A reverence for storytelling and mentor Peter Dowben. A dislike of false dichotomies and historical whitewashing. A fascination with the universe and Nicolas Cage.
Jocelyn Bosley and Bradley Nordell see eyepiece to eyepiece on many issues, but most of all: Science is for everyone. And it’s better with friends. (Also: Why shouldn’t a conversation include both a rundown of the Isaac Newton-Gottfried Leibniz rivalry and a story about misinterpreting the lyrics to “Let’s Get Physical”?)
In July 2019, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln duo launched Science! with Friends, a podcast that illuminates the human sides of scientists at Nebraska and beyond, explores topics ranging “from the quantum to the cosmos,” and loves cats, dad jokes and Harry Potter.
Over the course of more than 40 episodes, Bosley and Nordell have interviewed dozens of scientists who research everything from arachnid mating rituals and the seismic activity of glaciers to light-speed particle collisions and the history of pandemics.
But the hosts are just as interested in the personal stories of their guests: how a graduate student who studies insects overcame her childhood fear of them, how a homeland history of malnutrition inspired a career in food science, how a couple of physicists maintain their marriage from a distance.
When they’re not interviewing guests, Bosley, a science historian and assistant director for education and outreach at Nebraska’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, and Nordell, a quantum physics expert and lab manager with the university’s Extreme Light Laboratory, like discussing topics awash in misconception, myth or mystery. What’s a theory, and what is it not? What does “intelligence” actually mean? Why is diversity essential to good science?
Nebraska Today recently sat down with the Husker alumni to talk about their “mom-and-pop” podcast, the thin line between loving and hating science, and Nordell’s big laser.
Read the interview at:
https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/qa-getting-to-know-the-science-with-friends-podcast/