The Last Stargazers, Part 1

We feature an interview with astronomer and author Dr. Emily Levesque about her book, The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy’s Vanishing Explorers.  In today’s episode, we talk with Dr. Levesque about how one becomes an astronomer and what a typical – and sometimes not so typical – night’s work is like at an observatory with highly sophisticated scientific instruments in very remote and difficult locations.

Host, Producer, Engineer: Joel Parker

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Sounds Wild and Broken

Nature’s Songs and Cries (start time: 0:59) In this week’s show David George Haskell, a biologist at the University of the South, in Sewanee, Tenn., talks with How On Earth’s Susan Moran about his newly published book, Sounds Wild and Broken: Sonic Marvels, Evolution’s Creativity, and the Crisis of Sensory Extinction. The book is at once a meditation and an urgent call to action.

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker
Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Susan Moran

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Healing the Mental Health Care System

IN this week’s show Beth speaks with Dr Thomas Insel, former director of the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Insel was giving a presentation when the father of a boy with schizophrenia yelled from the back of the room, “Our house is on fire and you’re telling me about the chemistry of the paint! What are you doing to put out the fire?” Dr. Insel knew in his heart that the answer was not nearly enough. In his book, Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health, Dr. Insel describes approaches that work, both in the U.S. and globally. The path to healing, built upon what he calls the three Ps (people, place, and purpose), is more straightforward than we might imagine. In his book, he offers a comprehensive plan for our failing system and for families trying to discern the way forward. He also publishes a newsletter with current information on the mental health community and actions.
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Show Producer: Beth Bennett

KGNU Fund Drive with The Last Stargazers

On this week’s show  – part of the annual KGNU Spring Fund Drive – we play excerpts of an upcoming interview with astronomer and author Dr. Emily Levesque about her book, The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy’s Vanishing Explorers. The book is a modern history of observational astronomy, and shares an inside look at the lives and stories of astronomers past, present, and possible future.

Thanks to independent publisher Source Books for offering several copies to KGNU to help with the fund drive, and to those listeners who donated and received copies of the book.

Hosts: Joel Parker, Susan Moran
Headlines: Benita Lee, Beth Bennett
Show Producer & Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive producer: Susan Moran

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Walking Doesn’t Have to Get Old

In this week’s show Beth talks to author Annabel Streets. Her book 52 WAYS TO WALK, takes you week by week, through a smorgasbord of walks in silence, rain, mud, or wind, as well as sunshine, scents and birdsong. She explains exactly how our bodies and minds benefit from a wide mix of terrain and styles of walking. She also details when to set out alone and when to share a walk with others, and the best walking techniques for women, children, the elderly and the time-pressed. And, she presents a cornucopia of science underpinning the many physical, emotional and cognitive benefits you can reap by doing walking.

Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Headlines: Joel Parker and Shelley Schlender

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Avalanche Accidents — Who Dies?

GIF of Avalanche starting to slide ((CLICK on IMAGE to see the slide)) — from Colorado Avalanche Information Center

We speak with Ethan Greene, director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, about the new study he has coauthored with Spencer Logan, a chief researcher at the center who alsoversees the Avalanche Accident database for the United States.    Their new study is available now.  It’s titled, Education and Experience Levels of People Involved in Avalanches during the 2019-2020 Colorado Avalanche Season.  It will be published soon, in greater detail, in The Avalanche Review.

For those looking for videos from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, here is the snowmobile accident posted at the CAIC Avalanche Information Center YouTube CHANNEL.   Weekly forecasts are also on this site.

Host/Producer:   Shelley Schlender
Music From:   Prince Avalanche and Snowfall by The Halo Benders
Executive producer:   Susan Moran

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Green Walls // Drones Study Marshall Fire // Volunteering to GET COVID

University of Plymouth Sustainability Hub showing external green wall in full bloom.

Long COVID  (starts 1:00) National Jewish in Denver shares research about how COVID sometimes affects the powerhouses inside our cells, the mitochondria.

Green Walls (starts 3:54) are a beautiful way to cover indoor and outdoor walls with living plants.  It’s a popular feature for ultra-modern buildings.  Researchers in England report that green walls on older, conventional buildings can reduce heating costs inside the building.

 

Marshall Fire Research Drone (photo by Stacie Johnson)

Drones at the Marshall Fire (starts 10:42) are helping local researchers from around the country collect field data about the recent wildfire disaster that destroyed 1,000 homes.  The scientists hope their findings will help the communities recover.  REGISTER HERE for the February 17th, 2 PM, virtual presentation of their findings.

Volunteering to Get COVID.  (starts 21:22) in the name of science has produced results that are varied and sometimes surprising.

Hosts:   Benita Lee & Stacie Johnson
Producers:    Benita Lee, Stacie Johnson and Shelley Schlender
Additional Contributions:   Beth Bennett, National Jewish Hospital
Executive producer:   Susan Moran

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The Science of Heartbreak

Heartbreak in Our  Bodies: (start time: 6:58) This week on How On Earth, host Susan Moran talks with science journalist Florence Williams about her newly published book, Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey, in which she goes on a quest to understand why, and how, the heartbreak she felt when her marriage fell apart was wreaking havoc on her body. The book, and this interview, also explore various methods of healing and the science behind them.

Host: Susan Moran
Engineer: Rossana Long
Headline contributors: Beth Bennett, Shelley Schlender

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Climate Change and Local Fires

This week on How on Earth, Beth talks to 2 climate scientists about their (very different) fields, and how climate change can play into local disasters, especially the recent fires that devastated the Front Range towns outside Boulder. Twila Moon is a glaciologist turned climate scientist who researches the effects of ice sheet melt on climate. Her TED talk conveys this message clearly. Brian Buma is Associate Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of Colorado at Denver. He studies landscape ecology and is especially interested in natural disasters, like the recent Marshall fire. You can hear Shannon Young, KGNU’s station manager talk to Brian about his recent book here.
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Show Producer: Beth Bennett

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30th Anniversary Show

(Image courtesy of Wiki images)

In this episode, we celebrate the show’s 30th Anniversary with Dave Atkins and Jeff Orrey, How on Earth’s original  hosts.

We’ll play some excerpts from the pilot January 14, 1992 episode and update the science from a 2022 perspective.  Subjects range from Chinook winds and Colorado fires, finding exoplanets, the history of Hubble telescope, Halley’s Comet and blood pressure.

Hosts:   Jill Sjong, Beth Bennett, Dave Atkins, Jeff Orrey
Producer:    Jill Sjong
Additional Contributions:   Joel Parker, Beth Bennett
Executive producer:   Beth Bennett

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