Produced with the familiar cadence of NPR\u2019s \u201cThis American Life,\u201d Puoci\u2019s podcast, \u201cAt This Point<\/a>,\u201d wants to make science accessible by exploring topics that, At This Point, may seem too complex to understand. Topics like a small device that can run a blood test without expensive machinery or even electricity, and maybe help save a baby\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A podcast was not on Puoci\u2019s college bucket list. A fourth-year Honors biochemistry and molecular biology major, Puoci once \u2014 back in early high school \u2014 thought he would be a doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI thought I was going to do pre-med, because who doesn\u2019t?\u201d he says, laughing. \u201cI\u2019d say, \u2018I\u2019m going to do science\u2019 and people would say, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re going to be a doctor?\u2019 \u2018Well, I guess; I don\u2019t know what else there is.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then he thought maybe biomedical engineering, \u201cbecause that sounded fancy. I never really knew what specific kind of biology, chemistry \u2014 any of that stuff \u2014 there was until my senior year [of high school] when I did a unit on biochemistry and went, \u2018Oh. This is what I want to be doing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But one required class, Scientific Theory and Practice, put a 90-degree bend in his assumed trajectory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The small class of 20 or so students tackled everything from methods to ethics: What responsibility does the scientist have to the public? How and where is research reported \u2013 only in journals read by scientists? Is it written in a way everyone can understand?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was wrestling with the idea of science being inaccessible,\u201d Puoci says. \u201cI wanted to continue those conversations about why isn\u2019t science more accessible, and how can we make it more accessible?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So he delved more deeply into the questions with his professor after nearly every class, searching for an answer for the problem discussed the previous hour. Did the answer make sense? What were the drawbacks? Did alternative options exist, and if so, what was the fallout?<\/p>\n\n\n\n He discovered he was just as passionate about the questions as the answers. What does science owe society? How responsible are scientists for helping the public understand science\u2019s methods and discoveries? And what could he<\/em> do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt This Point\u201d took seed in Puoci\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe [scientists] all know we do really cool work, but we need to tell others,\u201d he said. His advisor recommended he add to his major a certificate in Scientific, Technical, and Professional Communication. The certificate includes classes like media writing and technical writing, to learn how<\/em> to do the telling. \u201cAnd that got me to this project,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What if his science experiment used words instead of chemicals?<\/p>\n\n\n\n What if it were on the internet instead of in a lab?<\/p>\n\n\n\n What if he explained complex science methods in terms his grandparents followed, and used language his three younger sisters understood?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Puoci proposed a science podcast project to his mentor. A podcast focused on undergraduate research, produced for the general public, using immersive storytelling \u2014 inspired by WNYC\u2019s Radiolab and NPR\u2019s \u201cThis American Life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think science is really cool, and I think other people should have access to understanding how cool science is,\u201d Puoci says. His mentor appreciated his passion, but also cautioned him. As non-traditional as the proposal was, it may not gain funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFrom researching science to reporting science<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Paying for a podcast<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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