Shows
Science Write NowSWN special: Meet Queensland's Chief Scientist, Professor Kerrie WilsonOn the back of National Science Week 2025, we’re bringing you a special episode this week featuring our exclusive interview with Queensland's Chief Scientist, Professor Kerrie Wilson, whose role it is to champion the importance of science for our society, our economy and environment, to promote Queensland’s leadership in scientific research partnerships, and to facilitate that translation of research to the general public.SWN's Editor-in-Chief Dr Amanda Niehaus and co-host Bianca Millroy had the incredible opportunity to sit down with Professor Kerrie Wilson, who gave generous insi...
2025-09-2345 min
Roots and Branches JJC Alumni PodcastFrom Students to Presidents: JJC Alumni Shaping the Future of Community CollegeIn episode eight of the JJC Alumni Podcast, host Jen Davis celebrates Community College Month by showcasing the incredible impact of Joliet Junior College (JJC) and its alumni. Featuring special guests Dr. Judy Mitchell, the ninth president emeritus of JJC, and Dr. Paige Niehaus, president of the Dale Mabry Campus of Hillsborough Community College, this episode delves into their inspirational journeys. Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Niehaus discuss their career paths, starting from nontraditional beginnings to become leaders in community college education. They emphasize the importance of accessibility, support, and the unique opportunities community colleges p...
2025-04-0441 min
Science Write NowSWN LIVE: The Best Australian Science Writing 2024 with Carl Smith & Amanda NiehausWhat lurks in a house of slime hidden in the middle of a forest? Is there a place for psychedelics in our medicine cabinets? Why are scientists talking about the formula p(doom) – and what does it mean for humanity? SWN In-Conversation: The Best Australian Science Writing 2024 with Carl Smith, Amanda Niehaus and Bianca Millroy – LIVE from Books@Stones, 12 DecemberThis week, we’re excited to share a special bonus episode on the podcast, coming to you live from Books@Stones, a local indie bookshop in Brisbane where w...
2024-12-1658 min
Rock Paper PodcastEpisode 1092 - Amanda Fish (Blues)Amanda Fish returns!! Amanda just released a brand new album KINGDOM. I was fortunate enough to sit with her at Blue Lotus in St. Louis, MO to talk all about it. We get into some of the storeis behind these songs, recording with Paul Niehaus IV at Blue Lotus & upcoming tour. Amanda (along with some help from Paul Niehaus) perform a live acoustic version of her new song "Mockingbird" from the new album. Also as we talk about Halloween and our some of our favorite Fall activities coming up. On this episode you'll hear: M...
2024-10-041h 14
13th Floor MusicTalkAmanda Fish Returns To Her KingdomBlues-rocker Amanda Fish has just released her third studio album titled Kingdom. Written over a six-year gap, its her first since 2019’s Free. The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda found Amanda at home in St. Louis where she hunkered down to talk about making Kingdom with Paul Niehaus IV, addressing the current state of the mainstream media and realizing that there is ‘still tinder on this fire’.
2024-08-0617 min
Science Write NowImprinting Empathy: Art, AI and Fungi with Bianca TainshThis week we chat with open-disciplinary artist Bianca Tainsh about all things Art, AI and fungi, and go behind-the-scenes to explore Bianca’s current work-in-progress, Imprinting Empathy, which asks: How might art and technology manifest an intimate process of interspecies connection with humans, and can an artificial intelligence learn to care and generate empathy by facilitating this nuanced entanglement? Can empathy be imprinted onto an AI through relational experience and guidance, as it is onto humans? …and just what exactly is ‘Bush Turkey Tea’?Engaging audiences in Australia and beyond, Bianca Tainsh is an award-wi...
2024-07-1759 minScience Write NowStorytelling to Save the Reef with Dr Paul E HardistyIn this episode, Jessica talks to writer and former CEO of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Paul Hardisty, about his new nonfiction book, In Hot Water, which charts historical and contemporary efforts to save the Great Barrier Reef, and about the importance of fiction for educating and creating empathy in readers.Hailing originally from Canada, Dr Paul E Hardisty has spent thirty years working all over the world as an engineer, hydrologist and environmental scientist. He co-founded international environmental consultancy Komex Environmental Ltd, which he helped develop from a startup to a $50 million-a-year company...
