Episode 39

Attraction, Chemistry, and Other STEAMy Talk with Dr. Stephanie Ryan

Published on: 7th August, 2021

Jeff is joined in the studio by his 3 year-old daughter Amelia and they open the show with some light Newtonian physics review, which is not as easy as it sounds. This week's guest, Dr. Stephanie Ryan Ph.D., joins Ramble by the River to discuss her new book, her life as a working mother during the pandemic, and some of the nuances of science education with younglings.

Dr. Ryan is a smart, witty, and very genuine person and it was a great conversation. We keep it pretty topical and focused primarily on science and the way science impacts the many facets of contemporary life. She gives a great explanation of what is in her book, Let's Learn About Chemistry (available on Amazon), and provides some fascinating insight into the process of creating it and bringing it to market.

Jeff even presses into a few areas that are not so kid-friendly and Dr. Ryan does a good job of navigating those tricky subjects...

If you are tired of seeing your kids stare blankly at a screen while they passively absorb information, get involved! Stephanie gives plenty of examples of things we can do to learn science concepts right at home, with supplies that are probably already in your cabinets. In this post-Covid world, we all need a little help figuring out how to navigate the "new normal". This podcast is a great way to start.

Thank you all for being part of the Ram Fam.

I love you,

Jeff

Links:

Business inquiries/guest booking: Ramblebytheriver@gmail.com

Website: Ramblebytheriver.captivate.fm

Facebook: Jeff Nesbitt (Ramble by the River)https://www.facebook.com/jeff.nesbitt.9619

Instagram: @ramblebytheriver

Twitter: @RambleRiverPod

Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCNiZ9OBYRxF3fJ4XcsDxLeg

Music Credit(s):

Still Fly, Revel Day.

Bubblesong, Luna the Cat

Topics/keywords: Education; chemistry; Let’s Learn Chemistry; teaching; STEM; STEAM; learning through play; repetition; Science; technology; engineering; mathematics; art; early-childhood education; what is Science?; jargon; higher education; Neil deGrasse Tyson; Bill Nye; science-communication; easy science at home; writing a book; outdoor recreation; vaccines; RNA; DNA; traditional vaccines; historical medicine; COVID-19; infographics; Coulomb’s law; magnetism; periodic table of elements; working from home; masking protocol; Fauci; memories; trauma; pandemic pod; online elementary education; mortality; talking about mortality with kids; Disney-Pixar; Soul; Inside Out; Sesame Street; Muppets; YouTube; PBS Kids; PBS; Wild Kratts; Curious George; iPad games for kids; educational games; Ozmo; PJ Masks; video games; Podmatch.com; TikTok; Instagram; 

Transcript

Stephanie Ryan Interview (main)

[:

[00:00:08]here we are guys. Here we are.

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[00:00:18]Now, I know what a few of you were thinking. Stephanie Ryan, isn't that the girl you went to ninth grade homecoming with isn't that the same girl? And you would be wrong?

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[00:00:46] So just waiting for her to sign in. And here she is.

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[00:01:16] Uh, no. Okay. It's pretty loose. I do a real, uh, loosey goosey podcast. So if you ever feel like jumping in or asking questions or, uh, you don't want to answer something that I ask you feel free to tell them. That you don't want to, it just, you know, we'll just see how everything goes. Does that sound good?

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[00:01:38] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:01:38] Cool. Um, I just, just followed your social media a few minutes ago. I, I see that you've got it under, let's learn science.

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[00:01:59]My [00:02:00] book and the let's learn about science Instagram page because I'm working on that brand.

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[00:02:09] Sure.

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[00:02:29] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:02:29] That's awesome. And what exactly do you mean by scaffolds?

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[00:02:53], But it also gives them the advice that if your kid picks something different in the book, because the [00:03:00] premise of the book is, which of these things is not like the other and it uses their toys to compare them. And what if they say like this one's green and the rest of your red? That's fine. Um, it's as long as they're justified in their claims with.

