Science Friday

Last updated
Science Friday
Science Friday logo.svg
Other namesSciFri
Genre talk
Running timeapprox. 110 min.
Country of originUnited States
Language(s) English
Syndicates WNYC Studios
Hosted by Ira Flatow
Created byScienceFriday, Inc.
Directed byCharles Bergquist
Executive producer(s)Ira Flatow
Recording studio New York City
Original releaseOctober 1991 (1991-10)
Audio format Stereophonic
Website www.sciencefriday.com

Science Friday (known as SciFri for short) is a weekly call-in talk show that broadcasts each Friday on public radio stations, distributed by WNYC Studios, and carried on over 470 public radio stations. SciFri is hosted by science journalist Ira Flatow and was created and is produced by the Science Friday Initiative. The program is divided into two one-hour programs, with each hour ending with a complete sign-off. The focus of each program is news and information on science, nature, medicine, and technology. The show originated as the Friday episode of the daily call-in talk show Talk of the Nation , but was spun off as a series in its own right when Talk of the Nation was canceled in June 2013.

Contents

The Science Friday radio program is produced by the Science Friday Initiative, a 501(c)(3) organization. The Science Friday Initiative is an independently run organization with a governing Board of Directors and Executive Director. In addition to the radio program, the organization creates educational and digital content, finds underwriting for the program, and hosts public science events.

Science Friday is also available in a podcasting format and is one of the most popular iTunes downloads, frequently in the top 15 downloads each week. SciFri podcasts are downloaded over 23 million times per year.

SciFri broadcasts excerpts from the annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony on the Friday after Thanksgiving. [1] [2]

Funding

The Science Friday Initiative accepts tax-deductible donations on behalf of the radio program. [3]

Science Friday is funded by stations fees that broadcast the program, by individual donors, by advertising underwriters, and by foundation grants including the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and Heising-Simons Foundation. [4] Formerly the program was supported by the Noyce Foundation, the S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Science Friday has received federal funding from the US National Science Foundation and NASA.

History

SciFri was created when the National Science Foundation agreed to fund a weekly science talk-show on NPR. After the Gulf War in 1991, NPR created the daily talk show Talk of the Nation , and incorporated Science Friday into it. Science Friday moved from NPR to Public Radio International in 2014. [5]

Science Friday maintained an island (Science Friday Island) in Second Life, including an open-air theater with live audio and video feeds of the broadcast. That venue is no longer in operation.[ citation needed ]

On November 9, 2012, ScienceFriday, Inc. filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in New York state court against a long-running Denver radio program, titled Real Science Friday, hosted by two young earth creationists including Colorado pastor and radio personality Bob Enyart. The show was re-titled Real Science Radio. [6]

On April 11, 2018, distribution of the show changed hands once more when it went from PRI to WNYC Studios. [7]

Undiscovered

Science Friday launched a spinoff podcast in collaboration with WNYC Studios entitled Undiscovered, which debuted in early 2017. [8] [9] The show is hosted by Elah Feder and Annie Minoff. [10] The show is about the history of science. [11] [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ig Nobel Prize</span> Annually awarded parody of the Nobel Prize

The Ig Nobel Prize is a satiric prize awarded annually since 1991 to celebrate ten unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. Its aim is to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think." The name of the award is a pun on the Nobel Prize, which it parodies, and on the word ignoble.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ira Flatow</span> American journalist, science radio host (born 1949)

Ira Flatow is a radio and television journalist and author who hosts Public Radio International's popular program Science Friday. On TV, he hosted the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Newton's Apple, a television science program for children and their families. Later he hosted another PBS series, Big Ideas. He has published several books, the most recent titled Present at the Future: From Evolution to Nanotechnology, Candid and Controversial Conversations on Science and Nature.

<i>Talk of the Nation</i> American talk radio program

Talk of the Nation (TOTN) is an American talk radio program based in Washington D.C., produced by National Public Radio (NPR) that was broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. It focused on current events and controversial issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public Radio International</span> American radio organization (1983–2019)

Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Lehrer</span> American radio broadcaster (born 1952)

Brian Lehrer is an American radio talk show host on New York City's public radio station WNYC. His daily two-hour 2007 Peabody Award-winning program, The Brian Lehrer Show, features interviews with newsmakers and experts about current events and social issues. Lehrer was formerly an anchor and reporter for NBC Radio Networks and has been in broadcast journalism for over 30 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNYC</span> AM and FM radio stations in New York City

WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that did business as "WNYC RADIO" until March 2013.

Fresh Air is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. As of 2017, the show was syndicated to 624 stations and claimed nearly 5 million listeners. The show is fed live weekdays at 12:00 noon ET. In addition, some stations carry Fresh Air Weekend, a re-programming of highlights of the week's interviews. In 2016, Fresh Air was the most-downloaded podcast on iTunes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBEZ</span> Public radio station in Chicago

WBEZ – branded WBEZ 91.5 – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the Chicago metropolitan area. It is owned by Chicago Public Media and is financed by listener contributions, corporate underwriting and some government funding. WBEZ is affiliated with both National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Radio Exchange (PRX). It also broadcasts content from American Public Media and the BBC World Service. It produces several nationally syndicated shows for public radio stations, including This American Life and has a co-production credit for Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, which is produced by NPR.

