Joshua Sokol talks about the intense discussion happening in the astrophysics community as artificial intelligence and machine learning become increasingly powerful—could “astronomer” stop being a job one day? Next on the show, as the Trump administration makes moves to regulate ultraprocessed foods, host Sarah Crespi talks with Faidon Magkos, a professor in obesity and metabolism in the department of nutrition, exercise, and sports at the University of Copenhagen, about what studies say about their health effects. Finally this week, a behind-the-scenes look at our recent limited series “The normals.” Producer Kevin McLean talks about the experience of joining a study as a healthy subject, and Crespi talks about what didn’t make it into the episodes. Listen to “The normals” here. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. About the Science Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This podcast is supported by the Icon School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, an international leader in research, education, and patient care.
0:07.9	The medical and graduate school is part of the Mount Sinai Health System, one of the largest academic medical systems in New York City.
0:15.6	Ranked among the top recipients of NIH funding, researchers at Mount Sinai have made breakthrough discoveries advancing the
0:22.1	health of patients. Here, clinicians and scientists push the boundaries in cardiology, cancer,
0:28.4	immunology, neuroscience, genomics, geriatrics, environmental medicine, and artificial intelligence.
0:35.2	The Icon School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, we find a way.
0:38.6	Arizona State University and science are recognizing researchers who address pressing problems.
0:44.4	The ASU Science Prize for Transformational Impact honors early career scientists,
0:50.6	developing innovative solutions to today's biggest challenges.
0:55.1	Here from the inaugural winners on ASU's LabCote Optional podcast,
1:00.0	and visit science.org slash ASU to apply.
1:05.7	This is a science podcast for June 4th, 2026.
1:09.6	I'm Sarah Crespi.
1:13.4	First this week, how the big data science character of astrophysics makes it vulnerable to AI takeover. We hear from freelancer Josh
1:19.9	Sokol for that one. And then we have researcher, Fadon Mangoes, talking about the health effects
1:25.8	of ultra-processed foods. Finally, a little behind-the-scenes
1:29.9	look at the making of our limited series on healthy human subjects. This is called The Normals
1:35.3	with producer Kevin McLean. Visual artists have been grappling with generative AI's presence for a few years now.
1:52.8	What will it mean for their craft, their careers, the way the world is represented in art?
1:58.7	Now, astrophysicists are asking the same types of questions about
2:03.3	their field. Are grad students and even PI is going to be superfluous once artificial intelligence
2:09.6	and machine learning reach a certain threshold? This week in science, freelance science writer
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 25 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Science Podcast, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Science Podcast and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.