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[00:03:24] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:03:24] Okay, cool. That sounds really helpful. Especially when, like you said, parents don't have a science background so you have a PhD in learning science. And a master's. Science in analytical chemistry. Is that correct? so how did you end up going into that field? Yeah,

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[00:03:49] And along the way, I went from wanting to be a doctor to education and I taught a nursing level chemistry, [00:04:00] and I was able to do the company. That were unique to nursing students. So if we teach a lab on concentration, I do a twist on it and make it more about IVs and medication and things like that. And I just, I really liked it.

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[00:04:38]Jeff Nesbitt: [00:04:38] D has it been a pretty smooth path along the way, or have you had bumps in the road? Like I know a lot of college graduates these days are not having an easy time finding work and things like that. Did you face anything like that?

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[00:04:57] I had pretty high scores and, , my interviews [00:05:00] went really well. And I was able to get a fellowship that paid for my school. So I was fortunate in that way. And then the PhD program, I was actually the first person to graduate from that program. So there were a few bumps along that road. , like when there would be a new requirement and I was like, no, I'm all done.

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[00:05:21] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:05:21] it started.

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[00:05:43] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:05:43] Uh, okay. So where were you born? Where did you grow up? I actually,

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[00:06:07] Um, and then moved to Chicago and then London. And then we had our own child and decided we needed family close by, and now we're in Indiana too.

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[00:06:24] Stephanie Ryan: [00:06:24] I, yes.

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[00:06:27] Stephanie Ryan: [00:06:27] He is four, almost

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[00:06:34] Stephanie Ryan: [00:06:34] Yes. Yep. He actually inspired it. Um, he was playing one day and he was sorting his toys by color. And I remember thinking, wait a second, a lot of chemistry, the first chapter of the book is sorting. Is it an atom or a molecule? Isn't an element or a substance and you go through all of these. And I was like, I think we could sort science.

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[00:07:11] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:07:11] all. That's cool. That'll be awesome. When you get.

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[00:07:20] He's like, that's not me anymore. I

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[00:07:25] Stephanie Ryan: [00:07:25] Yeah. That's baby niece.

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[00:07:46] Can you still hear me crystal clear?

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[00:08:06] I did not realize how many times it needs to be repeated. For them to get it. , so I was really surprised at that part of being a parent was that it might be the 700th time that it clicks.

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[00:08:27]Stephanie Ryan: [00:08:27] Yeah, definitely. And during the pandemic, that was something I actually reached out to my son's preschool teacher. And I was like, I don't know what I'm doing. I can teach older kids. What is this? And she was like, well, what do you do with them? And I told her. You know, we make cookies today. We went out in the garden and she was like, these are all skills that they're learning.

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[00:09:13] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:09:13] Okay. So you don't want to correct? Correct. Correct. All the time, because then they're going to probably associate that experience with the negative feeling of being corrected rather than learning.

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[00:09:42] Cause like when kids are learning how to walk and they fall, you don't go over and correct the way they're standing and say, no, that's wrong. You say good job. That was a great trial. Let's try it again. , and it's just. We, we cheer them on in those cases and not in others. And I think that this is a great place for us to cheer them [00:10:00] on.

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[00:10:01] How old does a kid need to be to start learning stem concepts and what is stem.

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[00:10:31]The kids can look at demonstrations of food, coloring and water and oil and things like that. They can watch that. They don't have to know how to explain it at six months old, but I bet those colors are really exciting to them. So it's building that curiosity. So I am a proponent from as early as you can.

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[00:11:02] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:11:02] So people are always saying science thinks this or science tells us this, or they tend to anthropomorphize science as if it's some authority figure or almost like some pseudo deity.

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[00:11:23]Stephanie Ryan: [00:11:23] Wow. That is a, that is a great question. Um, I think of it as, wow. I have never been asked that. Um, I would say that it is a tool to explain the world around us and it is, , the kind of. Natural laws that govern how things behave. So like gravity or, , attraction between positive and negative and things like that.

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[00:12:09] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:12:09] Science doesn't have opinions. Science is a way to answer questions.

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[00:12:36]I would say, I think that science needs to definitely be more, , transparent to the public so that they can see that instead of only publishing the final results of really stepping through like what it took to get there.

