PODCAST · science
SparkDialog Podcasts
by SparkDialog
Science, technology, society, our lives, philosophy and religion. This is SparkDialog Podcasts, where it all comes together. Hosted by Dr. Elizabeth Fernandez.
Episodes
-
Memories, The Here and Now, and Our Future- Time, Religion, and Physics
What is real? Is the future written? Why is the flow of time so important to religion? Why can't we move freely in time like we can in space? And how does relativity really mess with our concept of time? I'm joined with Timothy Maness to discuss time, religion, and physics.
-
Ep 99: New York Underwater: Art and Climate Change - with guest Carolyn Hall
What if you could taste climate change, feel it? Today our guest Carolyn Hall explains how she uses storytelling, imagery, and art to educate about the science of climate change. She even takes us on a time traveling adventure to see what New York City will be like 30 years in the future.
-
Ep 98: The Problems and Promise of AI in Healthcare - with guest Dr. Muhammad Ahmad
AI has enormous promise when being used in healthcare. But to avoid potential problems, misdiagnoses, and bias, we have to understand why these problems occur. Guest Dr. Muhammad Ahmad joins us on the podcast.
-
Ep 97: Floods in India - A View of Climate Change from Under the River - with guest Dr. Luisa Cortesi
Today, Dr. Luisa Cortesi, an environmental anthropologist who witnessed two of the largest floods in India, speaks about climate change.
-
Ep 96: AI, Ethics, and the Vatican - with guest Dr. Brian Patrick Green
Pope Francis has taken a special interest in science. Part of his interest is AI – particularly, how to make AI systems more ethical. Today, we are joined by Dr. Brian Patrick Green, the Director of Technology Ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. We discuss...
-
Ep 95: Grief in the Time of COVID: with guest Dr. Kristel Clayville
Today we are joined by a hospital chaplain who served during COVID to discuss medicine, grief, religion, how sparse medical resources are allocated, how fractured our medical system is, and what it’s like to stand in for family for those dying of COVID.
-
Ep 94: Quantum Entanglement, Consciousness, and the Nature of Reality: with guest Dr. Eric Cavalcanti
Quantum entanglement is weird. Two particles can share properties no matter where they are in the Universe. Have they always shared these properties, and they are somehow hidden from us, or do they decide these properties the moment they are measured, and somehow communicate across the vastness…
more -
Ep 93: Gratefulness, Hope, and COVID – with guest John Van Sloten
Gratefulness and COVID feel like they don’t belong in the same sentence. But a year into this pandemic, perhaps there are some lessons we can learn, and some ways that this year has changed us all – maybe for the better.
-
Ep 92: Merging Man and Machine: Transhumanism and Religion - with guest Seth Villegas
Today, I am joined by Seth Villegas from Boston University's School of Theology to talk about transhumanism - gradually merging body with machine to become faster, stronger, or even live forever. Why is this movement so appealing? And what does this apparently secular movement have to do with...
-
Ep 91: Seeing Patterns, Seeing God: The Neuroscience of Belief - with guest Dr. Adam Weinberger
What similarities do the brains of religious people share? Do these similarities span differences in lifestyle, geography, culture, and religion? I am joined by Dr. Adam Weinberger, a neuroscientist and psychologist at Georgetown University and the University of Pennsylvania.
-
Ep 90: How Can We Find Life Within the Solar System?: with Dr. Niels Ligterink
Is their life in the Universe? What about within our own solar system? With the recent result of a biomarker on Venus, finding life within our solar system could be a game-changer. I go on a deep-dive with Dr. Niels Ligterink of the University of Bern, Switzerland, one of the designers of the...
-
Ep 89: Can Online Privacy Exist Today? - with guest Rob Shavell
Can online privacy exist today? What kind of ways does our personal data leak out when we are going about our buisness online, or even in person? I talk to Rob Shavell, co-founder of a privacy company called Abine
-
Ep 88: Why We Need Nature – with guest Dr. Peter Kahn
We all know that nature is good for us. We know to take care of the Earth, don’t pollute, be mindful of climate change. But how does being in nature affect us personally? How does it change our bodies and our minds, our biology, and our brains? Today I talk to Dr. Peter Kahn, a professor in the...
-
Ep 87: Environmental Racism and Climate Change
Environmental racism - it's the term for the fact that communities of color are often hit harder by climate change or pollution than others. This happens both in our country and around the world. What can we do about it? Today, Dr. Gregory Simpson joins us. Gregory is a minister and has a…
more -
Ep 86: The Science of Subjectivity: The World Your Brain Creates - with guest Dr. Jorge Morales
Why do we see the world as subjective? How is the reality that I see different than from what you see? Does our brain lie to us? Dr. Jorge Morales joins us to talk about the science of the subjective, optical illusions, if we need to be conscious to form a subjective opinion of the world, and…
more -
Ep 85: How Paleolithic is the Paleo Diet? What did our Ancestors Eat Anyways?
