Latest / Atmosphere with Emily Gracey / Hip Hop Science: Curiosity, Culture & Creativity
Transcript
- Emily Gracey: This is Maynardo Karake, engineer, entertainer. Science communicator. Online, you probably know him better as Hip Hop Science, where more than a hundred thousand people follow along as he turns everything from wildlife to space to the science hiding in pop culture into something you actually want to stop scrolling and learn about. I was today's years old when I found out that cockroaches actually. Right. Now this behavior is actually incredibly rare, even though the interesting thing about Maynard isn't just how he talks about science. It's why. Because long before he figured out how to combine science, entertainment, and pop culture, he spent years feeling like those pieces of himself weren't supposed to fit together. I was always at odds with myself growing up because I never placed myself into a box. I was into science, but I was also a hip-hop artist. Eventually he stopped trying to choose. And that decision became the foundation for hip hop science, using entertainment and culture to reach people who might never stop scrolling for a traditional science lesson. So I thought bringing the culture and bringing that entertainment value and making that connection to where people that may not necessarily be into the sciences but are very much into pop culture or trending topics can now like digest some scientific information that they otherwise would never have gained before. Today on Atmosphere, Maynard O'Karake will tell us why kids seem to be born curious about science and why it fades as they grow up. Why he thinks asking kids what problem do you want to solve may be more important than asking them, what do you want to be when you grow up? And how we might actually be able to turn our doom scrolling into learn scrolling. The more intentional, We can be with our social media platforms and how we use them, then we can start to feed into a lot of the things that we want to see. I'm Meteorologist Emily Gracie, and this is Atmosphere, a podcast where science becomes conversation. Each week I sit down with the experts behind the forecasts, the research, and the headlines to explore not just the science, but the human stories behind it. Through natural curiosity, we're making science more understandable, more relatable, and hopefully bringing a little more comfort in how we experience the world around us. Maynard O'Kerake is one of those people who makes you question why we ever decided that people needed to fit neatly into categories. He's a civil and environmental engineer. He's been a hip-hop artist and performer. He's an entrepreneur. He's a science communicator who can take you from wildlife and ecosystems to biotech, space exploration, to quantum computing. And he's built hip-hop science around the idea that all of those things can coexist. What struck me during this conversation isn't that Maynard is trying to make science less scientific in order to make it entertaining. In fact, he talks quite a bit about research, sourcing good information, talking with experts, and understanding the nuance behind what he's communicating. What he's changing is the doorway into the science. Maybe that doorway is music, maybe it's fashion or movies, maybe it's wildlife. Maybe it's wrestling or food or something you happen to see while scrolling on Instagram. And once you're through that door, curiosity can take over. That becomes especially important when we talk about kids, because Maynard says getting a third grader excited about a science experiment isn't particularly difficult. The harder question is how do we keep that kid curious? How do we keep grades, test scores, stereotypes, and our own ideas about Who's good at science from slowly draining that curiosity away? And how do we help kids understand that being a scientist isn't necessarily about being the smartest person in the room? Sometimes it's simply about being the person who keeps asking questions. Here's my conversation with Maynard O'Karake, Hip Hop Science. Let's go back to like your childhood. I want to hear about your your origin story and how you got interested in science in the first place. Yeah. Yeah. The classic origin story. I always tell people, you know, I was always a science nerd growing up. and my first kind of love for science was actually just nature and wildlife. I th there was a pond by my house I used to go and explore at and catch frogs and salamanders and different insects. And that was just kind of my passion. I just loved exploring. I loved like ecosystems. I loved just environments and unique environments like that. And so and I remember my mom got me these like wildlife fact cards. It's like way old school cards back in the day that would come in these little pamphlets and you get like five or ten of them in the mail every week. And I used to just memorize these fact cards. So I knew all sorts of random wildlife nature facts about everything from mating habits to eating habits and everything. I'm just all sorts of different creatures. And and that was just kind of my love. And I was always just into that. and so for me, it just kind of fed into things as I grew up. And you know, I grew up as an entertainer too, because I was into music and arts. And so I was performing. I was in a hip hop group for a for a long time. got into like stage theater and acting. And so I kind of had all these kind of weird multifaceted sides of me. but at the Core of it was all rooted in science and just curiosity and asking