''Science Friday'' (known as ''SciFri'' for short) is a weekly call-in

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...

that broadcasts each Friday on public radio stations, distributed by WNYC Studios, and carried on over 400 public radio stations. ''SciFri'' is hosted by award-winning science journalist

Ira Flatow Ira Flatow (; born March 9, 1949) is a radio and television journalist and author who hosts Public Radio International's popular program '' Science Friday''. On TV, he hosted the Emmy Award-winning PBS series ''Newton's Apple'', a television sc ...

and was created and is produced by the Science Friday Initiative. The program is divided into two one-hour programs, with each hour ending with a complete sign-off. The focus of each program is news and information on

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...

nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

, and

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scien ...

. The show originated as the Friday episode of the daily call-in talk show ''

Talk of the Nation ''Talk of the Nation'' (''TOTN'') is an American talk radio program based in Washington D.C., produced by National Public Radio ( NPR) that was broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. It focused on current events and controversial i ...

'', but was spun off as a series in its own right when ''Talk of the Nation'' was canceled in June 2013. The ''Science Friday'' radio program is produced by the Science Friday Initiative, a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of ...

organization. The Science Friday Initiative is an independently run organization with a governing Board of Directors and Executive Director. In addition to the radio program, the organization creates award-winning educational and digital content, finds underwriting for the program, and hosts public science events. ''Science Friday'' is also available in a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

ing format and is one of the most popular iTunes downloads, frequently in the top 15 downloads each week. ''SciFri'' podcasts are downloaded over 23 million times per year and over 1.8 million listeners tune in each week to hear the program. It is also carried via

Sirius XM Radio Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

. ''SciFri'' broadcasts excerpts from the annual

Ig Nobel Prize The Ig Nobel Prize ( ) is a satiric prize awarded annually since 1991 to celebrate ten unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. Its aim is to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think." The name o ...

ceremony on the Friday after

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

Funding

The Science Friday Initiative accepts tax-deductible donations on behalf of the radio program. ''Science Friday'' is funded by stations fees that broadcast the program, by individual donors, by advertising underwriters, and by foundation grants including the

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is an American philanthropic nonprofit organization. It was established in 1934 by Alfred P. Sloan Jr., then-president and chief executive officer of General Motors. The Sloan Foundation makes grants to suppor ...

, the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, the

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is an American foundation established by Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore and his wife Betty I. Moore in September 2000 to support scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements a ...

, and Heising-Simons Foundation. Formerly the program was supported by the Noyce Foundation, the S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation, and the

Carnegie Corporation of New York The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...

. Science Friday has received federal funding from the US

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 ...

and

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

History

''SciFri'' was created when the National Science Foundation agreed to fund a weekly science talk-show on NPR. After the Gulf War in 1991, NPR created the daily talk show ''

'', and incorporated ''Science Friday'' into it. ''Science Friday'' moved from NPR to

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 ...

in 2014. ''Science Friday'' maintained an island (Science Friday Island) in

Second Life ''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fr ...

, including an open-air theater with live audio and video feeds of the broadcast. That venue is no longer in operation. On November 9, 2012, ScienceFriday, Inc. filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in New York state court against a long-running Denver radio program, titled ''Real Science Friday'', hosted by two

young earth Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widesprea ...

creationists Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of Creation myth, divine creation.#Gunn 2004, Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' say ...

including Colorado pastor and radio personality Bob Enyart. The show was re-titled ''Real Science Radio''. On April 11, 2018, distribution of the show changed hands once more when it went from PRI to WNYC Studios.

Undiscovered

''Science Friday'' launched a spinoff podcast in collaboration with WNYC Studios entitled ''Undiscovered'', which debuted in early 2017. The show is hosted by Elah Feder and Annie Minoff. The show is about the

history of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Meso ...

References

External links

''Science Friday'' official websiteScience Friday Initiative
* {{WGBH 1991 radio programme debuts American talk radio programs Science podcasts Science radio programmes Science and technology in the United States Public Radio International programs