Meet Dr. Gretchen Goldman.

She’s been the student, the scientist, the watchdog, the White House advisor, and now she’s the President of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

30 years ago, Gretchen was presented with a question by her 11th grade chemistry teacher:

Where would science be if we changed data?

This is a conversation about what happens when the facts become inconvenient, who pays when science is under attack, and Catharine presents Gretchen that very same question again.

What Gretchen wants you to know:

“We need you. The world needs scientists. We need truth tellers. We need people that see hard problems and run toward them.”

Rapid fire:

• One book all non-scientists should read: Doubt is Their Product by David Michaels
• Scientist everyone should know by name: Veronica O. Davis / LinkedIn
• Gretchen’s small ritual that keeps her steady: Going hard on the Peloton!
  
  

Going beyond the episode:

• Gretchen on LinkedIn
• Union of Concerned Scientists
• Science Rising
  
  

Read the full episode guide here.

You're about to hear from the women building what comes next.

In cancer research and climate engineering.

In AI, space exploration, public health, biotech, policy, and every room where the future is being shaped.

This is alpha.

A podcast about women in science, technology, engineering, and math - the fields defining our future, and the women redefining what leadership inside them looks like.

I'm Dr. Catharine Young: a scientist, an immigrant, a mother, and a builder.

For years, I've sat across from extraordinary women changing their fields from the inside: leading labs, building companies, shaping policy, asking hard questions, and carrying more than most people will ever see.

These are the conversations behind the breakthroughs.

The choices that shaped a career. The rooms that tested a voice. The moments that changed how someone understood her own power.

The failures, risks, reinventions, ambitions, and turning points that rarely make it into the official story, but shape everything that comes after.

Because this isn't about giving women a voice. They already have one.

This is the platform their voices were always meant for. The one we're building together.

Welcome to alpha.

Listen, meet the women of alpha, and learn more at alphapodcast.studio.

Coming up on season one:

Ep 1: Dr. Gretchen Goldman, Science Advocacy
Ep 2: Dr. Renée Hložek, Astrophysics
Ep 3: Dr. M Jackson, Glaciology
Ep 4: Dr. Shohini Ghose, Quantum Physics
Ep 5: Dr. Paule Valery Joseph, Sensory Neuroscience
Ep 6: Dr. Asha de Vos, Marine Biology
Ep 7: Dr. Michelle Monje, Cancer Neuroscience
Ep 8: Dr. Beth Cameron, Pandemic Preparedness
Ep 9: Dr. Sara K. Yeo, Science Communication
Ep 10: Dr. Arati Prabhakar, Science & Technology Policy