BY FRANK VON HIPPEL

Lichtenberg figure, photographed in the late 1930s by Arthur von Hippel in his laboratory at MIT. This figure is the icon for the Science History Podcast, hosted by Arthur’s grandson Frank von Hippel.

Like many Americans, I felt distressed about the Trump Administration’s attacks on science and scientists following the 2016 election, especially as those attacks related to critical environmental issues such as climate change and pollution. I participated in the March for Science, but at the same time pondered what I could do personally to advocate for public literacy in science. My solution was to combine my favorite form of media (podcasting) with my passion for science history, and so in December 2017 I started the monthly “Science History Podcast.” Each month since I have had the pleasure of interviewing scientists and historians about important moments in the history of science.

I started the series with an interview of Pete Myers, one of the founding scientists of the field of endocrine disruption. In the second episode, which focused on nuclear weapons and the Cold War, I interviewed the head of Brazil’s equivalent of the National Science Foundation, a man named Jose Goldemberg who at 89 years old is still full of boundless energy. For the third episode, I focused on the initial motivation for the podcast and did an episode on the history of US Congressional attacks on science, which was a fitting topic because I had just been targeted by Oklahoma Senator James Lankford in his annual “Wastebook,” which is also titled, “Federal Fumbles, 100 ways the government dropped the ball, Vol. 3.” This document of wasteful government spending is eighty-six pages long, and Lankford featured my research on page three. The fourth episode took me farther afield to discuss the discovery of Pluto at the Lowell Observatory, and in the fifth episode, my guest recounted the history of explorers and extinction in the Hawaiian Islands. In episode 6, I interviewed Bruce Blumberg on the discovery that certain environmental contaminants can cause obesity, and in episode 7, I interviewed Irene Pepperberg about her four decades of research with talking African grey parrots. I recorded episodes 8 and 9 at the Natural History Museum in London with discussions of centuries of British explorers. The most recent episodes, numbers 10 and 11, are a discussion about connections between Winston Churchill and the development of science and technology.

What began as a reaction to federal efforts to stifle science has become a monthly chat that I thoroughly enjoy. Some of the topics clearly intersect with politics, while others simply chase down the scientific mystery as it unfolded. Listeners are now tuning in from over fifty countries, a reach I could never have achieved in the classroom and far beyond my expectations—especially because the expanding listenership has occurred by word of mouth. The podcast can be accessed from any podcasting app by searching for “science history podcast,” or via its RSS feed or website.

Guest blogger Frank von Hippel is a professor of ecotoxicology at Northern Arizona University.