Podcast
Blue Dot
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.
- Astronomy chart
- #53
- Episodes
- 22
- Releases
- Weekly
- Typical length
- 52 min
- On air since
- 2026
- Latest episode
- 4 days ago
Episodes
22 episodes, newest first
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52 min
Blue Dot: Move over Hubble and Webb! The new Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom is joined by two scientists deeply involved in NASA's latest orbiting observatory, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
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52 min
Blue Dot: Inside one of California's crown jewels: the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Show notes
In this very blue episode of Blue Dot, we feature one of the world's most innovative and visited public aquariums, the Monterey Bay Aquarium on world famous Cannery Row.
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52 min
Blue Dot: John Steinbeck, Ed Ricketts and the epic story of the Western Flyer
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom is joined by two special guests to tell the story of the now-fully restored Western Flyer.
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52 min
Blue Dot: Can the human body survive the long trip to Mars?
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom is joined by Mark Shelhamer, former Chief Scientist of the Human Research Program at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and current director of the Johns Hopkins Human Spaceflight Laboratory in Maryland.
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52 min
Best of Blue Dot: California's wild and scenic Eel River and California Fly Fisher magazine
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom is joined by Charles Schneider, a Connectivity Program Manager for California Trout, to discuss the human and natural history of California's third-largest watershed, the Eel River.
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52 min
Blue Dot: Dark skies for ecosystem and human health with The Nature Conservancy
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom is joined by two representatives from The Nature Conservancy in California to discuss the importance of dark skies as a natural resource.
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52 min
Best of Blue Dot: The International Geophysical Year 1957-58 with Mark O'Connell
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom is joined by Mark O'Connell, whose screenwriting credits include Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, to talk about his non-fiction book, The Year Science Changed Everything: 1957's International Geophysical Year and the Future of Our Planet.
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58 min
Best of Blue Dot: Understanding the basic science of spaceflight with Trisha Muro
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom is joined by science educator and author Trisha Muro to discuss her book, It's (Just) Rocket Science: Exploring Physics Through Spaceflight Missions.
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52 min
Blue Dot: A new look at Freud and neuroscience with Dr. Mark Solms
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom is joined by world renowned neuropsychologist and psychoanalyst Mark Solms. Dr. Solms is the author of the new book, The Only Cure: Freud and the Science of Mental Healing.
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52 min
Blue Dot: All things El Niño with NASA's Josh Willis
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom is joined by a longtime friend of Blue Dot, Josh Willis from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. Josh is an oceanographer who uses NASA's armada of Earth monitoring satellites to study ocean heights, temperatures and currents.
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52 min
Best of Blue Dot: All that glitters: a conversation with Dominic Frisby author of The Secret History of Gold
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom is joined by British humorist and financial writer Dominic Frisby.
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52 min
Blue Dot: The Big One times two? The link between Cascadia and the San Andreas Fault with Chris Goldfinger
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom is joined by Oregon State marine geologist Chris Goldfinger to take an in-depth look at the West Coast's two most dangerous faults, the San Andreas and Cascadia.
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52 min
Blue Dot: The great heat wave of 1936 with author Geoff Williams
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom is joined by Geoff Williams, author of the new book, The Summer of Death: The Great Heat Wave of 1936 and the Making of Modern America.
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52 min
Blue Dot: How animals influence human thought: A conversation with author Michael Bond
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom is joined by British author Michael Bond, author of the new book, Animate: How Animals Shape the Human Mind. Bond specializes in writing about psychology and human behavior and in this masterful work, he goes back to the very beginnings of humanity's relationship with the animal world.
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52 min
Blue Dot: An innovative solution to removing and storing carbon: biochar and bio-oil with Charm Industrial
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom explores the world of biochar and ways to remove carbon from the landscape with Pyrolysis engineer Joe Polin and policy expert Nora Cohen Brown from Charm Industrial.
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52 min
Blue Dot: Hot Creek in peril: a proposed gold mine threatens one of California's natural wonders
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom examines an environmental issue exploding in eastern California.
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50 min
Blue Dot: The "earthquake gate" in Southern California between the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom is joined by Liliane Burkhard, a geophysicist and planetary scientist at the University of Bern in Switzerland, to discuss a recent study linking earthquakes on two of Southern California's major faults.
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52 min
Blue Dot: California 1776: what was it like? With pyrogeographer Don Hankins
Show notes
To mark the nation's 250th birthday, host Dave Schlom is joined by California State University Chico geography professor Don Hankins to discuss what California would have been like in 1776.
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55 min
Best of Blue Dot: The art and science of fly fishing with Hall of Famer Mike Mercer
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom gets to delve into his favorite pastime, fly fishing, with two of his heroes -- Mike Mercer and Bryan Quick from The Fly Shop in Redding, California.
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52 min
Best of Blue Dot: Sky ghosts of the cosmos: Comets
Show notes
Host Dave Schlom is joined by two scientists from the SETI Institute in Mt. View, California, to talk about one of hisfavorite celestial phenomena -- comets.
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