questions and always wanting to know why and how. And so for me, that was kind of my first introduction into STEM. And, you know, I had all sorts of weird deviations along that pathway. but that love kind of kept me centered and just had kind of a lot of crazy situations and stories that kind of deviated me at times, but kind of full circle being able to come back to my platform now where I'm able to. Combine all my passions and the things that I love to be able to help educate. it's been just a a crazy journey. Where did you grow up? I spent majority of my time in the Northwest in Vancouver, Washington, just across the river from Portland. my early childhood, I spent my first four years in Cameroon, West Africa. After high school, I ended up in college at University of Washington in Seattle. and then now I'm here in Los Angeles. So growing up. You say you had interest in science, but also like the arts. Did you feel like you had to choose between them? Or like I feel like I grew up in a time where you were one or the other. You weren't you couldn't do both. Or it was like you had this side brain or this side brain was active and you get put in a group. What did was that your experience? yeah, totally. 100%. And that's why I think for me it was always I was always at odds with myself growing up because I never Place myself into a box, right? I was always that person that just loved doing multiple different things. Like that's what I just had curiosity and a passion for so many random things. A lot of times they were very obscure and disconnected and didn't make sense to maybe people outside of my circle. But for me, they made perfect sense. So yeah, I was into science. but like I said, I was also a hip hop artist. So like These are like very contrasting sides of me as well, too. And so I always felt like I had to dive into one or the other. And and you know, I grew up with African parents. And so education was a big thing. And so it was like you need to focus on your education. And so that's what I did. You know, I went just I went to college and ended up getting my degree in civil engineering. but like it was always drilled into me, like you gotta focus on school, you gotta get your education. And so all these other things that I did were just kind of like side hobbies. There are things I just kind of did kind of on my own. But then I always try to keep them very separated. So even when I was working, I always that I I feel like that was kind of the peak of having that separation was when I got into corporate and I was working at an engineering firm. And it's like I had to be literally one thing or the other. It's like I couldn't showcase these other sides of me. And then I had to focus on science. And that's eventually what ended up getting me to the position where I just had to do a 180 and completely left engineering and went down to g moved out here to LA to pursue my entertainment work was because of that specific reason of like I couldn't be these other things that I wanted to do and I wanted to be able to live a life where I was able to walk outside and be kind of my true authentic self every day. That's amazing. and it's very inspirational. Realistically tell me about how that worked going from like having a job with a steady paycheck to like taking this leap into something that you're so passionate about. But it's really, really uncertain and really kind of cutthroat to get into that world. Yeah. I mean, it was, it was definitely tough. It took me a few years to really kind of convince myself that I can do it. and you know, I had a great job. I was working engineering firm and I was doing, you know, heavy infrastructure work and I was moving really high kind of up in the company pretty quickly. And and so when I told people and my parents that I was gonna leave engineering and go pursue my my entertainment dreams. You know, everybody looked at me like I was crazy for sure. I am a very, I am a very strong willed person and I'm always very determined. If I set my eyes or on a goal or something that I want to accomplish, I fully commit. Like I am all in and I'll do whatever and go wherever it may take to get that thing that I want to accomplish. And so I always had a vision of what I wanted to do and wanted what I wanted to be as an entertainer. And so I I moved forward in that light. And so when I made that decision to leave engineering, I was like, I'm all in. I'm gonna grind. I'm gonna make this opportunity happen. And nothing's gonna stop me. And so and I think my my parents ironically kind of knew that in a way. And I I thought my parents were gonna be the most kind of like, whoa, whoa, you gotta think about this, you gotta go like, but they actually were ironically pretty supportive. And I think it was mostly because they'd seen my journey. getting into engineering and through the sciences. And so when I made that leap, it was kind of like, hey, you know, I I I done everything that I said I was going to do. And now I wanted to go and explore something that I was passionate about. And so for me, it was like there was kind of no turning back. And you know, I always try to I always tell people like live your life to the fullest. Like, you know, and I always kind of have this phrase that when you find your passion, it becomes your purpose and you can no longer be passive. And I've always been passion driven. And that's one of the things I tell students now is like go after the things that you love. opportunities that you want are always going to rise if you stay dedicated and you