So apparently there’s an amazing show on WNYZ/NPR called Radiolab that showcases philosophical and scientific matter. It first popped on the air in 2005 and won a National Academies Communication Award in 2007. It’s got all sorts of cool information and to this day I would still not know about it if not for a live performance that occured in town at the Keller Auditorium. Radiolab Live: Apocalyptical is a show about cataclysmic destruction. Say that with me: Cataclysmic Destruction. Spelled b-a-d-a-s-s.
The team at Radiolab was like nothing I’d seen before. Not only were there life-size dinosaurs (which were excellently played by the actor) but we had live rock&roll and the accompaniment of Reggie Watts, one of my favorite comedian/musicians around right now. The whole experience enveloped us by bringing back what we were taught in elementary school – that dinosaurs just died one day. Maybe it got hot. Maybe they were killed by an asteroid. Well, by bringing new revelations of science in we got an accurate picture of just what, where, and when things really occurred.
Over the next two hours we learned what an asteroid would do to the Earth with such force, and the 32 miles of depth it would take before stopping. We learned of all the earth, water, and other materials that escaped in the temporary hole it ripped through our atmosphere, how much time it took for those materials to spread around the globe in miniscule pieces which morphed into sand-like particles, and how the atmosphere heated to dynamic proportions – equating to almost 2,200 degrees farenheit – within a matter of hours. Everything above ground dies, and fast. Why do we still have alligators and rats? Because anything more than 3.5ft below surface is protected. And where does that mean humans came from?
Without ruining everything, my full recommendation goes out to the broadcast and it’s incredible live performance. Take a moment to listen to them on WNYC and NPR or pull up a few of their podcasts. You won’t be disappointing.
-Tizz
The Tizz 