Christopher Intagliata is Science Friday’s senior producer. He once served as a prop in an optical illusion and speaks passable Ira Flatowese.
Christopher Intagliata is Science Friday’s senior producer, which means he’s chief cheerleader for all the radio and podcast projects here. He helps to select and shape stories, or put them to a gentle death if necessary. He’s also the coordinating producer for Science Friday’s live stage events around the nation, and has skated Olympic ice and served as a prop in an optical illusion for SciFri.
Christopher started at Science Friday as an intern in summer 2008, until the day Ira Flatow called him at home, triggering enormous anxiety about the latest script he’d written, to ask if he wanted to be a producer. His favorite stories usually involve microbes or food or both, but anything can pique his interest—other than ocean chemistry. Sorry.
He also reports regularly for Scientific American‘s “60-Second Science” podcast, and was a 2015 Woods Hole Ocean Science Journalism fellow. Prior to becoming a science journalist, he taught English to soldiers and bankers in Verona, Italy, and traversed the Sierra Nevada mountains as a field biologist, on the lookout for mountain yellow-legged frogs. He speaks fluent Italian, awkward Japanese, and passable Ira Flatowese.
Christopher Intagliata appears in the following:
Russia stashed away billions before invading Ukraine. China may have helped hide it
Friday, March 25, 2022
The Kremlin stashed away billions before invading Ukraine. China helped them hide it. NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with economist Benn Steil about his investigation into Russian assets.
Ketanji Brown Jackson could be the 1st in SCOTUS with experience as a public defender
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
NPR's Juana Summers talks with A.J. Kramer, federal public defender for the District of Columbia, about his time as supervisor of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Barlow & Bear bring musical theater into the TikTok era
Friday, March 18, 2022
It started with a TikTok post riffing on the the lush drama series. Now, Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear have received a Grammy nomination for their project, The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical.
Jimmie Allen put his own spin on country music — and is now reaping the rewards
Thursday, March 17, 2022
For Jimmie Allen, what makes a country artist isn't how many fiddles and mandolins they have in a song. It's something more natural than that.
The U.S. has shipped 500 million COVID vaccine doses globally, but there's work ahead
Thursday, March 17, 2022
NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with acting coordinator for Global COVID-19 Response and Health Security, Mary Beth Goodman, about the U.S. shipping 500 million COVID vaccine doses to more than 100 countries.
How a fossil with 10 arms and named after Joe Biden changed the vampire squid game
Thursday, March 17, 2022
Millions of years ago and thousands of feet below the ocean's murky surface lived the oldest relative of the octopus and vampire squid.
Arooj Aftab considers her Grammy nominations a triumph. But they won't define her
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Arooj Aftab has been nominated for two Grammys for her song "Mohabbat." But the singer and songwriter is wary of defining her work too precisely, or letting accolades tell the whole story.
Saweetie draws on her roots to make rap that's more personal and intentional
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
The 28-year-old rapper opens up about her two Grammy nominations, and how meditation helps her stay centered amid an increasingly busy career.
In Chechnya and Syria, ominous signs for Ukraine
Friday, March 11, 2022
From the Chechen Wars through its air campaign in Syria, Russian military operations have often taken a high toll on civilians. What does that portend in Ukraine?
Levi's pulling out of Russia reminds people of the country's jean smuggler era
Thursday, March 10, 2022
With over a hundred businesses cutting ties with Russia, one company in particular, Levi's, is reminding people of a time in Russian history when Western jeans were a well sought after commodity.
The war is with West and NATO allies — not Ukraine, Ukrainian Parliament member says
Thursday, March 10, 2022
NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Ukrainian member of Parliament Andrii Osadchuk about his family's journey out of Kyiv and what he'd like to see from NATO allies.
A no-fly zone isn't what Ukraine needs, says former U.S. NATO Ambassador Ivo Daalder
Wednesday, March 09, 2022
NPR's Sarah McCammon speaks with former U.S. NATO Ambassador Ivo Daalder about the implications of imposing a no-fly zone in Ukraine in response to the growing humanitarian crisis.
This 10-armed fossil is the oldest known relative of octopuses and vampire squids
Wednesday, March 09, 2022
Researchers say they've found the oldest known relative of octopuses and vampire squids, in a fossil dug up decades ago in Montana. But unlike octopuses, the creature has 10 arms.
Putin has threatened nuclear action. Here's what Russia is actually capable of
Tuesday, March 08, 2022
NPR's Sarah McCammon asks Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, what we know about Russia's nuclear stockpile and capabilities.
Doctors Without Borders describes declining situation in Mariupol, Ukraine
Monday, March 07, 2022
NPR's Sarah McCammon talks with Alex Wade at Doctors Without Borders about the humanitarian crisis in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
Former NATO commander says a no-fly zone over Ukraine must be on the table
Thursday, March 03, 2022
NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with retired U.S. Air Force general Philip Breedlove about calls for a no-fly zone over Ukraine — and why that could push Russia and the democratic West closer to war.
Biden's top economics adviser on fighting inflation
Wednesday, March 02, 2022
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Cecilia Rouse, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, about Biden's State of the Union address and the impact of the war in Ukraine on the U.S. economy.
'New York Times' writer Frank Bruni on what losing eyesight taught him about life
Tuesday, March 01, 2022
NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Frank Bruni about his new book The Beauty of Dusk: On Vision Lost and Found, a memoir about the author partially losing his eyesight.
Magpies' unexpected reaction to GPS trackers may have revealed altruism in the birds
Monday, February 28, 2022
Researchers tried to attach tracking devices to magpies for a study. But the magpies helped each other to remove them — a possible sign, the scientists say, of altruism in the birds.
Some effects of climate change are irreversible, but there's still hope
Monday, February 28, 2022
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with earth scientist Brian O'Neill about a new major United Nations report on climate change.
