This Week in Edutainment | Sept 28 - Oct 2
We connect students around the world to primary source experts from a wide variety of topics and subjects. For more information, visit edutainmentlearning.com.
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Dr. Edith Widder is a marine biologist, ocean explorer, author, and inventor who has spent her career uncovering the mysteries of the deep sea. She is best known for studying bioluminescence—the natural light produced by many ocean animals—and has helped scientists discover new species and learn how these incredible creatures survive in one of Earth's most extreme environments.
Dr. Widder is the founder and CEO of the Ocean Research & Conservation Association (ORCA), where she works to protect oceans and improve water quality. She also invented special underwater cameras that have captured never-before-seen footage of deep-sea animals in their natural habitat, including the mysterious giant squid.
For her groundbreaking work, Dr. Widder has received many honors, including a prestigious MacArthur "Genius Grant." Through her research, inventions, and passion for exploration, she continues to inspire people of all ages to protect our oceans and explore the wonders that still remain beneath the sea.
Michael McFaul is the Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini Professor of International Studies in Political Science, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and the Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, all at Stanford University. He joined the Stanford faculty in 1995 and served as FSI Director from 2015 to 2025. He is also an international affairs analyst for MSNOW.
McFaul served for five years in the Obama administration, first as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Russian and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council at the White House (2009-2012), and then as U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation (2012-2014).
McFaul has authored ten books and edited several others, including, most recently, Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder, as well as From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia, (a New York Times bestseller) Advancing Democracy Abroad: Why We Should, How We Can; and Russia’s Unfinished Revolution: Political Change from Gorbachev to Putin.
He is a recipient of numerous awards, including an honorary PhD from Montana State University; the Order for Merits to Lithuania from President Gitanas Nausea of Lithuania; Order of Merit of Third Degree from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching at Stanford University. In 2015, he was the Distinguished Mingde Faculty Fellow at the Stanford Center at Peking University.
McFaul was born and raised in Montana. He received his B.A. in International Relations and Slavic Languages and his M.A. in Soviet and East European Studies from Stanford University in 1986. As a Rhodes Scholar, he completed his D. Phil. in International Relations at Oxford University in 1991.
Chris Stringer is one of the world’s leading experts in human evolution and a scientist who has dedicated his career to understanding where humans came from and how our species developed over time. He is a Research Leader in Human Origins at the Natural History Museum in London and has spent decades studying ancient human fossils and archaeological discoveries around the world.
Chris is best known for his work on the origins of Homo sapiens, the species to which all modern humans belong. His research helped develop the influential “Out of Africa” theory, which suggests that modern humans evolved in Africa before spreading across the globe and replacing earlier human populations.
Throughout his career, Chris has studied some of the most important fossil discoveries in human history, including remains of Neanderthals and other ancient human relatives. His work has helped scientists better understand how humans adapted, migrated, and interacted with other human species throughout history.
In addition to his scientific research, Chris is a passionate educator who shares the fascinating story of human evolution with audiences around the world. Through his books, lectures, and interviews, he helps people explore the incredible journey of humanity and the discoveries that continue to reshape our understanding of the past.
Join us as Chris Stringer takes us on a journey through millions of years of human history and shares the discoveries that reveal what makes us uniquely human.
Her Excellency President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim is a world-renowned scientist, educator, author, and global leader who made history as the first woman to serve as President of the Republic of Mauritius, serving as the country’s sixth president from 2015 to 2018.
Long before entering the presidential State House, President Gurib-Fakim built an extraordinary career in science. As a professor of organic chemistry and biodiversity scientist, she has spent decades studying the incredible variety of plant life found in Africa and exploring how plants can contribute to medicine, human health, and sustainable development. She also co-authored the first African Herbal Pharmacopoeia, documenting African medicinal plants and their potential uses.
Her journey has taken her from academia and scientific research to some of the highest levels of international leadership. She has served as Dean of the Faculty of Science and Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Mauritius and has held numerous international leadership and advisory roles focused on science, climate, sustainability, agriculture, energy, and global development.