stay focused on exactly what you want to do. And so for me it was a tough transition, but kind of having that ultimate faith and confidence in myself was definitely what helped me endure through it. Okay. So You made this life change, you know, to fulfill these creativity needs and and your personal goals, but there was a greater mission here, right? You saw a gap when it came to the STEM fields and children, minority children, not getting into these fields or not showing interest. So can you tell me about where how hip hop science stemmed from that? For me, it was kind of something that I always noticed, right? Like even my whole educational pursuit. I was always the only one that looked like me in many of the rooms that I was in. especially when I was pursuing my engineering degree. I was one of few black students in my engineering program, yet alone, you know, my school. and then when I got into the workforce and I was working as an engineer, I was one of only, you know, two others, you know. And so there was always kind of that gap, that disparity gap. And Even just kind of my general love for science as far as even just outside of engineering, you know, I was still a wildlife nature lover. I still loved going outdoors and hiking and working with animals. and I never f saw other people that look like me having these interests. And it was always kind of weird to me. It was like, why doesn't anybody else find this as exciting and interesting as I am? And why are the kids not as curious? And, you know, even though I had that love for entertainment and wanting to be an entertainer, I knew. exactly where education could take you and things that it could that it things that it can accumulate for you. and so for me it was like I wanted I wanted to be able to showcase that you can be multifaceted and that it's okay to have these multiple different sides of you and you don't have to feel like you're just one thing. but I always talk to students and I did a lot of mentoring too, even when I was kind of working as an engineer, I was doing a lot of things outside of the workplace and supporting students and kind of being invested in like, hey, what was going on with younger generation and making sure that I would be there to be a mentor or an advocate. And I just noticed so many within my community not having that passion and not having that kind of desire or having that curiosity to just explore and be knowledgeable. And so by the time I made that leap and I left engineering and I moved down to LA and I was pursuing entertainment. I was still kind of in that same weird lane of like I was still very much involved in the sciences and doing stuff just kind of on my own and exploring. but but even when I was in entertainment, it was still kind of a weird thing. People were like, Why do you know all these random facts? Right. And it's like, and so for me, the hip hop science platform really came ironically, started out as a sketch comedy idea because I was had a lot of friends that were comedians out here in LA and I was doing a lot of entertainment work with them and Came up with this kind of character that was true to who I was, which was this science nerd that was also into music and entertainment and would like drop random science facts and weird, inappropriate situations. And that's really how the hip hop science platform evolved and started making kind of content around that of kind of who I was, this kind of weird, quirky scientist. And and it just kind of snowballed from there. And I think the point where it really hit me was when people started to talk about my content. It was like, wow, I never thought about this or I never made this connection. And for me, that's really the crux of hip hop science. It's not even necessarily about music or hip hop music and science. It's like about bringing the culture and bringing that entertainment value and making that connection to where people that may not necessarily be into the sciences but are very much into pop culture trending topics can now like digest some scientific information that they otherwise would never have gained before, never even would have seen in their bubble. And especially for young minority students and people that come from my community, being able to make that connection to things that are relevant to them, whether it's movies, whether it's music, artistry, things within the culture, fashion, being able to make scientific connections to those things was a great way to spark thought and spark questions and kind of feed that curiosity. And when I really saw that that was a connection was really building, I identified that as my goal. And so I kind of set that as my mission. How do I encourage more? Minority and youth involvement into the STEM fields, bridging this gap between entertainment and science. You cover a lot of topics, like a huge range of science topics. And so I'm curious about your process and like when you do a video or talk to a crowd, how are you, how do you know all this? I guess is what I'm wondering. Like, do you have to go research certain things before you post a video? Because this is a very specific topic about like, ant bites and how do you, you know, like so tell me how about that process and are you learning every day with each video you put out? Yeah. No, absolutely. 