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[00:13:02] That. Kind of a hard thing to do for a lot of people. Not only just because of the attentional demands, but also just because they don't have the critical thinking skills or the education to do that. Do you think that that's something that would improve the current state of affairs in our world?

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[00:13:24]Stephanie Ryan: [00:13:24] Um, I do think yes, but I also think that there's some responsibility on the part of the academic side of making it more accessible to the public, because I, there are some articles that are so jargon heavy, that it would be impossible for somebody who's not in that field to understand that article.

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[00:13:58] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:13:58] Like I think that's why we have [00:14:00] scientists, I guess, because everyone doesn't have time.

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[00:14:13]Stephanie Ryan: [00:14:13] Yeah, I think so. , but that's not something we all get training in. , so when you're in your PhD program, you might not ever have to communicate your results except to your, , to your committee, you know?

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[00:14:45] That only other people could do this. I don't know what that is. I can't be a scientist. , where if you've got somebody who can explain it really well to the public and not in a sensationalized way of like these 10 things [00:15:00] and you'll lose weight or things like that, you know, , Then it will help people see that, wow, this is, this is a real person who did this.

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[00:15:14] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:15:14] Do you have a favorite of the kind of pop culture scientists? Like the Neil deGrasse Tyson, bill Nye, the science guy.

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[00:15:43] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:15:43] Well, hopefully it will help me with that here today. Uh, just we'll let you want to give them your Instagram handle. One more.

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[00:16:08]Jeff Nesbitt: [00:16:08] lots of stuff with baking soda vinegar.

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[00:16:26] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:16:26] It's always fun.

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[00:16:28]Jeff Nesbitt: [00:16:28] Uh, how hard was it to write a book and get it published?

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[00:16:53] Um, I ended up hiring a developmental editor to help, , build the scaffolds and that we were talking [00:17:00] about for the parents and it just, it took a long time and. Then even printing takes a while and everyone has feedback and sometimes that feedback goes against the way you really want to do something.

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[00:17:37] You know, like I want every child, not just because your dad's a scientist or your mom's a doctor, you know? , and so that's where I really took direction in a different way of like, okay, I need to that just, that kind of slapped me in the face a little like, wow. I can't believe even when I was trying not to do that, I did that.

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[00:18:10]Jeff Nesbitt: [00:18:10] Do you ever worry that the world is changing so fast that we're going to somehow not be prepared for the future? Like as a parent, this, this is not specific to you, but this is something that I worry about all the time while I'm raising my kids is just that I'm going to end up preparing them for a world that doesn't exist when they get there.

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[00:18:31] Stephanie Ryan: [00:18:31] Yeah. Um, and I know that like my parents thought the same too. I remember going through school and it was the. Idea that jobs that we would have didn't exist back then. And it's like, wow, we're really training kids for something we don't even know what's going to happen.

[:

[00:19:13], and now being on a team is one of the most important things that you need to know how to do. , and so they're just skills like that, that I think that we can. Work on those skills and just hope for the best. But yeah, I mean, we've, weren't prepared for global pandemic. I know I wasn't ready for that.

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[00:19:35]Jeff Nesbitt: [00:19:35] yeah, I there's something else the pandemic seems to do was really kind of divide people when it comes to science in the mainstream. I heard a lot of people talking about. The science deniers. And I mean, obviously this has always been something that was an issue always, there's always been people who are divided on issues like that, but it seems like in the last few years there has been more or divided [00:20:00] polarized groups, people who don't agree on the science.

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[00:20:10] Stephanie Ryan: [00:20:10] I think that again, we need to be much more transparent in science of what we're doing and how things are normal or when something isn't normal. , so saying that, oh, we noticed that this variant is actually in the, when they found it was in the bloodstream.

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[00:20:45]Jeff Nesbitt: [00:20:45] The fact that it's an iterative process and it takes time to learn as we go. Okay. Yeah, it does seem like that. A lot of the time the argument was, was just that, you know, oh, Fowchee is changing his mind on the mask thing or whatever, [00:21:00] it's, it, it did seem like people want to be able to expect permanence and consistency from their leadership.

