• 350: TWiM Goes to College
    Feb 14 2026

    Nancy and Maggie join TWiM to share how and why they created a freely available ebook of TWiM-based science literacy resources and classroom exercises that support teaching across key microbiology and molecular biology topics.

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    Links for this episode:

    • Podcast annotation and resources in microbiology (Iowa State U)

    • Curriculum guidelines for undergraduate microbiology (ASM)

    Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

    Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

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    53 mins
  • 349: Punctured to Death by Spikes
    Feb 1 2026

    TWiM explains how mechano-bactericidal surfaces made from diverse materials and patterned with spikes kill bacteria on contact, and virus-host evolution is reshaped by microgravity aboard the International Space Station.

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    Links for this episode:

    • Mechano-Bactericidal Surfaces (Adv Sci)

    • Piercing pathogens (ASM)

    • Natural bactericidal surfaces (Small)

    • Virus-host evolution in microgravity (PLoS Biol)

    Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

    Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

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    59 mins
  • 348: The Bark Side of the Microbiome
    Jan 21 2026

    TWiM explains the finding that owning a dog during adolescence alters the microbiota and improves mental health, and the molecular basis for multidrug efflux by an anaerobic-associated resistance-nodulation-cell division transporter.

    Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson and Petra Levin.

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    Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

    Links for this episode
    • Dog ownership and the microbiome during adolescence (iScience)
    • Molecular basis for multidrug efflux (Nat Comm)
    • Take the TWiM Listener survey!

    Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

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    54 mins
  • 347: At Wound's Edge
    Jan 5 2026

    TWiM explains how S. aureus pathogenicity is a dynamic, niche-specific choreography that constantly recalibrates in response to the host microenvironment, and short chain fatty acids produced by commensal microbiota reduces its competitive fitness.

    Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson and Petra Levin.


    Guest:
    Mark O. Martin

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    Links for this episode:

    • Niche-specific fitness of S. aureus at the wound edge (Nat Comm)

    • Commensal derived short chain fatty acids attenuate S. aureus (mBio)

    • Ditch the term pathogen (Nature)

    Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

    Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

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    55 mins
  • 346: Metabolism and Porin Permeability
    Dec 13 2025

    TWiM explains how competition for nutrients anticipates and potentially mitigate drug side effects on the gut microbiota, and metabolic control of porin permeability influences antibiotic resistance.

    Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt and Petra Levin

    Guest: Mark O. Martin

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    Links for this episode:

    • Nutrient competition predicts drug effects on microbiota (Cell)

    • Metabolic control of porin permeability influences antibiotic resistance in E coli (Nat Micro)

    • Santiago Cano-Muniz

    Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

    Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

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    54 mins
  • 345: Faster Than Rocks!
    Nov 22 2025

    TWiM explains a biological mechanism that links sulfur and iron cycling in anoxic environments, and "swashing," a form of surface movement in which bacteria migrate without active propulsion.

    Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson, and Petra Levin

    Guest: Mark O. Martin

    Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, RSS, or by email.

    Links for this episode
    • Sulfur and iron cycling in anoxic environments (Nature)
    • Bacterial surface migration by swashing (J Bacteriol)

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    Music used on TWiM is by Ronald Jenkees.

    Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

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    54 mins
  • 344: Ant Yogurt and Fine Chocolate
    Nov 8 2025

    TWiM reveals the bacteria, acids, and enzymes behind yogurt made with ants, and a defined set of microbes that reproduces attributes of fine flavor chocolate fermentation

    Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Petra Levin

    Guest: Mark O. Martin

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    Links for this episode:

    • Making yogurt with ants (iScience)

    • The Alchemist Restaurant

    • How to make classic tuiles (MasterClass)

    • Defined microbes for chocolate (Nat Micro)

    • Microbial chocolatiers of fine flavour (Nat Micro)

    • Blind taste every chocolate bar (YouTube)

    Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

    Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • 343: Nucleotides to the Defense
    Oct 25 2025

    TWiM explores two different ways that bacteria defend against phages through the synthesis of cyclic nucleotides.

    Hosts: Michael Schmidt and Mark O. Martin

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    Links for this episode:

    • Decoy cyclic nucleotides in phage defense (Nature)

    • CRISPR defense with nucleotides (Nature)

    • A decoy defence molecule to set a trap for viruses (Nature)

    • Cyclic oligonucleotide-based antiphage signaling system immunity (Curr Opin Immunol)

    Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

    Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

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    44 mins