Tonight, the Perpetual Notion Machine looks back on some of our best shows for the year 2020. We don’t usually do this for our last show of the year, but this year has been so debilitating, caustic, and just plain pathetic. Maybe, starting tomorrow, things can change, even for just a little bit. During this program, you will hear four short clips from some of PNM’s shows. The first clip comes from a PNM panel discussion of COVID-19 and potential vaccines that aired September 10. We have had many guests on PNM talking about various aspects of the coronavirus from Karen Smith, explaining stress related to isolation, to Matt Reynolds, discussing the immune system. But, on this show Ary Clarke discusses clinical trials and Kelly Schwartz explains the safety protocols that go into vaccine development.
Clip 2 comes from the January 9 show where Ary, Matt Blackburn, and Kevin Lauterjung discuss some of the science from the sci-fi movie Ad Astra.
Clip 3 comes from the June 4 show where Wisconsin Energy Broadcast producer Heather Allen talks about a microgrid installation with Steve Nieland, Director of Energy Solutions for Faith Technologies. If 2020 wasn’t bad enough, WEB ended their program on September 3rd. Thanks Heather and Nan Fey for a great three year run! We’ll miss you!
And finally, clip 4 combines two short samples from shows produced by two of our three new PNM volunteers. The first part has Anita Nsubuga talking with UW-Madison astronomer Robert Mathieu for a show from August 20. Then, Robert W. Monthey talks with retired DNR biologist Patrick Kaiser about the reintroduction of wild turkeys back to Wisconsin for the Thanksgiving Day show. The third newcomer is Emily Morris who did a show on December 10 concerning a new chemical process to break down plastic.
You can find the complete audio for all of these shows on the PNM webpage. Look for the date the show originally aired.
Most of the music heard throughout this show was provided by PNM’er Robert W. Monthey. But the closing music to end the show, and a fitting end to a year that discredited science, is the song “Science is Real” by the band They Might Be Giants. Let’s all hope that 2021 is better than 2020!
