Ira Flatow

Veteran National Public Radio (NPR) science correspondent and award-winning journalist Ira Flatow is host of “Talk of the Nation: Science Friday” bringing radio and Internet listeners worldwide a lively, informative discussion on science, technology, health, space and the environment. Flatow is also founder and president of a nonprofit company dedicated to creating radio, TV and Internet projects that make science “user friendly.” Mixing his passion for science with a tendency toward being "a bit of a ham," he describes his work as the challenge “to make science and technology a topic for discussion around the dinner table.”

Flatow has shared that enthusiasm with public radio listeners for more than 35 years. As NPR's science correspondent, he has reported from the Kennedy Space Center, Three Mile Island, Antarctica and the South Pole. In one memorable report, he took former “All Things Considered” host Susan Stamberg into a closet to crunch Wint-O-Green Lifesavers, proving they spark in the dark.

On television, Flatow has discussed the latest cutting edge science stories on a variety of programs, including the new digital Cablevision program,Maximum Science. He is also host of the four-part PBS series Big Ideas. His numerous credits include host and writer for the Emmy-award-winning Newton's Apple on PBS, science reporter for CBS This Morning, and cable's CNBC. Flatow has also talked science on many talk shows, including The Today Show, Charlie Rose, and Oprah.

On the Internet, Flatow has hosted numerous science related Web Casts for Discovery Online and the American Museum of Natural History. His Science Friday Kids' Connection web pages won the award for one of the top 500 web sites in the country from Home PC Magazine. His Podcasts are among the most listened to on the Internet, frequently in the top-ten of all downloads on the iTunes web site.

In print, Flatow has written articles for various magazines ranging from Woman's Day to ESPN Magazine to American Lawyer. He is the author of two books: They All Laughed...From Light Bulbs to Lasers: The Fascinating Stories Behind the Great Inventions That Have Changed Our Lives and Rainbows, Curve Balls and Other Wonders of the Natural World Explained.

Flatow has spoken at Rockefeller University, the World Economic Forum, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett Packard, Calvin Academy, Cal Tech, MIT, Harvard, National Inventor’s Hall of Fame and the Kentucky Author Forum. In 2004, he was resident scholar at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. His recent honors include the National Science Board Public Service Award, World Economic Forum Media Fellowship, AAAS Journalism award and the Carl Sagan Award. He is also a member of the National Association of Science Writers.