Welcome to Shaping Science with Nick Dirks where we talk with experts from science, academia, industry, and beyond to explore the latest in research, education and innovation for the public good. Episodes are released on a biweekly basis.
Shaping Science
Claim This Podcastby The New York Academy of Sciences
5.0(8 reviews)
25 episodes
Updated Daily
Accepts GuestsHas Sponsors
Podcast Overview
Welcome to Shaping Science with Nick Dirks where we talk with experts from science, academia, industry, and beyond to explore the latest in research, education and innovation for the public good. Episodes are released on a biweekly basis.
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
8/5/2025
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Recent Episodes
August 10, 2026
#24 Thomas Levenson on the Impact of Storytelling in Science, the Three Major Scientific Revolutions of the Current Era, and the Case for Vaccinations in the Age of Misinformation
<p>Thomas Levenson is a historian of science and Professor of Science Writing at MIT. He has written several bestselling narrative histories covering topics from Isaac Newton’s unexpected career as a crime fighter to the 1720 South Sea Bubble, now recognized as one of the world's first financial crises. Levenson explores how scientific ideas emerge, collide with politics, and reshape society and the modern world. His work brings together science, history, and human drama, showing how discovery is never isolated from culture, power, and chance.</p><p><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/808113/a-pox-on-fools-by-thomas-levenson/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">A Pox on Fools: The True Believers, Grifters, and Cynics Who Convinced Us to Reject Vaccines</a> was published in 2026 by Penguin Random House.</p><p>This episode of Shaping Science is made possible with the generous support of <a href="https://www.tata.com/business/tata-sons " target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Tata Sons</a>.</p><p>00:00 Intro02:03 From East Asian Studies major to science writer05:18 Climate Science in the 1980s15:22 Measure for Measure: A Musical History of Science22:35 A Hunt for an Imaginary Planet and an Imaginary Fortune 27:24 Einstein and Two World Wars 34:43 From Early 18th Century South Sea Explorations to 21st Century Advances in AI36:34 Moments of Unreason, Folley, and Fraud in Science47:08 Germ Theory, Public Health, Antibiotics, and Vaccines52:39 The Andrew Wakefield Paper: Fraudulent in Everyway</p>
July 27, 2026
#23 Emily Eakin on the Intellectual and Philosophical Debates that Shaped a Generation and Changed the Way We Understand Language
<p>Emily Eakin, senior editor at The New York Times Book Review, whose pieces have also been published in The New Yorker, Vogue, The New Republic, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and more. She recently published her first book, ‘The Frenchmen, or My Life in Theory,’ which tells the improbable story of the prominent French philosophers that had profound and lasting influence in the 1980s and ’90s. Their impact on American education and intellectual culture was immense, with some of their ideas tying into the cultural wars of present day.</p><p>‘The Frenchmen Or, My Life in Theory’ was published in 2026 by Penguin Random House: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/317335/the-frenchmen-by-emily-eakin/ </p><p>This episode of Shaping Science is made possible with the generous support of Tata Sons: https://www.tata.com/business/tata-sons </p><p>00:00 Intro</p><p>05:50 The Personal and Intellectual History of Language</p><p>13:28 A More Scientific Way of Interpreting Meaning in Language</p><p>18:40 The Intellectual Embrace of Structuralism</p><p>24:40 The French Impact on American Higher Education</p><p>28:50 The Emergence of Poststructuralist Thought</p><p>32:56 The Role of Jean-Jacques Rousseau</p><p>37:00 The Specter of Jacques Derrida</p><p>43:35 The Role of Michel Foucault</p><p><br></p>
July 13, 2026
#22 Diana Reiss on Understanding Mirror Self-Recognition in Dolphins, Dispelling the Fallacy of Human Cognitive Uniqueness, and Advocating for Animal Welfare
<p>Diana Reiss is a cognitive psychologist and one of the world’s leading researchers on animal cognition and consciousness. Best known for her groundbreaking work demonstrating mirror self-recognition in dolphins – a discovery that challenged long-standing assumptions about human cognitive uniqueness, Reiss has spent decades studying how dolphins and other animals think, communicate, and understand themselves, while also translating this science into advocacy for animal welfare and conservation. </p><p>This episode of Shaping Science is made possible with the generous support of <a href="https://www.tata.com/business/tata-sons" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tata Sons</a>. </p><p><br></p><p>00:00 Intro <br>01:38 From the Arts to the Sciences <br>07:02 Working with Whales and Dolphins <br>13:05 The Physiology, Neuroscience, and Consciousness of Dolphins <br>17:26 The Mirror Test: Utilizing Set Design Skills <br>26:10 Evolution and the Stages of Development <br>30:41 Mirror Self-Recognition with Different Mammals <br>37:17 How Animal Consciousness Relates to Human Consciousness <br>42:58 Advocating for Better Treatment of Animals </p>
25 total episodes available
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- What is Shaping Science?
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This podcast updates daily.
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Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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