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.
SciFri Extra: Picturing A Black Hole
The Event Horizon Telescope aims to take an image of a black hole. In this archival interview, astronomers describe the project’s methods and goals.
16:57
Is America Ready For A Climate Change Candidate?
Presidential candidate Jay Inslee has staked his bid for the White House on fighting climate change. But is that issue enough to get people to the polls?
23:12
Steven Strogatz On The ‘Infinite Powers’ Of Calculus
From gravity to HIV treatments, calculus has helped us understand our universe.
5:47
Hitting The Superbloom Jackpot
It’s like playing a slot machine—three factors have to line up just right.
11:31
Snow Surveys Have Gone High-Tech
Tom Painter flies over the Sierra Nevada mountains in a small plane, shooting lasers at the snowpack to discern its depth.
Head Of NASA Jim Bridenstine Answers Your Questions
The NASA administrator discusses everything from Mars to the Space Force.
25:26
Primatologist Frans de Waal Explores Animal Emotions
In his book “Mama’s Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves,” primatologist Frans de Waal catalogues the vast spectrum of emotional behaviors in animals.
27:28
NASA: To The Moon (And Definitely Beyond)
NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine talks about the agency’s ambitions beyond Planet Earth.
8:54
White House Aims To Counter Climate Science
As the nation’s scientists and military leaders sound the alarm on climate change, the White House is assembling a group of climate change skeptics to counter them.
28:52
When Black Holes Burp, Stars Sense It
As a grad student, Priya Natarajan theorized that winds emanate from black holes, affecting nearby stars. Now, new evidence hints that she was right.