The Book of Nature

Book of Nature, Ep. 40: They Live Oct 26, 2022

In the Book of Nature’s triumphant return to the airwaves after two years, Dan Dawson and Danny Anderson join Todd Pedlar to discuss John Carpenter’s 1988 film, They Live as part of the 2022 Christian Humanist Radio Network Crossover series discussing five films of the American filmmaker John Carpenter.

In this episode, the hosts discuss the film as a part of Carpenter’s body of work (pun intended), the nature of the film as commentary on late 1980’s America, his casting choices, featuring primarily his choice of the inimitable “Rowdy” Roddy Piper as John Nada, the film’s protagonist. It was a rollicking good time and we are glad as the Book of Nature to be back in black.

Book of Nature 39: CHRN Crossover: The Sixth Sense Oct 28, 2020

Dan Dawson, along with crossover guests Michial Farmer and Coyle Neal, discuss the film "The Sixth Sense."

Book of Nature 38: The Challenges of COVID-19 Jul 08, 2020

Charles Hackney and Dan Dawson discuss life in academia during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic

Book of Nature 37: DNA Jul 01, 2020

Charles Hackney, Dan Dawson, and Todd Pedlar discuss the DNA molecule and its role in genetics and heredity

Book of Nature 36: Adventures in Abstract and Concrete Thought Nov 20, 2019

Charles Hackney, Dan Dawson, and Todd Pedlar discuss the differences and relationship between Abstract and Concrete Thinking

Book of Nature 35: The Shining Oct 30, 2019

Charles Hackney, Jordan Poss, and Jay Eldred discuss the Stephen King novel, The Shining, as part of the 2019 CHRN Crossover event

Book of Nature 34: Teaching Science Oct 23, 2019

Dan Dawson, Charles Hackney, and Todd Pedlar discuss their perspectives on the challenges and rewards of teaching science in this episode of The Book of Nature

Book of Nature 33: Parapsychology! Oct 04, 2019

Charles Hackney and Dan Dawson discuss the "science" of parapsychology in this episode of The Book of Nature

The Christian Humanist Radio Network Presents Core Curriculum 1.1: Iliad Books 1-2 Sep 11, 2019

In the CHRN's new series, hosts from across the network dive into good books and take our time in them. In the series premier, Michial Farmer, Christina Bieber Lake, and Jay Eldred talk about the opening books of Homer's Iliad.

Book of Nature 32: Comets! Mar 12, 2019

Charles Hackney, Dan Dawson, and Todd Pedlar talk about dirty snowballs, our periodic Solar System neighbors, in this episode of The Book of Nature

Book of Nature 31: Artificial Intelligence Nov 21, 2018

Charles Hackney, Dan Dawson, and Todd Pedlar tackle the subject of Artificial Intelligence in this episode of The Book of Nature

Booklets of Nature 3: Mars Insight Nov 21, 2018

On November 26, 2018, Mars Insight Lander is landing at Mars - this brief episode introduces the mission.

Book of Nature 30: Psycho Oct 31, 2018

Charles Hackney and his guests from the Christian Feminist Podcast, Victoria Reynolds Farmer and Sara Klooster discuss the film Psycho as part of the 2018 CHRN Crossover Bonanza

Book of Nature 29: Twister Oct 24, 2018

Dan Dawson, Todd Pedlar, and Charles Hackney discuss the film Twister and its depictions of tornados

Book of Nature 28: Volcanos Oct 17, 2018

Dan Dawson, Todd Pedlar, and Charles Hackney discuss Volcanos in nature, human history, and pop culture

Book of Nature 27: Star Trek Oct 12, 2018

Dan Dawson, Todd Pedlar, and Charles Hackney discuss the Star Trek universe and all things Trekkie

Book of Nature 26:Arrival Sep 14, 2018

Dan Dawson, Todd Pedlar, and Charles Hackney discuss the film Arrival,and Ted Chiang's short story, The Story of Your Life, on which Arrival is based

Book of Nature 25:Moon vs. Mars Feb 21, 2018

Dan Dawson, Todd Pedlar, and Charles Hackney discuss the question of whether we should return first to the Moon, or head straight for Mars

Book of Nature 24:CRISPR and Gene Editing Feb 07, 2018

Dan Dawson, Todd Pedlar, and special guest star Danny Anderson of Sectarian Review discuss the ins and outs of CRISPR and Gene Editing

Book of Nature 23: The Flat Earth Jan 31, 2018

Dan Dawson, Todd Pedlar, and Charles Hackney discuss the Flat Earth phenomenon - the model itself, and its recent resurgence among some

Book of Nature 22: Consciousness Jan 23, 2018

Dan Dawson, Todd Pedlar, and Charles Hackney explore the nature of Consciousness, from philosophy to psychology and all points in between

Book of Nature 21: Frankenstein Oct 30, 2017

Christina Bieber Lake, Charles Hackney, and Sara Davis, Book of Nature's crossover crew, takes on one of the classic mad scientist stories, Boris Karloff's "Frankenstein."