President Gurib-Fakim has authored or edited more than 30 books and contributed to more than 100 scientific publications and book chapters. Her accomplishments have earned international recognition, including the L’Oréal-UNESCO Prize for Women in Science, the African Union Commission Award for Women in Science, France’s Légion d’Honneur, and recognition by Forbes as one of the world’s 100 most powerful women.
Perhaps most inspiring for students is the journey behind those accomplishments. President Gurib-Fakim has described her own story as the journey of a “village girl to the State House.” Her life demonstrates how education, curiosity, perseverance, and a passion for learning can take someone places they may never have imagined.
When Her Excellency President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim joins us, students will have the opportunity to learn about her remarkable journey, careers in science and sustainability, breaking barriers as the first female President of Mauritius, leadership, and the advice she has for young people who want to make a difference in their communities and the world.
Nick Gray is an entrepreneur and an author living in Austin, Texas. He started and sold two successful companies: Flight Display Systems and Museum Hack. Nick wrote The 2-Hour Cocktail Party, a step-by-step handbook that teaches you how to build big relationships by hosting small gatherings. He’s been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and New York Magazine called him a host of “culturally significant parties.”
To learn more about Nick's work, please visit:
Nick Gray's PersonalWebsite.org
Nick Gray's Patron View donor database
The 2-Hour Cocktail Party by Nick Gray
Dr. Lawrence “Larry” Pratt is a physical oceanographer and Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) who has spent his career trying to understand one of the most powerful and mysterious forces on our planet—the movement of the ocean.
Dr. Pratt studies ocean currents, circulation, turbulence, deep-ocean flows, and the ways water moves between different parts of the world's oceans. His research has taken him to fascinating locations including the Red Sea and the Philippine and Indonesian Archipelagos, while also exploring major ocean systems such as the Gulf Stream and Kuroshio.
His work even uses chaos theory to understand the ocean. By combining physics, mathematics and computer modeling, Dr. Pratt investigates how swirling currents and eddies move heat, oxygen, nutrients and other materials throughout the sea.
His research has also helped investigate some surprising mysteries of marine life. Dr. Pratt and other WHOI scientists have studied how tiny American eel larvae travel from the Sargasso Sea toward North America and how ocean currents may help create suitable nursery environments for Atlantic bluefin tuna.
Dr. Pratt earned his Ph.D. through the prestigious MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography. Throughout his career, he has also helped educate and mentor the next generation of ocean scientists.
One particularly creative aspect of Dr. Pratt's career is his interest in connecting science with the arts. He has collaborated with dancers and choreographers—including projects involving the Boston Ballet—to use movement and dance as a way of communicating concepts such as waves, tides, currents and turbulent ocean eddies.
When Dr. Pratt joins us, students will have the opportunity to learn about careers in oceanography, how scientists study enormous ocean currents, what mysteries about our oceans remain unsolved, how mathematics and technology help us understand the sea, and how an interest in science can lead to a career exploring our planet.
Diane Tavenner is an educator, entrepreneur, author, and nationally recognized leader who has spent her career rethinking how schools can better prepare students for life after graduation.
In 2003, she co-founded Summit Public Schools, a network of public charter schools in California and Washington. Summit became nationally recognized for an approach that emphasizes not only academics, but also real-world problem solving, independence, collaboration, goal setting, and helping students discover what they want to do with their lives.
Today, Diane is the Co-Founder and CEO of Futre, an organization developing technology to help young people ages 15–25 explore their interests, understand opportunities available to them, and create their own paths toward fulfilling lives. She also serves in leadership roles with several major education organizations, including as a board chair with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Diane is also the author of the bestselling book Prepared: What Kids Need for a Fulfilled Life, which explores what students really need to succeed in college, careers, relationships, and adulthood. The book was selected by Bill Gates as one of his favorite books of 2019.
She earned degrees in psychology and sociology from the University of Southern California and a master's degree in administration and policy analysis from Stanford University.
For students, Diane's work centers around an important question: How can you discover who you want to become and develop the skills to build the life you want?
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