Science Comedy & Regular Comedy

Storytelling is a thing that I do, and here’s a video of a recent gig. The story I tell is not scientific––OR IS IT…?

It is also my pleasure to introduce Regret Labs, a Science/Comedy podcast to which my fellow comedians Levi Weinhagen and Aric McKeown invited me because they needed a little more science for their not-so-much-science.

This is the kind of podcast where people talk over each other sometimes. Into it? Not into it? Drop a comment on the site to let us know.

Episode #8 (#2.5 with Maggie):  Guest Scientist Dr. Michelle LaRue on Science Communication and Penguin Stank
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I am the SciComm from Your Video

One more dispatch from my adventures with Melbourne’s Wheeler Centre & their Interrobang Festival of Questions. Click the below links for some primo procrastination-aiding video content!

A discussion of ocean vs. space travel & the public’s expectations of science*, among molecular biologist/science communicator Upulie Divisekera, sci-fi author & BoingBoing editor Cory Doctorow, & some “comedy science” lady (me)

use mars interrobang

And What Future Do We Want and Deserve? With radical chef Adam Liaw, futurist Kristin Alford, author/editor Cory Doctorow, & that “comedy science” lady again, moderated by Wheeler Centre Director Michael Williams

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*Stay tuned for the above-referenced COMPETITIVE Q&A, plus my speech on what science & art tell us about the importance of words vs. actions.


I Am the SciComm from Your Radio

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.
  CUt8uiYUwAAHkGk  interrobang crew.jpg
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.

A Bunch of Stuff I Neglected to Mention…

It’s been awhile. Here’s a the haps:


Ed Zed Omega: The Future of Education/Documentaries

Alright, enough being coy:  Here’s a little piece WIRED magazine ran on EdZedOmega, the interactive multimedia documentary on which I am thrilled to be serving as Writer/Producer. The project was the brainchild of Ken Eklund, the man behind the grand internet experiment World Without Oil, and was made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with help from Twin Cities Public Television and the Association of Independents in Radio.

Ed Zed Omega is designed to run on audience participation, so let’s get to talking, eh? Did you like high school? Hate it? What’s your story?

[UPDATE: 3/28/2013] The project has run its semester-long course, and we learned so much along the way. Here, the Zed Omega teens explain the project from the other side of the curtain:


Radio Interview: This Time in the Hot Seat

International Women’s Day is coming, and I’ll be interviewed on radio KFAI for the occasion.

The Subject: Women, comedy, and women in comedy.

The Women: writer/comedian Molly Knefel, writer/comedian Emily Schorr Lesnick, comedian/HUGE founder Jill Bernard, and writer/comedian me.

In addition to talking about myself and my views on lady issues, I’ll read two pieces of short fiction: “Dear Mother,” and “On the Subject of My Arrest: An Address to my Fellow Residents of Surrency, GA, July the 25th, 1866.”

UPDATE:  Listen to the interview at KFAI by clicking Listen Now or MP3 Stream next to “Finding the Female Funny.” Molly first, then Emily, and my segment starts at 35:19.


Another nice chat

This time with one Mr. Chuck Klosterman, here wearing an enviable sweatshirt.

Damn, he talked to me for a long time. And he talks fast.

With beard comes intensity.


Funny People. Of All Sexes. But Especially Ladies.

Hey, turns out I interviewed Sarah Silverman for the A.V. Club, this week. That reminds me… I interviewed Lily Tomlin for the A.V. Club last month. Both conversations went quite well, I’d say, but then, I was doing less than half of the talking.

Lily Tomlin as “Lud” / Sarah Silverman as Georgia O’Keefe