2024-06-2941 min
Science Write NowSpinal Tap... but make it Joycean with G. S. DicksonIn this episode, Krystle chats with G. S. Dickson about his debut novel A Minor Fifth, a satire about the death of fictional Australian rock icon, Billy Ordain, recounted, albeit unreliably, by five people who knew him. Krystle and Gareth wax lyrical (and theoretical) about character voice, the influence of Ulysses on the novel’s structure, and the cultural tendency for posthumous mythicism. Inevitably, Proust and The Beatles are mentioned.About G. S. Dickson:G. S. Dickson is an Australian author whose work has been published and anthologised in both Australia and th...
2024-06-1550 min
Science Write NowExploring Big Questions and Big Feelings through Speculative Fiction with Grace ChanIn this episode, Krystle chats with Grace Chan about her novel Every Version of You, the story of which Grace tongue-in-cheekly describes as being about ‘staying in love after mind-uploading into virtual reality’. Spoiler: it’s loaded with meaning and big feelings and has us question what it is to be human. Krystle and Grace also geek out, discussing Neuralink (Elon Musk’s brain implant company), FKA Twigs’ AI doppelgänger, and Chinese scientists’ recent success in freezing brain tissue without damage.About Grace Chan:Grace Chan is an award-winning speculative fiction writer. She w...
2024-06-031h 02
Science Write NowCuriosity, Kindness and Storytelling with Jodi RodgersIn this episode, Krystle speaks with Jodi Rodgers about her new book Unique: What autism can teach us about difference, connection and belonging – which Jodi describes as ‘a love letter to autism’. In her book, Jodi reflects on her experiences with autistic and neurodivergent people, and what these experiences have illuminated regarding human connection, empathy and understanding. Additionally, Jodi demystifies common misunderstandings concerning autism, explaining the relevant cognitive science, all the while doing so by way of engaging storytelling in accessible language.About Jodi Rodgers: Jodi Rodgers is a qualified sexologist, counsellor, and specia...
2024-04-1059 minScience Write NowCells, Ears, Impairments and Memoir, with with Amanda Tink, Lauren Poole and Heather Taylor JohnsonIn this episode, Jessica White chats with Amanda Tink, Lauren Poole and Heather Taylor Johnson about the ways that impairments, and historical responses to impairments, shape our bodies and writing.About Amanda Tink:Amanda Tink is a blind and neurodivergent creative, personal and academic essayist. She researches the influence of impairment on writing, most recently in a PhD on the poet Les Murray, who was autistic. Her essays have been published in a range of venues including Sydney Review of Books, Overland, ArtsHub, Seizure, Wordgathering, Australian Literary Studies, and Southerly. She lives in front...
2024-03-0340 min
The WorkEpisode 9: Postsecondary CTE, Amy Niehaus (CASPN), Amanda Compton (Sangamon Reclaimed), Bob Patton (CACC), Drew Verenski and Thomas Ervin (CACC students)Send us a textBrought to you by Capital Area Career Center. Telling the stories of CACC, career and technical education, and workforce development throughout Central Illinois. Featuring Amy Niehaus (CASPN), Amanda Compton (Sangamon Reclaimed), Bob Patton (CACC), Drew Verenski and Thomas Ervin (CACC students)
2022-12-0338 min
Science Write NowAll Things Comedy with Anne Libera (The Second City)In this episode, Amanda chats with Professor Anne Libera—Director of Comedy Studies at the prestigious comedy club The Second City in Chicago—about how comedy works and why we need it. Anne Libera is an Associate Professor and Director of Comedy Studies at Columbia College Chicago and The Second City and served as Director of Pedagogy for The Second Science Project. She has presented on topics in improvisation and comedy at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Chicago Ideas Week, Chicago Humanities Festival, and guest lectured at the Stanford Business School. Directing credits include Stephen Colbert's one...
2022-10-2851 min
Science Write NowThe Absurdist Truths of Climate ChangeIn this episode, Amanda speaks with Australian playwrights Oliver Gough and Stephen Carleton about performing climate change on the stage—and the role of absurdity in communicating dire issues.Oliver Gough is an emerging playwright and MPhil Candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Queensland. He was a participant in Playlab’s 2021 ‘Incubator’ program, and his plays have been produced by UQ’s Underground Theatre Company and at Brisbane’s Anywhere Festival. His creative practice seeks to interrogate climate-change ravaged futures and use absurdism to conceive of the Anthropocene. Stephen Carleton is Associat...
