Chemistry For Your Life

Which chemistry lessons have stuck with us? (Happy Chemiversary!)

What happens when a chemist and a non-chemist make a podcast together for seven years? Which chemistry lessons stuck, which episode ideas spectacularly refused to coopera

Can water air-condition your house?

What exactly is a swamp cooler, and why can it beat the heat in Arizona but leave you sweaty and betrayed in Houston? How can an air conditioner run on water, what does h

What’s the dark side of air conditioning?

Could a cheaper, more environmentally friendly refrigerant already exist, and could corporate lobbying be helping keep it out of American air conditioners? Why did the ch

Reddit Chemistry: Why do metals make different-colored flames? (and other questions)

What happens when a chemist ventures onto Reddit to answer the internet’s most pressing science questions? Why does carbon get its own entire branch of chemistry, what ma

How does your AC actually make cold air?

Is your air conditioner secretly doing chemistry while you’re inside pretending summer doesn’t exist? How does it turn hot air into cool air, and why does part of the AC

Why do diet coke and mentos do that thing?

#044 Rebroadcast You know what we're talking about. That spectacular fizzy geyser. This week, Melissa and Jam explore what makes diet coke and mentos go crazy together.

Why do people hate organic chemistry?

#135 Rebroadcast Well guess what, Melissa is a PhD Doctor now! And you know what that means? She gets to tell us more details about the research she did to get her PhD.

What if the system needs fixing instead of the students? (BCCE 2026)

What if the biggest challenge in chemistry education isn’t helping students survive—but helping them thrive? In this final bonus episode of our BCCE Community Conversatio

What’s really happening when our hair gets damaged?

#028 This week, Melissa and Jam travel even further down the rabbit hole of hair chemistry. How does our hair get damaged? How do we curl, straighten, and perm our hair?

What does neurodiversity mean for chemistry education? (BCCE 2026)

How do we build chemistry classrooms where more students can thrive? In this bonus BCCE Community Conversation preview, Melissa talks with Matt Mio about neurodiversity i

What’s the chemistry behind hairspray?

Hairspray seems simple… until you actually stop and think about it. How does it come out as a fine mist? Why doesn’t it dry up inside the can? How can it hold your hair i

How can chemistry teachers learn from each other? (BCCE 2026)

Great teaching doesn’t happen in isolation—it happens in community. In this bonus BCCE Community Conversation preview, Melissa talks with chemistry educator Dr. Joanne St

Ask a Chemist: Is Silicone actually safe? (and other questions)

What happens when some listeners challenge one of our past episodes? This week we’re revisiting our silicone episodes after several listeners pointed us toward new resear

How can we apply chemistry to real-world problems in the classroom? (BCCE 2026)

What if chemistry classes were organized around real-world problems instead of chapters in a textbook?In this bonus BCCE Community Conversation preview, Melissa talks wit

How do forensic scientists find fingerprints?

There are a lot more ways to reveal a fingerprint than the black powder you see on TV.In this second part of our forensic chemistry series with Nicki Stewart, we explore

Are there new, improved ways to teach chemistry? (BCCE 2026)

What does it mean to teach chemistry like a scientist? In this BCCE Community Conversation preview, Melissa talks with chemistry education researcher Ellen Yezierski abou

How does super glue glue things?

#061 Be honest. Have you ever glued yourself with super glue? Everyone should accidentally make that mistake at least once, so you can literally feel the impressive stic

How could technology and A.I. change chemistry education? (BCCE 2026)

AI is everywhere in education right now, but is that the only technology chemistry educators should be thinking about? In this bonus BCCE preview episode, Melissa talks

How realistic are crime shows about forensics? (with Nicki Stewart)

CSI makes forensic science look fast, easy, and almost magical. But how much of that is actually true?This week we’re joined by forensic chemist and graduate student Nick

What is BCCE and why are people so excited about it? (BCCE 2026)

What happens when the world’s largest gathering of chemistry educators decides to try something new? This summer we’re partnering with the Biennial Conference on Chemical