Join us for an evening of true, personal science stories about how initial appearances and assessments can shape our lives. This show will have a special chocolate pairing, curated by The Chocolate Dispensary. Join us for this fun multi-sensory experience!
Hosted by Bryan Kett.
Doors at 6:30 pm. Show starts at 7:00 pm
Stories by:
Sophie Shrand is an award-winning actor, educator, and producer with degrees in Behavioral Neuroscience and Theatre. Sophie is the Creator and Host of Science With Sophie, a Telly Award-winning science comedy series for girls and everyone. She is Executive Producer at Cool Jacket Productions, Host of streaming series Theory of Awesome, and can be found on social channels like the Museum of Science and Indeed. Sophie has brought science comedy to more than 2 million learners worldwide. As a STEM professional, she researched humans and cocaine, held brains in her hands, created three-story lightning bolts, and worked with skunks! Shrand’s work as an actor, improviser, vocalist, and international speaker spans two decades, stage and screen, and crowds of 3 to 15,000. Sophie has performed improv, musical theatre, and Shakespeare across the country, including the American Repertory Theater and The Second City. Sophie is now in post-production on her newest project, a documentary series in which she drives an electric car from Los Angeles to Boston and back on a coast-to-coast, round-trip journey across the USA.
Joanne Higgins is a lifelong Angeleno, growing up in Compton and attending Cal State Long Beach. She spent 13 years working in film and TV production, as executive assistant and production coordinator on various series and films. Later she co-owned a construction company which developed and built single family homes across LA. Five years ago, she began to research the experiences of her godfather, Charlie Cheathem, on the Apollo mission, looking for a way to tell his story. That ultimately resulted in The Other Moonshot podcast with LAist Studios. This is her first time hosting a podcast.
Ken Phillips has served as Curator of Aerospace Science at the California Science Center in Los Angeles since 1990 and is responsible for shaping its exhibits and programs in aeronautics and space exploration. In 1991, he began planning a display of a flown space shuttle orbiter that culminated in NASA awarding the Space Shuttle Endeavour to the California Science Center two decades later. He is now working toward the opening of the 200,000 square-foot Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center for which groundbreaking occurred in June 2022. Ken has taught numerous courses in astrophysics, planetary geology, and space exploration to primary and secondary school students, and is an adjunct professor of the practice of physics and astronomy at the University of Southern California (USC) where he teaches the freshman seminar entitled “The Space Shuttle and our Place in the Universe.” Through the USC Prison Education Program, he also teaches introductory astronomy to students in correctional facilities. He received his bachelor’s in physics from North Carolina A&T State University, a master’s in general engineering from the University of Wisconsin, and a doctorate in environmental engineering from The Johns Hopkins University. Ken loves model trains, swimming, and bulldogs!
Ron Hart is a television writer, a Moth GrandSLAM Champion, and a recovering mascot.