The Show About Science
by Nate | The Company Making Podcasts
Created by Nate when he was 5 years-old, The Show About Science is an awesome adventure into the wondrous world of scientific research and discovery! Over the last 11 years, Nate has filled each episode with fascinating information from scientists and educators from around the globe. Together, Nate and his guests explore everything from chemistry to climate change, evolution to extraterrestrials, and human brains to bat biology. If you’re curious about science, then this is the show for you!
Episodes
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Hippety Hoppity, Here’s the Cacophony: Barro Colorado Island, Part 1
An accidental island sits in the middle of the Panama Canal, and for more than a century, it's drawn scientists from around the world. In this two-part series on Barro Colorado Island in Panama, Nate meets biologists Rachel Page and Erin Spear of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute to...
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Inside the Smithsonian's Hidden Cheetah Sanctuary
In this episode of The Show About Science, Nate visits the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, to learn how scientists are working to protect cheetahs from extinction. He talks with carnivore keeper Amber Dedrick and program curator Adrienne...
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The Coldest Cold Case
In 1991, hikers in the Alps spotted what looked like a doll frozen in the ice. It wasn’t a toy. It was a body. What police thought was a recent accident turns out to be something far stranger. In this episode, Nate talks with author and journalist Brenda Fowler about the discovery of Ötzi the...
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The Refugee Seeds
Seeds hold history. They carry the genetic blueprints of the past and the key to our future. But when disaster strikes, how far will scientists go to save them before they’re lost forever? In this episode of The Show About Science, Nate traces the incredible journey of some of the world’s most...
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STEM Flights with Dragan Lazić and Carley Walker
What is it like to fly a plane while attempting to make a podcast from 2,000 feet in the air? And can we pull this off? In this episode of The Show About Science, Nate chats with Carley Walker, the Director of Development at STEM Flights, and then takes to the skies with STEM Flights volunteer,...
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The Great Cicada Symphony with Jorin Graham
It's the hottest day of the year, and deep underground, a mysterious countdown has finally hit zero. After years of silence, millions of cicadas are emerging from the earth, ready to take the stage in a once-in-a-lifetime event. But how do these creatures synchronize their grand entrance? In this...
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The Anachronisms in our Backyards with David Zaya
In this episode of The Show About Science, Nate unearths the surprising history of the Kentucky Coffee Trees growing in his backyard and quickly becomes obsessed with germinating their seeds. This obsession leads him to a lab at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he meets up with plant...
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Bacteriophages with Ben Chan
Bacteriophages, also known as ‘phages,’ are the most common lifeform on the planet. They are constantly hunting for bacteria to infect and kill. What if we could harness these tiny microbes to help us in our fight against harmful, disease-causing bacteria? On this episode of The Show About…
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Urban Water Chemistry with Stephen MacAvoy and Melissa Pierce
In this episode of The Show About Science, Nate heads to the banks of the Chicago River to meet up with Melissa Pierce, PhD, the Technical Program Director at Current, a nonprofit water innovation hub. Together, they explore the complex world of urban water chemistry, focusing on the river's...
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A City on Mars with Zach Weinersmith
What it would really entail to conquer the relentless Martian elements, engineer a thriving, self-reliant biosphere, and craft life-preserving abodes within the alien realms of lava tubes? Zach Weinersmith is the cartoonist behind the popular webcomic, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. He, along...
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The Twenty-One with Elizabeth Rusch
What happens when 21 kids sue the U.S. government for a dream of a world without climate change? On this episode of The Show About Science, Nate interviews Elizabeth Rusch about the kids who are working to make that dream a reality. Elizabeth is the author of the new book, "The Twenty-One, The…
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The Puzzling Platypus with Frank Grützner
The platypus is a fascinating animal that has perplexed generations of scientists. Now researchers are studying the platypus on the molecular level, and it's just as surprising. Frank Grützner is a professor of genetics at the University of Adelaide. Frank studies the monotremes, a different...
