Flora has produced science media for 20 years across many formats. She got her start right here at Science Friday, working her way up from intern to fill-in host, and resident videographer. From there, she worked as a video producer for The New York Times, co-creating an Emmy-nominated film series that dramatized scientific discoveries using… paper puppets. She also was nominated for an Emmy for her writing on Bill Nye’s Netflix show “Bill Nye Saves the World.” She has created and launched a number of podcasts in various roles, including hosting Gimlet’s beloved “Every Little Thing,” which connected listeners to experts who could answer their burning questions. The show ran for five years and published over 200 episodes.
Making science accessible, relatable, and human has been a focus of Flora’s career. Some of her inspiration comes from her own experience in science: Long, long ago, she worked at a NATO oceanographic lab in Italy. For the lab’s research expeditions, she lived on a ship where apertivi were served on the top deck, hoisted there via pulley by the ship’s chef.
You can find her @flichtman on social media platforms.
33:34
DIY Summer Hacks, From the Pool to the Grill
Try your hand at homemade sunscreen, water bottle rockets, and “cooler corn.”
Give Yourself A Hand With DIY Gripper
What high-tech materials are required for making a robotic hand that can pick up almost anything? Coffee grounds and a latex balloon.
5:50
Desktop Diaries: Jill Tarter
“People have described my office as an eight-year-old’s daydream,” says SETI scientist Jill Tarter.
Desktop Diaries: Jill Tarter
As the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute’s first employee, Tarter has accumulated E.T.-themed office ornaments for the last 30 years—including a bottle of wine to be opened “only upon detection of Extraterrestrial signal.”
5:43
Living Large in 140 Square Feet
Chris Tack made seven unloading trips to Goodwill before moving into the tiny home he and his wife Malissa designed and built.
Tiny Living
The nuts and bolts of designing, building and living in a 140-square-foot home.
6:03
Coffee’s Natural Creamer
What’s that frothy stuff that sits on top of an espresso?
4:21
Rolling Out Bamboo Bicycles
Valid Cycles makes handcrafted bamboo bikes in Woodinville, Washington.
Bamboo Bicycles Roll Out
To be bike-ready, the bamboo must be cooked in an oven, stripped, and sealed. We visited the workshop of Valid Cycles in Woodinville, Washington, to see how the bikes are made.
4:51
Comet Shines Light on Sun Dynamics
Comet Lovejoy grazed the sun’s corona and lived to tell the tale. Its tail movements were the most telling.