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.
5:59
Eruptions on the Sun Set Off ‘Solar Tsunamis’
Scientists use the waves to measure the sun’s magnetic field, which is sometimes weaker than a fridge magnet.
11:52
Fish Oil: Too Much of a Good Thing?
Researchers linked higher blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids to a higher risk of prostate cancer.
33:34
DIY Summer Hacks, From the Pool to the Grill
Try your hand at homemade sunscreen, water bottle rockets, and “cooler corn.”
8:22
Tracking Shifting Sands Along the Nation’s Coast
Hurricane Sandy tore through New York’s Fire Island, setting off debate about coastal management.
16:48
Surf’s Up for Pathogenic Viruses and Bacteria, Too
A gulp of seawater can expose swimmers to pathogens like norovirus, salmonella, and adenovirus.
8:21
Mysterious Radio Bursts, Sent From Deep Space
Physicists say the distant radio blasts could be traces of evaporating black holes.
29:05
Is Alternative Medicine Really ‘Medicine’?
In his new book, Paul Offit writes that many alternative treatments are unproven, or worse, harmful.
7:51
Can White Blood Cells Spread Cancer?
Researchers say they may have found a new way that cancer spreads.
12:20
Obama: U.S. Should Lead Assault on Climate Change
Without cooperation from Congress, President Obama has proposed his own plan for climate change.
28:50
Aiming For ‘Wild and Crazy’ Energy Ideas
The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy backs risky ideas that may offer a huge energy payoff.