Sian Harding, a world leader in cardiac research, joins Hedi to reveal the heart as you’ve never seen it before, as they discuss her book The Exquisite Machine: The New Science of the Heart. From how social rank, air pollution, noise, and even your mother’s pregnancy diet can shape heart health, to the heart’s mini-brain or growing hearts in the lab from skin cells, they uncover the remarkable ways this muscular organ does far more than “just” pump blood.

They also talk about how the heart doesn’t only respond to emotions – it creates them too – and how a broken heart is more than just a metaphor, as we explore the mystery behind “Broken Heart Syndrome” and the heart’s response to emotional shock. Harding takes us on an eye-opening journey through the science that’s rewriting how we understand our body’s most poetic organ – and how it could help us tackle one of the world’s biggest health challenges.

Relevant links:

“The Exquisite Machine: The New Science of the Heart” by Sian E. Harding

More about Sian

British Heart Foundation

WomenHeart

Chapters:

(00:00) The Quake That Broke Hearts

(00:57) Introduction

(01:51) A Heart Like You’ve Never Heard Before

(04:04) The Influence of Social Status

(07:05) Pollution, Noise and the Heart

(10:20) Heart Health and Maternal Diet

(13:07) Mutations and "Second Hits"

(15:59) Inside the Engine Room

(17:58) Alive Without a Heart

(18:45) Artificial Hearts and Stolen Lifelines

(20:31) Living Without a Pulse

(21:13) The Beating Beauty Beneath the Glass

(22:06) Heart Cells Need Company (and a Workout)

(23:13) Hidden Hills and Valleys

(24:46) Heart Failure and Heart Attacks Explained

(28:35) The Cardiac Cost of Cancer Drugs

(30:14) The Heart's Mini-Brain

(32:46) Heartbeat Timing and Subliminal Fear

(35:56) Broken Heart Syndrome

(38:56) Sudden Collapse on the Football Pitch

(41:03) Gender and the Heart

(44:01) Growing Hearts in the Lab

(49:53) "Disease in a Dish" Approach

(52:29) Gene Therapy to the Rescue?

(56:26) Wrapping Up

Episode Credits:

Creator & Series Producer: Hedi Young

Concept Development & Curation: Ana Rita Mendes, António Monteiro, Carla Emilie Pereira, Catarina Ramos, Diana Cadete, Hedi Young, João Van Zelst, John Lee, Marta Correia, Thaïs Lindemann and Teresa Fernandes

Host: Hedi Young

Guest: Moheb Costandi

Graphic Design: Marta Correia

Sound Design: João Van Zelst

Dissemination: Ana Rita Mendes and Diana Cadete

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Champalimaud Foundation.