Taboo Science: Where No Science Has Gone Before

  Have you ever noticed that when TV goes large, podcasting goes small? TV wants to do a nature show? It's a wide-angle view of all animals, usually narrated by David Attenborough. Need a space show? How about something with Neil DeGrasse Tyson about the entire cosmos? 

By contrast, podcasting goes small. It burrows into a topic small in stature but not insignificant. Podcasting has shows about specific dolphin species, an entire podcast about the planet Jupiter, and, instead of a sports show about all sports, how about a podcast about one owner of one basketball team -- James Dolan of the NBA's New York Knicks? Check out Reign Of Error. 

Here is the marketing pitch from Taboo Science: "Taboo Science is a podcast that answers the questions you’re not allowed to ask. It’s hosted by Ashley Hamer, a science writer and podcaster. Every episode dives into a different societal taboo to understand the science that makes it tick, the reasons we don’t talk about it, and the impact that has on society at large. Why don’t we eat people? Why are my swear words different than my parents’? And what makes porn, porn? It’s science class if science class had one of those anonymous question boxes. It’s Taboo Science."

Ashley Hamer is a writer, podcaster, and science communicator in Chicago. She is the creator of Taboo Science and the former host and content lead of the science podcast Curiosity Daily. 

 When Hamer and Corey Gough co-host Curiosity Daily in the pre-COVID days, I thought they had solid hosting chemistry and brought a certain spontaneous wit to the show. The show has gone through several iterations of hosts, in search, I believe, of that special Hamer-Gough sauce. 

Hamer flying solo on Taboo Science is in complete control of the hosting cockpit. She's funny, smart, and a strong interviewer with a flair for the dramatic.

Hamer has interviewed the likes of Sean Carroll, Carl Zimmer, and Alan Alda, written and hosted a number of widely viewed science videos, appeared on several leading science podcasts, and spoken on stages everywhere from C2E2 and New York Comic Con to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas and meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington, D.C. and Seattle, Washington.

Ashley Hamer is also a professional saxophonist, a Boston-qualified marathon runner, a new mom, and a cat person. Talk about your diversity of skills. I have questions. Can she play the saxophone while running a marathon? Is the cat jealous of the new baby? How does she have time to do a podcast? 

The podcast began in September 2020, and it didn't pull any punches in its first several episodes. Topics included pornography, profanity, cannibalism, penises, and vaginas. I can just sense the uptight people who are organizing bans.

Some of my favorite episodes include the March 25, 2021, one on Marriage with Stephanie Coontz. For those who crow about traditional marriage, you should listen to Coontz talk about the history of marriage as a business transaction instead of a bond created from love. 

A recent episode about Asexuality was a learning experience and fascinating and, of course, I can never pass up an episode on poop with Bryon Nelson. Here, Hamer breaks out internet-sourced euphemisms for poop while Nelson explains how for centuries people used "night soil" (poop) for fertilizer. 

If you, as a listener, are into your science being serious stuff with people with PhDs speaking in solemn tones, Taboo Science is not for you.

But if enjoy a beaker full of fun with your science lesson, and don't mind your poop being referred to you as "butt nuggets," then Taboo Science is for you.