2022-08-3149 min
Science Write NowThe stories of seeds with Fiona McMillan-WebsterWhy do some seeds live for thousands of years, while others only a few? What made Nikolai Vavilov the Indiana Jones of the ‘seed world’? And how do you write a book about something in which you’re not already an expert? In this episode, Amanda talks to science writer Fiona McMillan-Webster about her first book The Age of Seeds: How Plants Hacked Time and Why Our Future Depends on It. Fiona McMillan-Webster is a science writer with degrees in physics and biophysics. She's written for National Geographic, Forbes, Cosmos magazine, Australian Geograph...
2022-08-0345 min
Science Write NowKeeping Secrets and Finding Science with Danielle ClodeIn this episode, Jess talks to Danielle Clode about how, from the 18th to the 20th centuries, women have employed great ingenuity to discover new knowledge.Danielle Clode is an award-winning author of Australian non-fiction books. Her writing includes natural history, essays, science writing, historical fiction and best-selling children’s books as well as documentaries. In this episode, we focus on two of Danielle’s books – In Search of the Woman Who Sailed the World, and The Wasp and The Orchid: The Remarkable Life of Australian Naturalist Edith Coleman .The Scienc...
2022-06-1429 min
Science Write NowWriting Beyond the Human with Chris FlynnIn this episode, Amanda speaks with Chris Flynn about writing beyond the human, stories led by imagination, and thinking through place beyond setting. Chris Flynn is the author of Mammoth, The Glass Kingdom and A Tiger in Eden. He is Editor-in-Residence at Museums Victoria, and is the creator of Horridus: Journey of a Triceratops, and Horridus and the Hidden Valley. His work has appeared in The Guardian, The Age, The Australian, Griffith Review, Meanjin, Australian Book Review, The Saturday Paper, Smith Journal, The Big Issue, Monster Children, McSweeney's, The Paris Review an...
2022-05-211h 16
Science Write NowLost Lives Found in Fiction and Ecobiography with Melissa Ashley and Jessica WhiteIn this episode, Amanda talks with novelist Melissa Ashley and our own Jessica White about writing the lives of 19th-century female natural historians in fiction and ecobiography—and the importance of bringing untold stories to the light.Jessica White is the award-winning author of two novels, A Curious Intimacy and Entitlement, and a hybrid memoir about deafness, Hearing Maud. Her short stories and essays have appeared widely in Australian and international literary journals and have been shortlisted and longlisted for major prizes. Jessica is the recipient of funding from Arts Queensland and the Australia Co...
2022-05-1151 min
Science Write NowThe Nature of Trees and Rivers with Ashley Hay and Simon ClearyIn this episode, Jessica White speaks Ashley Hay and Simon Cleary about thinking—and writing—through rivers and trees, and how they connect people, places, histories, ecologies, landscapes and myths.Ashley Hay is the author of three novels and four books of narrative non-fiction. Her most recent novel, A Hundred Small Lessons, was published in 2017. Her second novel, The Railwayman’s Wife, was published in 2013. It won the 2013 Colin Roderick Prize and the People’s Choice Award at the 2014 NSW Premier’s Prize, and was also longlisted for the Miles Franklin and Nita B...
2022-04-2939 min
Agriculture Applied | Innovate Relate Create with NDSU ExtensionDirect Meat Sales | Part 1 | "Got Beef?" Selling Direct to ConsumersInterested in direct marketing meat from your ranch?! This podcast is for you! Hannah sat down with a panel of experts to discuss what you need to know to get started or polish your direct to consumer meat business.
Be sure to come back next month for part 2 in our local meat series. Next month we'll dive into the consumer side of things!
Resources:
Raising Freezer Beef: Meeting Customer Expectations
Wall Meat Processing
Contacts:
Hannah Nordby
NDSU Adams County Extension
Hannah.nordby@ndsu.edu
Aman...
2022-04-1433 min
Science Write NowScience in Virtual Realities with Michael AngillettaIn this episode, Amanda Niehaus chats with biologist Michael Angilletta about his collaborative work building virtual reality science labs with Hollywood-born Dreamscape Immersive, student engagement through story, and the power of immersion— as well as Amanda’s aphantasia and Mike’s hard-learned rules of surviving the Zoom era.Michael Angilletta is President's Professor and Director of the Center for Science Learning Innovation at Arizona State University. Mike established an international reputation first as an evolutionary biologist studying adaptation to climate change, which resulted in an award winning book called Thermal Adaptation. Now, Mike works...
