Her interview show pairs life science with the social science of living it, across 11 episodes in its first year, from spider mating to synthetic braiding hair
Baxter records the show's first video episode with marine scientist Dr. Tiara Moore, released two weeks after the audio premiere. Photo: The Science of Life video
Dr. Raven Baxter premiered her own podcast, The Science of Life with Dr. Raven Baxter®, on April 16, 2024. The hour-long first episode featured evolutionary biologist Anastasia Shavrova, Ph.D., who studies sexual conflict in animals.
"Listen, it's been a long time coming, I've always wanted to do a podcast," Baxter told listeners in her opening monologue.
The show arrived as podcast audiences grew. Edison Research's Infinite Dial 2024, released March 28, found that 47% of Americans 12 and older had listened to a podcast in the past month, up 12% from a year earlier. A 2023 Pew Research Center study found that listeners turn to podcasts for entertainment and learning, with science and technology among common topics.
Confidence in scientists was falling at the same time. In November 2023, Pew reported that 73% of U.S. adults had a great deal or fair amount of confidence in scientists, down 14 points since April 2020.
Baxter opened by laying out the premise. "It's the technical aspect of life sciences combined with the social sciences," she said. Guests would come from both fields.
She said the show was open to listeners in and out of science. "This podcast is not just for people who are in the life sciences by any means. This is your ticket to the science party. I call it the smarty party."
"Understanding science is so important to understanding not only the world around you, but yourself," she said. She described herself as "a molecular biologist and science communicator who is really hell-bent on making the world's biggest science party and giving out invitations to everyone I meet."
Shavrova and Baxter in the premiere episode. Image: The Science of Life video
Shavrova, now a senior lecturer in evolution and ecology at UNSW Sydney, studies behaviors of one sex that harm the other. "The world out there isn't just as simple as find the best mate," she said. Baxter warned listeners up front that the talk would be frank and was "not necessarily for kids."
Shavrova's lead example was sexual cannibalism in spiders. Her research points to what she called extreme mate choice. Females eat males that fail to impress them.
Males have answered over evolutionary time. In some species, a male eaten after mating fathers more of the female's eggs. In others, males use a longer third pair of legs to hold the female's jaws open, then leap away.
Bed bugs mate by traumatic insemination, with the male piercing the female's body. Females have evolved a counter-defense, a cavity in the body that leads nowhere. By positioning themselves, they can send an unwanted male's sperm into it.
The two also took on stories that popular culture leaves out. Shavrova said same-sex behavior is common across the animal kingdom. Baxter recalled a nature documentary on animal mating that never mentioned it. Shavrova said filmmakers may skip it because it falls outside breeding.
They closed on Finding Nemo. In a real clownfish group, the female ranks highest. When she dies, a male changes sex and takes her place, which the film left out.
Baxter also turned to people. Men's clothing sections, she said, are plain, mostly navy, black and brown. She wondered how much conflict in human society comes because "men don't have, I guess, the natural way of expressing themselves as we see in nature."
Baxter on the show's studio set during its first video episode. Image: The Science of Life video
On April 30, the show added a video edition, filmed on a studio set with a neon sign bearing the show's name. Its first guest was marine scientist Tiara Moore.
The show released 11 episodes in its first year. Guests covered birds with Dan Baldassarre, astrophysics with Ronald Gamble Jr. and the microbes in and on us with Amy Proal. Others took on dolphins, rocket science, psychiatry, the origins of life and neuroscience. The 11th, released April 8, 2025, featured Consumer Reports' Jim Rogers on synthetic braiding hair.
The Rosalind Franklin Society highlighted the debut in its RFS Briefings newsletter on April 23, 2024. Apple Podcasts files the show under life sciences and natural sciences. In March 2026, FeedSpot added it to its ranking of top science podcasts in the United States.
Baxter is a molecular biologist and science communicator, known online as Dr. Raven the Science Maven. She later co-hosted Season 5 and hosted Season 6 of Pfizer's podcast Science Will Win.
The premiere episode is on the episode page and Apple Podcasts. Every episode is on the show's page.
Dr. Raven Baxter reports from the launch of the Planetary Health Check 2026 at Climate Week NYC, where she interviewed climate scientist Johan Rockström and former Unilever chief executive Paul Polman.
Dr. Raven Baxter reports from the 81st UN General Assembly in New York, from the SDG Media Zone at UN Headquarters and the Unstoppable Africa business forum.
Dr. Raven Baxter reports from BiotechTV's first U.S. Science Summit in Kendall Square, where about 20 science creators joined biotech leaders on July 21, 2026.