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Our Extreme Universe with Kimberly Arcand
Dr. Kimberly Arcand is a Visualization and Emerging Technology Scientist at NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory at the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard, and Smithsonian. In this episode of The Show About Science, Nate and Dr. Arcand dive into the mysteries of the universe illuminated by Chandra's…
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The Science of Sound with Kimberly Arcand, Martin Gruebele, Carla Scaletti, and Mark Temple
Can sound help us understand the complex patterns in our universe? This question leads Nate to Symbolic Sound in Champaign, Illinois, where composer Carla Scaletti guides him on a journey where sound, music, and data intertwine in captivating and thought-provoking ways. Along the way, we'll meet...
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Big Tree with Brian Selznick
Brian Selznick is an illustrator and author best known for his books The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Wonderstruck, and The Marvels and Kaleidoscope. Brian joins Nate on this episode of The Show About Science to talk about the science behind his latest book, Big Tree. The book follows two small...
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Accelerating Science to Eradicate Disease with Priscilla Chan and Stephen Quake
The CZ Biohub’s inspiring story began when Priscilla Chan asked Stephen Quake a seemingly impossible question: “Is it possible to cure, prevent, and manage disease in our children’s lifetime?”. In 2016, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, founded by Priscilla and Mark Zuckerberg, set out to answer…
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The Tiny Zebrafish Hotel with Merlin Lange, Loïc Royer, and Shruthi VijayKumar
On the third installment of our CZ Biohub series, we visit a lab nicknamed "Le Petit Hotel de Poisson" (The Tiny Fish Hotel) where scientists are using zebrafish as a model organism to study human development. Along the way, we'll meet Loïc A. Royer, who leads a team at Biohub including Merlin...
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Mapping the Cell with Manuel Leonetti
This is the second episode of our four part series focused on the CZ Biohub in San Francisco where scientists are working to cure, prevent, or manage disease by the end of the century. In this episode, we meet Quantitative Cell Science group leader Manu Leonetti. Manu and his team are using...
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Bioengineering Malaria with Paul Lebel
Over the next 4 episodes, we're going to take you on a tour of the CZ Biohub in San Francisco where scientists are working to cure, prevent, or manage disease by the end of the century. Every year, 400,000 people die of malaria - usually children in impoverished areas. In the first episode of our...
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Santa Science and the Physics of Christmas (Rerun)
We're revisiting one of our favorite episodes of The Show About Science from 2015. Back when Nate was 5 years old, he interviewed Santa Claus about the science behind his workshop and what happens when kids send drawings of new toys for Santa to produce in his present factory. Santa than…
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Two Degrees with Alan Gratz
Alan Gratz is the New York Times bestselling author of 18 novels for young readers, including Ground Zero, Refugee, Allies, Grenade, Prisoner B-3087, Projekt 1065, and Ban This Book. His latest novel, Two Degrees, puts climate change front and center as four different kids navigate the threats of...
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The Art of DALL-E 2 with Mark Chen
DALL-E 2 is a new AI system that can create realistic images and art from written text descriptions. Mark Chen is a research scientist at OpenAI, the company the created DALL-E 2. He joins Nate on this episode to explain how AI is putting the art in artificial intelligence. Sign up to make your…
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The Physics of Baseball with Alan Nathan
Alan Nathan has been a Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Illinois since 1977, but for the past 10 years, he has expanded his research interests to focus on the physics of baseball. His work looks at the dynamics of the collision between the ball and bat and the...
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The Kings of Pain with Adam Thorn and Rob Alleva
The History Channel show, “Kings of Pain,” follows wildlife biologist Adam Thorn and professional animal handler Rob “Caveman” Alleva as they get bitten and stung by some of the most dangerous animals and vicious stinging insects in the world. On this episode of The Show About Science, Nate goes...
