Are we sure about fluoride?

It's a question that seems impossible to grapple with, but scientists won't take no for an answer. In this collaboration with Scientific American, we take on the big bang and a whole bunch of seemingly impossible questions. Guests: Rachel Feltman, host of the Science Quickly podc ...  Show more

An astrophysicist uses the motion of the stars to argue that a single story has been told for 100,000 years. A cognitive anthropologist has questions. Guests: Ray Norris, astrophysicist; Manvir Singh, cognitive anthropologist at the University of California, Davis For show transc ...  Show more

Is it just us, or does it seem like every other week there’s a new headline about some state or town banning water fluoridation? As it turns out, this has been going on for decades, basically since fluoride was first introduced. Why are some people opposed to fluoride? Is there a ...  Show more

The battle over whether we should be putting fluoride in our water has reached fever pitch. We’ve got U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and anti-fluoride activists saying it’s a neurotoxin that’s lowering our IQs. But supporters say that fluoride is a safe and effective ...  Show more

The decades-long practice of adding fluoride to drinking water is under fire. On this week’s Paging Dr. Gupta, we're sinking our teeth into the latest science, and what that means for you or your family’s dental health. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/a ...  Show more

Nearly three out of four U.S. communities add fluoride to their water. Officially, the compound strengthens teeth and helps prevent cavities—but recent studies have suggested it might increase cancer risks and lower IQ. Is fluoridated water a medical marvel, or a poison? And why ...  Show more