Book of Nature 20: The Conflict Thesis Jan 28, 2017

Charles Hackney and Dan Dawson discuss the conflict thesis of Andrew Dickinson White - the position that science and religion are always and have ever been at odds.

Book of Nature 19: Cosmological Fine Tuning Jan 05, 2017

Dan Dawson and Todd Pedlar discuss the concept of cosmological fine tuning, which concerns the fact that the universe seems to be "just right" for intelligent life - that all the fundamental constants of nature seem to lie in narrowly-defined ranges which allow for our existence.

Book of Nature 18: Private Space Ventures Jan 02, 2017

Todd Pedlar and Dan Dawson ruminate on the history of space exploration contributions by private companies, and the future of exploration by wholly private entities as opposed to government organizations.

Book of Nature 17: The Twilight Zone Nov 02, 2016

Dan Dawson enters the Twilight Zone with guest hosts Jordan Poss and Nathan Gilmour as part of the Christian Humanist Radio Network's Halloween week special.

Booklets of Nature 1: Disappearing Particles Aug 19, 2016

In a recent article at Quanta Magazine, entitled "What No New Particles Means for Physics" author Natalie Wolchover discusses what some in high energy physics view as a "nightmare scenario" - the disappearance of what was, in December 2015, touted as the long-awaited sign of Beyond-Standard-Model particles. Is this really a "nightmare"? Todd Pedlar muses on this question in Episode 1 of Booklets of Nature.

Booklets of Nature 0: Introduction to the Booklets Aug 19, 2016

A new feature from the Book of Nature crew is coming, entitled "Booklets of Nature". As the name implies, this will be a short-feature podcast, which enables the Book of Nature guys to briefly reflect on items in the news of scientific interest, issues of science pedagogy, philosophy, and history, and issues that involve the intersection of Christian faith and scientific ideas and practice. The introductory episode briefly describing the new program is now uploaded to the Book of Nature stream, as will be all future Booklet mini-podcasts.

Book of Nature 16: What's My Line?: Todd Pedlar Jul 20, 2016

The third of a three-part series in which the Book of Nature crew turns introspective. Dan and Charles interview Todd about particle physics, life in Iowa, and other such things.

Book of Nature 15: What's My Line?: Charles Hackney Jul 06, 2016

The second of a three-part series in which the Book of Nature crew turns introspective. Dan and Todd interview Charles about why he chose psychology (it involves an attempt at obtaining superpowers), his fascination with Terror Management Theory (TMT), and much, much more!

Book of Nature 14: What's My Line?: Dan Dawson Jun 22, 2016

The first of a three-part series in which the Book of Nature crew turns introspective. Todd and Charles interview Dan about how he got interested in Meteorology in general, and severe weather and tornadoes in particular, and what he's working on now as a new assistant professor at Purdue.

Book of Nature 13: Scientific Fraud Jun 08, 2016

The Book of Nature crew talks about systematic deception in science, its history, and its ethical fallout.

Book of Nature 12: Metaphysics and Science Jan 27, 2016

Todd Pedlar talks with Charles Hackney and Dan Dawson about the distinctions between metaphysical claims and scientific reports and why they're so hard to distinguish.

Book of Nature 11: Firefly Dec 16, 2015

Shelah Woodruff talks with Todd Pedlar and Dan Dawson about all the lovely sci-fi goodness in Firefly.

The Christian Humanist Thanksgiving Special Nov 25, 2015

Victoria Reynolds Farmer, along with other CHRN hosts and listeners, talks turkey and explores one holiday in which food is what human beings do well.

Book of Nature 10: The Large Hadron Collider Nov 11, 2015

Todd Pedlar talks with Charles Hackney and Dan Dawson about particle acceleration and its implications for physics.

Book of Nature 9: Psychology's Replication Problem Oct 28, 2015

Charles Hackney talks with Todd Pedlar and Dan Dawson about recent revelations that many published psychological studies fail to yield consistent when replicated.

Book of Nature 8: Pluto Oct 07, 2015

Dan Dawson, Todd Pedlar, and Charles Hackney chat together about Pluto, that sometimes-planet.

Book of Nature 6: Virtues of a Scientist May 20, 2015

Charles Hackney chats with Dan Dawson and Todd Pedlar about the relationships between virtue ethics and the practice of modern science.

Book of Nature 5: Dystopia! Apr 22, 2015

The Book of Nature crew explores the science and the ideas behind one of the most popular sorts of recent fiction, the dystopian story.

Book of Nature 4: Faith and Reason Feb 18, 2015

The Book of Nature crew holds forth on one of the classic distinctions of theology: faith and reason.

Book of Nature 3: Is Psychology a Science? Dec 03, 2014

Charles Hackney goes about convincing Dan Dawson, Todd Pedlar, and our audience that psychology in fact deserves its place among the sciences.

Book of Nature 2: Science vs. Scientism Oct 29, 2014

Todd Pedlar hosts a conversation about science and scientism.

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