Ira Flatow (; born March 9, 1949) is a radio and television journalist and author who hosts

Public Radio International Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States. PRI was one of the main providers of programmi ...

's popular program '' Science Friday''. On TV, he hosted the

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-winning PBS series ''

Newton's Apple ''Newton's Apple'' is an American educational television program produced and developed by KTCA of Minneapolis–Saint Paul, and distributed to PBS stations in the United States that ran from October 15, 1983, to January 3, 1998, with reruns con ...

'', a television science program for children and their families."Ira Flatow"

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

. Retrieved January 15, 2013. Later he hosted another PBS series, ''Big Ideas''. He has published several books, the most recent titled ''Present at the Future: From Evolution to Nanotechnology, Candid and Controversial Conversations on Science and Nature''.

Personal life

Flatow is a native of New York and currently lives in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

. He has been married to realtor Miriam Flatow (née Wagenberg) since 1983 and has three children.

Education

Flatow graduated from State University of New York at Buffalo with a BS in Engineering in 1971.

Career

In 1966, Flatow began his career in broadcasting working in television at KHD-21 TV at H. Frank Carey High School in Franklin Square, New York. In 1969, Flatow began working in radio at WBFO, in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, first as a reporter covering Vietnam anti-war demonstrations and riots and then as news director, 1971. During this time, he was working on an engineering degree at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Flatow's first science stories were created in 1970 during the first

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...

National Public Radio

From 1971 to 1986, he was on staff at NPR serving as a production assistant, associate producer, producer and science correspondent and reported on topics including the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 196 ...

, Three Mile Island,

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

and the South Pole. From 1991 to 2013 he hosted Science Friday for NPR, which he anchored each Friday afternoon, discussing topics in science and technology.

PRI, Public Radio International

On January 1, 2014, the ''Science Friday'' program moved from NPR to PRI (

) with Flatow continuing as host.

WNYC Studios

On April 11, 2018, distribution of ''Science Friday'' changed hands once more when it went from PRI to WNYC Studios.

Television

From 1982 through 1987 he hosted the Emmy Award-winning PBS science program ''Newton's Apple'', which originated at

KTCA Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. (abbreviated TPT, doing business as Twin Cities PBS) is a nonprofit organization based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that operates the Twin Cities' two PBS member television stations, KTCA-TV (channe ...

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

. In 1991, Flatow wrote and reported science and technology for CBS News' ''

CBS This Morning ''CBS This Morning'' (''CTM'') is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 30, 1987, to October 29, 1999, and again from January 9, 2012, to September 6, 2021. The program was aired from Monday through Saturday. ...

''. He has discussed cutting-edge science on a number of programs, including the

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its e ...

program ''Maximum Science''. He hosted the PBS series ''Big Ideas'' produced by

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...

. His TV credits include science reporter for ''CBS This Morning'', Westinghouse, and cable's

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk s ...

. Flatow wrote, produced and hosted an hour-long documentary about the history of the

transistor upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink). A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch ...

called ''Transistorized!'', which aired on PBS. He has talked about science on a number TV shows including '' The Merv Griffin Show'', ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'', ''

Charlie Rose Charles Peete Rose Jr. (born January 5, 1942) is an American former television journalist and talk show host. From 1991 to 2017, he was the host and executive producer of the talk show '' Charlie Rose'' on PBS and Bloomberg LP. Rose also co- ...

'', and ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...

''. He has written three books that popularize topics in science and technology: ''Rainbows, Curveballs, and Other Wonders of the Natural World Explained'', ''They All Laughed... From Light Bulbs to Lasers: The Fascinating Stories Behind the Great Inventions That Have Changed Our Lives'', and ''Present at the Future: From Evolution to Nanotechnology, Candid and Controversial Conversations on Science and Nature''. Flatow is founder and president of the Science Friday Initiative (previously TalkingScience) a non-profit company dedicated to creating radio, TV, and Internet projects aimed at making science user friendly. In 2009, Flatow had a voice cameo appearance as himself on the CBS sitcom ''

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on CBS ...

'' in "The Vengeance Formulation" (season 3, episode 9). In the episode, Flatow interviews Dr. Sheldon Cooper ( Jim Parsons) on his research on magnetic monopoles. Flatow was given a co-star credit. In 2013, Flatow appears as himself in person for another guest-star appearance on ''The Big Bang Theory'', interviewing Dr. Sheldon Cooper and Dr. Leonard Hofstadter on ''Science Friday'' about Cooper's failed discovery in "The Discovery Dissipation" (season 7, episode 10). In 2017, Flatow once again appeared on ''The Big Bang Theory'' interviewing Leonard Hofstadter for "Science Friday" (Season 11, Episode 2). In 2014, Flatow settled a dispute with the federal government over a federal grant from the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

. Flatow did not admit any wrongdoing and he and his company settled with the government for a fee of about $146,000. Flatow and ScienceFriday, Inc., were barred from future federal grants for one year, ending in 2015.

Honors and awards

*Doctor of Humanities, SUNY Buffalo (honorary 2014) *Distinguished Visiting Fellow, University of California, Santa Barbara (2014) *Doctor of Science Education, Muhlenberg College (honorary 2013) *

American Humanist Association The American Humanist Association (AHA) is a non-profit organization in the United States that advances secular humanism. The American Humanist Association was founded in 1941 and currently provides legal assistance to defend the constituti ...

's Isaac Asimov Science Award (2012) * Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest (2010) *Member Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering *American Institute of Biological Sciences President's Citation Award (2008) *National Science Teachers Association Faraday Science Communicator Award (2007) *Alan Houghton Award, Harlem Children Society (2006) *National Science Board, Public Service Award (2005) *National Technology Leadership Excellence Award (2003) * E.A. Wood Science Writing Award (2002) *AAAS-Science Journalism Award - Television (2000) *

Carl Sagan Award for Public Appreciation of Science The Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science is an award presented by the Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP) to individuals who have become “concurrently accomplished as researchers and/or educators, and as widely recogni ...

, Council of Scientific Society Presidents (1999) *Women in Communications Matrix Award (1992) *AAAS-Westinghouse Science Journalism Award - Radio (1983) *AAAS-Westinghouse Science Journalism Award - Television (1983) * National Association of Science Writers Science In Society Journalism Award (1981) *Ohio State Award (1981) *Bronze Cindy Award, Information Film Producers of America (1980) *American Psychological Foundation National Media Award (1977)

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Ira Flatow official website''Science Friday'' official websiteScience Friday Initiative web site
*
Interview with Ira Flatow
''A DISCUSSION WITH National Authors on Tour'' TV Series, Episode #22 (1992) {{DEFAULTSORT:Flatow, Ira 1949 births American radio journalists American television journalists Living people NPR personalities University at Buffalo alumni American male journalists American online journalists Journalists from New York City