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Ministry of Ideas March 13, 2023

Beyond Belief or, Science, Religion and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

Illuminations Episode 2

Avi Loeb, Kate Dorsch, and Sen. Harry Reid

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Do scientists ever reject science? Research data on the controversial topic of extraterrestrial life has met with resistance from some in the scientific community and openness from communities of faith …

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Interviews with scientists about their new books.

Ministry of Ideas March 12, 2023

Experimental Methods or, Robert Hooke, Christianity, and Science

Illuminations Episode 1

Robert George, Patricia Fara, Jim Bennett, Guy Consolmagno, and Stephen Barr

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Have faith and science always been enemies? The story of Robert Hooke, a revolutionary working in the Scientific Revolution, exemplifies the ways in which Christianity has actually provoked scientific inquiry …
Scholarly Communication March 11, 2023

Publishing Science

A Discussion with Tiffany Gasbarrini, Senior Science Editor, Johns Hopkins University Press

Tiffany Gasbarrini

Hosted by Avi Staiman
"It is not only for science to give to publishing, but the time has come for publishing to start giving back to science." Tiffany Gasbarrini clarifies the difference between commercial and …
Ministry of Ideas March 9, 2023

Star Ladder or, How Far Away are the Stars?

Measure for Measure Episode 8

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Scientists discovered that some stars have heartbeats and that some of them can be used to measure the longest distances that exist. This episode was produced by Andrew Middleton and …
Ministry of Ideas March 4, 2023

Mohs or, How Hard Are Rocks?

Measure for Measure Episode 3

Hosted by Zachary Davis
We’re hitting up against the very nature of measurement: How can we best describe the world around us, in its infinite complexity, with finite measures? In other words, how hard …
MIT Press Podcast March 3, 2023

Gravity's Kiss

The Detection of Gravitational Waves

Harry Collins

Hosted by MIT Press
The detection of gravitational waves in 2015 rocked the science community. In this episode, Chris Gondek spoke with author Harry Collins, whose book Gravity's Kiss centers around the incredible discovery …
Ministry of Ideas March 1, 2023

Birds or, How Should We Classifying Them?

Measure for Measure Episode 0

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Could you pick a white-breasted nuthatch out of a lineup? We explore the value - and limits - of birdwatching, categorization, and measurement. This episode was produced by Andrew Middleton …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel February 26, 2023

Time and Beauty

Why Time Flies and Beauty Never Dies

Adrian Bejan

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Poets and philosophers are fascinated by time and beauty. They are two of our most visceral perceptions. In Time and Beauty: Why Time Flies and Beauty Never Dies (World Scientific …
Language February 25, 2023

What It All Means

Semantics for (Almost) Everything

Philippe Schlenker

Hosted by Malcolm Keating
In What It All Means: Semantics for (Almost) Everything (MIT Press, 2022), Philippe Schlenker takes readers on tour of meaning, from the animal kingdom to human culture, arguing that semantics …
Ministry of Ideas February 24, 2023

Throbbing with Life--Meaning and the Spirit

Making Meaning Series 21

Michael Ruse

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Science often draws a picture of the world as a giant machine, a meaningless mechanical clock ticking and tocking forever. But religion and poetry offer a different view, one that …
Recall This Book February 16, 2023

Gael McGill Visualizes Intracellular Data (JP, GT)

Gael McGill

Hosted by Elizabeth Ferry and John Plotz
What’s actually going on in a cell–or on the spiky outside of an invading virus? Gael McGill, Director of Molecular Visualization at the Center for Molecular and Cellular Dynamics at …
Why We Argue February 9, 2023

Seeing Truth in the Archives

A Conversation about the AMNH and What Gets Saved with Joel Sweimler

Joel Sweimler

Hosted by Alexis Boylan
Joel Sweimler, Exhibition Specialist at the American Museum of Natural History, talks about his career at the museum, working on Seeing Truth, and what his favorite object in the collection …
The Future of . . . with Owen Bennett-Jones February 4, 2023

The Future of Nuclear Fusion

A Discussion with Sharon Ann Holgate

Sharon Ann Holgate

Hosted by Owen Bennett-Jones
How useful will nuclear fusion be? In a major breakthrough last year at the National Ignition Facility in California, 192 lasers achieved fusion – and created energy - for the …
Ministry of Ideas January 28, 2023

Dissecting Morality

What do Scientists Have To Say About Ethics? (Part 2)

Diane Paul, Ben Allen, and Steven Pinker

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn’t ignore: how to …
Ministry of Ideas January 27, 2023

Dissecting Morality

What do Scientists Have To Say About Ethics? (Part 1)

Diane Paul, Ben Allen, and Steven Pinker

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn’t ignore: how to …
Animal Studies January 26, 2023

If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal

What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity

Justin Gregg

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
What if human intelligence is actually more of a liability than a gift? After all, the animal kingdom, in all its diversity, gets by just fine without it. At first …
Academic Life January 12, 2023

The Climate Change Scientist

A Conversation with Dr. Shuang-ye Wu

Shuang-ye Wu

Hosted by Christina Gessler
What is the difference between global warming and climate change? This episode explores: What led Dr. Wu into STEM, and to the study of climate change.Why the term global warming …
Peoples & Things January 12, 2023

Challenges to Scientific Authority in Modern America

A Discussion with Andrew Jewett

Andrew Jewett

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Andrew Jewett is the author of Science Under Fire: Challenges to Scientific Authority in Modern America (2020) and Science, Democracy, and the American University: From the Civil War to the …
Scholarly Communication January 8, 2023

Write it Down: Writing as a Step Toward Better Research

A Discussion with Computer Scientist Gang Wang

Hosted by Daniel Shea
Listen to this interview of Gang Wang, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We talk about using writing to research better. Gang Wang …
History of Science January 4, 2023

Oceans Under Glass

Tank Craft and the Sciences of the Sea

Samantha Muka

Hosted by Victor Monnin
In Oceans Under Glass: Tank Craft and the Sciences of the Sea (University of Chicago Press, 2022), Samantha Muka, Assistant Professor of Science, Technology, and Society at Stevens Institute of …