2022-03-2956 min
Science Write NowTime, memory and the stories of our lives with Sven BirkertsIn this episode, Amanda Niehaus chats with writer & AGNI co-editor Sven Birkerts about time, memory, and the patterns that shape our writing. Sven Birkerts is the author of eleven books of essays and memoirs, most recently 'Speak, Memory', a personal reading of Nabokov's memoir. He is the former director of the Bennington Writing Seminars, and he co-edits the journal AGNI at Boston University.Purchase Sven’s smart and personal analysis of Vladimir Nabokov’s Speak Memory here.The Science Write Now (SWN) Podcast is a 3x/mo...
2022-03-2247 min
Science Write NowWriting, re-writing, and the scales of change with Matt BellIn this episode, Amanda Niehaus chats with speculative fiction writer and Associate Professor of Fiction (Arizona State University) Matt Bell about his new craft book Refuse to be Done, the iterative craft of writing and rewriting, and conceptualising the vast timescales of climate change into his recent novel Appleseed.Matt Bell is the author most recently of the novels Appleseed (a New York Times Notable Book of 2021), Scrapper (a Michigan Notable Book), and In the House upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods (a finalist for the Young Lions...
2022-03-0742 min
Science Write NowRe-imagining Darwin for the stage with David MortonIn this episode, Amanda Niehaus chats with David Morton, Creative Director of Dead Puppet Society, about taking young Darwin from the page — and the Galapagos — to the stage, in The Wider Earth.David Morton is a writer, director and designer, and the Creative Director of Dead Puppet Society. Over the last decade he has led DPS in the creation of large-scale visual theatre works developed with international teams. The Wider Earth (DPS, Queensland Theatre, Trish Wadley Productions, Glass Half Full Productions) was conceived in residence at St Ann’s Warehouse, and recently closed a six-month run in a custom...
2022-02-2338 min
Science Write NowTexture and mood with Kathleen JenningsIn this episode, Amanda Niehaus chats with award-winning writer and illustrator Kathleen Jennings about stitching together her observations into stories and worlds, writing with texture and creating narratives using mood.Kathleen Jennings is an illustrator and writer based in Brisbane, Australia. As an illustrator, she has won one World Fantasy Award (and been a finalist three other times), and has been shortlisted once for the Hugos, and once for the Locus Awards, as well as winning a number of Ditmars. As a writer, she has won a British Fantasy Award (the Sydney...
2021-12-1353 min
Science Write NowWriting and painting nature with Inda Ahmad ZahriIn this episode, Amanda Niehaus chats with Inda Ahmad Zahri about writing stories embedded in nature and creating across forms. Inda Ahmad Zahri believes in a world of wonder. She lives in Brisbane where she illustrates and writes for children and adults. Her stories are inspired by natural and cultural gems curated from her travels and lovingly added to her Malaysian heritage. She is also a surgical doctor, swapping her writer's hat and paintbrush for scrubs and scalpel when duty calls.Purchase Night LightsPurchase Salih ...
2021-12-0246 min
Science Write NowEco-fiction for every reader with Andrea BaldwinIn this episode, Amanda Niehaus chats with writer and psychologist Andrea Baldwin about writing eco-fiction and crafting stories about the environment for different audiences and age groups. Andrea Baldwin is a psychologist and author who works at the intersection between arts, health and the environment. She holds PhDs in psychology and creative writing and a Masters in drama. Currently, Andrea is the clinical consultant supporting Queensland Health's response to children and young people affected by recent floods and bushfires. She is also the immediate past chair of the Queensland Writers Centre and a...
2021-11-2357 min
F***ing ShakespeareAWP21 Episode—Amanda Niehaus (Day 4, Episode 2)Amanda Niehaus has a PhD in Physiological Ecology. She is the author of numerous award-winning short stories, essays, and an acclaimed novel, The Breeding Season (Allen & Unwin, 2019). As part of her author profile (bestill our science-loving hearts) she writes: “Does science belong in literary fiction? As a scientist, I never thought so. But fiction connects with readers, enabling them to empathise with imagined lives. So what better way to communicate?”She was studying a unique marsupial species where the male invests so much into their reproduction that they only survive one breeding season. The metaphor was just too...
2021-11-1727 min
Science Write NowAnimal characters and authentic environments with Renée TremlIn this episode, Amanda Niehaus chats with Renée Treml about graphic novels and picture books, science for kids, designing museums (and specimens!) for books, and changing careers from science to art. Renée Treml was inspired by Australia’s wildlife and native birds after moving from the USA to Australia in 2007. She loves to create artworks that highlight the subtle details of nature with delicacy and humour. Renée’s books have won or been listed for awards including the CBCA Crichton Award for New Illustrator, Speech Pathology Book of the Year and the...
