John works with the radio team to create our weekly show, and is helping to build our State of Science Reporting Network. He’s also been a long-time guest host on Science Friday.
He and his wife have three cats, thousands of bees, and a yoga studio in the sleepy Northwest hills of Connecticut.
John likes building radio collaborations. He helped bring together 18 stations across the Northeast to cover environmental issues, which eventually led to the New England News Collaborative, worked with NPR on their Collaborative Coverage Project, and with the national talk program America Amplified.
For 25 years, John oversaw news programming at WNPR, where he started the daily talk show, Where We Live. He’s also produced award-winning long-form documentaries on mental health and care for the elderly, and hundreds of short stories for NPR and public radio stations, including one about virtual reality in dentistry that’s actually pretty embarrassing to listen to now.
You can also see him doing live events for The Connecticut Mirror, The Connecticut Forum, and The International Festival of Arts & Ideas.
John grew up in Pittsburgh, and is as big a Mr. Rogers fan as you’ll find anywhere.
16:31
New Guidelines Recommend Earlier Breast Cancer Screening
The latest update moves the recommended age to start mammograms from 50 down to 40. How are these decisions made?
6:11
Fighting Banana Blight In A North Carolina Greenhouse
America’s most-consumed fruit is at risk from a fungal disease. Researchers in North Carolina are on a mission to save Cavendish bananas.
8:27
Citizen Scientists Will Capture DNA From 800 Lakes In One Day
The project aims to find species that have gone unnoticed by sampling the waters of hundreds of lakes worldwide for environmental DNA.
16:35
What Worsening Floods Mean For Superfund Sites
Superfund sites contain extreme pollution. Flooding—made worse by climate change—could carry their toxic contaminants into surrounding areas.
17:17
Our Inevitable Cosmic Apocalypse
We revisit a 2020 interview with cosmologist Katie Mack about how the universe could end. Plus, remembering psychologist Daniel Kahneman.
17:05
The Legacy Of Primatologist Frans de Waal
Dr. Frans de Waal, who died this month, helped humans understand the emotional lives of our closest living animal relatives.
7:20
Should The Aliens In ’65’ Have Known About Earth’s Dinos?
In the movie “65,” an alien crashes on Earth during the Jurassic era, shocked to discover dinosaurs. An astrobiologist has questions.
12:16
Faraway Planets Could Have Oceans Of Magma
Hycean planets were thought to be covered by oceans of water, but a new study suggests it could be magma instead.
17:07
The World According To Sound: A Sonic History Of Astronomy
A new podcast series examines sonified space data to explore pivotal moments throughout the history of astronomy.
17:09
One Crisis After Another: Designing Cities For Resiliency
The leaders of a global architecture and design firm discuss how design can help communities adapt to global crises.