updates

Darksyde, over at Daily Kos, has been a really great supporter over the years. I can't thank him enough for this recent, very appreciative review of Storm World, which includes this paragraph (I'm not worthy): "The book manages to pull together so many stories and personalities from across decades of time and divergent disciplines of science into a single, seamless coherent, and entertaining read -at times reminiscent of science writer Isaac Assimov's fabulous non-fiction/anecdotal approach -- that there's simply no way I could do it full justice here. You'll just have to either read the…
I will be appearing live on the Bill Press Show, the top rated progressive morning radio show, tomorrow morning at around 8:30 am ET. You can listen here. The subject is Storm World. Bill broadcasts right out of the Center for American Progress building, and after the show the Mooney-Nisbet talk on site will begin....so it'll be a busy morning. But I hope to have something to say about the new GAO report on federal agency media policies for scientists...
Well, folks: The Storm World talk in Grand Rapids went quite well--Ed Brayton was there, it was fantastic to meet him for the first time, and he's got a post up about my talk entitled "Hurricane Mooney." The oddness of giving a speech about hurricanes in Michigan was not lost upon me, but I had an attentive crowd of some 140 people, thanks to the great organizing of the Freethought Association of Michigan, which is a really stellar group. I was very impressed. And just to make the talk locally relevant, I told them all about "Hurricane Huron" of 1996. Check it out. It really happened...but if…
Some of you may have expected or sensed that it was going to happen. But now, I can finally announce that it's official: I have invited Sheril Kirshenbaum, who did such a spectacular job blogging here in my absence a few weeks back, to come on to blog here permanently. And she has accepted. "The Intersection" will thus become a two person blog....and all of you will be regaled regularly by Sheril's awesome and unique blend of science and pop culture commentary. I'm not sure I really need to introduce Sheril much more fully at this point. But for those who may have been on, say, the Andaman…
After giving the Mooney-Nisbet talk in New York on Monday, I had the pleasure of hanging out with a group of young scientists who had come to attend. To me that's a key point of our speaking tour: To create events, both intellectual and social, where young scientists can engage with new ideas about communication...and then go out and have a few beers afterwards. Even if it's a Monday night. So I'm glad to see that some of my compatriots from Monday also blogged about the talk. Check out: Kate Seip, who says that "three questions remain unanswered"; I am about to answer her in the comments…
Back from Italy, that is. I had a great, relaxing time in Venice and, later, in Udine and the little town of Manzano, where I'd gone for an old friend's beautiful (and entirely secular!) wedding. But no more on that, it's entirely non-science related. This post is just to let you know of my return and, above all, to thank our guest bloggers: Norm Doering, Bryan Mignone, Mark Drapeau....and last but hardly least, Sheril, who I think has an incredible knack for this. I calculate that her posts from last week generated 96 comments! Not bad for a rookie. So feel free to use the comments here to…
Well, it was a tough decision. There were a lot of great ideas, suggestions, and proposals about who to have blog here next week in my absence. In fact, there were so many good ideas that I'm going to invite some folks who are not stepping up to the plate this time around to come back and do it the next time I go off on some wild vacation somewhere. But for the current opening, a theme was clearly emerging among the possible bloggers I considered: the "third culture," a concept of John Brockman's. When I think "third culture," I think of people who are involved in science but not just…
Folks: After checking with my publisher, Basic Books, I'm pleased to announce that my first book, The Republican War on Science, has sold 50,000 copies (counting hardcover, paperback, translations, etc). Thanks to all of you who picked up one or more of those copies, and I hope you enjoyed it. This of course sets a fairly high bar for the next book, Storm World, due out on July 9. But for what it's worth, I actually feel that with Storm World I've matured as a writer and delivered what is, in many ways, a better book. We'll see if readers agree....
I'm going to try something new here at "The Intersection," hoping I don't regret it. I'm going to be traveling to Italy for a friend's wedding roughly May 21 through May 28. And I've sworn that, for once, I'm not bringing my computer along. So for that week, rather than having the blog go dormant, I'd like to have a guest blogger take my place. If you'd like to be that guest blogger, leave a comment or send me an email (and give at least some explanation as to why you're interested). Note: Assuming that multiple folks want to take over here for a week, the guest blogger I pick will be the…
I've had a wonderful time in Australia; as will be shown in my forthcoming Seed column, the experience has also been very eye opening in a lot of ways. It's winding down, though: I do one last talk here in Sydney, and then it's off back to the states on that ridiculously long plane ride. Tim Lambert (who I'll get to meet for the first time soon enough) has already blogged the talk, but here are the details: Tuesday, April 246:30 PM-8:00 PMBerkelouw Books--Leichhardt70 Norton StreetSydney, Australia NSW 2040 And then, when I get back to the states, it will be time for some talks on "framing…
I looked out my window this morning in Melbourne--after sleeping off jet lag--and saw seven hot air balloons in the sky. You would never see something like that over a U.S. city. It was a pretty good introduction to the awesome country that I have the fortune of visiting for the next 10 days. I'll have many more posts about Australia, I hope, but first, here's a comprehensive listing of the public events I'll be doing while down here. Originally there was one, then there were two...now there are four! My speaking schedule is kind of like exposing Gremlins to water. Anyway, here they are,…
I didn't know there was a reporter in the audience. But the Salt Lake Tribune has a full length write-up of the talk I gave at the University of Utah law school on Monday. It nicely quotes the central punch-line of my (new) presentation, which obviously differs in tone from the talks I gave before the Democrats retook Congress in November 2006: "Now is the time to talk about solutions," Mooney said. You can read the rest of the article here.
