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In Those Genes

In Those Genes 33 Episodes Jul 29, 2026

In Those Genes is a narrative science podcast that explores the intersection of genetics and Black culture. It uses stories carried in DNA to examine ancestry, identity, and health. The show aims to make genetic science accessible and relevant to Black communities. Episodes blend scientific explanation with personal and cultural narratives.

Episodes

“I Trust My Body”: Giving Birth While Black Jul 29, 2026 00:37:51 When Janina Jeff Ringo learned she was pregnant with her first child, she knew pretty quickly she wanted a home birth. People have been giving birth at home for time immemorial, so it seemed straightforward. What she found was anything but. In this episode, In Those Genes host and your favorite neighborhood Geneti-SIS Dr. Janina Jeff Ringo tells her story of pregnancy, home birth, and postpartum

“A Portal to The Next Version of Yourself”: When Menopause Means Freedom Jul 14, 2026 00:41:54 For as long as Vena Moore can remember, she’s had painful periods. She started menstruating earlier than most, in fifth grade, and later found out that the years of discomfort and pain were due to fibroids growing in her uterus. So when in her late 30s Vena entered perimenopause – the pregame to menopause – she found the change freeing and firmly embraced it. In this episode, we dive into the sci

“I grew up as a little girl and I'm gonna die an old man”: Reproductive Health and PMOS (formerly PCOS) Beyond The Binary Jul 1, 2026 00:43:51 ***UPDATE: In May 2026, PCOS was renamed Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS). At the timing of this recording the medical name for PMOS was PCOS*** Arrows Fitz lives a very public life. In 2014, he was a cast member on MTV’s The Real World and he’s since racked up millions of views online talking about fashion, androgyny, and his experience navigating the world as a Black transmasculin

Coming Soon: The Genetics of Reproduction Jun 19, 2026 00:02:43 Three crucial moments in the reproductive lives of people with a uterus. One series exploring the genetics, history, and lived experiences of Black people that medicine too often overlooks. Join us for a journey through puberty, menopause, and birth and the genetics behind the stories our bodies carry. The Genetics of Reproduction begins July 1, wherever you listen to podcasts.

Baby Got Black May 3, 2022 01:04:43 There’s a commonly held belief that Black folks are thicker, bigger, and carry more fat than others…but where did this idea that our bodies only look a certain way come from? Join us as we disentangle fact from oftentimes fat-phobic fiction when it comes to assumptions about how our bodies are shaped. . In our Season 2 finale, "Baby Got Black", we dissect whether here is a genetic differ

Blackletes Fact & Fiction Mar 9, 2022 00:09:41 This week we travel to 1989 to a conversation with Dr. Edwards and NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw and we bring in the science we learned last week about what role genetics has in athletic ability to this critical conversation about Black superior athletes. . Blackletes Fact and Fiction dissects the claims made in the NBC News Tonight broadcast, “Black Athletes Fact and Fiction” featuring our guest fro

Blackletes Feb 23, 2022 01:00:21 Serena Williams. Usian Bolt. Michael Jordan. Some of the world’s strongest, fastest, and most decorated athletes are Blackity Black. Sometimes people chalk this up to genetics, claiming that this sort of extraordinary athleticism is unique to Black folks’ ancestry. Is there any truth to that claim? In this episode, we untangle what role genetics has in athletic ability and map out how Black Ameri

A Tribute to Uncle Warren Feb 8, 2022 00:42:26 Oral history is such an integral part of our family history and our collective story as African descendents; without our elders passing this history to us much of our Black History would remain unknown. This Black History Month, we revisit an episode from Season 1 that features one of my newest ancestors, the late “Uncle Warren” and other elders in my hometown of New Orleans as they discuss their

The R&B Experiment Jan 25, 2022 00:08:28 It isn’t hard to point out the person in the room who is clapping off beat. But how can we use the scientific method to study why some folks are rhythmically coordinated and others not? How does one’s ancestry play into this? In this bonus episode, we head to the In Those Genes lab with neuroscientist AZA Allsop, MD, PhD to map out a hypothetical study using genetics and neurology that could help

R&B: Rhythm & Blackness Jan 11, 2022 01:03:10 We all got that one friend that just can’t seem to catch the beat. And yes…yes, they usually are. But is rhythm really a thing you either have or you don’t? Are some of us just born with a rhythm and others not? Could this be explained by genetics? In this episode, we break down what rhythm actually is, and talk to experts who help us understand how neuroscience, genetics, and culture shape the co

