Politics in the early republic, like today, was bitterly partisan, but in 1811, one of the nation’s most renowned doctors David Hosack took the position that science “knows not party politics.” Hosack lived according to this motto. On hand at t

Good Numbers Make a Good Democracy: Kenneth Prewitt on the Census

Apr 1st, 2020 1h 20m

It’s census season in the United States and some may be asking what exactly the census is, how it’s done, why. On this episode, Dr. Patrick Spero talks with former Director of the United States Census Bureau Dr. Kenneth Prewitt about the histor

Helen Quinn on Doing and Teaching Science

Mar 9th, 2020 1h 26m

How do we understand the things we cannot see – the tiniest building blocks that make up our physical world? And then how do we teach about them? On this episode, Dr. Patrick Spero talks with leading particle physicist Dr. Helen Quinn. They dis

Franklin, Jefferson, & America’s First Institutions

Aug 5th, 2019 1h 12m

The final episode of season one of Great Talks at the APS departs slightly from the format of featuring an APS Meeting talk, instead featuring a paper appearing in a recent issue of Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. We thought

A Long History of Climate Science

Apr 15th, 2019 1h 18m

As we face the consequences of climate change, it may surprise some to learn just how long scientists—and denialists—have been talking about this problem. On this episode, Dr. Patrick Spero talks with two leading scientists and APS Members, Dr.

The Paradox of the Mexico-U.S. Border

Jan 22nd, 2019 48m 35s

Why is it that at a time when Mexican migration across the Southern U.S. border is historically low, public dialogue surrounding the Mexico-U.S. borderland continues to be divisive and heated? On this episode, Dr. Patrick Spero and Dr. Douglas

The Life and Times of J. Robert Oppenheimer

Dec 10th, 2018 54m 42s

Dr. Patrick Spero discusses the life and legacy of J. Robert Oppenheimer with Dr. Martin Sherwin, co-author with Kai Bird of the Pulitzer-prize winning biography American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. He is profe

Life of a Journalist

Nov 2nd, 2018 51m 9s

What does truth have to do with journalism? How has the profession evolved over the last half-century?On this episode, host Dr. Patrick Spero talks to Linda Greenhouse about these very questions. Greenhouse is an APS Member and current Preside

The Demise of “Fact” in Political Discourse

Sep 26th, 2018 45m 32s

On the first episode of the APS podcast, host Dr. Patrick Spero interviews Dr. Kathleen Hall Jamieson about the attack on facts in political dialogue and what that means for governance. Dr. Jamieson is the Elizabeth Ware Packard Professor of Co

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