The key to shrinking cartels is cutting recruitment, and a roundup of books, video games, movies, and more   First up on this week’s show: modeling Mexico’s cartels. Rafael Prieto-Curiel, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Complexity Science Hub in Vienna, joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss how modeling cartel activities can help us understand the impact of potential interventions such as increased policing or reducing gang recruitment.    Lisa Sanchez, executive director of México Unido Contra la Delincuencia, talks with Sarah about just how difficult it would be to make the model results—which show that reducing recruitment is key—a reality.   Next on the show, Science books editor Valerie Thompson and books intern Jamie Dickman discuss a huge selection of science books, movies, video games, and even new exhibits—all due out this fall. See the complete roundup here.   This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.   About the Science Podcast   Authors: Sarah Crespi, Valerie Thompson, Jamie Dickman   Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk9453 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.