By now you might be wondering whether your vape pen has acquired a taste for human blood. There have been several deaths and hundreds of cases of “mysterious lung illnesses” traced back to various “vaping products,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since that sentence is incredibly vague and next to useless, we decided to bring Amelia Ruby Howard, a sociologist who studies science and technology, on the show to clear the air and tell us what’s up. Amelia begins by spelling out exactly what kind of products are being linked to what kind of illnesses, and then helps us unpack the politics of what appears to be a textbook moral panic. You can follow Amelia on Twitter here.

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Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary Siegel
Co-Producer: Aaron Ferguson
Music: Glass Boy, Pictures of the Floating World

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