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.


199 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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Dave visits with an array of guests that are involved in major watershed restoration projects being conducted by the conservation organization, Cal...

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Mar 23, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave visits with world class mountain and ice climber and all around great Mom Majka Burhardt. Majka is the leader of Legado, an NGO devoted to ste...

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  • Added: Apr 06, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Fog wafting off the Pacific Ocean at Mount Tamalpais, Credit: Getty Images
Dave visits with UC Davis climate and environmental scientist Hannah Palmer and colleague Veronica Vriesman, a marine scientist and paleontologist ...

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  • Added: Apr 13, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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It's almost an all Navy show as Dave talks to Liliana Villarreal, Director of the Artemis II landing and recovery Director and US Naval aviator Lt....

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  • Added: Apr 20, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Heidi Hammel with her Uranus and Neptune plushies  and the JWST, Credit: ARCS Foundation
Dave is joined by special co host Kendall Hall, assistant physics professor at CSU Chico for a very special conversation with one of America's grea...

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  • Added: May 04, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Artistic rendering of a supermassive black hole, Credit: NASA
Dave sets his sites on some cosmic mysteries -- the physics of black holes and the latest discovery of a cluster of galaxies closer to the birth of...

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  • Added: May 11, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave investigates two of the components that make up most of the universe -- dark matter and dark energy. While their effects are measurable, their...

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  • Added: May 18, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Aerial view of the High Sierra snowpack in 2023, Credit: Airborne Snow Observatories Inc.
Dave visits with author Patrick Dean about his new book, Nature's Messenger: Mark Catesby and his adventures in a new world. Dean's book reveals th...

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  • Added: Jun 01, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Visitors at Lassen Volcanic National Park  , Credit: National Park Service
In this episode, host Dave Schlom tackles a topic much in the news lately, how to safely and ethically use our public lands and waters. Dave visits...

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  • Added: Jun 08, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Skylab after repairs done by Skylab 2 crew  , Credit: NASA
Blue Dot host Dave Schlom is joined by space journalist Emily Carney and Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart in part one of our look back at the onl...

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  • Added: Jun 15, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Skylab 4 astronaut Ed Gibson operating the space station's solar telescope in orbit, Credit: NASA, 1973
Dave concludes our two part look back at the first and only exclusively American space station, Skylab, which was crewed by three teams of astronau...

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  • Added: Jun 22, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Pascal and his Dog, Apollo
Dave has a fascinating conversation with Dr. Pascal Lee, planetary scientist from the SETI Institute and NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain V...

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  • Added: Jun 29, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Artemis I rolls out of the VAB to the pad, Credit: NASA
After the successful launch of the Artemis I test mission to the Moon, NASA is gearing up for Artemis II, the first crewed mission to leave Earth o...

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  • Added: Jul 06, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: The Fra Mauro World map created c. 1450, Credit: Museo Correr, Venice4
Dave visits with best-selling author and award winning anthropologist Meredith F. Small to talk about her new book, Here Begins The Dark Sea: Venic...

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  • Added: Jul 13, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: San Francisco Baykeeper Sejal Choksi-Chugh with Hunter and Alexis Pence, Credit: SF Baykeeper
Dave visits with two time world series champion and four time MLB All Star Hunter Pence about the non profit organization he and his wife Alexis ha...

Bought by KAZU Seaside, Calif. and KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Jul 27, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Anglers on the Fall River with the iconic red barns, Credit: Val Atkinson
Dave sits down for a visit with world renowned fly fishing and travel photographer Val Atkinson. They discuss how Val got his first interest in pho...

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  • Added: Aug 04, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Brook Thompson and her father Willie Thompson smoking Salmon, Credit: Brook Thompson
Family plays a pivotal role in this episode as Dave is joined first by Yurok tribal member and environmental engineer Brook M. Thompson. Brook shar...

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  • Added: Aug 10, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave visits with Rolling Stone contributing editor and author Jeff Goodell about his latest book, The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a...

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  • Added: Aug 17, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave is joined by the creators of the YouTube channel, Salish Sea Wild. Wildlife veterinarian and the science director for the SeaDoc Society, Joe ...

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  • Added: Aug 31, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Dave is joined by special guest and co-host Katie Mackey Harris for a look at the world of aquaculture in the western United States. Harris is the ...

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Sep 07, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1