Hiring discrimination laid bare by mountain of data

Analysis of hundreds of thousands of job searches shows that recruiters will discriminate based on ethnicity and gender, and the neural circuitry behind a brief period of forgetting.

In this episode:

00:47 Hiring discrimination

A huge dataset has shown that widespread discrimination occurs in job hiring, based on ethnicity and gender. This backs up decades of research, showing that people from minority backgrounds tend to get contacted far less by employers.

Research Article: Hangartner et al.

09:31 Coronapod

Today Joe Biden becomes the next president of the United States. We find out what this new political chapter could mean for the country’s immediate pandemic response, including the mass rollout of vaccines.

News: Joe Biden’s COVID plan is taking shape — and researchers approve

News: Joe Biden names top geneticist Eric Lander as science adviser

20:46 Research Highlights

A new way to study fragile helium pairs, and there’s no limit to how much exercise improves your heart health.

Research Highlight: Taking tenuous helium molecules for a spin

Research Highlight: Feeling fit? A little more sweat could still help your heart

23:17 Forgetful flies

Ever had the feeling where you can’t quite remember what you were doing? While common, this sort of ‘tip of the tongue’ forgetting is not well understood. Now though, researchers have uncovered the neural process behind this feeling… in fruit flies.

Research Article: Sabadal et al.

29:49 Briefing Chat

We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, the economics calculations of thieving monkeys, and how in certain situations electric eels will hunt together.

The Guardian: Bali’s thieving monkeys can spot high-value items to ransom

Science: Shocking discovery: Electric eels hunt in packs in Amazon rivers

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