100% learning every single day. yeah, people always ask me, it's like, wait, why do you know all these different things? And there's there's there's definitely a lot of random things that I do know. but I definitely pride myself in being able to dive deep into the weeds of research and looking up facts and talking to experts as well too and reading papers and Reading research papers and all sorts of different things. I always tell people if the if the FBI raided my house and kind of went through my search list, I I'm probably on some watch list right now, somewhere on some CIA or FBI website. just because of the random obscure things that I've looked up or wondered about, you know. and so a lot of research for sure goes into the content that I do. Cause like I said, I have a background in civil environmental engineering. but I grew up with a love for wildlife and nature. So I definitely talk a lot on wildlife and environmental sciences. but then I do a lot of work around biotech and a lot of space, you know, a lot of space exploration work with astrophysicists and kind of understanding our universe, right? And so I have this kind of wide range of different things that I talk about. but I always find that if you're curious about something and if you have a vested interest in something, you're gonna you're gonna do the work to better understand it. And so I take my pride in really being able to dive into the complex science, but then being able to take that, you know, information and being able to present it in a way that's palatable and in a way that's fun and hopefully entertaining for people. and that's kind of where I think my main superpower is is kind of that translation of that information and communicate it in a way that one, you find a connection to. and it and it's meaningful. But then two, you walk away and you feel like, I wasn't being taught something in a class. I felt like I was just having fun and that kind of doom schooling like I normally do and and digesting some high entertainment value content. but then now I walk away and I'm empowered, I'm knowledgeable, and I have, you know, a a a whole wide breadth of information that I otherwise wouldn't have never got because of things that I'm normally exposed to. And so yes, a lot of research goes into the work for sure. but then kind of making that translation into the communication aspect is very key to the work that I do. Yes, it's definitely key. But I'm realizing too, and listening to you talk, it's becoming even more clear, is that a huge part of the buzzle too is having that science background, you know where to source good information from. So, like you because you're working in this world, because you have colleagues in this world and your network is this world, like you know where to get good information. And I feel the same way about myself. Like, I don't I don't know all the topics I'm covering, but I do know like going online, filtering through the muck what's good information and what's bad information. And that's just as much a an important part of the puzzle as translating it too, you know? Yeah. No, absolutely. And I think like, especially like you said, you know, when you cover multiple different topics, you also have to know how to curate things like one, you have to be able to find stuff that's factual, right? You want to make sure you want to double you know, you want to double check everything that you're presenting. And so I'm always making sure that I look at that same bit of information from different perspectives. I hear, you know, information from different scientists and different, you know, researchers kind of understand, okay, what is the what is the range of people's perspectives and thoughts and understanding of this content as well. And that better informs me. 'cause I think, you know, especially with science, there's all this nuance in everything. You know what I'm saying? Like you we we don't talk about anything with certainty in science because things are always changing and evolving. But even as you're communicating with people, right? People are gonna resonate with different things. and the same might not apply to one group or community as it might to someone else from across the world, right? That's kind of digesting it from a whole different lens, you know? And so I think that nuance is really important as well, too. And so that's something I'm always cognizant about, is like understanding how to formulate. Things that I'm saying so that it's adaptable to different perspectives and different people. And then I'm also addressing that nuance to where, like, hey, this might be viewed as, you know, differently in this, you know, from this lens, so that people have the understanding of that perspective that goes along with it. something I've noticed, and I'd love your take on this, is you know, there is always this push to get young kids, especially girls and minorities, into STEM fields and maybe they get excited for a little while. But translating that into being their career, I still feel like that's a hurdle that we're not kind of overcoming. So I'm wondering what your thoughts are. Where's the disconnect between childhood, creativity, and passion? And then actually carrying that over into I want to do this for a career, I'm going to college and majoring in this. Yeah. No, that's a great question. ironically, I think that's one of the things I try to solve in in my children's book. So I I released a book earlier this year. zombie spiders and asteroid blasters, 16-way scientists are changing the world. And foundationally, that's one of the things that I wanted to address within this book and kind of take you through this journey because you know, doing a lot of work with kids, kids are always the easiest ones to come and do a science