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[00:21:08]Stephanie Ryan: [00:21:08] Well, and if you think about it, like, I know when I was in school, that's how science was presented. , it was here are the facts in the book. , and I was pretty surprised when I got to, , college and graduate school, that science was happening right now.

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[00:21:47] Like. The day-to-day kind of science that it's just, we didn't talk about. and I think that they talk about it a little bit more now, because there are programs like Skype, a scientist, , where classrooms can Skype a [00:22:00] scientist and see their office and what they do and things like that. So I think we're kind of removing that a little and hopefully that helps change the future, but there's just this misconception of what science is, I think.

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[00:22:22]Stephanie Ryan: [00:22:22] Well, I know there are some TV shows that use, , actual scientists to help them write the content to make sure it's not too outlandish. , and maybe that's a good first step. I know that, , I ran an after-school program in Chicago for forensics program for high schoolers. And we had a lot of forensics people.

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[00:23:00] It's this person. And it happened in a day and it's like, that's not how this works. And you're going to run several samples of it. It's going to take a long time, , and finding fingerprints for people. Yeah. You found the print, but matching it takes time even with the computer. But that's not portrayed on TV at all.

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[00:23:33]Stephanie Ryan: [00:23:33] Yeah. And a lot of labs are exactly like that.

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[00:24:05] And so that's just not what you think of when you think of science and research?

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[00:24:26] It sounded like a hard line.

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[00:24:55] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:24:55] That stuff is fascinating. I love talking about that stuff. How people see [00:25:00] the world, what their lens looks.

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[00:25:19] Them. And I used one of those pens that records while they write. So I have every stroke with when they said it. , and they were setting up problems backwards. , and it was just a proportional reasoning error where you could have thought, wow, they must just really not get chemistry. And it's like, no, they just literally made a math issue.

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[00:25:47] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:25:47] Yeah, awesome. So what do you see for yourself next after moving onto your next passion project?

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[00:26:13] Turning that into a blog. Um, and then maybe going the guest speaker route. , but still, I really like writing curricular materials and assessment items. So I think I'll always do a little bit of both, but, , right now we just went back to daycare slash pre-K and I'm getting my time back to myself and I'm just trying to ease myself back in.

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[00:26:43]Stephanie Ryan: [00:26:43] I haven't, , recently because of the pandemic, , I did work with the school district working on one, did their science curriculums, but them, and that was fun.

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[00:27:10], the kids are amazing.

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[00:27:24] Kind of funneled that into an interest in science as a teenager, and it became a job and it became a career and I'm still doing it today. And I just wanted to know, like what, what your early exposures in life, where did you spend a lot of time in the woods? Were you a beach kid? Did you stay inside a lot?

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[00:28:10] Um, in terms of environment, My parents were pretty. I had pretty much a lot of freedom in the summertimes of where, like, I wasn't really allowed to watch TV and it was like, you have to go outside and do something. , you can ride your bike all over the place. If you want you to go sit in the yard and read, but you needed to be outside.

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[00:28:56] And chemistry was hard and genetics was [00:29:00] hard. Um, and I really liked that I had to try and I had to apply it in a different way. So I was attracted to science in that way. It was just that it was something that I didn't immediately get and I had to work at it.

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[00:29:21] I know it's not your area of expertise, so feel free to say no, but just like things that are in the news the last few years, like CRISPR or. Uh, psilocybin research or any, any of the hot topics that have been in the science world lately?

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[00:29:40] I don't think I'm sorry.

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[00:29:48] Stephanie Ryan: [00:29:48] Curiosity, if you're asking for, if you're asking for my opinion on things, I'm not well read on them

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[00:30:04]Stephanie Ryan: [00:30:04] Um, I've been really interested in, like I find the whole vaccine development, pretty fascinating.

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[00:30:19] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:30:19] Yeah. I don't know that . Could you possibly explain it?

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[00:30:25] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:30:25] low level. I'm an idiot.

