Hot Takes by the UCLA Heat Lab

As global warming worsens, heat increasingly impacts people's daily lives - influencing health, behavior, and more. But, we often aren’t very conscious about heat and knowledge of it doesn’t get shared beyond academia and specialized fields. In every episode, our hosts engage different researchers, activists, or community members to share their work and how it can be applied in the real world.

Hot Takes by the UCLA Heat Lab is a education podcast hosted by UCLA Heat Lab, with 12 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

UCLA Heat Lab hosts Hot Takes by the UCLA Heat Lab, a education show with 12 episodes published.

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  Episode #4

  Season 2 Ep 4 - Heat Without Borders: A Global Look at the Impacts of Heat

  Jul 16, 202626 minS2

  In this first part of our long-awaited season finale, join us as we take a step back to look at heat from a broader perspective. This episode, we discuss the downstream impacts of global warming with Drs. Matthew Baldacchino and Noé Hernandez, two medical doctors currently working in global health and policy. Rising heat presents as a continuously urgent issue to address in the global health sphere, though its negative impacts are largely predictable and preventable with proper management. Tune in to explore the adaptation strategies (and more!) currently being implemented in Malta, Mexico, and abroad. Recorded on Zoom, May 2026.

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  Episode #3

  Season 2 Ep 3 - Breaking Down Metropolitan Heat with Dr. Daniel Cumming

  May 7, 202639 minS2

  This episode, join us as we explore heat in the city with Dr. Daniel Cumming, a postdoctoral fellow at Queens College. As an urban and environmental historian of the 20th-century United States, Dr. Cumming examines the powerful intersection of housing and heat and the inequalities that emerged in post-World War II New York City. Through his research and his involvement in the international collaborative project Melting Metropolis , we’ll uncover how heat shapes urban environments, influences infrastructure, and deepens social divides. Tune in as we rethink temperature as a force embedded in the history of the modern city. Stay cool, and stay tuned for our next episode. Recorded on Zoom, February 2026. Check out our show notes here: https://tinyurl.com/hottakesS2-E3

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  Episode #2

  Season 2 Ep 2 - There's Nothing Chill About These Pills: Discussing Polypharmacy and Rising Heat Risk with the Pharma Heat Team

  Apr 16, 202628 minS2

  As extreme heat becomes more frequent and severe, certain medications increase vulnerability during these times. Older populations, in particular, continue to face this interference with their thermoregulation, with their layered vulnerability in a warming climate. Using county-level data across California, the Pharma Heat team created a more granular assessment of pharmaceutical risks using demographic and social factors that are not often analyzed together in existing literature. The Hot Takes podcast sits down with UCLA's Heat Lab's Pharmaceutical Heat Team to discuss their research on why older adults face compounded risks shaped by climate change intersecting pharmaceutical use and extreme heat.

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  Episode #1

  Season 2 Ep 1 - Sporting New Temperatures with High School Athletics

  Apr 2, 202611 minS2

  As temperatures continue to rise, high school student-athletes are among the populations most vulnerable to extreme heat. In today's episode, the UCLA Heat Lab explores how heat affects athletes across multiple sports through the perspectives of athletes themselves. We discuss football and cross country, where athletes face intense outdoor heat exposure, and explore how heat can also impact indoor spaces through sports like volleyball. We even explore swimming, an unexpected but important context for understanding heat risk. As hot seasons intensify, understanding these challenges is essential to protecting the health and safety of student-athletes. Check out our show notes here: https://tinyurl.com/hottakesS2-E1

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  Episode #7

  Ep 7 - Winter Warmerland

  Apr 9, 202510 minS1

  In this Hot Takes special mini-episode, we take a look at the concerning weather events of 2025, and how they led to the heartbreaking destruction within the Los Angeles community due to the wildfires that ignited in early January. Walking through the history of Los Angeles weather events and how we have seen the loss of our seasons in recent years, we try to better understand the causes and effects behind these destructive fires, and how we as a community can not only rebuild, but learn to prevent them in the future. Narrated through an educational lens, the Hot Takes podcast hopes to bring awareness to the catalysts and lasting effects of wildfires and Southern California’s “winter warmerland.” Co-Hosts and Writers: Tiana Hoang, Natalie Gurzeler, and Isaac Lee Additional writing support from Yasmine Qushair Check out shownotes here: https://tinyurl.com/hottakes7

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