At age 7, Deborah Blum starts a mystery when she interrupts her parent's dinner party. So their guest, famed biologist E.O. Wilson, investigates.
Deborah Blum, a Pulitzer prize-winning science journalist, author and blogger, is the Helen Firstbrook Franklin Professor of Journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Author of five books and a popular guide to science writing, her most recent publication, The Poisoner's Handbook, was a 2011 New York Times best seller and will be the subject of an American Experience documentary on PBS in January. She writes a monthly environmental chemistry column for The New York Times called Poison Pen. She also blogs about toxic compounds at Wired; her blog Elemental was named one of the top 25 blogs of 2013 by Time magazine. She has written for a wide range of other publications including Scientific American , Slate, Tin House, The Atavist, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times and Discover. Before joining the university in 1997, she was a science writer for The Sacramento Bee, where she won the Pulitzer in 1992 for her reporting on ethical issues in primate research. Her work has been anthologized in Best American Science Writing, Best American Nature Writing, and The Open Laboratory: Best Science OnLine.
This story originally aired on November 3, 2013.
Science journalist Erik Vance decides to get cursed by a witch doctor for science.
While covering the devastating impact of an earthquake in Thailand, journalist Maryn McKenna reflects on tragedy in her own life.
Journalist Sarah Kaplan normally covers the science beat, but when tragedy strikes in Las Vegas, she takes on an assignment unlike any she's had before.
A trip to the Kennedy Space Center reminds Wade Roush of what originally inspired him to pursue science journalism.
Science writer Veronika Meduna thought she never wanted to have children, but in her late thirties, she changes her mind.
Science writer Cassandra WIllyard is frustrated by the restrictions put on her during her pregnancy.
Journalist Arielle Duhaime-Ross finds common ground with an Alaskan community struggling with the effects of climate change.
Science journalist Peter Brannen mourns the loss of his mother while studying the earth’s biggest mass extinction.
As a graduate student, Josh Silberg begins to question whether he's cut out for science.
Science journalist Judith Stone worries about causing conflict when she writes about cultural differences aboard the International Space Station.