{"podcast":{"title":"Galaxy Balance","slug":"galaxy-balance-7619530","podcast_index_feed_id":7619530,"rss_url":"https://api.riverside.fm/hosting/TsNBRv3G.rss","website_url":"https://riverside.com","image_url":"https://hosting-media.riverside.com/media/podcasts/c0a4b47b-b2c9-4c68-88b5-1baa3a352c83/logos/0081482a-5241-4cdc-aa4f-c89d3aca95e7.png","author":"Cory Smith","episode_count":20,"summary":"Galaxy Balance explores the frontier where biology, technology and consciousness meet. Each episode brings together pioneers shaping our collective future, from genome engineers and AI builders to longevity researchers, space explorers, and mindfulness practitioners. Hosted by Cory Smith, the conversations dive deep into how these seemingly distant fields form an interconnected ecosystem, one that balance innovation with introspection, science with spirit, and ambition with awareness. At its core, Galaxy Balance is about integration; the idea that our greatest leaps forward happen when disciplines collide. The same algorithms that decode galaxies can help us understand genomes; the same principles that govern consciousness can illuminate AI. Through long-form, unscripted dialogue, the show invites listeners to zoom out from the silos of specialization and see the larger pattern: a living system of intelligence evolving across scales – molecular, planetary, and cosmic.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/galaxy-balance-7619530"},"episode":{"title":"Jonathan Scheiman: Microbes of Elite Performance","slug":"jonathan-scheiman-microbes-of-elite-performance","published_at":"2026-03-23T21:41:23+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/galaxy-balance-7619530/jonathan-scheiman-microbes-of-elite-performance","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/galaxy-balance-7619530","url":"https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/16c38f7d6467eab30e5bb8ccabdb6f96d025c45751a77c05ff309a7d3ead2030/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiJmYTdjNGU5OS1jZmM5LTQyMTAtYmQwNC01MTQ5MmJiZWIyYWUiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiJjMGE0YjQ3Yi1iMmM5LTRjNjgtODhiNS0xYmFhM2EzNTJjODMiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OTBiYjRiMzM2NjY3MWFlZGQwZTZhMTEiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNjk5ZDBhYjNkODIyMzAzOTM2NzQ1NTY1L2Nvcnktc21pdGhzLXN0dWRpby1sTktuWC1jb21wb3Nlci0yMDI2LTItMjRfXzMtMTktMzEubXAzIn0=.mp3","audio_url":"https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/16c38f7d6467eab30e5bb8ccabdb6f96d025c45751a77c05ff309a7d3ead2030/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiJmYTdjNGU5OS1jZmM5LTQyMTAtYmQwNC01MTQ5MmJiZWIyYWUiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiJjMGE0YjQ3Yi1iMmM5LTRjNjgtODhiNS0xYmFhM2EzNTJjODMiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OTBiYjRiMzM2NjY3MWFlZGQwZTZhMTEiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNjk5ZDBhYjNkODIyMzAzOTM2NzQ1NTY1L2Nvcnktc21pdGhzLXN0dWRpby1sTktuWC1jb21wb3Nlci0yMDI2LTItMjRfXzMtMTktMzEubXAzIn0=.mp3","summary":"In this episode of Galaxy Balance, Cory Smith speaks with Dr. Jonathan Scheiman, co-founder and CEO of FitBiomics, about the science of elite performance, microbiome discovery, and the future of metabolic health. Jonathan shares his journey from Division I basketball player to biomedicine PhD and postdoctoral researcher in the Church Lab, where unconventional ideas are encouraged and ambitious biology is the norm His central question was simple but radical: instead of studying disease, what if we studied peak human performance? That question led to a longitudinal study of Boston Marathon runners, where his team collected microbiome samples before and after intense endurance events. The data revealed a striking pattern. One microorganism, Veillonella, spiked in abundance immediately after the marathon Further analysis showed that this microbe uniquely metabolizes lactate and converts it into short-chain fatty acids such as propionate Lactate is often misunderstood as a fatigue molecule. In reality, it is a normal metabolic fuel. When produced in excess during intense exercise, it accumulates in the bloodstream. Scheiman’s work suggests that a portion of circulating lactate is shuttled to the gut, where Veillonella uses it as a carbon source, producing metabolites that may support mitochondrial function, muscle recovery, glucose utilization, and anti-inflammatory pathways The episode explores: • How elite athletes may represent a rare biological phenotype comparable in rarity to centenarians • Why the microbiome can shift rapidly in response to exercise intensity • The challenges of culturing and scaling strict anaerobic microbes for commercialization • The regulatory pathway differences between therapeutic microbiome interventions and consumer health products • How AI a…","meta_description":"In this episode of Galaxy Balance, Cory Smith speaks with Dr. Jonathan Scheiman, co-founder and CEO of FitBiomics, about the science of elite performance,…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3709,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/galaxy-balance-7619530/episodes/jonathan-scheiman-microbes-of-elite-performance/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/galaxy-balance-7619530/jonathan-scheiman-microbes-of-elite-performance.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}