I’ve written and presented more than a dozen feature-length radio documentaries, the majority prepared for the CBC Radio program Ideas. I’ve also written or produced a variety of shorter features for the CBC and other outlets. Some highlights:
Hunting for Neutrinos at Fermilab (The Science Show, ABC Australia — October 2018)
Neutrinos are tiny, ubiquitous particles that pass effortlessly through solid matter and are notoriously difficult to detect — and yet they could help answer some of the deepest questions about our universe. Listen to my short documentary for ABC Radio National’s The Science Show, recorded during my recent visit to the laboratory.
Listen via the ABC website, or download the episode.
The Value of Thought Experiments (The Philosopher’s Zone, ABC Radio, Australia — January 2018)
Science is rooted in “empiricism” — the idea that the only way to learn about nature is via experiment and observation. But what if you could gain new knowledge just by thinking about a problem?
Listen via the ABC website, or download the episode.
The Politics of the Professoriat (CBC Radio “Ideas” – Sept. 2017)
Universities have long prided themselves in the free exchange of ideas. But according to social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, campuses now skew so far to the left that they’ve become “political monocultures.” In this program, host Paul Kennedy speaks with Prof. Haidt and other scholars.
Building the James Webb Space Telescope (The Science Show, ABC Radio, Australia – August 2015)
At a cost of $9billion, The James Webb Space Telescope – successor to the Hubble – is one of the most expensive science projects ever undertaken. Dan Falk visits the Goddard Space Center, near Washington DC, where the telescope is taking shape.
Listen via the ABC website or download the podcast.
The Tommy dilemma: What are the limits of personhood? (The Philosopher’s Zone, ABC Radio, Australia – December 2014)
A group called the Nonhuman Rights Project is lobbying for “personhood” for chimpanzees and other high-functioning animals – but what are the philosophical implications?
Listen via the ABC website or download the podcast.
The Science of Shakespeare (CBC Radio “Ideas” – April 2014)
William Shakespeare was born 450 years ago this month, into a period when new ideas about the human body, the earth and the universe were threatening the old medieval worldview. Journalist and author Dan Falk examines the science of the Bard of Avon.
Listen via the Ideas website or download the podcast.
Mind and Machine (CBC Radio “Ideas” – September 2013)
Sixty years ago, Artificial Intelligence — “AI” — was in its infancy. Now it promises to transform our world beyond recognition. In this two part series, Dan Falk explores the new promise and peril of intelligent machines, from the pioneering work of Alan Turing to self-driving cars and beyond.
The Science of Morality (CBC Radio “Ideas” – October 2012)
How do we know right from wrong? For centuries, religion and philosophy tried to provide answers. Now psychology, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology are weighing in. What can science tell us about our moral beliefs? Science journalist Dan Falk investigates, in this two-part series.
Listen via the Ideas website or download the podcast.
The Psychology of Facebook (CBC Radio “Spark” – June 19, 2011)
Psychologists are discovering that men and women use the social networking site very differently. (Report begins at 27:04)
Listen via the Spark website or download the podcast.
Jewish Atheism (CBC Radio “Tapestry” – 2010)
Why does Judaism – for some people – often seem to go hand in hand with atheism? A short documentary for the CBC program Tapestry.
Listen via the Tapestry website.
God’s Astronomer (CBC Radio “Tapestry” – 2009)
In the spring of 2009 I met with Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno at the Mount Graham Observatory in Arizona. Consolmagno is a first rate scientist who also happens to be a Jesuit brother. My profile of Consolmagno aired on the CBC program Tapestry.
Listen via the Tapestry website.
The Idea of Genius (CBC Radio “Ideas” – 2011)
We live in awe of genius, of those few individuals capable of producing Hamlet, the Fifth Symphony, or the Theory of Relativity. Genius is more than talent, but what exactly is it? In this two-part series, science journalist Dan Falk explores our obsession with those who achieve greatness.
