On this week’s show: a contender for the darkest year of the darkest age and a review of what we know about fasting, metabolism, and aging When was the worst year to be alive? Contributing Correspondent Ann Gibbons talks to host Sarah Crespi about a contender year that features a volcanic eruption, extended darkness, cold summer, and a plague. Also on this week’s show, host Meagan Cantwell talks with Andrea Di Francesco of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, Maryland, about his review of current wisdom on fasting and metabolism. Should we start fasting—if not to extend our lives maybe to at least to give ourselves a healthy old age? In a special segment from our policy desk, Deputy Editor David Malakoff discusses the results of the recent U.S. election with Senior Correspondent Jeffrey Mervis and we learn what happened to the many scientist candidates that ran and some implications for science policy. This week’s episode was edited by Podigy. Listen to previous podcasts http://www.sciencemag.org/podcasts About the Science Podcast http://www.sciencemag.org/about/podcast [Image: PHOTO BY: Scott Suchman; STYLING BY: Nichole Bryant; Music: Jeffrey Cook] ++ Authors: Sarah Crespi; Meagan Cantwell; Ann Gibbons; David Malakoff; Jeffrey Mervis