American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and operates radio stations in Minnesota and California. Its station brands include Minnesota Public Radio and Southern California Public Radio. Based in St. Paul, Minnesota, APM is best known for distribution of the national financial news program Marketplace.

<i>On the Media</i> American public radio show

On the Media (OTM) is a public radio show that produces a newsletter, a podcast and an hour-long weekly radio program hosted and edited by Brooke Gladstone that reaches about 1.2 weekly million listeners across the United States. It is produced by WNYC-New York Public Radio. OTM is first broadcast on Friday evening over WNYC's FM service and is syndicated nationwide to more than 300 other public radio outlets. The program has also been available as a podcast since 2005. OTM also publishes a weekly newsletter featuring news on current and past projects as well as relevant links from around the web.

<i>Here and Now</i> (Boston) American public radio magazine program

Here and Now is a public radio magazine program produced by NPR and WBUR-FM in Boston and distributed across the United States by NPR to over 450 stations, with an estimated 5 million weekly listeners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jad Abumrad</span> American radio host and producer

Jad Nicholas Abumrad is an American radio host, composer, and producer. He is the founder and former host of the syndicated public radio program Radiolab alongside Robert Krulwich.

Radiolab is a radio program and podcast produced by WNYC, a public radio station based in New York City, and broadcast on more than 570 public radio stations in the United States. The show has earned many industry awards for its "imaginative use of radio" including a National Academies Communication Award and two Peabody Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNYC-FM</span> Public radio station in New York City

WNYC-FM (93.9 MHz) is a non-profit, non-commercial, public radio station licensed to New York City. It is owned by New York Public Radio along with WNYC (AM), Newark, New Jersey-licensed classical music outlet WQXR-FM (105.9 MHz), New Jersey Public Radio, and the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. New York Public Radio is a not-for-profit corporation, incorporated in 1979, and is publicly supported through membership, development and sponsorship. The station broadcasts from studios and offices located in the Hudson Square neighborhood in lower Manhattan. WNYC-FM's transmitter is located at the Empire State Building. The station serves the New York metropolitan area.

<i>The Takeaway</i> Morning radio news program

The Takeaway was a weekday radio news program co-created and co-produced by Public Radio International and WNYC. Its editorial partner was GBH; at launch the BBC World Service and The New York Times were also editorial partners. In addition to co-producing the program, PRX also distributed the program nationwide to its affiliated stations. The program debuted on WNYC in New York, WGBH in Boston, and WEAA in Baltimore. At time of its last broadcast, the program had approximately 241 carrying stations across the country, including markets in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, Portland, Boston, and more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NPR</span> American nonprofit media organization

National Public Radio is an American non-profit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national syndicator to a network of over 1,000 public radio stations in the United States. It differs from other non-profit membership media organizations, such as the Associated Press, in that it was established by an act of Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celeste Headlee</span> American journalist (born 1969)

Celeste Headlee is an American radio journalist, author, public speaker, and co-host of the weekly series Retro Report on PBS. In her 20-year career in public radio, Headlee has served as the host of the Georgia Public Broadcasting program "On Second Thought" and co-host of the national morning news show The Takeaway. Before 2009, she was the Midwest Correspondent for NPR's Day to Day and the host of a weekly show on Detroit Public Radio. Headlee is the author of We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter.

WNYC Studios is a producer and distributor of podcasts and on-demand and broadcast audio. WNYC Studios is a subsidiary of New York Public Radio and is headquartered in New York City.

<i>TED Radio Hour</i> US radio program

TED Radio Hour is a weekly, hour-long radio program and podcast, produced as a co-production between TED (conference) and National Public Radio. It is broadcast on 600+ public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is also available as a free weekly podcast. The first episode aired on April 27, 2012, with host Alison Stewart. Beginning with Season 2, the series was hosted by Guy Raz. In November 2019, Manoush Zomorodi was named the show’s new host.

<i>Consider This</i> (podcast) American news podcast

Consider This is a daily afternoon news podcast by the American media organization NPR, which typically releases new episodes Sunday through Friday around 5 p.m. ET.

References

  1. Science Friday Archives: The 2007 Ig Nobel Awards Archived 2007-12-26 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Ig Nobel day-after-Thanksgiving broadcast on Science Friday". www.improbable.com. 27 November 2015. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  3. "Science Friday Initiative: Our Mission". scifri.org. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  4. "Science Friday Initiative: Thank You!". scifri.org. Archived from the original on May 17, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  5. "Flatow moves Science Friday to PRI distribution" . Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  6. Flaherty, Scott (Nov 13, 2012). "NPR Program Sues Christian Radio Hosts Over Trademarks". Law360.
  7. 'Science Friday' partners with WNYC on distribution Current Public Media, January 11, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  8. Quah, Nicholas (October 18, 2016). "Hot Pod: Is podcasting about food the new dancing about architecture?". Nieman Lab. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  9. Falk, Tyler (January 11, 2018). "'Science Friday' partners with WNYC on distribution". current.org. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  10. Loria, Kevin (March 15, 2018). "15 of the best science podcasts that will make you smarter". Business Insider. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  11. Talbot, Hope (February 1, 2022). "20 History Podcasts to Kick the Dust off the Past". Discover Pods. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  12. Nannestad, Chloë (May 26, 2021). "30 Best Podcasts for Road Trips to Make the Miles Fly By". Reader's Digest. Retrieved May 12, 2022.