Black Don't Crack Dec 30, 2021 01:01:20 After some time traveling, and understanding why we all look so different, it’s time we look at the age old question: Why aren’t Black people aging? Through all of the beauty products, and magazines that promote youth, Black people never really seem to age. It’s cultural at this point with its cornerstone being JET magazine’s 1970 “Black Don’t Crack” . “Black Don’t Crack” is an adage that assumes

The Future is Black AF Dec 21, 2021 00:10:23 How will humanity continue to evolve? Will our distinct physical features stand the test of time? Do we still adhere to social constructs like race and gender? Find out on this week’s bonus episode as we continue our journey from last week and head 15,000 years into the future with Afrofuturist Ytasha Whomack . . “The Future is Black AF” is a short mini BONUS episode that continues the journey fro

Black to the Future Dec 14, 2021 00:58:35 Race is a social construct and not a distinction we make in biology. But as humans we do look very different from one another. Shoot, family members that share the same genes don’t look the same. Why do we look so different? Join three time-traveling scientists on an afrofuturist journey through the ages to trace how climate, migration, and mating patterns over the last 200,000 years have create

How the World Inherited Blackness Dec 1, 2021 00:45:35 Is Race Genetic? . “How the World Inherited Blackness” answers a common question by many....."Is race genetic?" This episode takes the listener on a journey through time to understand how race was birthed and the history behind how race became a reputable (pseudo)scientific theory that justified an entire global system of oppression still used today. We leverage the genetics expertise of

Season 2 Coming Soon! Nov 16, 2021 00:02:22 In Those Genes is BAAAAAAACCCCKKKK for Season 2! "She Get It From Her Moma”, the official title of Season 2 builds on Season 1 and asks the central question in each episode- “Is it genetic?!” Six brand new episodes in this season will focus on understanding the origins of long-held beliefs about inheritance within the Black community that, in some cases, are and are not supported by genetics

Vaccine VERZUZ Sep 21, 2021 00:54:17 Hey fam! We're back for an unofficial release of a bonus episode for season 2 to report on Dat Rona! Unfortunately the virus is still here BUT with the rise of the new delta variant and misinformation running the streets we knew it was time for an update! So what better way to do it than in the format of our favorite pandemic event, VERZUZ!! In this bonus episode we will be talking about life wit

Intronic Season Episode 4: Trusting The Vaccine While Black Pt. 2 (IG/Clubhouse Live Cypher Session) Jan 20, 2021 02:03:07 Today we are airing our first Intronic Episode of 2021, Trusting The Vaccine While Black Part 2, a live community cypher conversation with Dr. Ashira Blazer and our family of listeners on Instagram and Clubhouse. . For those of you who follow us on Instagram you know we host an IG Live and now a Clubhouse Club Conversation that we call Community Cyphers. The purpose of these sessions is to furthe

Intronic Season Episode 3 - SNP-its, Short Audio Stories by Biorocket High School Interns Sep 23, 2020 00:43:03 Hey fam! Today we are hitting you with another Intronic episode but this time from high school interns from the Biorocket Program at Genspace who used our show as a model to do some science storytelling themselves. We call their short audio stories, SNP-its, a play upon words from an acronym in genetics that stands for single nucleotide polymorphism and describes common mutations in populations. .

Intronic Season Episode 2- Dat Rona Update: Trusting Vaccines While Black Jun 30, 2020 00:21:23 We're BACK---well kind of... . This week we want to hit you with a new Rona update all about the development of coronavirus vaccines. This update is inspired by our fam on Black Twitter and the discourse popping up that’s claiming the vaccine will be created to intentionally do harm us Black folks. . Specifically folks who are weary of engaging in vaccine related research or even taking the vaccin

Intronic Season Ep. 1 - Know Your Genes from American Origin Stories Podcast May 26, 2020 00:33:11 Welcome to…... the “Intronic Season”. During the intronic season we will be doing episode swaps with other podcasts that are closely related to our show or interviews from shows that I have been on. Some weeks we might just point you to a podcast to listen to, some weeks we might just drop some genetic knowledge on social media through our Henrietta Facts posts, and I will still be dropping that H

Gene-NINA Pt.2 Apr 20, 2020 01:20:10 In our season finale, we continue the discussion with our host, Dr. Jeff and lead producer Sam Riddell to discuss her journey to be becoming the first African American to receive a PhD in Human Genetics from Vanderbilt. We'll do a deep dive on her entire process and discuss how she overcame racism, sexism, and imposter syndrome all while still being focused on the community and centering Black peo

