As with all things scientific, The Inoculated Mind Mindcast started out as an experiment. After writing a science column called The Inoculated Mind for The California Aggie newspaper at UC Davis for two years, Karl had an itch to try out talking about science on the radio. Meanwhile, a new Low-Power FM (LPFM) community radio station was starting up and looking for show programmers. Not wasting any time, Karl applied and was accepted for an hour-long time slot on Wednesday evenings. When KDRT-LP 101.5 launched in the fall of 2004, Karl was on the air in the first week taking a stab at talking about science news. He finished his third year of writing for The Aggie during his first year on the radio, handing off The Aggie’s first-ever science column space to other interested students who want to try out science journalism.
After a few months, Karl overcame his on-the-air timidity, and started inviting guests. He also moved to a longer, 1.5 hour time slot on Thursday evenings. Having more time allowed him to slow down in his explanations, and play the science fiction soundtrack music that became a rotating backdrop for discussing the science of the week. After a couple landmark interviews with visiting fringe science activists, he started booking interviews one after the other for what was then just called The Inoculated Mind Radio. Karl began each show with “Citizens of Davis.”
In the summer of 2005, Karl started podcasting the show. The first podcasted episode featured a discussion with two opposing viewpoints on the topic of genetically engineered crops, a topic of particular science communication interest for him. Numbered as Episode zero, it reemains the most listened-to episode yet online. Airing almost every week, with a rebroadcast on Saturdays, and episodes now online, The Inoculated Mind Radio and Mindcast began each show with “Citizens of Earth.”
The show ran for the next two years on KDRT-LP until Karl was accepted to graduate school at UW-Madison. The 75th and then-final episode aired on May 10th, 2007 in what was the most-planned (and most-malfunctional) show, featuring a debate on religion and evolution, the return of Karl’s evil clone, and a big life change for both Karl and his significant other.
Vowing to return to radio and podcasting in Madison, Wisconsin, Karl recorded four podcast-only episodes in the spring of 2008. Intending to keep it going, he realized that he needed to improve the show format for listeners and prospective radio stations in Madison. He paused recording to solicit input from his listeners, and because of a very busy period in graduate school and his personal life, it wasn’t until a year later that the show was ready to re-launch in 2009.
The story doesn’t end here. Check back in the coming weeks for the relaunch of The Inoculated Mind Mindcast in the summer of 2009, with your host, Karl Haro von Mogel.
For more information on how to listen to the show, go here.
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