presentation or get them excited by science. Like, they don't even like I do a lot of work with you know the young elementary school kids and I gonna tell Age, like, you don't necessarily need me. Like, kids are already excited about this stuff, right? Like, kids are very much into size. You go to a third grade classroom and do you do the simplest size experiment. It could be a baking soda and vinegar experiment or whatever it may be, or you make some little air cannon with a little cup. Like kids are gonna go crazy. They're gonna try to like, wow, this is amazing. They're gonna they're gonna try to do it themselves. They're gonna be infatuated with building it and kind of learning about it. but the key. That I think is really important that we need to dial in is like, how do we spark that curiosity for a lifetime, right? Because what eventually happens is students get older and it's really kind of a result of our education system because of the way that we teach in the classroom, the mandates, the standards in lesson plans and all these different things that are kind of curated. We don't expand, we don't have room for expanding curiosity. As students get older, we kind of trap them into this framework that they're supposed to be in because we have protocols and we have things that they're supposed to meet. and so students start to lose that curiosity. And then also kind of it's the world too, right? It's the world that we live in. People either are are are are criminalized for the way that for their perspectives and things that they think, or they're made to feel inferior. Or they feel dumb. And so you have kind of these life things that kind of jade you always tell the people. It's like little, it's like little stabs into your curiosity. And you have this like balloon, right? You have this giant balloon that's completely filled when you're a young kid. You're in elementary school. It's like over time, it's like these little, like tiny little needles, you know what I'm saying? They haven't really popped yet, but it's like kind of sucking air out of this balloon. And then by the time you get older, it's like now you have this kind of shriveled up balloon, kind of the air has been sucked out of you, and you're still trying to inflate. But you aren't really feeling you aren't really feeling connected to anything, particularly within the sciences because you've been jaded throughout so many different things in your educational journey. I think the key when I'm able to come into a classroom, I think for me, it's not even like doing the science or like showcasing something eye popping. It's one, you know, I always talk big about representation. It's like showcasing first and foremost that somebody that looks like them is actually doing scientific work. As a career, right? And I think that bodes well for obviously minority students to be able to see a black, you know, a black scientist doing work in this field. But, you know, for for any gender to be women, right? Being able to see another woman that looks like them doing credible work in the industry, showcasing their journey as well, too, showing, like, hey, I was once in your shoes, you know, having this kind of love and affinity for science. And now here I am being able to do these really amazing things. But not just so that the things are amazing, but like now building this connection to like you are a scientist. Right now, as a kid, you are a scientist. You're asking questions, you're figuring out how the world works. Me as a scientist isn't any different than you right now as a scientist. I just now am in a position where I have a certain knowledge base. And I get paid for doing the work that I do, you know? But you are acquiring knowledge as a young student. You're learning, you're trying things out, you're experimenting, you're utilizing the scientific method, right? You're doing everything that a scientist does, right? And you're now getting more knowledge as you do it. And I always kind of tell us like I always tell educators, it's like showcase the students, like how can you solve problems? You know, we got we got to get past this. Mentality of asking students, like, what do you want to be when you grow up? Right. Because even as adults, that's a hard question, right? We go through transit career transitions all the time. Like I've shifted my career, you know, how many times now since I've graduated college, you know? but for kids, it's like, yeah, right. It's like been in you've got you've gone all these different directions. And and then for kids, it's important to know, like, you don't have to know what you want to be. Like, focus more so on like what problems you want to solve. what you know, what things are out there that matter to you could be something that you see in your household every single day. Maybe it's a a family member that's dealing with, you know, health issues. And you're like, wow, I wish there was a way I can, you know, I can solve, I can cure cancer, right? To be able to help my brother or to be able to help my parent that's struggling for this. I see something going on in the city around me where there's horrible air pollution and we can never see the night sky because because of light pollution. I want to be able to solve kind of these problems, these things that matter to me in the area that I'm at. And once kids kind of understand that they have the ability to be able to do that at any age, I've seen so many amazing things that students have been able to do at the age that they're at, because they're able to focus on solving a problem in something that matters to them. Okay. So hold on to the curiosity and the wonder. And then also, do you think like confidence plays a role in it too? Do you think kids are losing confidence as they get older and don't think they're cut out for it? Like I remember being a teenage girl and the narrative, especially with weather and meteorology, was if you're not good at math, you shouldn't do science. