Introducing the Leading Life Sciences Podcast

We’re starting something new.

We address a lot of very important topics in scientific entrepreneurship, career development and academia at The Black Hole. All of our posts follow a very similar formula: calling attention to a common, but rarely talked-about problem, a defined discussion of misalignments between what the system is solving for today and what we should be solving for instead, and a proposal of well thought-out and practical solutions. In fact, we differentiate ourselves from the pack by offering the latter – which is something Dave and I take a lot of pride in.

A common thread that in all of The Black Hole’s articles is our focus on people: they are the core of any successful venture, and programs should be structured in ways that elevate and value the individual. Whether institutions choose to take our advice or not, it feels good knowing that we are offering viable alternatives that always put scientists first. Nevertheless, people are complicated and we often struggle to explore in 500 words all of the nuances and conflicting opinions governing our current systems in science. It is sometimes challenging to put voice to all the different perspectives or play proper devil’s advocate to popular positions (although we’ve often tried). By comparison, unstructured conversation can go beyond defining the problem and offering a solution; the two formats are complementary because context is important.

Enter the Leading Life Sciences Podcast. A new format talk radio series where Damien Wilpitz (founder/CEO of EDC and guest writer for The Black Hole) and I (Jonathan Thon) discuss/debate leading life science topics with featured guests. We float between serious and fun, but strive to add context to the topics we feature here at the Black Hole. We’re putting together our topic list for Season 1 – so if there are subjects you’d like us to discuss or want to be a guest on our podcast, let us know below. Episode 1 will feature David Kent, founder of The Black Hole and group leader at the University of Cambridge in the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute). Tune in!