Marcus Chown on “Learning about New Things”, e15:x02

Excerpted from “Read Science!”, episode 15; recorded on 17 October 2013.

Marcus Chown on “How to Write About Everything”, e15:x01

Excerpted from “Read Science!”, episode 15; recorded on 17 October 2013.

E.O.Wilson on “How Important is Learning Math?”, e11:x04

Excerpted from “Read Science!”, episode 11; recorded on 27 August 2013.

E.O.Wilson on “The Importance of a Teacher’s Enthusiasm”, e11:x03

Excerpted from “Read Science!”, episode 11; recorded on 27 August 2013.

E.O.Wilson on “Ellis MacLeod & Mentoring”, e11:x02

Excerpted from “Read Science!”, episode 11; recorded on 27 August 2013.

E.O.Wilson on “Science as a Social Phenomenon”, e11:x01

Excerpted from “Read Science!”, episode 11; recorded on 27 August 2013.

Episode 18 : “Dogs” edition (video)

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.

Episode 18 : “Dogs” edition (audio)

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.

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

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.)

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

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.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Episode 16 : “Disastrous Planet” edition (video)

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.

Episode 16 : “Disastrous Planet” edition (audio)

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Episode 15 : “Wonderful World” edition (video)

Streamed live 17 October 2013

In this episode we talked about everything that makes our world so wonderful with the guy who wrote the book about (nearly) everything: Marcus Chown, author of “What a Wonderful World : One Man’s Attempt to Explain the Big Stuff”. And, indeed, there’s some big stuff in this book — and our conversation. Cosmology, cell biology, mathematics, evolution, physics, just to name a few. As always, we had a lively, fun, and informative conversation.

Episode 15 : “Wonderful World” edition (audio)

Streamed live 17 October 2013

In this episode we talked about everything that makes our world so wonderful with the guy who wrote the book about (nearly) everything: Marcus Chown, author of “What a Wonderful World : One Man’s Attempt to Explain the Big Stuff”. And, indeed, there’s some big stuff in this book — and our conversation. Cosmology, cell biology, mathematics, evolution, physics, just to name a few. As always, we had a lively, fun, and informative conversation.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Episode 14 : “Exoplanets” edition (video)

Streamed live on 10 October 2013

Our conversation was almost as large as the universe when we talked with Lee Billings, discussing his book “Five Million Years of Solitude : The Search for Life among the Stars”. In addition to the scientists and the technology–and the results!–of searching for the existence of planets beyond our own solar system, we pretty much touched on questions relating to life, the universe, and everything, including communicating science, of course. As usual, we had a lively conversation about lots of interesting ideas.