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And and it is not just kids, right? I mean, think about we we we as adults talk about imposter syndrome all the time in the workplace. of feeling inferior, feeling like we are not up to par with our colleagues or our coworkers, right? It's like we have that all the time. I talk to well educated professionals that are in their workplace or working in amazing fields in NASA and doing all sorts of incredible work that still go through doubt about their abilities and their skills and whether they belong, right? And so even as adults, we're still dealing with that. And so you imagine how that is for kids when they're constantly being, you know, felt like, hey, I'm not meeting up the standards. I'm not doing well in the classroom. I'm not getting good grades. You know, like you said, I'm not good at math. Maybe science isn't for me, right? You have all these different dials and that kind ties back to all the little, you know, the little piercings in your bubble, right? That kind of reshape you, right? Because you get told all these things. You get fed these things and now you start to believe it. And I think for a student it's like building that confidence is really key because And that comes with that comes kind of in twofold, right? You gotta like let them know, like, hey, you do belong, that this is for you, right? And that kind of comes back to the thing I talked about is like instilling that mindset of you are a scientist. That's why I always like make sure to say that. Yeah, I even have my shirt, you know, I am a scientist, right? It's like it's like it's a mindset shift where it's like I I I'm a scientist, I belong. Like I can actually do this, you know? and when you're able to say that to yourself, it kind of changes your frame of thinking. but then also is it's telling that confidence comes with a little bit of exposure, right? You gotta be able to one, see other people in your atmosphere and where you're at that are doing the work that you aspire to do, that also went through the struggles that you did as well, too. So that it shows you, like, hey, it's tangible and other people are dealing with the same problems that I am, and I'm not alone in my own journey of education, and that I and that there's gonna be hurdles that I have to overcome and how do I stay invested in overcoming those hurdles. Yeah, I always tell people like scientists are like the most creative people you think. I mean, you probably know you probably know the majority of the scientists you probably know have some musical talent, right? Or some they do. You're right. They do. If you really think about it, like you think about every like the smartest people that you know have some other skill set outside of their work or the science field. That they're like incredibly talented at. You know what I'm saying? And like, and I think we fail to realize that. We stop, we sometimes put scientists in a box of like, they're just a science nerd. They're they're into data and numbers and logic and calculating things. And then you realize, like, sci the majority of scientists I know are musicians or painters, you know. I'm saying, graphic designers, you know, I'm saying, artists in in some sort of different field in the most random. obscure thing that you could possibly think of, you know? And when you start to see that and you start to understand, like, science is all about creativity. And that creativity comes in so many different outlets. That creativity comes in so many different forms. Then it really starts to kind of change your frame of thinking of like, I don't, it's not about being the smartest person in the room. It's like, how do I apply this knowledge that I have to real world things to be able to come up with solutions? And that end the day is all science is about, you know? And so whether you're into arts, Whether you're into entertainment, music, whatever it may be, like you have the ability to be able to take your knowledge and be able to assess it into something that can be able to be dynamic and open up a whole new world for you. And I think that is part of that confidence building that we need to showcase for our young students, especially. Cool. okay, I'm gonna throw some questions at you. you cover a lot of topics. What's your favorite science topic to cover? Wildlife exploration is for me kind of my bread and butter. Like of anything that I do, that's the easiest one that I can just I don't necessarily even have to do much work or research, you know. Like I can just I can talk on a lot of different wildlife and environmental topics for days. And I love exploring. I love being out in nature. I I just came back from the Galapagos last week, working with Nat Geo. And so anytime I can get out somewhere and explore, could be in my own backyard, could be you know, hiking in some trail here in the area, there's always something new to discover. And those are kind of the topics that I can definitely go off on at any time, any day. So yeah, wildlife for sure is definitely, definitely my in my my my my top tier for sure. Okay, bottom