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[00:30:45] Or a piece of it. , so back in the day, they used to actually take pieces of sick people, like scabs and things really gross and like expose people that way. , where, like in a vaccine you've got like, just like a little piece of [00:31:00] them. , not a scab, but like a piece of, , and this was so novel in that your RNA is a template for DNA.

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[00:31:30] So you don't actually get the virus. Your body is primed for that segment. So that's why you couldn't get where the questions were of whether you were going to get sick with it. You could get sick from it. That's your body's immune response, but the, you didn't actually ever build the whole body. It was only that one segment, so that the second time your body saw it, your body was like, Hey, I've seen you before.

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[00:32:03]Jeff Nesbitt: [00:32:03] That's pretty incredible. Wow.

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[00:32:24] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:32:24] Yeah. And it's on some level, it's the same thing, because it's just like getting that the correct amount of exposure, right. To trigger the immune system. Yeah.

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[00:32:48] Um, and recently he's been really interested in the human body and one of his books showed some blood cells and white blood cells as a cartoon. And he asked me about them and I was like, well, yeah, [00:33:00] I'm going to, I'm going to try to teach you this. Here's a germ and your white blood cells, like the superheroes that they're out to punch a hole of the bad guys, and they're trying to really help you out.

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[00:33:19]Jeff Nesbitt: [00:33:19] Yeah, that's fantastic. So do you think that's the best way to get scientific concepts across to actually to everybody, to kids and also to adults who maybe don't have the right background to understand it in technical terms is just to turn it into a metaphor or an analogy or a story that can explain it.

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[00:33:36]Stephanie Ryan: [00:33:36] I think so. Yes, there are some people who would disagree with that probably. , but I think, yes, as long as you're not doing it in a way that's insulting, which is never my goal when I tell an analogy. , but that's just a good way to think about it. And of course, that person who learned it that way, isn't going to be able to go out and make their own vaccine.

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[00:34:15]Jeff Nesbitt: [00:34:15] Yeah. Infographics have gotten pretty big with the rise of the internet and they are really a great way to understand a lot of information in a concise form. It's it's cool.

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[00:34:34]But yeah, I think that approaching it in that way, I think maybe one of the things we did wrong with science was that we wanted to give everybody everything instead of like, here's a list of things that would be useful to know, , that help explain lots of concepts. And if we just talk about these few things that would apply better and more to real, but

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[00:34:58]Stephanie Ryan: [00:34:58] so like Coulomb's [00:35:00] law things that attract so distance between two charged particles changes their attraction. The further they get apart, the less force they feel that can actually be applied to a ton of things. You've got magnets. You've got the planets going in orbit. yeah, Like when you, your magnet gets close to your refrigerator.

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[00:35:42] Um, and so that would help explain the periodic table later. So there are just a few things like that. And I don't mean to sound like I know there are people in the generation ahead of me that are like, oh, everyone should have learned how to use the checkbook and do cursive. And there's like a list of things.

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[00:36:16] help you.

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[00:36:42] So that someday when it matters, they will be able to be like, oh yeah, my dad talked about this one time. Cause I have those memories of my dad talking about stuff he may or may not have known anything about, but it, it gives something for that future knowledge to cling onto kind of a little bit of a, [00:37:00] like when you're making a rock candy, you put the string in the sugar water just to kind of.

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[00:37:06] Stephanie Ryan: [00:37:06] And I think even on top of that, with what you just said about, , whether it's right or not, I think that showing your kid that you don't know, something is also important, um, so that you're learning, showing that adults learn and that you look things up and it's okay. Not to know an answer and tech consulting.

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[00:37:31] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:37:31] Yeah. If we could teach every kid that skill, then you don't even have to teach them any specific content knowledge because they will figure out what they need to figure out based on what they're trying to do, because they have the skill to find that information and the critical minds to be able to sift through it.

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[00:38:02]Jeff Nesbitt: [00:38:02] Yeah. Do you ever have a difficult time explaining some of the scarier parts of science? Like. Plate tectonics the fact that California is on a fault line or, , the fact that some people are born

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[00:38:16] uglier

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[00:38:20] Or like climate change there, the list goes on and on some things are

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[00:38:26]Validated and they suck. How do you handle that when you're talking to your kids?