2021-11-0836 min
Science Write NowThe future of sex with Rob BrooksIn this episode, Amanda Niehaus chats with University of New South Wales evolutionary biologist and author Rob Brooks about the future of sex, his new book Artificial Intimacy, and the science and politics of human relationships.Rob Brooks is an evolutionary biologist who studies the conflicting interests that make sex sizzle and render reproduction complicated. As Scientia Professor of Evolution at UNSW in Sydney, Australia, he studies the behaviour and evolution of humans and non-human animals. His first book, Sex, Genes & Rock 'n' Roll won the Queensland Literary Award for Science Writing and t...
2021-11-0336 min
Science Write NowWriting ecological emergency with Rebecca GiggsIn this episode, Jessica White chats with Rebecca Giggs about her beautiful nonfiction book Fathoms: The World in the Whale and how she translates abstracted aspects of the ecological emergency—like its unfathomable scale—into a visceral narrative that is relatable for readers.Rebecca Giggs is an award-winning author from Perth, Australia. Rebecca writes about how people feel toward animals in a time of ecological crisis and technological change. Her debut nonfiction book, Fathoms: The World in the Whale, came out in 2020 with Simon & Schuster (US), and Scribe (Aus...
2021-11-0233 min
Science Write NowScience in poetry with Tricia Dearborn and Benjamin DoddsIn this episode, Jessica White chats with Tricia Dearborn and Benjamin Dodd about the inspiration for and writing of their recent poetry collections Autobiochemistry and Airplane Baby Banana Blanket.Tricia Dearborn is a Sydney poet, writer and editor. Her work has been widely published in literary journals, and has also been featured in significant anthologies such as Contemporary Australian Poetry (Puncher & Wattmann, 2016) and The Best Australian Poems 2012 and 2010 (Black Inc.). She has been awarded four grants by the Australia Council for the Arts and a Residential Fellowship at Varuna, the Writers' House. ...
2021-10-2252 min
Science Write NowWriting de/extinction with James Bradley, Donna Mazza & Chris FlynnIn this episode, Jessica White chats with James Bradley, Donna Mazza, and Chris Flynn about the inspiration for and writing of their recent novels Ghost Species, Fauna and Mammoth—all of which consider the implications of de/extinction and, in one case, talking megafauna.James Bradley OAM is widely recognised as one of Australia’s greatest critics and climate fiction writers—including the multi-award-winning, science-inspired novels Ghost Species(2020, Penguin), Clade (2015, Penguin) and Deep Field (2000, Henry Holt). Donna Mazza writes fiction and poetry, and is author of Fauna (2020, Allen & Unwin) and The Albanian(2007, Fremantle Press...
2021-09-161h 01
Science Write NowWomen in science in fiction with Laura ElveryIn this episode, Jess chats with Laura Elvery about her new collection of short stories, 'Ordinary Matter,' which is inspired by the twenty women who have won the Nobel Prize for science. You can purchase 'Ordinary Matter' here: https://bit.ly/3FP983BLaura Elvery is one of Australia’s most beloved short story writers. She has won the Josephine Ulrick Prize for Literature, the Margaret River Short Story Competition, the Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize and the Fair Australia Prize for Fiction, and has been published in Meanjin, Overland, The Sa...
2021-09-1642 min
Workforce WisdomThe Human-Centered Approach to InnovationIn this episode, Dr. Bly-Jones is speaking with Dr. Paige Niehaus, the Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Innovation Office at Wayne County Community College District in Detroit Michigan. Dr Niehaus is a passionate leader with 29 years of community college experience. Prior to her current role, she was the Director for Workforce Development at Joliet Junior College in Joliet, Illinois. As the Chief Innovation Officer and Executive Director of the Design Center of WCCCD, she has a leadership role in growing the district's innovation and entrepreneurial capacity.
2020-09-2841 min
Published...Or NotAmanda Niehaus - The Breeding SeasonAmanda Niehaus juxtaposes the scientific and the emotional, the expextations of the natural world against the mores of cultural propriety, in her novel, The Breeding Season, in which the characters, Elise and Dan, come to terms with the loss of their first child.
2019-10-1000 min
A Moment in Time: A Podcast Story SeriesA Moment in Time: A Podcast Story Series - Amanda F.On this episode, we meet with Amanda, who shares her adventure as a surrogate mother for a couple in Texas.
2017-11-1127 min