Reviews for Consider the Platypus

Posted: January 29, 2020 | Author: Mandford | Filed under: Art, Books, Dolphins, Museums, Nonfiction, Research, Science, Storytelling, Writing | 2 Comments

Honored and humbled by response to my first book, Consider the Platypus: Evolution through Biology’s Most Baffling Beasts, available now wherever books are sold:

Wall Street Journal – “What to Give” nature books gift guide
American Scientist – Science Book Gift Guide
Ars Technica – Science and tech book review
Queensland Reviewers Collective – book review
Minnesota Book Awards – Finalist in General Nonfiction

If All Water Were Blood

Posted: January 5, 2019 | Author: Mandford | Filed under: Art, Books, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Writing | 2 Comments

I’m honored to finally have this piece in print, after having read and kneaded and baked it for years now. Thank you yet again to the powerful people of Paper Darts.

I Am the SciComm from Your Radio

Posted: January 1, 2016 | Author: Mandford | Filed under: Art, Comedy, Dolphins, Interview, Radio, Science, Speaking, Writing | Leave a comment

In Australia last month for the Interrobang Festival of Questions, I talked on the radio. It was a lot like talking on the radio here, only, as my dad would say, upside down.

The Triple R Breakfasters program is the single coolest morning show I’ve ever heard. They play good music & talk about good film & art & make good jokes AND: they have regular science segments. By choice. They are the future. Listen to us chat HERE.

And on ABC’s The Drawing Room, I got to talk science art, science ed, hip hop etymologies, & grammatical pet peeves with fellow geek Mary Norris, the Comma Queen (below, left).

Listen to us chat HERE. We really hit it off.

In fact, look at all these great new Interrobang friends. Partake in their good work: (clockwise from the left) Nakkiah Lui, Adam Liaw, Steph Harmon, Present, Logan O’Neill (carpenter & archivist), Kristin Alford, Upulie Divisekera, Benjamin Law.

Coming soon: more from the Interrobang archives! Happy New Year to all, & to all a good night.

[UPDATE: January 4th, 2016] The internet just delivered me THIS long-lost gem from my guest spot on the Twin Cities Hit Show. Trigger warning: Talk Radio.

Dolphin Brains, Greener Pastures, & David Bowie Chemistry

Posted: February 24, 2014 | Author: Mandford | Filed under: Art, Dolphins, Fiction, Nonfiction, Performance, Radio, Science, Uncategorized, Writing | 2 Comments

The latest:

Gosh but you people really love hearing about dolphins and dolphin brains. Thanks to you humans and your weird obsession, I’ve gotten to speak all over town (here, here, and here) about dolphins, dolphin brains, and humans’ weird obsession with dolphins and dolphin brains. Next stop: MPR’s “A Beautiful World”. Subject: Consciousness. You see where this is going.

My short story, “Lawn”, was selected as the winner of Revolver and Thirty Two magazine’s ANTE-UP contest. I’m honored. Check it out here, and in the new paper issue of Thirty Two.

New posts on chemistry, David Bowie, and the science of hands in my Science+Art column for the Walker Art Center’s MNartist’s blog. Because, you know, it is a beautiful world.

Science+Art: Dolphin+Tupac

The Latest: Science+Art & Doing Science About Science

Posted: October 22, 2013 | Author: Mandford | Filed under: Art, Museums, Nonfiction, Research, Science, Writing | Tags: Science Museum, Walker Art Center | Leave a comment

Whether you like science or not, read on. What I’m up to lately has everything to do with getting people to fall in love with science by realizing they loved science all along. (Is that creepy? Happy Halloween!)

Science+Art Column for the Walker Art Center

It’s just what it sounds like. Click here to read about the science and art of dark matter, cuttlefish, convergent evolution, the human brain, and many more wonders of the known (and unknown) universe…

Research & Evaluation for the Science Museum of Minnesota

I’m proud to announce that I now work as a researcher and museum evaluator in the evaluation department of the Science Museum of Minnesota. What does that mean? I get to prototype, run, and assess educational programs, exhibits, and communication techniques on science education projects funded by places like the National Science Foundation, the National Institute for Health, and NASA. I basically do science about science. It’s just one of many dreams come true, friends. And yes, most of my dreams are science-related.

Maggie Ryan Sandford

Science with Humanity