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[00:38:48] We were able to warm this up. Um, but I didn't take it past that. Um, we talked about how some people make the earth dirty, cause they'll throw their trash on the ground and we don't want to make our earth dirty. [00:39:00] Um, just a few things like that, just to get that basis. , I haven't had to have any of the super difficult ones.

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[00:39:27] Um, and so. It'll be interesting to hear what he thinks happened this past year. Cause he probably just thinks he stayed home and had fun with mommy.

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[00:39:52] It

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[00:40:20] So like our family ones. Yeah. We had a pod, , with our grandparents where we all followed the same rules, , so that we could see each other. , and he got very close to them and it's theirs. He has a different perspective, like he'll offer to help you up the stairs because he's an Indian around with old, older people.

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[00:40:52] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:40:52] My wife is a kindergarten teacher, so she's been doing that and it is rough.

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[00:41:03] It looks like mass chaos with the little ones on virtual. Cause I've done a few experiments and readings where I'll drop in on a class like that. And I'm just like, wow, how do you manage this all day?

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[00:41:26]Yeah. speaking of that generation, what kind of skills do you think are the very most important for moving forward to set them up for success in whatever world we're building right now?

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[00:41:52] Um, supporting your claims with evidence. Um, yeah, those are

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[00:41:57] Stephanie Ryan: [00:41:57] Picky now, reasonings that are, , [00:42:00] adequate and not faulty. , and just, just things like that are, those are so important finding bias in something you read. , Let's see a repeated tests, , knowing what independent and dependent variables.

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[00:42:29] I want to make sure I'm including what I need to. And I always, I made bets with people that, , The kids who are going through school. Well, before the pandemic, the kids who were going through school now at these standards, they're going to be a whole new set of kids that you don't know how to teach, because they already know a lot of what you're trying to teach them, because they have these skills and it's going to be really cool to see what this group comes up with.

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[00:42:52]Jeff Nesbitt: [00:42:52] That's going to be interesting. Speaking of screen time, you mentioned that a few seconds ago. It seems like there's a lot of conflicting [00:43:00] opinions on what constitutes the right amount of screen time. And do you have an opinion on how much it's too much and also differentiating between the types of content is educational content.

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[00:43:21] Stephanie Ryan: [00:43:21] I think that is a tricky one. I think it depends on each kid. , cause some kids have things that they could get.

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[00:43:35] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:43:35] Yeah.

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[00:43:47] But I know that I, myself struggled with this, especially in the beginning of the pandemic, because to get work done, sometimes you need big chunks of time. And the only way I could get that was a movie. And I'd be [00:44:00] like, all right, let's put on a Pixar movie. And we ended up breaking all of her screen time.

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[00:44:28] Yeah. We learned a lot about, what death means. , and that it's actually really helped us go talk through that. , and so I always just try it. We try to talk about something with it.

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[00:44:43] Stephanie Ryan: [00:44:43] Um, he's still happening. we watched it a few months ago when it came out and, um, there's definitely new things every day.

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[00:45:10] Um, and so we work through that and, but the movie helps, especially if you're not sure what to do. Like we're able to refer back to the movie, we just talk about it in that way. And then you can add any other undertones you ever want to add like religion and things,

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[00:45:29] Stephanie Ryan: [00:45:29] Uh, we just called it the great beyond for right now, uh, to go with the movie. It is. Yeah. And so until we could get past. The fact that we're there is mortality. , but the same with emotions, , learning about like anger and fear and all of those, like that really helped him to his, the inside out movie.

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[00:46:13] Like Sesame street. Like if your kid sat and watch Sesame street for a few hours, that they were learning, um, it's not bad content. Um, but then there's some stuff out there that's. There's no educational value to it. Like watching a kid open boxes on YouTube.

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[00:46:34] Stephanie Ryan: [00:46:34] Yeah. So those, yeah.

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[00:46:49] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:46:49] Well, I'm a huge wild Kratts fan. We've been watching it all day. Every day. Basically it just runs on a loop in our house.

