Wendy Zukerman is an Australian

science journalist Science journalism conveys reporting about science to the public. The field typically involves interactions between scientists, journalists and the public. Origins Modern science journalism originated in weather and other natural history obs ...

and

podcaster A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files that users can download to a personal device or stream to listen to at a time of their ...

. She is best known as the host of '' Science Vs'', a program that dissects areas of scientific controversy and public confusion.

Early life and education

Wendy Zukerman was born in the United States but raised in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia. She attended

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

and received a

biomedical science Biomedical sciences are a set of sciences applying portions of natural science or formal science, or both, to develop knowledge, interventions, or technology that are of use in healthcare or public health. Such disciplines as medical microbi ...

and law degree.

Career

Zukerman worked for the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

(ABC) on the documentary television program ''

Catalyst Catalysis () is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quick ...

'' and the consumer affairs television program ''

The Checkout ''The Checkout'' was an Australian consumer affairs television series. The show's first series of 10 episodes premiered on 21 March 2013 on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) television station ABC TV. A second series consisting of ...

''. She has also written for many different publications, including ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...

'', ''

Cosmos The cosmos (, ; ) is an alternative name for the universe or its nature or order. Usage of the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos is studied in cosmologya broad discipline covering ...

'', ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'', and ''

Saturday Paper Saturday is the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. No later than the 2nd century, the Romans named Saturday ("Saturn's Day") for the god Saturn. His planet, Saturn, controlled the first hour of that day, according to Vettius Valens. The ...

.'' In 2014 and 2015, she spoke at Storyology, an annual festival of journalism and media. In March 2018, she spoke at a

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

panel event called, "What Podcasts Ate for Dinner".

''Science Vs''

Zuckerman's podcast '' Science Vs'' was initially produced and distributed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as part of ABC Radio's ''First Run'' podcast program. In October 2015,

Gimlet Media Gimlet Media LLC was a digital media company and podcast network, focused on producing narrative podcasts and headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. The company was founded in 2014 by Alex Blumberg and Matthew Lieber, who served as the company's ...

, an American digital media company based in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, took over the production of the podcast. ''Science Vs'' focuses on communicating science to non-scientists. The show takes a myth-busting approach, and topics on the show generally come from controversial topics or current events. Episode topics have included immigration, gun control, ghosts,

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

, acne, and

antidepressant Antidepressants are a class of medications used to treat major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, chronic pain, and addiction. Common side effects of antidepressants include Xerostomia, dry mouth, weight gain, dizziness, headaches, akathi ...

s, among others. Zukerman has said that the idea for ''Science Vs'' came from news headlines about

Gwyneth Paltrow Gwyneth Kate Paltrow ( ; born September 27, 1972) is an American actress and businesswoman. The daughter of filmmaker Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner, she established herself as a leading lady appearing in mainly mid-budget and perio ...

wanting women to participate in a "health practice" of vaginal steaming, which she thought could present in a way that combined science with humour. Zukerman summarised her podcast's position against

false equivalence A false equivalence or false equivalency is an informal fallacy in which an equivalence is drawn between two subjects based on flawed, faulty, or false reasoning. This fallacy is categorized as a fallacy of inconsistency. Colloquially, a false ...

s, saying, "If there's a 95 percent consensus among scientists, you report the consensus."

Recognition

In 2021, Zukerman was amongst the first nominees of the Podcast Academy's new "Ambie" awards. She was one of seven nominees for the Best Host award.

Personal life

Her brother is actor

Ashley Zukerman Ashley Zukerman is an American-born Australian actor. In Australia, he became known for playing Senior Constable Michael Sandrelli in the drama series ''Rush'' (2008), and Jesse Banks in the political thriller '' The Code'', for which he rece ...

, and they have another sister, Debbie. Zukerman was living in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zukerman, Wendy 21st-century American journalists 21st-century Australian journalists 21st-century Australian women journalists American emigrants to Australia American women podcasters Australian women podcasters Australian women scientists Jewish women scientists Journalists from Melbourne Living people Monash University alumni Mass media people from Melbourne Australian science communicators Year of birth missing (living people) Australian people of Peruvian descent Australian people of Israeli descent American people of Israeli descent American people of Peruvian descent 21st-century American women journalists Australian podcasters American science podcasters American science communicators