I've had some great travel experiences over the past week--taking in the National Hurricane Conference; sleeping in my mom's FEMA trailer; getting to try out a new talk (with "framing" content) in Camarillo, CA, and Salt Lake City, UT; getting to see Sandhill Cranes and strutting Sage Grouse in Park City, UT--but it has all tired me out massively. Luckily, this evening I get back to D.C. (am currently bloging from the Denver airport). That will be a relief. But of course, I'm off to Australia on Thursday, where I'll be giving the opening plenary speech at the World Conference of Science…
I've had a very illuminating time here in New Orleans at the National Hurricane Conference, but now it's off to California for this event tomorrow: Saturday, April 7, 7:00 PM-8:30 PMCalifornia State University Channel IslandsAliso Hall AuditoriumCamarillo, CA* Public Lecture sponsored by the Political Science Program Then I'm on to Utah for this one: Monday, April 9, 4:30 PM-6:00 PMUniversity of Utah S.J. Quinney College of LawSutherland Moot CourtroomSalt Lake City UT* Public lecture Blogging is always tough from the road, but I'll have more on responses to our Science article, as well as…
My apologies about the lack of blogging--I've been running around New Orleans, and it's been hard to get online. I hope to post more soon, but in the meantime, a brief announcement: I'll be appearing on EarthBeat Radio later this morning--10:20 ET--and you can listen to the webcast at the WPFW site. The show host is Mike Tidwell, author of Bayou Farewell, and I'll be appearing with Joe Romm, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress who served in the Clinton Department of Energy. His blog, Climate Progress, is here. Anyhow, I hope you'll listen in. I am sure the recent Supreme Court…
It's probably a bit late for this notification, but I'm giving a public talk tomorrow: Washington, DCLecture at "Restoring Scientific Integrity" ConferenceSaturday, March 3110:00 AM-12:00 PMCenter for Inquiry D.C.621 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E.$ 10.00, RSVP requiredWashington, DC 20003(202) 546-2330 Sorry about the ten bucks, it's not my decision. Then after that, I'm off to New Orleans for a week to visit the folks and attend the National Hurricane Conference. It's a big deal, obviously, that it's being held there. I'll be blogging from on site, as time and technology permits....
I don't usually announce things like this. But I just noticed that Amazon.com has started selling my first book in hardback for $ 6.99. It was originally $ 24.95. So if you ever wanted a copy but didn't get one, now is probably the time. To be sure, the paperback version of the book contains newer info and a new introduction--but, believe it or not, it's now more expensive than the hardcover. How things change. This announcement prompts a related musing: The Republican War on Science is now roughly a year and a half old. It first hit in hardback in the fall of 2005, right around the time of…
...in the "General Excellence" category for publications with a circulation between 100,000 and 250,000. Details here. The issues nominated are June/July, November, December/January. I've posted the covers below, along with my pieces from each issue. Congrats to all the hardworking and visionary folks at the magazine! As Science Goes, So Goes the Nation: How the White House misunderestimated the height, width, breadth and depth of a crucial cultural meme. Science 2006: For too long scientists have approached politics with one hand tied behind their backs. This November, that's going to…
The big action today in science and politics is clearly going to be on Capitol Hill, where Henry Waxman is holding his second "scientific integrity" oversight hearing. According to Rick Piltz, C-SPAN will be broadcasting the hearing live for those who are interested. As for me, I'm heading to the Hill early to get a seat, and will only be blogging again once I get back..... P.S.: To ready yourself for the fireworks today, why not re-read a few of Andrew Revkin's "greatest hits"--exposes in The New York Times that really helped launch Henry Waxman's investigations: "Bush Aide Softened…
I've just added some new stops on the Chris Mooney "book tour" page. Not that I'm really on "book tour" at the moment, but, er, I certainly am pretty addicted to travel. And so in the next few months I'll be hitting some new spots where I've never given talks before: Saturday, April 7, 7:00 PM-8:30 PMCalifornia State University Channel IslandsAliso Hall AuditoriumCamarillo, CA* Public Lecture sponsored by the Political Science Program Monday, April 9, 4:30 PM-6:00 PMUniversity of Utah S.J. Quinney College of LawSutherland Moot CourtroomSalt Lake City UT* Public lecture in a place where the…