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Archive for November, 2013

Nov
25

Episode 18 : “Dogs” edition (video)

Posted by jnshaumeyer on November 25, 2013

Streamed live on 25 November 2013

I refuse to be drawn into cliché : I will not say that this episode was for the dogs, but working dogs, what they do, how they do it, and what they think about it, was the topic for today’s episode. We had two splendid guests, knowledgeable on the topic : Virginia Morell, author of “Animal Wise : The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures”, and Cat Warren, author of “What the Dog Knows : The Science and Wonder of Working Dogs”. We talked about dogs, their human companions, and many of their animal compatriots, with lots of stories, humor, and science. It was a nice treat talking about our species’ best friend.

Nov
25

Episode 18 : “Dogs” edition (audio)

Posted by jnshaumeyer on November 25, 2013

Streamed live on 25 November 2013

I refuse to be drawn into cliché : I will not say that this episode was for the dogs, but working dogs, what they do, how they do it, and what they think about it, was the topic for today’s episode. We had two splendid guests, knowledgeable on the topic : Virginia Morell, author of “Animal Wise : The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures”, and Cat Warren, author of “What the Dog Knows : The Science and Wonder of Working Dogs”. We talked about dogs, their human companions, and many of their animal compatriots, with lots of stories, humor, and science. It was a nice treat talking about our species’ best friend.

Nov
14

Episode 17 : “Astronaut Chris Hadfield” edition (video)

Posted by jnshaumeyer on November 14, 2013

Streamed live on 14 November 2013

Our conversation today was out of this world (go on, try to avoid that pun) when our very special guest was Canadian Astronaut, recent Commander of an ISS Expedition, Twitter phenomenon, and Space Rock-Star Chris Hadfield. We talked about his new book, “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth : What Going to Space Taught Me about Ingenuity, Determination and Being Prepared for Anything”. As is our habit, we talked about science, and science outreach, and being prepared for life and everything that might come along, space toilets, and the fact that “it’s all going to be on the quiz” sooner or later.

For this conversation we were joined by Clara Moskowitz, associate editor at Scientific American, covering space and physics, We recorded this episode in collaboration with Scientific American, and we are grateful to them for their support and most excellent production help.

(Yes, for this episode the Google software for the Hangout was not switching the big image to match the speaker, but the audio is good, so bear with us.)

Nov
14

Episode 17 : “Astronaut Chris Hadfield” edition (audio)

Posted by jnshaumeyer on November 14, 2013

Streamed live on 14 November 2013

Our conversation today was out of this world (go on, try to avoid that pun) when our very special guest was Canadian Astronaut, recent Commander of an ISS Expedition, Twitter phenomenon, and Space Rock-Star Chris Hadfield. We talked about his new book, “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth : What Going to Space Taught Me about Ingenuity, Determination and Being Prepared for Anything”. As is our habit, we talked about science, and science outreach, and being prepared for life and everything that might come along, space toilets, and the fact that “it’s all going to be on the quiz” sooner or later.

For this conversation we were joined by Clara Moskowitz, associate editor at Scientific American, covering space and physics, We recorded this episode in collaboration with Scientific American, and we are grateful to them for their support and most excellent production help.

(Yes, for this episode the Google software for the Hangout was not switching the big image to match the speaker, but the audio is good, so bear with us.)

Nov
05

Episode 16 : “Disastrous Planet” edition (video)

Posted by jnshaumeyer on November 5, 2013

Streamed live on 5 November 2013

Our topic today was all the natural disasters that Earth is prone to : earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, landslides, volcanoes — all the stuff that disaster movies thrive on, only we were more interested in the reality and the geology that’s behind all those disastrous events, not to mention how to communicate that reality to the public.

All of those things were things done very well by today’s guest, geologist Susan W. Kieffer, in her book “The Dynamics of Disaster”, and we discussed quite a bit of that plus some other things as we are wont to do.

Nov
05

Episode 16 : “Disastrous Planet” edition (audio)

Posted by jnshaumeyer on November 5, 2013

Streamed live on 5 November 2013

Our topic today was all the natural disasters that Earth is prone to : earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, landslides, volcanoes — all the stuff that disaster movies thrive on, only we were more interested in the reality and the geology that’s behind all those disastrous events, not to mention how to communicate that reality to the public.

All of those things were things done very well by today’s guest, geologist Susan W. Kieffer, in her book “The Dynamics of Disaster”, and we discussed quite a bit of that plus some other things as we are wont to do.