On episode 50 of A Chat with Uma, we flip the script: my husband, Zac, takes the host chair and interviews me—for our first-ever in-person recording! To celebrate 50 episodes, we go wide and deep; and what he pulls out surprised even me. We trace how I went from barely hanging on to betting my life on the brain; the awe (and pressure) of studying the most complex thing in the universe; what I’d do with myself if science vanished tomorrow (hello, cheese); and the version of me that only exists when the door is closed.

We pull apart internet myths about “bought” science and where NIH money actually goes; why diagnoses are both blunt instruments and lifelines; and the chapter I almost never reopen—the singer I was before cancer changed my voice. Zac asks the one question I’d ask the universe. And yes, we lock in a carrot for interviewing HIM on episode 100. Plus, our doggy Beans makes a cameo! This is the deepest cut yet: Zac’s questions pull threads I’d never tug on by myself, and tune in to hear the most open, unmasked conversation I’ve recorded.

Topics Discussed (+ Timestamps):

(00:00:00 ) He finally said yes!: A little bit about Zac, my (VERY private & offline) husband & why he's here today

(00:05:12 ) Rapid-fire kickoff questions... that of course, stump me

(00:09:18 ) Top 5 Dream Guests + WHY—the most interesting person I know, 2 scientists, a novelist, & a grunge legend…and Beans joins us!

(00:14:10 ) The next 25 years of brain science I’m betting on: precision, prevention, seeing the unseen

(00:18:46 ) If I lost it all tomorrow: the soft life, making cheese, and a totally different mission

(00:26:40 ) When the mic turns off: how I act when no one’s around

(00:30:56 ) For anyone who feels “unworthy”: thoughts aren’t facts—and what kept me here

(00:36:06 ) Is science “bought”? The truth about NIH grants, salaries, and where the money goes

(00:54:20 ) The take most people avoid: diagnoses are blunt tools—and still lifesaving

(01:05:36 ) The chapter I rarely reopen: the singer I was before surgery changed my voice (ft. how I opened for Morgan Wallen)

(01:11:32 ) If we cured mental illness, what happens to art?

(01:18:40 ) The one question I’d ask the universe—and why it feels like cheating

(01:21:12 ) Why this episode felt different than any other—and the carrot we just hung for interviewing Zac on episode 100!

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