Podcasts about rain a natural

This week's episode is devoted to Craig Pittman's new non-fiction book, "The State You're In: Florida Men, Florida Women, and other Wildlife."Joining Chadd Scott this week to talk to Craig about the book is environmental journalist and author of The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans. Also: Mirage; Blue Revolution; and Rain: A Natural and Cultural History, long-listed for the National Book Award. Cynthia was our guest on "Welcome to Florida" episode #55 all about her seashell book.

This week The Florida Spectacular welcomes author Cynthica Barnett to talk about seashells and her new book, The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans. Cynthia and host Cathy Salustri talk about sushi, scallops, and whether or not it's OK to collect seashells (yes, as long as they're not alive and please don't take them all!) Connect with Cynthia on Twitter or her website.More about Cynthia Barnett: She's an environmental journalist who has reported on water and climate change around the world, and a fifth-generation Floridian raising a sixth generation in Gainesville. The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans, is Cynthia's fourth book, and she describes it as her completion of the water cycle. She is also the author of Rain: A Natural and Cultural History, which was longlisted for the National Book Award 2015. Her previous books are Blue Revolution: Unmaking America's Water Crisis, which articulates a water ethic for America, and Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S. which won the gold medal for best nonfiction in the Florida Book Awards and has been listed by The Tampa Bay Times as one of the top 10 books that every Floridian should read.She has written for National Geographic, the Atlantic, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Tampa Bay Times and many other publications, and she serves as Environmental Journalist in Residence at the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications.Support the show (https://paypal.me/floridaspectacular?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US)

"There is something about seashells that stretches through human time and memory. They are a wonderful way to draw people to what is happening to the ocean and our environment." Support Talking Beats with Daniel Lelchuk. Naturalist writer Cynthia Barnett is here, out with a new book that is at once history, future, and love letter to seashells and the oceans. Using seashells as an entry point for how she teaches us (in a non-dogmatic way) about the perilous state, but also history and beauty of the seas, Cynthia paints a picture of love and immense respect for the great waters. The conversation moves in many interesting directions-- from mangrove forests to seafood-- as Daniel and Cynthia take listeners on a brief guided tour of her ode to the sea. Cynthia Barnett is an award-winning environmental journalist who has reported on water and climate change around the world. Her new book, The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans, is out in July 2021 from W.W. Norton. Ms. Barnett is also the author of Rain: A Natural and Cultural History, longlisted for the National Book Award and a finalist for the 2016 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, and Blue Revolution: Unmaking America's Water Crisis, which articulates a water ethic for America. Blue Revolution was named by The Boston Globe as one of the top 10 science books of 2011. The Globe describes Ms. Barnett's author persona as "part journalist, part mom, part historian, and part optimist." The Los Angeles Times writes that she "takes us back to the origins of our water in much the same way, with much the same vividness and compassion as Michael Pollan led us from our kitchens to potato fields and feed lots of modern agribusiness." Her first book, Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S. won the gold medal for best nonfiction in the Florida Book Awards and was named by The St. Petersburg Times as one of the top 10 books that every Floridian should read. "In the days before the Internet," the Times said in a review, "books like Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and Marjory Stoneman Douglas' River of Grass were groundbreaking calls to action that made citizens and politicians take notice. Mirage is such a book." Ms. Barnett has written for National Geographic magazine, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Discover magazine, Salon, Politico, Orion, Ensia and many other publications. Her numerous journalism awards include a national Sigma Delta Chi prize for investigative magazine reporting and eight Green Eyeshades, which recognize outstanding journalism in 11 southeastern states. She earned her bachelor's degree in journalism and master's in American history with a specialization in environmental history, and was a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan, where she spent a year studying water science and history. Ms. Barnett teaches environmental journalism at the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications in Gainesville, where she lives with her husband and teenagers.