Listen via CBC Radio “Ideas” website.
Looking Up (CBC Radio “Ideas” – 2009)
Four hundred years ago, Galileo Galilei aimed his telescope skyward for the first time – and our universe changed forever. Science journalist Dan Falk tells the remarkable story of Galileo and the revolution he began.
Listen via CBC Radio “Ideas” website.
Living on Oxford Time (CBC Radio “Ideas” – 2008)
The guidebooks say that ‘time stands still’ among the dreaming spires of Oxford – and modern physics seems to agree. Journalist Dan Falk meets with three brilliant Oxford scientists – Roger Penrose, David Deutsch, and Julian Barbour – and searches for insight into a most peculiar dimension.
Listen via CBC Radio “Ideas” website.
Einstein’s Cosmos (CBC Radio “Ideas” – 2005)
In June of 1905, a German physics journal published Albert Einstein’s first paper on relativity. A tour thorough Einstein’s universe, with science journalist Dan Falk.
In the Beginning (CBC Radio “Ideas” – 2004)
Dan Falk winds back the clock to the birth of the cosmos 14 billion years ago, revealing strange worlds of dark energy and extra dimensions – perhaps even universes beyond our own. (Winner of a Gold Medal in Radio Programming from the New York Festivals.)
The Matter of Mind (CBC Radio “Ideas” – 2001)
No problem in science is more challenging that the puzzle of consciousness – how three pounds of grey matter gives rise to our experience of the world. A two-part Ideas documentary from science journalist Dan Falk.
The Question of Design (CBC Radio “Ideas” – 2000)
Our universe displays beauty, complexity, and order. For some, that indicates “design” – and, by extension, a designer; a proof, perhaps, for the existence of God. But science challenged that view, describing a universe that unfolds blindly by natural law. Yet design arguments continue to surface, from the anthropic principle in cosmology to the “intelligent design” movement in biology. Dan Falk weighs the evidence. (Winner of a Science in Society Journalism Award – honourable mention, from the Canadian Science Writers’ Association.)
Keeping Time (CBC Radio “Ideas” – 1999)
The urge to track the passage of time has captivated human beings from the very beginning. A look at the history of timekeeping, from sundials to atomic clocks, with science journalist Dan Falk.
Visions of the Apocalypse (CBC Radio “Ideas” – 1998)
Our species has always feared “the end” from biblical prophesies to the modern spectacle of nuclear war and environmental destruction. A look at the history of the end of the world, with science journalist Dan Falk. (Winner of the Science in Society Journalism Award from the U.S. National Association of Science Writers.)
From Empedocles to Einstein (CBC Radio “Ideas” – 1997)
The quest to discover the “Theory of Everything,” from the ancient Greeks to string theory, with science journalist Dan Falk. (Winner of the Science Writing Awards in Physics and Astronomy from the American Institute of Physics.)
The Large Hadron Collider (Australian Broadcasting Corp. “The Science Show” – 2008)
In 2008, physicists fired up the largest and most powerful particle accelerator the world has ever seen – the Large Hadron Collider. In this documentary – first broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s The Science Show – Dan Falk visits the LHC and investigates the physics behind the megaproject.
Einstein as Icon (CBC Radio “The Sunday Edition” – 2005)
Einstein was – and is – much more than just a towering scientific figure. Einstein made the great leap from scientific fame to cultural icon. In this documentary, first broadcast on CBC Radio’s The Sunday Edition, science journalist Dan Falk looks at the forces that shaped Einstein’s rise to fame, and kept him there for a hundred years. (Winner of the Science in Society Journalism Award from the Canadian Science Writers’ Association.)
In Search of Ancient Stymphalos (CBC Radio “Quirks & Quarks” – 1996)
The story behind the dig: A team of Canadian archeologists and summer students struggle to bring an ancient Greek village to life. First broadcast on CBC Radio’s Quirks & Quarks.