Edison's Ghosts w/ Katie Spalding

In this week’s episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara celebrates the show’s 500th episode with the help of her friend and fellow podcaster Eli Bosnick (God Awful Movies, The Scathing Atheist, The Skepticrat, Citation Needed, Dear Old Dads, D&D Minus). Sourced from listener questions, Eli turns the tables on Cara to "Ask Me Anything" and celebrate this milestone. Follow Eli: @elibosnick.

In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by psychologist Netta Weinstein. She is the director of the European Research Council's 'Solitude: Alone but Resilient’ project and co-author of the book, “Solitude: The Science and Power of Being Alone.” Follow her work: @SOARinSolitude

In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by evolutionary biologist turned science writer, Erin Zimmerman. We talk about her new book, “Unrooted: Botany, Motherhood, & the Fight to Save an Old Science” Follow Erin: @DoctorZedd

In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by ocean scientist and science writer, Juli Berwald. They discuss her book; “LIFE ON THE ROCKS: Building a Future for Coral Reefs.” Follow Juli: @juliberwald

In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by California-based writer, performer, and trans-activist Julia Serano. Julia is the author of four books, including a new edition of “Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity.” Follow Julia: @JuliaSerano

In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by roboticist and the first female director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Daniela Rus. We talk about her new book, “THE HEART AND THE CHIP: Our Bright Future with Robots.” Follow Daniela’s work: @MIT_CSAIL

In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by sociologists Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans to talk about their book, “THE UNCLAIMED: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angel.” The book sheds light on the 150,000 Americans that go unclaimed each year with a special focus on the lost citizens of Los Angeles County. Follow their work: @pamelajprickett @StefanTimmerma6

In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by science journalist and author Rebecca Boyle to talk about her debut book, "OUR MOON: How Earth’s Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are”. Follow Rebecca: @rboyle31

In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by historian and the Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought at the University of Pennsylvania, Barbara D. Savage. We talk about her new book, “Merze Tate: The Global Odyssey of a Black Woman Scholar.” Follow Barbara: @bdsavage1

In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by Princeton University Professor and leading scholar in aging, Dr. Coleen T. Murphy. Coleen is the Director of the Lewis Sigler Institute of Genomics and professor of genomics and molecular biology at Princeton University. She is also director of Princeton’s Glenn Foundation for Research on Aging and the director of the Simons Collaboration on Plasticity in the Aging Brain. They discuss her new book, “How We Age: The Science of Longevity.” Follow Coleen: @ctmurphy1