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[00:46:56] Stephanie Ryan: [00:46:56] likes that and curious, George, um, [00:47:00] He likes curious George, because he is also very adventurous, but likes to follow rules. And so he likes to see what happens if you don't follow a rule and how it all comes back to the rules.

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[00:47:18]What's his job anyway? What's that a uniform for? Yeah.

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[00:47:30]Jeff Nesbitt: [00:47:30] Well, he's had some crazy adventures

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[00:47:50] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:47:50] Yeah. Isn't that an, uh, like a thing you put on the eye?

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[00:48:12], it's just really cool. And it's, it's something that is creative and it gets your kids. Um, making their own decisions, which I don't know about you, but every once in a while, I'm like make a decision, please. Instead of just asking me,

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[00:48:32] Stephanie Ryan: [00:48:32] Um, but yeah, so those are, there's just a lot out there that I think is great.

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[00:48:48] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:48:48] it would make your kid into a social pariah anyway,

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[00:49:02] Made fun of at school. So you opened it up a little bit, but even PJ masks is a good show. Cause they, they always talk about like how you, um, you're not listening to your friends. Um, you didn't ask for help when you needed it. , things like that. And there's always a lesson and a lot of the shows.

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[00:49:21] It's PJ masks. Yeah. Oh, I'll have to check that one out, but yeah, you're right. The not fitting in socially. Cause you don't know what everyone's talking about. That's a very real thing. I grew up without very much TV. We had like one, we had Fox like three months of the year or something with an antenna and a tree and uh, At lunch at school, I'd sit there and listen to the other kids, have their conversations and just try to soak up as much of it as I could.

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[00:50:04]Stephanie Ryan: [00:50:04] Yeah. Yeah, for sure. and so like in terms of like superhero stuff, so superheroes are at times violent and that's a bit much for a little kid, but Lego has, um, some superhero. Things that they do, where they have got these little cartoons and they're really mild. Um, and they kind of introduce all the characters names without really getting into it too much.

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[00:50:40] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:50:40] I'm still a little young now, but he won't be for much longer. What about video games?

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[00:50:57], and. It's [00:51:00] timed. , cause videos, my name's conductively get unhealthy, but I think the social aspect of it is really good for some kids. , if you're an introvert, especially you can do this thing by yourself, but together. I personally, I, I liked that component.

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[00:51:19]Stephanie Ryan: [00:51:19] Um, no, but once we get the, we out, I'm excited because I used to love playing that so we could play like tennis together, but I also really rather learn to play tennis together.

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[00:51:46] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:51:46] It's crazy how much you start to believe that you're good at things though.

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[00:52:02] Stephanie Ryan: [00:52:02] Um, but yeah, there's yeah, it's just like a lot of things. I think it's things in moderation are good and things taken too far can turn bad.

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[00:52:16] Okay. Let's see. I'm going to go over my questions a little bit.

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[00:52:23] Stephanie Ryan: [00:52:23] We have, this is a good conversation.

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[00:52:32] Stephanie Ryan: [00:52:32] Oh yeah. Thanks for having me on. Yeah, I really like that. Um, uh, pod match.

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[00:52:42] Stephanie Ryan: [00:52:42] Yeah. Yeah. , and I started out using a matchmaker. , and that one had a lot of really small podcasts. And so I did a bunch of those, but then pod match the way they've got it set up to where you review the people. And, , it's the, the way it's [00:53:00] set up for that whole review process.

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[00:53:09]Jeff Nesbitt: [00:53:09] Yeah, that's good. This I've done two through it, or this is my second one. And, yeah, it's been great. How long have you been podcasting for?

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[00:53:27] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:53:27] Okay. So you're doing a legitimate marketing campaign this is your, your main source of revenue.

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[00:53:41] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:53:41] Um, well, I mean, as a, eventually your plan is to be able to make money doing that.

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[00:53:46] Stephanie Ryan: [00:53:46] Yeah. I guess speak or give workshops and things like that. Yeah.

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[00:54:01]Stephanie Ryan: [00:54:01] Yeah, it's something that just kind of happened in this year, , with the pandemic.

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[00:54:21] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:54:21] new world never been on Tik TOK.

