Blue Dot

Series produced by North State Public Radio

Series image

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.


131 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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...

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Jan 02, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Sister Selene: How Did The Moon-Earth System Come to Be?
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Piece image
Longtime listeners to Blue Dot know that Dave has a lifelong fascination with the Moon from its exploration to its role in eclipses. But how did ou...

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Dec 19, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Blue Dot: What is a Planet?
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Piece image
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
Sasha Sagan and "the patron saint of Blue Dot"
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: Sasha Sagan's new book
In this very special episode Dave talks to the daughter of the man he likes to call "the patron saint of Blue Dot," Carl Sagan. Sasha Sagan was onl...

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach and KWMR


  • Added: Dec 05, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Piece image
For scientists in the fields of chemistry, medicine and physics, there is the Nobel Prize and all the accolades that come with it. But for scientis...

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Nov 27, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Apollo 12
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: A very real image of Pete Conrad, taken by Al Bean, standing next to the Surveyor 3
Blue Dot's "Apollo at 50" series continues with this look back at Apollo 12 which took place in November of 1969. Dave often says that, "Apollo 12 ...

  • Added: Nov 14, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
Rebroadcast: The Aftermath Of An Epic Disaster
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Piece image
On this episode, Dave interviews Hayley Dieckmann, one of the team of veterinarians from the University of California at Davis Emergency Veterinary...

  • Added: Nov 07, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
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...

  • Added: Oct 31, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
What is this thing called Science Anyway?
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: James Zimring
Dave visits with James Zimring, author of the new book What Science is and How it Really Works. In a wide ranging conversation that covers everythi...

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach and KWMR


  • Added: Oct 24, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Restoring the Western Flyer with John Gregg
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: The Western Flyer in restoration at Port Townsend, WA
In this episode we explore the amazing story of the Western Flyer, the fishing boat immortalized by John Steinbeck in his 1940 book The Log From Th...

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Oct 17, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
John Gregg and Restoring The Western Flyer
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: The Western Flyer in restoration at Port Townsend, WA
In this episode we explore the amazing story of the Western Flyer, the fishing boat immortalized by John Steinbeck in his 1940 book The Log From Th...

  • Added: Jan 14, 2020
  • Length: 59:00
Rebroadcast: Farming in Harmony With Nature: John Chester and The Biggest Little Farm
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Piece image
The award winning documentary The Biggest Little Farm is the focus of Dave's conversation with film maker turned farmer John Chester. He and his wi...

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Oct 08, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
OMG! It's Climate Elvis! And interview with Josh Willis
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: Climate Elvis with Al Roker
Dave talks to longtime friend of the program, Josh Willis, the Principal Investigator for NASA's OMG (Oceans Melting Greenland) program. Josh was f...

Bought by CI Dolphin Radio and KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Oct 03, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Best of Blue Dot: Fathers Day with Alan Stern
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: Leonard and Alan Stern
On this Best of Blue Dot we revisit our Father's Day episode that featured three pairs of father's and their kids that went on to careers in scienc...

  • Added: Sep 25, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
Blu Dot: A New Plate Boundary in The Making? The Walker Lane
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Piece image
Dave investigates the idea that the boundary between the North American and Pacific tectonic plates may be in the process of "stepping" eastward fr...

Bought by KWMR


  • Added: Sep 20, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
(rebroadcast) The Sound of Science in the Sea: Acoustic Research at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: Photo by Kim Fulton Bennett of Dave Schlom in the control room of the MBARI Research Vessel Rachel Carson
Dave traveled to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) earlier this summer where he learned about many of the institute's scientific...

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach, KAZU Seaside, Calif., and KWMR


  • Added: Sep 12, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 3
Blue Dot: Lassen Volcanic National Park and the UC Natural Reserve System
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Caption: Lassen Peak
Lassen Volcanic National Park is the latest addition to the University of California Natural Reserve System. The 41 units of the UCNRS represent vi...

  • Added: Sep 04, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
The Ridgecrest Earthquakes: Pondering a Tectonic Riddle
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Piece image
We examine the complex series of fault ruptures and earthquakes that struck near Ridgecrest in Southern California over the July 4 weekend of 2019....

Bought by KSPB Pebble Beach


  • Added: Aug 21, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Voyages to The Bottom of The Sea: Stockton Rush and The Titanic
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Piece image
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...

  • Added: Aug 15, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
Why Small Changes Matter: Temperature and Time
From: North State Public Radio
Series: Blue Dot
Piece image
A few degrees of planetary warming may not sound alarming but it is. A few microseconds of error don't sound like much but they can mean the diffe...

  • Added: Aug 07, 2019
  • Length: 59:00

Playlists That Feature This Series: