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
Caption: Jennifer Francis
Dave talks to polar climate expert Jennifer Francis about the hows and whys of the north polar region's dramatic warming is affecting weather here ...

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Mar 12, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave talks to NASA's Jason Derleth, the executive in charge of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program about some future proposals that are b...

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  • Added: Mar 20, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: the water cycle
If there is one most contentious issue in the history of California, it is probably water. From the Owens Valley water wars from the early 20th cen...

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  • Added: Mar 25, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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​Dave visits with birder and wildlife photographer Dudley Edmondson, author of Black and Brown Faces in America's Wild Faces and outdoor educator/a...

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  • Added: Apr 15, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave talks to two scientists from the United States Golf Association about their efforts to make golf courses more environmentally friendly in a wo...

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  • Added: Apr 23, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave visits with Lee Vining High School junior Ellery McQuilkin about a very real science project that has earned her spots in the California State...

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  • Added: Apr 29, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave takes us on an aural field trip to one of his favorite places, Mono Lake in Eastern California near Yosemite National Park. Dave talks to two ...

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  • Added: May 14, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave talks to Russell Shapiro, a geology professor at California State University at Chico. Dr. Shapiro has a fascinating array of interests and ad...

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  • Added: May 27, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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California's rangelands are undergoing critical stress in a historic drought. How are ranchers coping with the lack of water and forage for their a...

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  • Added: Jun 11, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave delves into some familiar territory for him, the early space program, but with some fresh takes on the space race with author Jeff Shesol. Hi...

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  • Added: Jun 17, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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This show deals with some kinda scary places and potentially dangerous future events. Dave talks to astrobiologist David Grinspoon about two newly ...

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  • Added: Jul 08, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave convenes a panel of experts on something that is the most important topic of the 21st century: climate change. Ellery McQuilkin, a recent gue...

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  • Added: Jul 16, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave talks to retired University of Iowa Physicist Donald Gurnett about his amazing career as a pioneer of the field of space plasma physics. Don w...

Bought by KICI Iowa City and KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Jul 22, 2021
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 2
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Dave talks to legendary deep ocean explorer Dr. Robert Ballard about his new book, Into The Deep: a Memoir by The Man Who Found Titanic. Since the ...

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  • Added: Jul 29, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Apollo 15Commander Dave Scott with the Lunar Rover at Hadley Rille., Credit: Photo taken by Lunar Module Pilot Jim Irwin.
Our Apollo@50 series continues with the first truly scientific exploration of the Moon -- the Apollo 15 mission. With new hardware including an orb...

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  • Added: Aug 06, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave talks to two of his favorite YouTube content providers, Alice Ford and Jessica Mills. Alice is a stuntwoman based in Los Angeles who enjoys tr...

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  • Added: Aug 13, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Millions of people enjoy spending summer months fishing for a variety of trout species with the rainbow being perhaps the most popular. But in this...

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  • Added: Aug 19, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave visits with research scientist Carson Jeffres from the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences to talk about, well, watersheds! What are they? ...

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  • Added: Sep 02, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Reading Fire (2012) Burn Area -- Lassen Volcanic National Park Photo by Joan Pendleton
While the large fires such as Dixie (likely to become the largest in California history) and Caldor continue burning their way through the Northern...

Bought by KAZU Seaside, Calif. and KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Sep 09, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
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Dave talks to geologist and author John Dvorak about his new book: How The Mountains Formed: A New Geological History of North America. The geologi...

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  • Added: Sep 23, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1