Christopher Intagliata was Science Friday’s senior producer, which means he was chief cheerleader for all the radio and podcast projects. He helped to select and shape stories, or put them to a gentle death if necessary. He was also the coordinating producer for Science Friday’s live stage events around the nation, and has skated Olympic ice and served as a prop in an optical illusion for SciFri.
Christopher started at Science Friday as an intern in summer 2008, until the day Ira Flatow called him at home, triggering enormous anxiety about the latest script he’d written, to ask if he wanted to be a producer. His favorite stories usually involve microbes or food or both, but anything can pique his interest—other than ocean chemistry. Sorry.
He also reports regularly for Scientific American‘s “60-Second Science” podcast, and was a 2015 Woods Hole Ocean Science Journalism fellow. Prior to becoming a science journalist, he taught English to soldiers and bankers in Verona, Italy, and traversed the Sierra Nevada mountains as a field biologist, on the lookout for mountain yellow-legged frogs. He speaks fluent Italian, awkward Japanese, and passable Ira Flatowese.
He is now an editor for All Things Considered.
6:32
Crafting the ‘Fastest Ice on Earth’
Marc Norman obsessively monitors the ice at the Utah Olympic Oval to create the perfect skating surface.
9:53
Ice Science a Slippery Quandary for Physicists
Friction researcher and avid curler Robert Carpick discusses the tricky physics of ice.
12:12
Hotter Weather, Heavier Rains Threaten Penguins
Move over polar bears—could penguins be the new poster children for climate change?
16:53
Alan Alda’s Challenge to Scientists: Define Color
Alda’s ‘Flame Challenge’ asks scientists to explain color—with children as the judges.
17:04
James Dyson: ‘Failures Are Interesting’
Inventor James Dyson built 5,127 prototypes before completing his first bagless vacuum.
16:50
Is the Universe Built on Math?
In “The Mathematical Universe,” physicist Max Tegmark argues that the universe is completely mathematical.
17:04
Medicine’s Gender Gap
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for American women. Yet women make up only a third of subjects in cardiovascular clinical trials.
22:42
Food Failures: How to Spoil Your Food (And Eat It, Too)
Fermentation guru Sandor Katz solves your pickling problems.
18:01
Wine Science: Deconstructing ‘Terroir’ in the Lab
Chemist Gavin Sacks says talk of terroir may often be simply a clever marketing ploy.
12:11
App Chat: Cutting Clutter From Your Inbox
Ellis Hamburger, a reporter for The Verge, talks about a few of his favorite mail-managing apps.