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 (hi, 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: why my husband Zac is here—and what I didn’t plan to say!
(00:05:12) Rapid-fire that actually stumps me: color, comfort food, and the sushi origin story
(00:09:18) Dream guest list—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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