First Post

Seven months ago, I did something completely out of character. I attended the March for Science in Indianapolis.

It was my first (and perhaps last) experience participating in a public event with political undertones.  I like my life to be calm and free of conflict whenever possible, so I’m not sure what prompted me to attend that day.

But I’m so glad I did.

The decision to attend the march initiated a chain of events I never would have predicted.

The march route ended at Military Park in downtown Indianapolis.  By coincidence, or perhaps by design, the city was was hosting its annual Earth Day celebration in the park at the same time.  There were several tents set up with an assortment of vendors and family activities, so my friends and I decided to wander around and explore.

In the first tent, one booth in particular immediately caught my eye.  It was promoting awareness for IRIS — the Indiana Reading and Information Service, which I had never heard of.  In front of the booth was an energetic young woman who, coincidentally, had been given the booth space at the last minute and was eager to make the most of her time at the event.

She explained to me that IRIS produces radio broadcasts specifically for the print-impaired. Many of their listeners have physical disabilities or injuries, such as macular degeneration or Parkinson’s disease, while others are learning English as a second language or struggle with functional literacy.

The organization relies on a veritable army of volunteer radio hosts to keep their broadcasts humming along 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Each host records readings of newspapers, magazines, books, online articles, and public service announcements on a monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly basis.

And they were looking for new radio hosts.  I was immediately intrigued.  An audition was required, but reading aloud didn’t sound too intimidating. In fact, it sounded like a like of fun.  So I jotted down her contact info and scheduled my audition within the week.

The audition was easy, surprisingly so, even for an introvert like me. When you are in the recording booth, you don’t feel like you’re on the radio. It’s just you, your recording equipment, and interesting reading material.  I apparently passed muster, so they scheduled me to come in every week for a recording session.

Within the month, I was fortunate enough to be offered the hosting spot for a hour-long science program that airs three times per week.  Along with hosting, I was given broad latitude to select the material for my program, which gave me the freedom to cover the science subjects I found most interesting using my favorite sources.

And that’s what inspired the idea for this blog.  Each week, I create a document that lists the news, articles, books, and trivia I plan to cover on my science radio show.  IRIS listeners get to hear the content I select because they have a special subscription, but the general public does not.  This blog is a way of sharing that curated content with everyone who has enthusiasm for science.

Hope you enjoy reading these posts as much as I enjoy creating them.  If you know of a cool science news resource I should check out, don’t be shy — drop me a line and let me know where the fun is at. 🙂

P.S.  If you are an Indy native and you’d like to volunteer as a radio host with IRIS, you can fill out an application here.