Click above to hear part 1 of Bacteria to the Future, featuring Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist who specializes in public health and food policy, and author of “Big Chicken: The Incredible Story of How Antibiotics Created Modern Agriculture and Changed the Way the World Eats.” She explains how post-WWII farming took on the practice of feeding livestock antibiotics, and dipping the post-slaughter product into a vat of antibiotics, a practice called “acronizing.”

Bacteria to the Future:
Part 1: Antibiotics on the Farm
Part 2: Antibiotics off the Farm
Part 3: Set Phages to Kill

Podcast also available on PocketCasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and RSS.

2026 Webby Award Nominee
for our three part series on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

Big Picture Science is an immersive radio show and podcast that reveals the unexpected connections in science.

Our Skeptic Check episodes take a critical look at extraordinary science claims and pseudoscience.

Don’t settle for a science snapshot. Get the big picture. 

Hosted By

Molly Bentley Executive Producer and Co-Host, Big Picture Science  

Seth Shostak Producer and Co-Host, Big Picture Science
Senior Astronomer, SETI Institute

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