Radiolab: "Tell Me A Story"

Podcast: Radiolab (WNYC Studios)
Date: July 29, 2008
Host/Speaker: Robert Krulwich

Episode Overview

This episode centers on a commencement address delivered by Radiolab's Robert Krulwich to the 2008 graduating class of Caltech. The talk passionately advocates for scientists—and by extension, anyone versed in complex knowledge—to share their work and discoveries with the wider public through storytelling. Krulwich explores the power of narrative in science communication, contrasting legendary storytellers like Galileo with those who preferred to hide in academic obscurity, and explains why communicating science to non-experts is both essential and urgent in the modern world.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Dilemma of Science Communication

• Graduates’ Challenge: Soon after graduation, someone—an uncle, a friend, a parent—will ask, "What were you working on?" Most won't understand scientific jargon.
• Science vs. Popular Interest: Many scientists feel ill-equipped to bridge that gap, thinking: "There's no way I can talk about my science with this guy... it's too hard."
• Historical Precedent: Isaac Newton intentionally made his writing impenetrable to "avoid being baited by little smatterers in mathematics" (04:40). Krulwich argues strongly against this closed approach.

2. The Stakes: Science Stories vs. Other Narratives

• Competing Stories: Science must compete with Bible stories, myths, and popular culture, which can be compelling and easier to grasp.
• Global Perspective: Krulwich uses the example of Turkey, where creationist narratives are outpacing scientific explanations in schools due to slick, accessible storytelling (09:35).
  • Creationist textbooks use visuals and simple language, resulting in only 25% of the Turkish public in 2006 agreeing that humans evolved from earlier species (10:39).
• The Threat: These narratives are "not a gentle competition," and science risks fading from public view if scientists don't tell better stories.

3. The Value System of Science

• Values Beyond Facts: Science is about more than discoveries—it's about cultivating curiosity, doubt, open-mindedness, honesty, and patience (13:31).
  • “If you can learn how to sit down in a laboratory and think in an orderly way... you're welcome here." (14:50)
• Science Experiment as Story: Each experiment is itself a narrative—a hypothesis tested against reality.

4. Galileo vs. Newton: The Power of Story

• Galileo the Communicator: Galileo wrote for the public, using Italian, visuals, conversation, and humor. His books threatened the church not just due to their scientific content, but due to their accessible, entertaining style (17:16).
• Newton the Academic: Newton wrote in dense Latin, for scholars only.

5. The Magnetic Pull of Stories

• Modern Example: Science shows can captivate millions, but people can switch to an "aliens examine cocktail waitresses" program just as easily, believing both stories indiscriminately (19:55).
  • Pop Culture Parody: Krulwich refers to the TV show Friends, where Ross (the scientist) can't sway the ever-skeptical Phoebe, despite all his evidence (21:00).

6. The Necessity and Limits of Metaphor

• Communicating Difficult Science: As science advances, its truths become more abstract and counterintuitive, requiring metaphor and narrative to make sense to the general public (21:57).
• Debate Among Scientists: Some (e.g., Heisenberg vs. Schrödinger) see metaphors as misleading, preferring pure math; others find narrative indispensable (23:00).
  • “There is a tension… between two kinds of truth, math and narrative.” (23:41)

7. The Call to Arms: Telling Better Stories

• Science Communication as Defense: Good stories make the scientific worldview "stickier" and more joyful—potentially “smoting” rivals with delight (24:21).
• Concrete Example: The tale of Bob the dinosaur: How paleontologist Mary Schweitzer, through detective-like science, demonstrated the bird-dinosaur link with a real pregnant T. rex and a dead ostrich (24:38–25:40).
  • This narrative arms non-scientists with stories to counter anti-scientific views.

8. Conclusion & Charge to Graduates

• Protecting Science: The culture of freedom and inquiry is "rare, precious, and fragile." Graduates must share its value by boldly telling their stories to those outside academia (25:45).
  • “Take a chance. Find the words, find the metaphor, share the beauty and tell them what’s on your mind. Tell them a story.” (25:39)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Newton's exclusivity:

  “To avoid being baited by little smatterers in mathematics.” (04:40)

• On the importance of storytelling:

  “Scientists need to tell stories to non-scientists because science stories ... have to compete with other stories about how the universe works ... and some of those other stories ... can be very beautiful and very compelling.” (06:02)

• On Galileo’s communication style:

  “Unlike Newton, he had a flair for narrative, a storyteller’s sense. ... He didn’t write it in Latin, he wrote it in Italian for a mass audience. And the writing was gorgeous. It was poetic, it was combative, it was funny.” (17:16)

• Pop culture on the challenge:

  “People are not scrupulous about stories, truths, fiction. ... It’s like this endless back and forth between Ross and Phoebe in the TV show Friends.” (20:59)

• The beauty & necessity of metaphor:

  “Because the more abstract and mathematical science gets, the more we need to imagine something concrete. As the physicist Alan Lightman has said, we are blind people inventing what we don’t see.” (22:56)

• Call to Action:

  “Find the words, find the metaphor, share the beauty and tell them what’s on your mind. Tell them a story.” (25:39)

Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:00] – Robert Krulwich sets up the episode, explaining the context of his commencement address.
• [03:30] – The challenge of explaining science to non-experts.
• [04:40] – Isaac Newton’s reason for writing in dense language.
• [06:02] – Why scientists must tell appealing stories.
• [09:35] – Detailed discussion of creationist science in Turkey.
• [13:30] – Science is built on more than knowledge; it’s about values.
• [17:16] – Galileo as a master storyteller and why that mattered.
• [19:55] – How popular stories—true or otherwise—compete for attention.
• [21:00] – The Friends “Ross and Phoebe” parable.
• [21:57] – The importance (and controversy) of metaphor in science.
• [23:41] – The tension between mathematical and narrative truth in science.
• [24:38] – The story of Bob the dinosaur (science as detective story).
• [25:39] – The concluding call to scientists: "Tell them a story."

Tone and Style

Robert Krulwich's delivery is witty, warm, and passionate. He moves easily between humor, pop culture, and earnest exhortation, always rooting arguments in vivid examples and analogies. The mood is encouraging, occasionally playful, and wraps up with a sense of shared purpose and joy in discovery.

For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

If you haven't listened, this episode is a powerful meditation on why telling true, accessible, and memorable stories about science is not just beneficial—it's essential. Through memorable anecdotes (from Galileo to Friends to a pregnant T. rex), Krulwich equips listeners and new scientists alike to go out and claim a place for science in the broader tapestry of human narrative. The heart of the episode: delight, metaphor, and accessibility are the most formidable tools for defending and celebrating the scientific worldview.