Over the last 500 years, 755 animal species and 123 plant species have gone extinct. One species can take primary responsibility for this mass annihilation: homo sapiens. From hunting and fishing to factories and farming, humans (with the assistance of diseases and other natural disasters) have managed to decimate large swaths of the planet. But beginning in the late 18th century, one group of people has managed to slow, and in some cases even reverse, the disappearance of many endangered species. From William T. Hornaday—the first director of the Bronx Zoo—to Rachel Carson—who helped launch the environmental movement—conservationists have fought an uphill battle to protect animals and habitats around the world. What drives humans to save species—some majestic (bison and bald eagles) but others decidedly less charismatic (desert tortoises and perch)? What lessons can we learn from conservationists, past and present, as we confront the growing threat of climate change to all species? Science journalist Michelle Nijhuis, author of Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction, visited Zócalo with Cynthia Barnett, author of Rain: A Natural and Cultural History to discuss how the history of conservation might help us change the future. This Zócalo/Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County discussion streamed live on Twitter on Tuesday, March 9, 2021. Visit https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ to read our articles and learn about upcoming events. Twitter: https://twitter.com/thepublicsquare Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zocalopublicsquare LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/z-calo-public-square

In the mid 1940s, no one would publish Kurt Vonnegut’s stories. But when he gets hired as a press writer at General Electric, the company’s fantastical science inspires some of his most iconic--and best-selling--novels. Every snowflake is unique—except they all have six sides. In ice, water molecules arrange themselves into hexagons. (Courtesy MiSci Museum) Imagine the Earth has been turned into a frozen wasteland. The culprit? Ice-nine. With a crystalline structure that makes it solid at room temperature, ice-nine freezes every drop of water it comes into contact with, and (predictably) ends up destroying the world. This is the fantastical plot of Kurt Vonnegut’s 1963 novel, Cat’s Cradle. But the science that inspired the fiction came from the real-life research his older brother and team of scientists at General Electric conducted just after World War II. General Electric might be best known for manufacturing refrigerators and light bulbs, but in the 1940s, the GE scientists joined forces with the military and set their sights on a loftier project: controlling the weather. Controlling the weather could mean putting an end to droughts and raining out forest fires. But the GE scientists’ military collaborators have more aggressive plans in mind. Kurt, a pacifist, closely watches GE’s saga unfold, and in his stories, he demands an answer to one of science’s greatest ethical questions: are scientists responsible for the pursuit of knowledge alone, or are they also responsible for the consequences of that knowledge?   Vincent Schaefer of the General Electric Research Laboratory demonstrates his method for making snow in a laboratory freezer, circa 1947. Vincent Schaefer, colleague of Bernie Vonnegut, makes man-made snow in a freezer at General Electric. (Courtesy of MiSci Museum)   Vincent Schaefer gives a demonstration of the team’s cloud seeding research to Signal Corps at GE laboratories in 1947. (Courtesy of MiSci Museum)    (Original art by Claire Merchlinsky)   GUESTS Ginger Strand, author of The Brothers Vonnegut: Science and Fiction in the House of Magic Cynthia Barnett, author of Rain: A Natural and Cultural History   CREDITS This episode of Undiscovered was reported and produced by Elah Feder and Annie Minoff. Editing by Christopher Intagliata. Archival material was provided with help from Chris Hunter of miSci in Schenectady, as well as Scott Vonnegut and Jim Schaefer. Fact-checking help by Michelle Harris. Voice acting by Charles Bergquist, Christie Taylor, Luke Groskin, and Ira Flatow. Original music by Daniel Peterschmidt. Our theme music is by I am Robot and Proud. Art for this episode by Claire Merchlinsky. Thanks to Science Friday’s Danielle Dana, Christian Skotte, Brandon Echter, and Rachel Bouton.  