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Proteins and Proteomics with Neil Kelleher
Proteins are one of the main drivers of human diseases. Scientists are now mapping all of the proteins in the human body in a similar way to how the Human Genome Project mapped genes. On this episode of The Show About Science, Neil Kelleher, PhD invites Nate to his lab on the campus of…
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The Tale of Tails with Bo Xia
Why don't I have a tail? That's the question that Bo Xia asked himself when he was a little kid. Bo is now a PhD candidate at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Bo's latest research attempts to answer his childhood question by identifying the mutation that resulted in ancestral humans losing their...
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The Fungi Hunt with Ellen Holste
Hidden ten miles south of Hastings, Michigan and only accessible via an old gravel road is the Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, a nature center and biological field station. On this episode of The Show About Science, we meet Ellen Holste, PhD. Ellen is the Community Program Manager at the Pierce…
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Time Travel with Paul Davies
Paul Davies is a theoretical physicist at Arizona State University where he leads the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science. His research focuses mainly on quantum gravity, the theory of quantum black holes and the nature of time. On this episode of The Show About Science, he joins…
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The Search in the Stars with Wael Farah
Wael Farah is a research scientist at the SETI Institute, where he searches the stars for alien life. The Allen Telescope Array (ATA), where Wael conducts his research, is located at the Hat Creek Observatory in Northern California. The ATA is a collection of 42 relatively small dishes (antennas)...
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How Dogs Think with Gregory Berns
What do our dogs think about all day? Do dogs experience emotions like people do? Gregory Berns is a bestselling author and a professor at Emory University where he studies animal neuroscience. On this episode of The Show Show About Science, he joins Nate to talk about how he trained dogs to go...
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Firebeetles with Sara Lewis
In some parts of the world they're known as fireflies. In other parts, they're called lightning bugs. On this episode of The Show About Science, Sara M. Lewis from the Department of Biology at Tufts University joins Nate to talk about these fascinating and mysterious creatures. Learn more about...
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The Serendipitous Zebrafish Discovery with Keith Cheng and Máté Varga
A scientist from Budapest who immigrated to the US in the 1930s. A beloved and common pet store fish. And a researcher looking at genes that suppress the growth of cancerous tumors. On this episode of The Show About Science, these three worlds serendipitously collide to lead to a discovery that...
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Supernovas with Sarafina Nance
Sarafina Nance is an American astrophysicist and science communicator who is a PhD student in the Department of Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. She joins Nate on this episode of The Show About Science to talk about supernovas. Learn more about Sarafina at:...
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Transmissions From the Quarantine: Remote Learning
Want to be on the show? Call our hotline: (202)681-9144. You can also email your voice recordings to [email protected]. I love hearing what people are doing, thinking and feeling as we continue to navigate COVID-19 together (at a distance). We want to share your transmissions on this new...
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Cockroaches with Dominic Evangelista
Dominic Evangelista is an evolutionary biologist who studies how biodiversity originates through evolutionary processes. And what creature on this planet is more diverse then bugs? On this episode of The Show About Science, Dominic and Nate dive through the interesting world of cockroaches. Learn...
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Ick! with Melissa Stewart
Okay kids, prepare your parents for a totally gross and super awesome interview! On this episode of The Show About Science, author Melissa Stewart takes us on a gross journey through the animal world. Find out where the Bone-Eating Snot Flower Worm calls home, how the Northern Fulmar protects...
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Lemurs with Anne Yoder
Anne Yoder is a biologist, researcher, and professor at Duke University. When Anne was in college, a serendipitous visit to the Duke Lemur Center inspired her fascination with lemurs, Madagascar, and all things evolutionary. She would later go on to become the Director of the Duke Lemur Center...
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Planetary Geology with Bethany Ehlmann
Bethany Ehlmann is a professor of planetary science at CalTech and a research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She joins Nate on this episode of The Show About Science to talk about her work on the three Mars Rover missions (Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity) and to share what we…
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Transmissions From The Quarantine: What Day Is It?
