Comments for Cephalopodcast

Comment on Sinister Dexterity by kk

kk — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 23:08:34 +0000

I only recently discovered your podcast, and I’m so sorry I discovered it so late! It’s wonderful and I hoped there might be more to come.

Comment on Social Reading by LISA

LISA — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 20:48:18 +0000

THIS IS GENIUS!

Comment on Science Online 2011 by jason

jason — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 00:00:01 +0000

Shucks, you missed meeting the Cephalover. Think what would have happened if we had the Cephalopodcast, the Cephalopodiatrist and the Cephalover in the same room…

Comment on Science Online 2011 by Danna Staaf

Danna Staaf — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:51:26 +0000

It sounds great! I’m bummed I couldn’t make it, but looking forward to following online. (After all, it is sci-online!)

Comment on It’s Unlogical by This Week in Cephalopods: Triple Stuffed

This Week in Cephalopods: Triple Stuffed — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 16:52:25 +0000

[...] stuffed. There’s three weeks worth of cephalopod goodness accumulated here on account of my MacBook losing its mind, which kept me from updating on [...]

Comment on Circus of the Spineless No. 56 by This Week in Cephalopods

This Week in Cephalopods — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 14:58:21 +0000

[...] follows up on his Circus of the Spineless entry with a photo spread of the Bobtail Squid. He also has an extensive post about Enrichment in [...]

Comment on Don’t Be SUCH a Dramatist by Al Dove

Al Dove — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 14:35:45 +0000

I guess my summary is that Randy’s not all bad, but he’s not all good either.

Everybody keeps telling me about Alton Brown. I can see that I am going to have check him out. Mmmmmm….food…

Comment on Don’t Be SUCH a Dramatist by jason

jason — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 13:18:45 +0000

Al—Funny you mentioned Benjamin Hoff. I hinted at the eastern philosophy contained in my image. As you suggest, it's also in Randy's book in the form of the "head-heart-gut-nads axis." What that sounds like to me is the chakra system, although he doesn't call it that. I can understand why, given all the woo woo surrounding that metaphor. A lot of the objection to his book seems to be from people who think that "enlightment" starts from the top. But what I take from it is a reminder that the path starts at the bottom—literally, guts first. Maybe that's part of what makes Alton Brown such a good science communicator.

Comment on Don’t Be SUCH a Dramatist by Al Dove

Al Dove — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:35:58 +0000

I thought Flock of Dodo’s was great, but somewhere between that and Don’t Be Such a Scientist, Randy Olson became a bit too self-aware and his book certainly comes across as narcissistic (self-deprecating disaster stories from acting school notwithstanding). I noticed a similar change between Benjamin Hoff’s Tao of Pooh (awesome) and Te of Piglet (pompous).

There’s a certain irony in his Benshi post in that if he had done such a good job telling the story in the book, he wouldn’t be subject to as much criticism and having to explain himself post hoc on a blog.

All that said, there are some useful lessons in the book and I personally have tried to make some changes to the way I approach science communication based on them (the importance of stories in particular, and the head-heart-gut-nads axis). Its just a pity you have to grit your teeth against the condescending criticism and self-aggrandizement to get at them.

Comment on Circus of the Spineless No. 56 by jason

jason — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 03:46:57 +0000

Michael—Thanks, this is my first time hosting the CotS. As I mentioned, I really enjoyed your post.

Roberta—Thanks too. It was also a nice opportunity for me to discover a lot of new blogs, including yours. Subscribed!