In the mid 1940s, no one would publish Kurt Vonnegut’s stories. But when he gets hired as a press writer at General Electric, the company’s fantastical science inspires some of his most iconic--and best-selling--novels. Every snowflake is unique—except they all have six sides. In ice, water molecules arrange themselves into hexagons. (Courtesy MiSci Museum) Imagine the Earth has been turned into a frozen wasteland. The culprit? Ice-nine. With a crystalline structure that makes it solid at room temperature, ice-nine freezes every drop of water it comes into contact with, and (predictably) ends up destroying the world. This is the fantastical plot of Kurt Vonnegut’s 1963 novel, Cat’s Cradle. But the science that inspired the fiction came from the real-life research his older brother and team of scientists at General Electric conducted just after World War II. General Electric might be best known for manufacturing refrigerators and light bulbs, but in the 1940s, the GE scientists joined forces with the military and set their sights on a loftier project: controlling the weather. Controlling the weather could mean putting an end to droughts and raining out forest fires. But the GE scientists’ military collaborators have more aggressive plans in mind. Kurt, a pacifist, closely watches GE’s saga unfold, and in his stories, he demands an answer to one of science’s greatest ethical questions: are scientists responsible for the pursuit of knowledge alone, or are they also responsible for the consequences of that knowledge?   Vincent Schaefer of the General Electric Research Laboratory demonstrates his method for making snow in a laboratory freezer, circa 1947. Vincent Schaefer, colleague of Bernie Vonnegut, makes man-made snow in a freezer at General Electric. (Courtesy of MiSci Museum)   Vincent Schaefer gives a demonstration of the team’s cloud seeding research to Signal Corps at GE laboratories in 1947. (Courtesy of MiSci Museum)    (Original art by Claire Merchlinsky)   GUESTS Ginger Strand, author of The Brothers Vonnegut: Science and Fiction in the House of Magic Cynthia Barnett, author of Rain: A Natural and Cultural History   CREDITS This episode of Undiscovered was reported and produced by Elah Feder and Annie Minoff. Editing by Christopher Intagliata. Archival material was provided with help from Chris Hunter of miSci in Schenectady, as well as Scott Vonnegut and Jim Schaefer. Fact-checking help by Michelle Harris. Voice acting by Charles Bergquist, Christie Taylor, Luke Groskin, and Ira Flatow. Original music by Daniel Peterschmidt. Our theme music is by I am Robot and Proud. Art for this episode by Claire Merchlinsky. Thanks to Science Friday’s Danielle Dana, Christian Skotte, Brandon Echter, and Rachel Bouton.  

Cynthia Barnett is an award-winning environmental journalist who has reported on freshwater from the Suwannee River to Singapore. She is author of the new book Rain: A Natural and Cultural History. Her two previous books are Blue Revolution: Unmaking America’s Water Crisis. and Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S.

Cynthia Barnett is an award-winning environmental journalist who has reported on freshwater from the Suwannee River to Singapore. She is author of the new book Rain: A Natural and Cultural History. Her two previous books are Blue Revolution: Unmaking America's Water Crisis. and Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S.

In 1915 San Diego hired "rainmaker" Charles Hatfield to relieve a four-year drought. After he set to work with his 23 secret chemicals, the skies opened and torrential rains caused some of the most extreme flooding in the city's history. In this week's podcast we'll discuss the effects of "Hatfield's flood" and ponder how to assign the credit or blame. We'll also puzzle over why a flagrant housebreaker doesn't get prosecuted. Sources for our feature on "moisture accelerator" Charles Hatfield: Garry Jenkins, The Wizard of Sun City, 2005. Cynthia Barnett, Rain: A Natural and Cultural History, 2015. "Hatfield Made the Sky Fall (and Fall)," Kingman [Ariz.] Daily Miner, Nov. 14, 1978. "Hatfield Again Gambling Upon Making of Rain," Berkeley [Calif.] Daily Gazette, Jan. 29, 1926. "Rainmaker Wins Bet With Farmers," Ellensburg [Wash.] Daily Record, July 28, 1921. "With the Rainmaker," Dawson [Yukon] Daily News, July 4, 1905. "Rainstorms at $50 Each," St. John [New Brunswick] Daily Sun, March 8, 1904. This week's first lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Hanno Zulla, who sent these corroborating links (warning: these spoil the puzzle). The second puzzle is from Edward J. Harshman's 1996 book Fantastic Lateral Thinking Puzzles. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and all contributions are greatly appreciated. You can change or cancel your pledge at any time, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation via the Donate button in the sidebar of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks for listening!

On today’s show we talk to Cynthia Barnett, author of Rain: A Natural and Cultural History (Crown, April 2015). Barnett, an environmental journalist, takes us to Texas, India, and everywhere in between to explore how we make sense of the water that falls from the sky. Josh Hrala tells us how filmmakers might be the…