The appeal of the Paleo diet is to eat like our ancestors ate. But how do we know what they ate anyways? Today I talk to Dr. Briana Pobiner of the Smithsonian about how we know what our ancestors ate, how it influenced their evolution, and what it's like to be an archaeologist.
-
Ep 84: The Coronavirus, Social Media, Online Dating and Black Lives Matter
We are living in a pressure cooker. With the coronavirus paired with the Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the country, how we deal with life and interact with each other is in flux. Part of this is social media and online community. How is online dating changing because of the coronavirus?…
more -
Ep 83: The West: On the Cusp of a MegaDrought
Could the western United States be on the cusp of a megadrought - one that could last for decades, even a century? How do scientists know this? And how can giant cities in the west, along with their businesses and population, survive a drought unlike anything the US has seen? I talk to Dr. Kasey...
-
Ep 82 : The Origins of Language May Go Much Farther Back Than We Thought
When did language originate? How can we figure that out, when brains don't fossilize? Today I talk to neuroscientists Dr. Chris Petkov and Dr. Ben Wilson about the origins of language, and how they found out the origins of language go back much farther than previously thought.
-
Ep 81: Staying Connected During COVID-19 (with Technology!)
How can we stay connected during this era of COVID-19? I talk to Eric Elnes, who was diagnosed positive with COVID-19 at the start of this outbreak. It is partially due to him that we learned that people can be asymptomatic. We discuss how he keeps his church together through technology during…
more -
Ep 80: Smart Replies Aren't So Smart
Have you ever been tempted to use one of those pre-generated replies at the bottom of your gmail message? These so-called smart replies may be convenient, but according to our guest Jess Hohenstein, they might be affecting how we interact and how other people think of you.
-
Ep 79: Evolution in the South
Perhaps the main reason there is a perceived conflict between religion and science is because of the way that evolution is taught in the Southern United States. Students boycott classes if their teachers bring it up. School boards have encouraged teaching so-called "Creation Science" along with...
-
Ep 78: This Is Not A Normal Podcast Episode
Yes, COVID-19 has turned the world upside down. I just wanted to remind you you are not alone in this.
-
Ep 77: Yes, It's Possible To Feed The World
Is it possible to feed the world without over-taxing the world? I talk to Prof. Dieter Gerten and ask how we can do exactly that while staying within the planet's boundaries.
-
Ep 76: How We Found Out Meteors Are Actually Little Rocks From Space Burning Up In The Atmosphere
People didn't always know that meteors were from space. How did they figure THAT out? From the moments of terror during historical meteor storms to clever ways that early astronomers figured out what meteors were, I take you on a journey through the history of meteor showers.
-
Ep 75: From Self-Driving Cars to Autonomous Weapons Systems - Can We Trust AI?
Can we trust machines that are making decisions for us? What if these decisions are life or death? We talk to Dr. David Danks about self-driving cars, autonomous weapons systems, and AI algorithms, and how we can trust machines that think but don't feel.
-
Ep 74: Is the Biodiversity of Earth Doomed?
One million species are close to extinction. To make a difference, we need massive societal change. But how can such a change happen over a range of countries and cultures? Today we talk to scientists who are part of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)...
-
Ep 73: Mind Uploading - The Key To Eternal Life?
Is it possible to upload your brain to a computer? Would your consciousness follow? Would it still be you? I talk to Dr. Michael Hauskeller about mind uploading, immortality, and consciousness.
-
Ep 72: Reversing Climate Change: Turning CO2 Into Rock
Can we reverse climate change? Today we talk to two scientists from Reykjavik Energy, Dr. Kári Helgason and Dr. Bergur Sigfússon. They work to take greenhouse and toxic gases and turn them into a rock in a project called CarbFix.
-
Ep 71: Epileptics with Mystical Experiences
Imagine having an experience that changes your life, where you feel as if you are filled with love, you touch the divine, or you understand the Universe. Now imagine that this is the result of an epileptic seizure. I’m joined with Dr. Joseph Tennant to discuss epileptics who have mystical...
-
Ep 70: Hack My Heart
When we accept tech into our lives, we often sacrifice a small piece of our privacy. But if we want complete privacy, we can always leave our tech at home. What about people who have tech embedded within them, and who need it to live? Today we talk to Dr. Marie Moe, a cyborg who is also involved…
more -
Ep 69: Cameras that can See Around Corners
Today we're talking to David Lindell, a PhD student in the Stanford Computational Imaging Lab. He and his group are making a camera that can see around corners and through objects, which has amazing applications for things like self-driving cars.
-
Ep 68: They're Not Speaking English - Decoding a Message from ET
If we were to hear a message from extraterrestrials, how would we go about decoding it? And what's the best way to send our own message? Today we talk to Dr. Sheri Wells-Jensen, a xenolinguist, who studies aliens languages.
