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Podcast

Season 2 of podcast The Dream attempts to separate science from pseudoscience by delving into the scams, the regulation of vitamins and supplements, and why people find wellness so compelling.

Season 1 took a similar approach in addressing the predatory nature of multi-level marketing schemes.

Many of the products and services mentioned in the new season are straightforward enough to debunk. Herbal sex supplements that supposedly mimic Viagra actually have Viagra in them.

An intra-vaginal jade egg, purported to balance hormones, led to the lifestyle brand Goop being fined $145,000 for making unsubstantiated claims. And, while taking adaptogens 鈥� herbs and other plants that theoretically adapt to the needs of the body 鈥� probably won鈥檛 do anything to harm you, there isn鈥檛 much evidence to show they will help either.

As producer Jane Marie narrates with collaborator Dann Gallucci, her cynicism is palpable, even though she has tried out many wellness 鈥渢reatments鈥� for herself.

鈥淭he shady parts of the wellness industry capitalise on our concerns about health or ageing鈥�

Each episode explores a different aspect of the industry, including how inaccurate claims persist in part because of a lack of oversight.

For example, in the US, although the Food and Drug Administration monitors herbs and supplements, manufacturers don鈥檛 need FDA approval before going to market. Marketers also don鈥檛 have to explain how supplements can interfere with prescribed medications.

At times, the podcast can be a little clunky, such as when Marie says she is going to get ear seeds 鈥� seeds that are placed on specific parts of the ear, using similar principles to acupuncture 鈥� and Gallucci responds in a very scripted way: 鈥淲hat are ear seeds?鈥�.

But what The Dream does particularly well is offer empathy. Probably most of us, at some point, have had concerns about health or ageing. The shady parts of the wellness industry capitalise on these and on a distrust of the medical establishment among people who haven鈥檛 always been treated well by it.

In the opening episode, for example, Marie interviews her cousin, whose painful endometriosis was virtually ignored by doctors 鈥� which raises the question of why wouldn鈥檛 someone, if their healthcare professional won鈥檛 treat them with medication or another intervention, try out essential oils like Marie鈥檚 cousin did? Or why wouldn鈥檛 someone for whom conventional antidepressants were unsuccessful look for alternatives?

Indeed, discussion of health and wellness can be fraught with our personal opinions or biases. Marie addresses this by bringing on expert guests, including a theoretical physicist (interviewed because many wellness products use words like 鈥渜uantum鈥�), a science journalist and vitamin researcher, and an obstetrician-gynaecologist, to keep the conversation out of the realm of just anecdote.

In pushing past her own dismissiveness, Marie creates a narrative that incorporates lived experiences and actual science. It is this model of inquiry 鈥� accessible to both sceptics and believers 鈥� that keeps listeners tuning in.