New transmissions! Call our hotline: (202)681-9144. You can also email your voice recordings to [email protected]. I love hearing what people are doing, thinking and feeling as we continue to navigate COVID-19 together (at a distance). We want to share your transmissions on this new...
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Transmissions From The Quarantine: Day 8
New transmissions on this episode from Kelton, Sharon, and Liv. Call our hotline: (202)681-9144. You can also email your voice recordings to [email protected]. I love hearing what people are doing, thinking and feeling as we continue to navigate COVID-19 together (at a distance). We want...
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Transmissions From The Quarantine: Day 5
Call our hotline and let us know: (202)681-9144. You can also email your voice recordings to [email protected]. We want to share your transmissions on this new miniseries from Nate and The Show About Science! New transmissions on this episode from Hope, Matt, Kylie and Brian. Some of the...
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Transmissions From The Quarantine: Day 2
We have transmissions from Hannah and Antonio in Italy (which has been on lockdown for a week) and Arlo in Virginia. What are you doing to keep busy? How are you feeling right now? Call our hotline and let us know: (202)681-9144. You can also email your voice recordings to...
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Transmissions From The Quarantine: Day 1
School has been shut down. People are working from home. Now more than ever, we need to stay connected. What are you doing to keep busy? How are you feeling right now? Call our hotline and let us know: (202)681-9144. You can also email your voice recordings to [email protected]. We want…
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The Coronavirus with Tara C. Smith
Tara C. Smith has studied infectious diseases for twenty years in the U.S. and other countries around the globe. She currently leads the Smith Emerging Infections Laboratory at Kent State University which focuses on the transmission and evolution of zoonotic pathogens. She joins Nate on this...
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The Cosmic Microwave Background with Sasha Rahlin
The South Pole Telescope (SPT) is a 10-meter diameter telescope located in Antarctica that is taking pictures of our Universe. Sasha Rahlin is an observational cosmologist and part of the team at Fermilab collecting and analyzing data from SPT. On this episode, Nate visits Fermilab to talk with...
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Introducing The Show About Titanic (Bonus Episode)
I've been helping to produce a new podcast called The Show About Titanic. It's hosted by my friend Edward who knows everything there is to know about the Titanic. This episode is called "Halomonas Titanicae with Bhavleen Kaur" and all of you science fans are going to love it! Bhavleen Kaur is a...
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The Global Genome Initiative with Vanessa González
Everything that's alive has a genome. On this episode of The Show About Science, we go behind the scenes at The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History where scientists are working to preserve and catalog the DNA of life on Earth. Our guest is Vanessa González, a computational genomic...
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They Call Me Dr. Poop with Rachel Santymire
What can we learn from studying poop? Who better to ask than Dr. Poop! Rachel Santymire, Ph.D., is director of Lincoln Park Zoo’s Davee Center for Epidemiology and Endocrinology, and she's earned her Dr. Poop nickname by studying the physiology of animals using biomaterials like poop! On this...
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Andrew & Polly from Ear Snacks Go for the Moon (Bonus Episode)
Our podcasting pals, Andrew & Polly, have some awesome news and I'm super excited to share it with you! Award-winning children’s music duo Andrew & Polly “go for the moon” with their most adventurous sonic endeavor yet. Their fifth album, Go for the Moon, is set for lift-off on September 27…
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Forensic Science with Mike Haag
Over on my other podcast, The Show About Politics & History, we've been visiting The Sixth Floor Museum to understand what happened when President John F. Kennedy visited Dallas in 1963. Before listening to this episode, I'd recommend listening to those episodes. Mike Haag is a forensic scientist...
About this show
Created by Nate when he was 5 years-old, The Show About Science is an awesome adventure into the wondrous world of scientific research and discovery! Over the last 11 years, Nate has filled each episode with fascinating information from scientists and educators from around the globe. Together, Nate and his guests explore everything from chemistry to climate change, evolution to extraterrestrials, and human brains to bat biology. If you’re curious about science, then this is the show for you!
Hosted by
Nate | The Company Making Podcasts