Gene-NINA Pt.1 Apr 9, 2020 01:00:31 On this episode we’re bringing in our lead producer Sam Riddell to get into some questions about MY thoughts around genetic testing that y'all have been asking me all season. You'll also here Sam give the update on Dat Rona this week and we’re talking all about the SEVERE racial disparities when it comes to diagnoses and deaths resulting from COVID-19. We’re going to talk about the PLETHORA of rea

All of Us Apr 3, 2020 01:02:36 This week we take you on a genetics road trip to find disease cures and our GPS is the African genome! Then we will talk about National Research Initiative, All of Us, that is asking for 1 million samples from underrepresented communities like ours to better understand health outcomes for future generations to come. Then we travel 100 years into the future and imagine what science might look like

Scientific Sleuths Mar 26, 2020 00:51:36 Wanna make money? Wanna find bae?? Or maybe you want to find all your cuzins in the world?! You can do all this with your DNA and in this episode we each you how. Then we'll be speaking with a genealogy enthusiast who has used his data to go on to discover over 20,000 relatives and become an internationally known advocate and educator of genealogical research. And as always, I'll leave you with so

Dat Rona Mar 20, 2020 01:05:34 This week we’re doing a special episode on Dat Rona aka the coronavirus or as its scientifically known -- SARS CoV 2. We decided to pull together and disseminate some Rona’ knowledge because we are all being bombarded with a lot of information that is often inconsistent and rapidly changing. We’ll give you a rundown of what Rona is, what we know about it genetically, and I’ll tell you about a v

Damn G.I.N.A! Mar 10, 2020 00:51:37 Damn GINA, the infamous Martin reference but also the acronym for the Genetics Information Nondiscrimination Act. We learn all our homegirl GINA and what she can and cannot do from our fellow Geneti-SIS, Shawneequa Callier, an Associate Professor of medical ethics at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. We also will learn about old methods used in forensics bac

Abigail's Story Mar 3, 2020 00:45:56 This week we intellectually drag the Ancestry DNA AD that glamorized slavery on primetime TV. First, we hit you with the science, hard facts, that disprove this sick love story. Then, we speak with Aspirin AD Woman, also known as the fancy ass copywriter, also known as Flagrant Creative, Jewell Donaldson to break down how ads like this see the light of day. Lastly, we re-create what an Ancestry ad

23, Big Pharma & Me Feb 24, 2020 00:44:21 Have you heard of or thought about doing 23&Me test? Well this week we dive deep into the only direct to consumer genetics company with FDA approval and the first to return health reports with our very first Geneti-SIS on the show, Dr. Altovise Ewing. We understand what this means for Black people specifically in regards to accuracy. We also give you all the TEA about 23&Me around the part

ION Trust Dem People! Feb 18, 2020 00:41:07 This week we'll be the communities perspective around privacy within the context of direct to consumer genetic testing companies directly from the elders of the 504. We will also learn how you can be identified by the forensic scientist using your DNA and of course we have affirmations! . Additional music by: Fat Steve Beats https://youtu.be/-ZeMxz9xCcg . In Those Genes is independently funded, t

Skinfolk, Kinfolk Feb 11, 2020 00:45:36 This week we take you on the dopest hip hop odyssey ever! First, we learn how companies determine your tribe through the elements of a hip hop song. Then we review two Black owned genetics companies through a RAP BATTLE!!! Lastly, Dr. Jeff gives you more Afrofuturism vibes as she discusses her favorite consumer genetics company. . Here is a link to the Birthday Song by Chad Milner https://open.spo

Up in Dem' Genes Feb 3, 2020 00:31:23 This week, we explore the interpretation of consumer genetic results from Ancestry.com. Dr. Jeff has a conversation with the infamous Brown Sugar, her friends, Drs. Sarah Ann Anderson-Burnett and Byron Young. We learn what it means to be kin?! And for the first time EVER, we do something unique that only our show could do! Dr. Jeff analyzes Byron and Sarah’s Ancestry results to learn some cool thi

Scientific Sankofa Dec 10, 2019 00:39:13 Sankofa is a Ghanian principle that means go back and fetch it, referencing the idea that we must never forget about our past as we continue to embark on this journey called life. Genetics is a manifestation of the Sankofa principal, having the ability to learn about our past through our DNA. This episode will explore the many facets of how we define the Black identity genetically and culturally

In Those Genes Podcast Trailer Nov 21, 2019 00:03:18 Slavery not only stripped Africans descended Americans of their freedom but of their native languages, families, religion, and other vital information that shape identity. To fill this gap in knowledge, we aim to take listeners on a journey to understand the 1% of the genome that makes up their individuality. Our pilot episode will be released on December 10th.

In Those Genes

Episodes

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