{"podcast":{"title":"Serious Inquiries Only","slug":"serious-inquiries-only-495493","podcast_index_feed_id":495493,"rss_url":"https://seriouspod.libsyn.com/","website_url":"http://seriouspod.com","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/7/1/7/5/717589c7d819f89588c4a68c3ddbc4f2/SeriousInquiriesOnly_1400.jpg","author":"Thomas Smith","episode_count":838,"summary":"Join Thomas for some critical thinking on questions of science, philosophy, skepticism and politics. These serious topics are discussed with some serious guests, but in an entertaining and engaging way! This is not your typical interview podcast; it’s a friendly dialogue, conducted thoughtfully and with plenty of humor. It's Serious Inquiries Only; but like, not boring or anything.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-28T20:17:26.077408+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/serious-inquiries-only-495493"},"episode":{"title":"SIO510: Digging Into the Science of the Placebo Effect","slug":"sio510-digging-into-the-science-of-the-placebo-effect","published_at":"2026-04-12T07:15:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/serious-inquiries-only-495493/sio510-digging-into-the-science-of-the-placebo-effect","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/serious-inquiries-only-495493","url":"https://seriouspod.libsyn.com/sio510-digging-into-the-science-of-the-placebo-effect","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/media.blubrry.com/atheisticallyspeaking/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/seriouspod/510_Episode_510_Placebo.mp3?dest-id=456804","summary":"Popular media will tell you that placebos, inert inactive substances taken as if they’re medication, can work miracles. …Placebos don’t “work”. But what does that even mean? And if that’s true, why would we include a placebo group in a study? Is there anything remotely like a “true”’placebo effect, where belief in a medication could influence the body? Jenessa walks us through scientific study design, statistical artifacts, and one study that shows maybe just maybe there’s a little something like an actual placebo “effect”… but it’s still not magic! Tune in to hear how on earth that could be possible. Nolan, T.A., Price, D.D., Caudle, R., Murphy, N.P., & Neubert, J.K. (2012). Placebo-induced analgesia in an operant pain model in rats . Pain, 153, 2009-2016. Brissonnet, J. (2015). Placebo, are you there? Science Based Medicine. Studeman, D. (2007). But I regress… The Hardball Times. McCambridge, J., de Bruin, M., & Witton, J. (2012). The effect of demand characteristics on research participant behaviours in non-laboratory settings: A systematic review. PLoS One, 7. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here !","meta_description":"Popular media will tell you that placebos, inert inactive substances taken as if they’re medication, can work miracles. …Placebos don’t “work”. But what d…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3376,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/serious-inquiries-only-495493/episodes/sio510-digging-into-the-science-of-the-placebo-effect/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/serious-inquiries-only-495493/sio510-digging-into-the-science-of-the-placebo-effect.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}