Blue Dot

Series produced by North State Public Radio

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Conversations exploring where science and pop culture collide. Hosted by Dave Schlom with audio production by Matt Fidler.

Blue Dot, named after Carl Sagan's famous speech about our place in the universe, features interviews with guests from all over the regional, national and worldwide scientific communities. Host Dave Schlom leads discussions about the issues science is helping us address with experts who shed light on climate change, space exploration, astronomy, technology and much more. Dave asks us to remember: from deep space, we all live on a pale, blue dot.


200 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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Dave is joined by Sky and Telescope magazine senior contributing editor Rick Fienberg to preview the big celestial event coming up soon, the total ...

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  • Added: Sep 14, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 3
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Dave is joined by Rosanna Xia, environmental journalist for the Los Angeles Times to discuss her new book, California Against The Sea: Visions for ...

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  • Added: Oct 05, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Psyche the spacecraft and asteroid, Credit: NASA
Scheduled for launch around the original airing of this program, the Psyche mission will be off to explore the asteroid it is named for, 16 Psyche....

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  • Added: Oct 12, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: The then newly minted Dr. Kendall Hall with father Dr. Raymond Hall
CSU Chico Professor of Physics Kendall Hall joins Dave once again as a special co host as they talk to her father, also a Physics professor, Raymon...

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  • Added: Oct 19, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Desert Bighorn Sheep crossing under State Highway 62, Credit: UC Davis Road Ecology Center image
Dave visits with Fraser Shilling, Director of the Road Ecology Center at UC Davis. A relatively new discipline, road ecology seeks to understand ho...

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  • Added: Nov 02, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave and Pascal Lee team up once again, this time to discuss Lee winning the Carl Sagan Prize from Wonderfest in the San Francisco Bay Area for his...

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  • Added: Nov 16, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Fly angler on the McCloud River, Credit: Curtis Knight/CalTrout
Dave is joined by the Executive Director of California Trout, Curtis Knight, to talk about the conservation organization and its regional restorati...

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  • Added: Nov 30, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave delves into the topic of California's amazingly diverse climate and weather with the authors of the new book, Fire and Rain: California's Chan...

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  • Added: Dec 07, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave is joined by Bloomberg News science reporter Loren Grush to talk about her new book, The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astron...

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  • Added: Dec 13, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave sits down with one of his favorite people, Lassen Volcanic National Park Superintendent Jim Richardson on the eve of his retirement from the N...

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  • Added: Dec 28, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: The Marble Mountains
In the first of a special two part series, Dave is joined by Michael Kauffmann, co editor and publisher of The Klamath Mountains: A Natural History...

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  • Added: Jan 04, 2024
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Backpacker in the Trinity Alps, Credit: Michael Kauffmann
Dave is once again joined by special co-host Michael Kauffmann, co-editor and publisher of The Klamath Mountains: A Natural History, as we conclude...

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  • Added: Jan 11, 2024
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave is joined by SETI Institute meteor astronomer Peter Jenniskens to take a deep dive into the science of meteors and meteor showers. Dr. Jennisk...

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  • Added: Jan 18, 2024
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave is joined by two scientists to discuss the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission which launched in December of 2022. NASA Jet Prop...

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  • Added: Jan 25, 2024
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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In this very special episode Dave visits with three researchers who were part of an incredible series of experimental communications with a humpbac...

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  • Added: Feb 01, 2024
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave looks at some interesting ways the University of California's Natural Reserves System are used for both education and scientific research. Som...

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  • Added: Feb 15, 2024
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave visits with French archaeologist and paleoanthropologist Ludovic Slimak about his multi decadal research into Neanderthals. Author of the new ...

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  • Added: Feb 29, 2024
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Dos Rios Ranch Preserve , Credit: River Partners
Dave visits with guests from River Partners, a conservation organization born of a vision of farmers with conservation interests who sought more of...

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  • Added: Mar 07, 2024
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: The late Frank Drake and his famous equation, Credit: SETI Institute
Dave is joined by special co host Bill Diamond, President and CEO of the SETI Institute, for an in depth look at the state of the famous Drake Equa...

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  • Added: Mar 21, 2024
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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In the conclusion of Blue Dot's two part look at the state of the Drake Equation in 2024, Dave is once again joined by special co host Bill Diamond...

  • Added: Mar 28, 2024
  • Length: 59:00