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[00:54:30] Stephanie Ryan: [00:54:30] I'd say tick-tock is mostly like reels on Instagram. Okay. Yeah. Except you can do longer. There's uh, 15 seconds, 60 seconds and three minutes. Um, where on Instagram you can only do 15 or 30

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[00:54:53]I've wondered this the entire time. Are they being shown on the screen? What to do like with their hands or is this, [00:55:00] are they improvising these dancers?

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[00:55:06] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:55:06] Okay. So it's like dance, dance revolution,

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[00:55:10] So that was the misconception I had of it. When I first started like, oh, I'm going to have to do all these trends. And it's like, not really. You just do your thing and you get your group who. That's the kind of content they like, like I've got people who like things you can do in your kitchen with your kids and they follow, , it's a pretty cool platform to find things, especially like recipes or activities to do with your kids.

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[00:55:38]Jeff Nesbitt: [00:55:38] Yeah, I bet that's what I've heard also. And I've also heard that Instagram is switching up their model to where they're going to try to be more of a video sharing site versus pictures.

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[00:55:57] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:55:57] do.

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[00:56:04] Stephanie Ryan: [00:56:04] Yeah, the algorithm tends to go against it these days. So yeah, it's hard to do more than one platform at once. It's

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[00:56:18] Good picture,

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[00:56:38] Yeah. Yeah.

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[00:56:47]Stephanie Ryan: [00:56:47] Uh, no, I think we, we had a good conversation.

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[00:56:53]Stephanie Ryan: [00:56:53] Thanks for having me.

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[00:56:56] Well, my rowdy [00:57:00] Ramblers. We've made it to the end.

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[00:57:20]Her Instagram is called. Let's learn about science and it's got some great content as well. So go check that out again. That's at, let's learn about science.

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[00:57:47]Come on back next week I will be interviewing Dr. Mark Ryall, author of the dystopian thriller age decoded. It's a good one. Be good to each other out there, everybody. Thanks for being here. And of course, [00:58:00] Keep rambling.

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About the Podcast

Ramble by the River
With Jeff Nesbitt
Ramble-(verb)
1. walk for pleasure, typically without a definite route.
2. talk or write at length in a confused or inconsequential way.

Ramble by the River (Ramblebytheriver.com) is about becoming the best human possible.

Join me and my guests, as we discuss the blessing that is the human experience. Ramble by the River is about finding an honest path to truth without losing our sense of humor along the way. It is about healing from the trauma of the past and moving into the next chapter of life with passion.

Common topics include: personal growth, entertainment, pop-culture, technology, education, psychology, drugs, health, history, politics, investing, conspiracies, and amazing personal stories from guests.

What does it mean to be a person? Is there a right or wrong way to do it? How has our species changed to accommodate the world that we have so drastically altered? What defines our generation? Where are we going? What is coincidence? Is time a mental construction? What happens after death? Which Jenifer is better looking (Lopez or Anniston)?

Tune in to any one of our exciting upcoming episodes to hear a comedian, a New York Times Best-Selling author, a fancy artist, a plumber, the Mayor of a large urban metropolis, a cancer survivor, a Presidential candidate, Jeff's dad, a female bull-riding champion, the founder of a large non-profit charity organization, Elon Musk, a guarded but eventually lovable country musician, a homeless guy, a homeless woman, a commercial fisherman, a world-renowned photo-journalist, or Kanye West.

When you go on a ramble, you never know where you are going to end up. All you can do is strap-in and enjoy the ride!
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About your host

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Jeff Nesbitt

Jeff Nesbitt is a man of many interests. He is infinitely curious, brutally honest, and genuinely loves people. Jeff grew up in a small coastal community in the Pacific Northwest and after college he moved back to his hometown to start a family. When the Covid-19 crisis hit in 2020, regular social engagement was not an option, and Jeff realized that the missing ingredient in his life was human connection. So, like the fabled Noah and his Ark, Jeff started building a podcast studio without knowing what his show would actually be. Before the paint was even dry, Jeff start recording interviews with interesting friends, and Ramble by the River was born.