Alan Alda talks to Curiosity Daily hosts Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer about how to be a better communicator by making human connections. Plus, learn about why oceans don’t sink into the Earth. Additional resources from Alan Alda: Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University — https://www.aldacenter.org/ Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda — https://www.aldacommunicationtraining.com/podcasts/ Sign up for Alan’s newsletter on his official website — http://alanalda.com/ Follow @alanalda on Twitter — https://twitter.com/alanalda Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Alan Alda talks to Curiosity Daily hosts Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer about how to be a better communicator by making human connections. Plus, learn about why oceans don’t sink into the Earth.
Additional resources from Alan Alda:
Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/alan-alda-on-how-to-communicate-better-by-making-connections-plus-why-oceans-dont-sink
CODY: Hi! We’re here from curiosity-dot-com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about how to be a better communicator, from the legendary Alan Alda. We’ll also answer a listener question about why oceans don’t sink into the ground.
CODY: Let’s sink into some curiosity.
Alan Alda Interview #1 (also promote Sunday’s 10/27 full episode) [5:40]
CODY: Today we have an extremely special guest that we are very excited to present. One of our favorite podcasts is Clear+Vivid, hosted by Alan Alda. Yes, THE Alan Alda, the award-winning actor and best-selling author who you may know from several TV shows and movies over the years, including his role as Hawkeye in one of the highest-rated television shows in history, MASH.
ASHLEY: What you may not know is that Alan Alda is a science advocate and has dedicated his life’s work to improving science communication. His Clear+Vivid podcast helps make us all more connected, better communicators, and it also helps to benefit the research done at the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University. You can learn more about the Alda Center at: AldaCenter.org.
CODY: On his podcast, Alan has interviewed legendary guests from all walks of life, including Melinda Gates, Stephen Fry, Yo-Yo Ma, Madeline Albright, and Carol Burnett. And we had the incredible opportunity to flip the script and interview him about what he’s learned about communicating science over the years.
[CLIP 5:40]
ASHLEY: Alan’s podcast Clear+Vivid is produced by Graham Chedd with help from associate producer Sarah Chase. You can subscribe to Clear+Vivid for free on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you like to listen to your podcasts. And sign up for Alan’s newsletter at AlanAlda.com.
CODY: Plus, stay tuned to the end of today’s episode to find out where you can hear more of our conversation with Alan Alda!
Listener Question — Why Oceans Don’t Sink (Ashley)
ASHLEY: We got a listener question from Manny, who asks, “What makes large bodies of water like lakes or oceans stay above the surface of the earth? For example, when I pour water out onto dirt or sand, the earth absorbs it. What makes lakes and oceans not do the same?” Good question, Manny!
There are a few reasons for why lakes and oceans don’t just seep into the ground. If we’re talking about a lakebed that’s made up of soft dirt or sand, it’s just a matter of saturation. If you poured enough water into a bucket full of sand, it would stop sinking and start pooling near the top, right? In the same way, the earth beneath many lakes starts by absorbing water, but eventually it just can’t anymore and a lake forms. But other lakes, and pretty much all oceans, don’t have soft dirt beneath them. They sit on a foundation of hard clay or rock, which doesn’t absorb water in the first place.
But that doesn’t mean the Earth doesn’t swallow water up from time to time, anyway. In fact, the Earth’s mantle sucks down hundreds of millions of gallons of water every day in what’s known as the deep water cycle. It starts when tectonic plates collide deep beneath the ocean, which wedges one plate beneath the other and produces a fault in the ocean floor that’s immediately filled with water. Sometimes the fault goes deep enough to reach the Earth’s mantle, where a lot of it stays trapped. Some studies estimate that as much as four oceans’ worth of water is stored in the mantle right now. Eventually, a lot of that water bubbles out of hydrothermal vents or explodes out of undersea volcanoes, and the cycle begins again. Who knew the deep sea got so violent? Thanks for your question, Manny! If you have a question, send it in to podcast at curiosity dot com.
CODY: Before we recap what we learned today, here’s a quick programming note: you didn’t think we were done talking with Alan Alda, did you? Because we had so much more to talk about! That’s why this Sunday, we’re going to release a special bonus episode of Curiosity Daily featuring even more of our conversation with Alan.
ASHLEY: Keep an eye on your podcast feed this weekend to hear Alan talk about what’s stopping people from believing in science, an exercise he uses to build empathy, and more. Okay, so now, let’s recap what we learned today.
CODY: Today we learned that communication improves drastically once you’ve really made a connection with another person.
ASHLEY: And that you appear dumber if you act like you know something and you don’t.
CODY: And that hundreds of millions of gallons of water get sucked into the Earth’s mantle, but water also comes back up thanks to hydrothermal vents and undersea volcanoes. Thanks, deep water cycle!
[ad lib optional]
ASHLEY: Today’s episode was scripted, produced, and edited by Cody Gough.
CODY: Today’s episode was also scripted by Ashley Hamer, who’s the managing editor of Curiosity.com. Have a great weekend, and join us again for a special episode with Alan Alda this Sunday to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: Until then, stay curious!