Episodios

  • Episode 253 - The Secret Life Of Ponds With Acoustic Ecologist Jack Greenhalgh

    Episode 253 - The Secret Life Of Ponds With Acoustic Ecologist Jack Greenhalgh
    Jun 28 2024
    One of my favorite quotes comes from Anthropologist Loren Eiseley. He said, “If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.” In this episode I’m going to prove it. A lot of you probably know that the first stage of my professional career was as a SCUBA instructor and commercial diver. I spent thousands of hours under the surface of the Pacific Ocean, enthralled by what my hero Jacques Cousteau called The Silent World. We divers used to laugh good-naturedly at that, because the ocean is anything but silent. It’s filled with noise, and I’m not talking about boats and such, although there’s plenty of that, too. I’m talking about snapping shrimp, parrotfish, ocean waves and swells passing overhead, the clicks of dolphins, the eerie call of whales, and all the other sounds we used to listen to and wonder about. But it isn’t just oceanic creatures that make noise. As you’re about to learn, it turns out that freshwater ponds are filled with sound. Yes, that still, calm little pond over there may be quiet above, but most likely, below the surface, there’s a whole symphony going on. My guest on this program is an acoustic ecologist who has studied aquatic sound, but more than that, he has come up with ways to use sound as a predictor of freshwater environmental health—and as a tool for the restoration of ponds in areas where human activity has degraded them.
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    22 m
  • Episode 252 - Interview With A Geologist

    Episode 252 - Interview With A Geologist
    Jun 28 2024
    Not long ago I got a request from a young student to do an episode on the Podcast about roly polies, which happened to be this student’s favorite animal in the universe—his words. So, I did. And that kicked off a flurry of other requests, which I dutifully fulfilled. This episode is the result of a request from a junior high student who wanted to know about the field of geology. So, I started to do some research on the topic, and after about 30 minutes of digging, I had an epiphany, which caused me to go stand in front of a mirror and slap myself a few times for being an idiot. My Dad is a retired hard rock geologist, so rather than research the field, I decided to go straight to the horse’s mouth, as it were, and ask him. So, in this episode, I’d like to introduce you to my dad, Bob Shepard. I asked him to share his story with me, as a way to answer the question that came in from Andrea in Oklahoma City. So, without further ado, here’s my dad!
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    10 m
  • Episode 251 - Tim Brookes And The Endangered Alphabet Project

    Episode 251 - Tim Brookes And The Endangered Alphabet Project
    Jun 28 2024
    Tim Brookes is many things: accomplished author with many prestigious publishing credits to his name; woodworker; college professor and program director; and the founder of the Endangered Alphabets Project. We've all heard about languages disappearing, especially those that have no written form. Well, alphabets are also disappearing--and Tim is on a mission to save them.
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    35 m
  • Episode 250 - Thank You

    Episode 250 - Thank You
    Jun 28 2024
    It's hard to believe that over the course of 70 months--from September 2018 to this episode in June 2024--I have published 250 episode in tis crazy journey of discovery. thanks for being along for the ride--there's lots more to come!
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    6 m
  • Episode 249 - Seeing The Unseen With Tom Biegalski

    Episode 249 - Seeing The Unseen With Tom Biegalski
    Jun 15 2024
    My guest in this episode is Tom Biegalski. Tom’s a photographer and videographer, but to say that is like saying that 'Ansel Adams took snapshots.' He specializes in photographing things that can’t be seen with the naked eye, using techniques that fall into Arthur C. Clarke’s well-known quote that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. His Web site, TTBPhoto.com, is filled with examples of his work. Please take a few minutes to visit the galleries there, and be sure to click on the YouTube link at the bottom of the home page to see his videos. The slow-motion dragonflies are mesmerizing.
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    21 m
  • Episode 248 - Fun With Geography

    Episode 248 - Fun With Geography
    Jun 4 2024
    Remember the show, Big Bang Theory? Of course you do. Best—television show—ever. Do you remember when Sheldon Cooper and his girlfriend Amy Farrah Fowler produced their Web TV show, "Fun with Flags? “I’m Dr. Sheldon Cooper, and this is Fun with Flags.” Well, in keeping with that, I have a similarly geeky fascination with geography. So, I’m Dr. Steven Shepard, and this is Fun with Geography. I am constantly running across fascinating little factoids about the world. Most of ‘em fall into the ‘really interesting but not sure how it’s useful’ category, other than the priceless value of information and knowledge. When I worked at Hill Associates, we used to talk about quodlibetic information—information that is really interesting, but that has no earthly use. So, this episode is your periodic dose of quodlibetic information.
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    12 m
  • Episode 247—Watching The Dance Of The Ants

    Episode 247—Watching The Dance Of The Ants
    May 28 2024
    The amazing and mystifying life cycle of ants--and why they do the things they do. This is an amazing story!
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    7 m
  • Episode 246 - A Sense Of Wonder

    Episode 246 - A Sense Of Wonder
    May 23 2024
    A brief audio essay on the importance of wonder in all of our lives.
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    18 m