

Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria
Cara Santa Maria
Cara Santa Maria is a science communicator, television host, producer, and journalist. She is excited to present "Talk Nerdy," a place for conversations with interesting people about interesting topics.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 22, 2024 • 56min
You Bet Your Life w/ Paul Offit
In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by Dr. Paul A. Offit, MD. He is the director of the Vaccine Education Center, an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and a professor of pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. We discuss his 2021 book, “You Bet Your Life: From Blood Transfusions to Mass Vaccinations—The Long and Risky History of Medical Innovations.” Follow Paul: @DrPaulOffit

Jul 15, 2024 • 59min
Community Science w/ Krystle Hickman
In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by Los Angeles based nature conservation photographer, native bee educator and community scientist, Krystle Hickman. Her endeavors elevate awareness of the decline of native bee species while shedding light on their intricate and biodiverse ecosystems. Follow Krystle: @BeeSipOnline Krystle’s photography: BeeSip

Jul 8, 2024 • 1h 4min
Meet the Neighbors w/ Brandon Keim
In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by science journalist and author, Brandon Keim. They discuss his forthcoming book about our relationships to wild animals and to nature, “Meet the Neighbors: Animal Minds and Life in a More-than-Human World.” Releasing July 16 2024. Follow Brandon: @9brandon

Jul 1, 2024 • 56min
Sharing Space w/ Cady Coleman
In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by former NASA astronaut, retired United States Air Force colonel, scientist, and pilot Cady Coleman. They discuss Cady’s forthcoming book, “Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder, and Making Change.” Releasing July 2, 2024. Follow Cady: @Astro_Cady

Jun 24, 2024 • 1h 13min
Becoming Earth w/ Ferris Jabr
In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by science writer and author Ferris Jabr to discuss his forthcoming book, “Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life.” Follow Ferris: @ferrisjabr

Jun 18, 2024 • 59min
Refrigeration w/ Nicola Twilley
In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by author and podcaster Nicola Twilley to talk about her new book,”Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves.” Follow Nicola: @nicolatwilley

Jun 10, 2024 • 1h 3min
Humans & Robots w/ Leila Takayama
In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by cognitive and social scientist, Dr. Leila Takayama. They talk about Leila's work exploring human-robot interaction. Follow Leila: @leilatakayama

Jun 4, 2024 • 1h 5min
We Can Reason w/ Janalee Morris
In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by educator and learning specialist, Janalee Morris. They discuss Cara’s recent trip to speak at the Western Canadian Reason Conference, as well as Janalee’s work with protected groups in Canada to provide equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility to education and programming to faculty, staff, and students.

May 27, 2024 • 56min
Magical Overthinking w/ Amanda Montell
This episode of Talk Nerdy is a live recording from Toronto Public Library’s virtual event, The Age of Magical Overthinking | Amanda Montell & Cara Santa Maria. Amanda is a podcaster and the author of “The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality.” We discuss what’s at stake when the psychological tools that once served us short-circuit. Follow Amanda: @amanda_montell

May 20, 2024 • 1h 21min
Crosswords w/ Anna Shechtman
In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by writer, crossword writer and Cornell University assistant professor in the Department of Literatures in English, Anna Schechtman. They discuss her newly released book, The Riddles of the Sphinx: Inheriting the Feminist History of the Crossword Puzzle. Follow Anna: @annashechtman


