Archive for the ‘Podcasts’ Category
Jul
16
Posted by jnshaumeyer on
July 16, 2016
Streamed live on 7 July 2016.
Acclaimed science writer Mary Roach has a special place in our pantheon here at “Read Science!”, because she was our guest for our first episode ever. Imagine how delighted we were to welcome her back to talk about her latest book, Grunt : The Curious Science of Humans at War. Despite some technical difficulties with the internet, we still managed a lively discussion about the book, the technology of warfare, the excellent help that researchers get from human cadavers willed to science, and plenty of behind-the-scenes tidbits.
Like “Read Science!” on Facebook to hear about upcoming programs, easy links to the archive, and news about RS! guests: https://www.facebook.com/ReadScience/.
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May
22
Posted by jnshaumeyer on
May 22, 2016
Streamed live on 17 May 2016.
Kat Arney, author of Herding Hemingway’s Cats : Understanding How Our Genes Work joined us for a very lively discussion about genes–what is a “gene”, by the way?–and RNA and proteins and switches and epigenetics and everything else about our modern understanding of the mechanisms that make DNA work, how much of that understanding has changed in the last 30 years, and how to put that understanding together into a coherent mental model. Along the way we had much fun, heard interesting stories, and lost Jeff for awhile thanks to technical glitches.
Like “Read Science!” on Facebook to hear about upcoming programs, easy links to the archive, and news about RS! guests: https://www.facebook.com/ReadScience/
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Apr
14
Posted by jnshaumeyer on
April 14, 2016
Streamed live on 13 April 2016.
After we made today’s guest, Paul Knoepfler, author of GMO Sapiens: The Life-Changing Science of Designer Babies, explain what CRISPR is, what it can do, and what we might or might not want it to do right now to make genetically modified babies, we covered a lot of fascinating territory that included genetics, biotechnology, ethics, better-baby contests — and why these are all really important, timely things to be discussing.
Like “Read Science!” on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ReadScience/
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Apr
08
Posted by jnshaumeyer on
April 8, 2016
Streamed live on 6 April 2016.
Roads! Bridges! Curbs! Guard rails! Speed humps! Stop signs, too! Infrastructure is everywhere, including the news lately, because American infrastructure is getting old and decrepit. Today’s guest was noted author about all things engineering, Henry Petroski. We talked about taking up the challenges of renewing our infrastructure, and his book on the same topic, The Road Taken : The History and Future of America’s Infrastructure.
If you want to know the answer to the question, “In what year were stop signs ruled illegal by courts in Illinois”, have a listen.
Like “Read Science!” on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ReadScience/
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Mar
29
Posted by jnshaumeyer on
March 29, 2016
Streamed live on 23 March 2016.
In this episode we discussed a comprehensive toolkit for wannabe, burgeoning, or seasons science bloggers was our topic, with guests Christie Wilcox, Bethany Brookshire, and Jason G. Goldman, editors of Science Blogging : The Essential Guide.
Editors’ websites/blogs are
Christie Wilcox (@NerdyChristie) :
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/
Bethany Brookshire (@scicurious) :
https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/scicurious
Jason G. Goldman (@jgold85) :
http://www.jasonggoldman.com/
The book’s website :
http://www.theopennotebook.com/science-blogging-essential-guide/
The book on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/SciBloggingGuide/timeline
Like “Read Science!” on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ReadScience/
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Mar
03
Posted by jnshaumeyer on
March 3, 2016
Streamed live on 2 March 2016.
The world of charlatans, con-men, and impostors is murky and a bit scary, but Maria Konnikova is a helpful and fearless guide with her book, “The Confidence Game : Why We Fall for it Every Time”. She tells incredible, page-turning stories about the things con artists get away with, why we all have the potential to be duped, and whether there’s anything we can do about it.
One defensive tactic, of course, would be to watch our very lively discussion about the book with Maria. Our time was a bit short as we caught up with her during a very busy day of interviews, but we fit a lot into this program regardless.
To follow us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReadScience/
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Oct
15
Posted by jnshaumeyer on
October 15, 2015
Streamed live on 14 Oct 2015.
The Red Planet was on our mind today when we talked to Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN Mission Principal Investigator and author of “Science, Society, and the Search for Life in the Universe”; and James Green, Director of NASA’s Planetary Sciences Division, and consultant for Ridley Scott’s “The Martian”.
We talked about Mars, missions to Mars, “The Martian”, what it means to search for life in our Solar System and the universe, and the urge to explore in humans, along with how science can engage the interest of the non-scientist public.
To like “Read Science!” on Facebook : http://facebook.com/ReadScience .
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Sep
21
Posted by jnshaumeyer on
September 21, 2015
Streamed live on 17 September 2015.
For this fast-paced and wide-ranging discussion our guest was Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes : The Legacy of Autism and the Furute of Neurodiversity.
The history of understanding — and misunderstanding — autism and Asperger’s Syndrome, reaching today’s comprehension of them as a “spectrum”, is over a century long, at times convoluted, and sometimes alarmingly cruel. During the 8 years that he worked on this book, Silberman collected a remarkable number of stories that he tells to remarkably good effect in this comprehensive book. We tried our best to sort our some of those while recounting our reactions to the book, and what we learned from reading it.
