ABOUT THIS PODCAST 🔗

Update frequency:
every 42 days
Average audio length:
19 minutes
Guest interviews
English
United States
31 episodes
since Jan. 30, 2023
episodic

LATEST EPISODE 🔗

When social media emerged, Yini Zhang was “pretty starry-eyed” about its potential to give ordinary people a voice, inspire collective action and hold the powerful accountable. Two decades later, the associate professor of communication at the University at Buffalo has a more complicated view.  Usi…

SEARCH PAST EPISODES

Search past episodes of Driven to Discover.

PREVIOUS EPISODES

Shira Gabriel first encountered research on our fundamental need to belong as a young grad student—and she was immediately hooked. Now a professor of social psychology at the University at Buffalo, Gabriel explores why connection is so essential to human beings, and how our relationships with other…
Although Min-Hsuan Tu grew up wanting to be a teacher, she followed her parents’ advice and pursued a business degree instead. But her interest in human interaction never faded—and when a chance meeting with a classmate introduced her to the field of organizational behavior, she recognized it as th…
As a first-year med student, Elad Levy tried to balance competitive rowing with the demands of school. But he quickly came to realize he couldn’t pursue both at the highest level. He chose medicine, discovered neurosurgery—and was soon on a path to transforming the field.  Now the L. Nelson Hopkins…
Lucia Leone’s interest in nutrition began in childhood, as she watched her mother—without a car and on a limited income—still manage to put healthy meals on the table. Now an associate professor of community health and health behavior at the University at Buffalo, Leone studies how to make nutritio…
Frank Scannapieco wasn’t too interested in school as a kid; he went to college largely because his father insisted. But a few inspiring teachers, a growing fascination with biology and a chance encounter with oral microbiology set him on a path that would lead to an internationally recognized caree…
Growing up in a multigenerational household, Carleara Weiss was a caregiver from the start. But as she lay awake at night listening to her elders snore, she didn’t realize those sounds were signs of obstructive sleep apnea—or that OSA is linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Now, as a…
Not all chatbots are created equal. Some, like those used in customer service, are relatively simple. Others—like the systems Rohini Srihari builds—can take on far more complex tasks, such as giving a voice to someone with ALS who has lost the ability to speak. In this episode, Srihari, an artifici…
As a Peace Corps volunteer in Nigeria in his early 20s, Phillips Stevens witnessed an act of sorcery that blew his mind. He turned that moment into a 50-year career as a cultural anthropologist at the University at Buffalo, exploring religion, spirituality and the supernatural in cultures across th…
Inspired by his grandfather’s service as a volunteer fire chief, Joshua Lynch joined the fire department at 18 and was soon patrolling the streets of Buffalo as an EMT. At the same time, he was pursuing a path to medical school as a psychology major at the University at Buffalo. That blend of front…
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from University at Buffalo, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.