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:
Poachers killed African elephants for their tusks. So elephants stopped growing them
Friday, October 22, 2021
During the Mozambican civil war, both sides financed their efforts by poaching elephants for ivory. Now, scientists say that drove some elephants to evolve tusklessness.
Why people have been quitting their jobs in record numbers recently
Thursday, October 21, 2021
A record 4.3 million workers in America quit their jobs in August. Some share their stories and an economist explains what this means for the U.S. economy.
Scientists made a wooden steak knife that's 3 times sharper than a steel blade
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Researchers have hardened wood and fashioned a knife out of it. It's three times sharper than steel and can slice through steak, and could be a sustainable alternative.
In Spain, Seville hopes naming heat waves can save lives
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
The mayor of Seville, Spain, has announced a new program — the world's first — to give official names to severe heat waves. The hope is that such a system will make people take them more seriously.
Everything old, new and AWOL in the NBA
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
NPR's Sarah McCammon talks with ESPN's Monica McNutt about how as the NBA season begins, fans are talking about two players who won't be on the court anytime soon.
Fewer cars on the road during lockdowns was good news for frogs and salamanders
Monday, October 18, 2021
Fewer cars were on the road during pandemic lockdowns. And for Maine's frogs and salamanders, that translated to far fewer roadkill deaths.
With Biden's climate plan in jeopardy, can America lead on climate change?
Monday, October 18, 2021
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with environmental policy expert Leah Stokes about what the Democrats' spending plan can achieve on climate, with President Biden's clean electricity performance plan in limbo.
How insights from 2020's election officials could help safeguard future elections
Friday, October 15, 2021
NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Matt Masterson, of the Stanford Internet Observatory. Masterson and his colleagues have compiled an oral history of the 2020 election from the view of election officials.
'We belong here, we have always been here': A conversation on the Latinx identity
Friday, October 15, 2021
As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to an end, poet Yesika Salgado and Lázaro Lima, a professor at Hunter College, talk about what it means to be Latinx in the United States — and the world — in 2021.
Colorado now requires gender-affirming care to be covered by private health insurance
Thursday, October 14, 2021
Colorado now requires private health insurance plans to cover gender-affirming care for trans people like facial bone remodeling and hormone therapy. Health advocates say it's a very big deal.
The dinosaur extinction led to lots of new mammals and birds — and snakes to eat them
Thursday, October 14, 2021
After the dinosaurs disappeared, the world saw an explosion of birds and mammals. But a study suggests a burst of new snakes appeared, too, with diets to match the newly expanding array of animals.
This county arrested and detained children more than anywhere else in Tennessee
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with reporter Meribah Knight about her investigation into Rutherford County, Tenn., where children were arrested and detained at a higher rate than elsewhere in the state.
Raising the price of fossil fuels to reflect the true social cost
Monday, October 11, 2021
Researchers at the International Monetary Fund say trillions of dollars in fossil fuel subsidies are making greenhouse-gas-producing fuels cheaper than they should be and making climate change worse.
Author describes his years in an Australian processing center ahead of its closure
Friday, October 08, 2021
When author Behrouz Boochani was seeking asylum in Australia, he was held on an island of Papua New Guinea. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with him about the closure of Australia's refugee processing center.
Why energy prices are surging in Europe
Thursday, October 07, 2021
NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Andrea Rizzi, global affairs correspondent for El Pais, about the surge of energy prices in Europe and the impact it's having on its citizens.
Senators discuss their proposal that would repair the infrastructure of HBCUS and
Tuesday, October 05, 2021
NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Senators Chris Coons, D-Del., and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., about their proposed act which would update the infrastructure of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
A conversation on what social media means for young people
Monday, October 04, 2021
NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with YR Media reporter Nina Roehl and Monica Anderson from the Pew Research Center about the use of social media platforms by youth.
Reports Claimed That Police Left In Droves Due To BLM. New Data Say That's Not True
Wednesday, September 08, 2021
NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Weihua Li, data reporter at the Marshall Project, about the data showing police officers didn't leave the force in droves in response to the Black Lives Matters protests.
Oh Flock... Clever Cockatoos Are More Culturally Complex Than We Thought
Thursday, July 22, 2021
Cockatoos in Sydney have become expert trash bin burglars. Scientists say birds in different neighborhoods have taught each other different techniques to open the bins, a sign of cultural complexity.
After A Long Wait, Peru Has A New President-Elect
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Peruvian journalist Gustavo Gorriti about the outcome of the recent presidential elections and what it means for the country's future.
