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.


202 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Blue Dot: What is a Planet?
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
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In this episode, inspired by our good friend Alan Stern, the Principal Investigator for the New Horizons Spacecraft, we examine a question that has...

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Dec 12, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Blue Dot: Yes, Your Dog Really Loves You and Science can prove it!
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: Dave and his rescue dog, Ellie.
In this episode, Dave is going to the dogs. Literally. But that's OK with him because Dave loves dogs and dogs love him and now, thanks to Dr. Cliv...

Bought by KWMR and KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Jan 15, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Growing Up Apollo: An Interview with Moonwalker's and Flight Controller Kids
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: A pic from Amy's blog of Tracy Cernan and Amy Bean when they were kids holding pics of their Apollo astronaut Dads Gene and Alan.
Dave visits with some very special friends! Amy Bean, Tracy Cernan and Gwen Griffin all grew up inside the Apollo Moon program during the late 1960...

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  • Added: Jan 02, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Blue Dot: AMAZING AGING GRACE: A Conversation With Daniel Levitin
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
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Dave visits with neuroscientist, cognitive psychologist, musician and all around amazing guy, Daniel Levitin. His This is Your Brain On Music spent...

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach and KWMR


  • Added: Jan 30, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Blue Dot: Roving Mars in The 2020s
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: Mars 2020
Dave talks to two of the Deputy Project Scientists deeply involved with the Curiosity Rover, which has been exploring Gale Crater since 2012, and t...

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  • Added: Jan 23, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Blue Dot: Voyages to The Bottom of The Sea: Stockton Rush and The Titanic
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
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In this episode Dave visits with Stockton Rush, founder and CEO of OceanGate in Everett, Washington. The company is working on an ambitious plan to...

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  • Added: Feb 13, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Blue Dot: BETELGEUSE: MYSTERY OF A DIMMING SUPERGIANT
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
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Even casual observers of the night sky are familiar with the winter constellation Orion. It's two brightest stars, Rigel and Betelgeuse and its thr...

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach and KWMR


  • Added: Feb 06, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Blue Dot Rerun: AMAZING AGING GRACE: A Conversation With Daniel Levitin
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
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Dave visits with neuroscientist, cognitive psychologist, musician and all around amazing guy, Daniel Levitin. His This is Your Brain On Music spent...

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Mar 05, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Blue Dot: Modeling Climate with Gavin Schmidt
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
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Dave talks to one of the world's leading climate scientists, Dr. Gavin Schmidt from NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies in New York. Schmidt ...

Bought by KWMR and KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Feb 27, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Blue Dot: LEADERSHIP, PROBLEM SOLVING, SURVIVAL: The epic story of Apollo 13
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
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In a time of global crisis, it's good to look to the lessons of history, to help us understand that we do have the ability to overcome terrible adv...

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, KCNP, and KUHF


  • Added: Apr 02, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 4
Blue Dot: HIDDEN FIGURES ICON KATHERINE JOHNSON TRIBUTE AND A PALE BLUE DOT REMASTERING
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: Our home planet.
On this episode we look back in space and time to examine the life of an extraordinary pioneer of the space race and literally our place in space -...

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  • Added: Mar 12, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Blue Dot: America Returns to Space
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: Doug Hurley (foreground) and Bob Behnken aboard Dragon Demo 2, Credit: SpaceX via NASA
After spending the last two years looking back at the Apollo Program, Dave looks ahead to the Commercial Crew flight program and Project Artemis. W...

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  • Added: May 28, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Blue Dot: A BLAST FROM THE PAST: Mt St. Helens 40 Years Ago with Donald Swanson
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
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Dave visits with legendary United States Geological Survey volcanologist Donald Swanson in this look back at the eruption of Mt. St. Helens on May ...

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  • Added: May 14, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Blue Dot: Living in Isolation with Your "Family": A Conversation with Astronaut Peggy Whitson
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: Peggy Whitson and her home planet
Dave talks to retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. She holds records for the most time in space for any American, any woman and commanded the Inte...

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  • Added: May 01, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Blue Dot: THE EPIC STORY OF APOLLO 13 Pt. 2
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
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In the conclusion of our look back at the Apollo 13 mission 50 years ago, Dave is joined by Barbara Lovell Harrison, John Aaron and Andrew Chaikin....

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach and KCNP


  • Added: Apr 09, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Blue Dot: Surf's Up!
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: Frank Quiarte at Maverick's
Big Wave Dave talks surfing! Featuring a conversation between San Francisco Chronicle sportswriter Bruce Jenkins and retired NASA Oceanographer Bil...

Bought by KAZU Seaside, Calif. and KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Jun 03, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Blue Dot at the Beach: A Look at Surf Culture PART 2
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
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Be sure to tune in next week when BD returns to the beach with Airrion Copeland, a black surfer who produced the documentary WhiteWash about chall...

Bought by KAZU Seaside, Calif. and KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Aug 14, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Blue Dot at The Beach: The Cultural and Environmental Impacts of Surfing Part 1
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
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The CEO of the Surfrider Foundation, Chad Nelsen joins us for a look at their work on protecting beach access and keeping the surf zone safe from c...

Bought by KAZU Seaside, Calif. and KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Jul 30, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Blue Dot: The REAL "Dr. Jones": Seismologist Lucy Jones on Getting Through Disasters
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: Dr. Lucy Jones on KTLA in Los Angeles
Unlike the fictional Indiana, there is a real life Dr. Jones and her name is Lucy. Dave talks to seismologist and disaster preparedness expert Lucy...

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  • Added: Jul 16, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Blue Dot: Manifesto for A Moral Revolution by Jacqueline Novogratz
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: Jacqueline Novogratz
Dave has been thinking a lot lately, like many of us, about the role that market driven economic policies have on the environment, social justice i...

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Jun 18, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1

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