To like “Read Science!” on Facebook : http://facebook.com/ReadScience .
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Jul
07
Posted by jnshaumeyer on
July 7, 2015
Streamed live on 25 June 2015.
Cynthia Barnett wrote that poet Conrad Aiken called rain “the syllables of water”. Today’s conversation was all about water and rain and all of the syllables we could fit into one tiny hour.
Our guests were Cynthia Barnett, author of “Rain : A Natural and Cultural History”, and Alok Jha, author of “The Water Book : The Extraordinary Story of our Most Ordinary Substance”. Do I even need to say by now that the discussion was wide ranging and filled with interesting facts and ideas?
To like “Read Science!” on Facebook : http://facebook.com/ReadScience.
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Jun
10
Posted by jnshaumeyer on
June 10, 2015
Streamed live on 9 June 2015.
Nicola Davies is a prolific author of picture books for children, and non-picture books for older kids. She likes telling stories about science to younger people, and she does it very well.
We discussed her recent book, Tiny Creatures : The World of Microbes, beautifully illustrated by Emily Sutton, and used it as a jumping-off point to talk about her other books, the joy of writing about science for kids, and the sometimes mysterious process of writing itself.
To like “Read Science!” on Facebook : http://facebook.com/ReadScience.
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May
15
Posted by jnshaumeyer on
May 15, 2015
Streamed live on 14 May 2015.
Humans are complicated things, but we are understanding our human-cell biology better with each passing year. How our DNA works becomes clearer, the role of epigenetics becomes clearer, and so does our microbiological relationship with the enormous number of bacteria and viruses that inhabit our bodies. With increased understanding comes increased potential for altering those interactions, and potential taking a role in our own evolution as a species.
That was the framework for our conversation today with Steve Gullans, co-author with Juan Enriquez of the book Evolving Ourselves : How Unnatural Selection and Nonrandom Mutation are Changing Life on Earth.
To like “Read Science!” on Facebook : http://facebook.com/ReadScience .
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May
02
Posted by jnshaumeyer on
May 2, 2015
Streamed live on 30 April 2015.
For the first episode of our third year, our subject was cancer, a topic we’ve discussed before and we’ll likely discuss again.
Our guests are the authors of two notable recent books on the topic: Sue Armstrong, author of p53 : The Gene that Cracked the Cancer Code, and George Johnson, author of The Cancer Chronicles : Unlocking Medicine’s Deepest Mystery.
We enjoyed a fast-paced, engaging conversation filled with interesting stories and insight into the complicated workings of cancer, and the remarkable advances in understanding that have come from cancer research in the last few decades. Sometimes an hour is just not long enough for everything that comes to mind to talk about.
Sue Armstrong on Twitter: @armstrong_sue .
George Johnson on Twitter: @byGeorgeJohnson .
George Johnson’s website: http://talaya.net/ .
To like “Read Science!” on Facebook : http://facebook.com/ReadScience .
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Apr
29
Posted by jnshaumeyer on
April 29, 2015
Streamed live on 14 April 2015.
In our conversation with Chris Impey, author of Beyond : Our Future in Space, we discussed more things than you can shake a Saturn V rocket at, including the history of the Apollo mission and why Americans lost interest in space exploration, a possible new space race with the Chinese, commercialized efforts to get the US back into space, and the basic urge of humans to explore. There was some mention of sex in space in there, too.
To like “Read Science!” on Facebook : http://facebook.com/ReadScience .
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Mar
11
Posted by jnshaumeyer on
March 11, 2015
Streamed live on 10 March 2015.
With this episode we celebrated several firsts: our biggest hangout to date (all 6 of us in one little video), our first return guest (Suzi), and our first guest joining us from Africa (Laurie, from her office at the Cheetah Conservation Fund, in Namibia). To celebrate we had a very stimulating conversation about extinction and animal conservation, featuring the passenger pigeon and the cheetah. As so frequently happens, we ran out of time long before we ran out of fascinating things to talk about.
Today’s guests were Dr. Laurie Marker and Suzi Eszterhas, author and photographer of “A Future for Cheetahs”; and David Mrazek and Joel Greenberg, co-writers, co-producers, and director (David) of the documentary film, “From Billions to None: The Passenger Pigeon’s Flight to Extinction”. Let’s also mention Joel’s book, “A Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon’s Flight to Extinction”.
Learn about the Cheetah Conservation Fund, and order “A Future for Cheetahs”, at their website: http://cheetah.org/ .
Learn about the film “From Billions to None” at its official website: http://www.billionstonone.com/ .
To like “Read Science!” on Facebook : http://facebook.com/ReadScience .
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Feb
18
Posted by jnshaumeyer on
February 18, 2015
Published on 17 February 2015.
Streamed live on 17 February 2015.
In this episode we talked with Corey S. Powell, former editor-in-chief of “American Scientist” and “Discover” magazines, author of the Discover blog “Out There”, and editor of the book Undeniable : Evolution and the Science of Creation, by Bill Nye.
As usual, our conversation was wide ranging, from debating with creationists to GMOs, science journalism, and the human need for exploration.
Visit Corey’s blog “Out There” :
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/outthere/
To like “Read Science!” on Facebook : http://facebook.com/ReadScience .
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