-
Ep 67: Space Industry - A Future in the Stars
We first set foot on the moon 50 years ago. A lot has changes since then. Jim Bell joins us from the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University to talk about how space industry is changing, the future of corporations in space, how governments, companies, and academia will…
more -
Ep 66: What the Future May Hold: The Future of Technology
Brian David Johnson is a futurist. He looks at a combination of ethnographic data, history, technological trends, and scientific knowledge to help companies and groups see what's in store for the next decade or two. We talk about what the future may hold, how social media will continue to…
more -
Ep 65: The Plausibility of Implausible Science Fiction
Today we look at the plausibility of some implausible science fiction concepts. Can the transporter from Star Trek or an invisibility cloak from Harry Potter really exist? Can we hope to build a space elevator? And should we fear the singularity, asteroid impacts, or sharknados?
-
Ep 64:Thriving with Autism through Art
What is it like to live with autism? How can autistic adults make a living, especially those with non-verbal autism? Today we talk to Colin Weiss and Harish Bikmal about the science of autism, and how art is helping those with autism and their families.
-
Ep 63: Deep Brain Stimulation
If a controversial treatment that would potentially alter who you are is the only treatment for your disease, do you accept therapy? Today we are joined by Dr. Laura Cabrera to discuss the ethics of deep brain stimulation.
-
Ep 62: Improving Women's Healthcare: The Calla Campaign
How can we improve women's healthcare? Lack of access, shame and fear of exams, and lack of information are all reasons that women do not receive the care they deserve. Today we talk to Libby Dotson and Andrea Kim from the Center for Global Women's Health Technologies and how technology can…
more -
Ep 61: Technology and the Notre Dame Fire: with guest Dr. Stephen Murray
Why was Notre Dame built the way it was? How did its structure, conceived in the 1100s, help prevent the recent fire from damaging even more of the cathedral than it did? We talk about technology of today and at the time when Notre Dame was built, how the church may be reconstructed, and how…
more -
Ep 60: Science, Religion, and Evolution
Today we talk to religious leaders from a range of faiths on science and religion, and how these two worldview can come together. We also discuss the Clergy Letter Project and Evolution Weekend.
-
Ep 59: Climate Change on Alien Worlds
Today on the podcast we talk to Dr. Adam Frank about climate change on alien worlds, and how we can use them to see what the future holds for Earth.
-
Ep 58: Who Are You Anyways? Does Dementia and Alzheimer's Change Who You Are?
Does dementia and Alzheimer's change who you are? Today we talk to Dr. Nina Strohminger about how loved ones see patients with diseases of the mind change.
-
The Far Future of the Universe
What is the far future of the Universe? Today we are joined by Dr. Avi Loeb and Dr. Ethan Siegel to discuss the future of our sun, and our Galaxy, if black holes will last forever, and what the Universe will be like once the stars burn out.
-
Ep 56: It's About Time - A Podcast in the Fourth Dimension
What is time? Why do we see time only run in one direction? Is time travel possible? And what happened "before" the Big Bang? We talk to Dr. Jonathan Tallant about the philosophy of time, and how these ideas stand up to modern science.
-
Ep 55: 3D Printed Buildings: From Earth to Mars
Some locations are so remote it’s hard to deliver materials to build houses and infrastructure. Today we talk to Keegan Kirkpatrick from RedWorks, a company that seeks to use 3D printers to print an entire building using in-situ material, on both the Earth and Mars.
-
Ep 54: Transforming Agriculture in Africa
Agriculture in Africa has its share of challenges. Today we talk to Samantha Salimu on technology being employed right now to make food more nutritious and plentiful, and how changes in technology, economic policy, and women’s rights can transform how farming is done in Africa.
-
Ep 53: Down the Rabbit Hole - Scientific Comics and Storytelling
Scientific comics can be a surprising, yet effective way to communicate science. I talk to Dr. Matteo Farinella about how he uses comics to teach science, his graphic novels and comics, and how he uses characters and metaphor to bring science to life.
-
Ep 52: To GM or not to GM: GMOs in a Changing World
Today we talk to Dr. Sarah Evanega from the Alliance for Science about the safety of GMO crops and how they view GMOs in the developing world.
-
Ep 51: From Rosie to RoboCop: Gender, Religion, and Robots
From Rosie to RoboCop, robots are reinforcing gender roles within society. Robotic designers and even users see “female” or “male” robots very differently. We talk to Dr. Jennifer Robertson, an expert on robotics and culture, about robots and sexism, religion, family, and culture.
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Science, technology, society, our lives, philosophy and religion. This is SparkDialog Podcasts, where it all comes together. Hosted by Dr. Elizabeth Fernandez.
HOSTED BY
SparkDialog
CATEGORIES
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does SparkDialog Podcasts have?
SparkDialog Podcasts currently has 107 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is SparkDialog Podcasts about?
Science, technology, society, our lives, philosophy and religion. This is SparkDialog Podcasts, where it all comes together. Hosted by Dr. Elizabeth Fernandez.
How often does SparkDialog Podcasts release new episodes?
SparkDialog Podcasts publishes regularly with 107 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to SparkDialog Podcasts?
You can listen to SparkDialog Podcasts on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts SparkDialog Podcasts?
SparkDialog Podcasts is created and hosted by SparkDialog.
URL copied to clipboard!