tier. Anything you're like, I you just you're not not your favorite thing to cover, the biggest challenge. I mean, I want to say like I would say there's nothing like I I don't like within the sciences necessarily. I cause I because like I said, there's you can find interesting elements within everything, right? If you if you really try to build a connection, right? And so like there's certain things that are still kind of way over my head, like quantum mechanics, right? Quantum computing, like that's not in my natural wheelhouse. I have to. So nobody's natural wheelhouse. There's definitely some people that like it. It's able to roll off the tongue very easily. They understand the functionality. They understand, you know, where we're at, kind of the the lane of the world of content computing and how things are evolving right now in that field. but it doesn't come natural to me. I definitely have to do research within that. Favorite place you've traveled. Ooh, favorite place I've traveled. That's a good question. Man, I have a lot of favorites, but I have to probably say the trip that kind of stands out for me was actually my trip to Peru last year. I did a trip to Peru. I spent a week in the Amazon rainforest working with this Eco Lodge out there. but I was in this remote area of the jungle. Like we had to do a trek to get out there, two hour. Bus ride and then a two and a half hour boat ride and then a little hike to get to this eco lodge. but I was just immersed in nature 24-7. The lodge that I was in, it was just like an open room concept. So you are in nature. You're very nice amenities in this eco-lodge, but you're also just exposed to everything. Whatever is outside can come in. It was like, just I remember just being affected in a different way of just being. in nature and just being fully submerged within it. And so that that my time there definitely stands out to me for sure. okay, favorite platform to share information on. I would say Instagram is probably my favorite. I have a great community on Instagram. So I learn a lot. that kind of short form format, but then also being able to do pictures and stories is just kind of versatile in a sense where I can be able to package things Creatively in a way that I feel connects with people. Yeah, I like that one too. I was just thinking when you were talking earlier about Doom Scrolling, how I I think I'm gonna go through and like clear out my Instagram of anything that is not like a learning experience because wouldn't it be great to just open and scroll and everything you look at, you're learning something? We just like fill our algorithm with accounts like yours. Yeah. There's no doing scrolling. You're just learn scrolling. Like learn scrolling, right? And that and that's like and we talk about that a lot, right? It's like this algorithm and and how you know how bad it can be and like you get lost into like a kind of mindless content. But you can you we there's ways that we can control it, right? There's ways that we can control what we're digesting. We do have a little bit of control of what we see. There we can kind of start tailoring our algorithm so that we we walk away at the end of the day feeling being positive, feeling like, yeah, I learned something today. I didn't feel like I would just mindlessly Doom scrolling and then I maybe have something new and cool and exciting to research later on. Mm-hmm. Okay. Well, so who are you watching right now? Do you have any suggestions on who we should follow other than hip hop science, of course? Who should we be following? Yeah. I mean, I have a lot of great friends within the STEM community. They're doing amazing work. my my friend Dr. Dakota Tyler, he's opsom, he's astrophysicist. they also have this curiosity theory platform that he does with my other friend, Justin Schaefer. That's a good that's a great podcast for people that are curious learners and want to ask questions and want to understand how things work. My friend Dr. Alex Danis, she's absolutely amazing. Anything that you want to know about genetics and kind of traits around that and just kind of overall. interesting sites and how it applies to the human way of thinking and kind of genetic origins. I mean she's fully into that as well too. If you go through my friends if you go through my my all my friends people I follow, follow all of them. They're they're cool. Well we'll put these in the show notes too that some people can easily click and follow them. Cool. All right. Well outside of Hip hop science and what we see publicly, what are you passionate about? You said a lot of scientists are doing things kind of on the side. Do you have anything that the world doesn't know about that you're passionate about? yeah. I mean, I do a lot of random things for sure. I mean, obviously I'm still the music nerd, so I'm still tapping into a lot of you know, I music creatively. but I do have like a random I have like random weird hobbies and interests. I'm a I'm big into terrarium building, you know, I got a little terrarium set up here. And One in the house and then another one that I'm building right now. so that's like a hobby of mine that I love doing, you know, kind of bringing little ecosystems into a small environment, but then finding ways to make them creative. Like I try to build terrariums out of like random things that you wouldn't think of we making a terrarium out of, you know, bookcases or side tables and all sorts of random stuff. Right. And so that's kind of my creative outlet. I'm a big WWE fan, so I'm hardcore into wrestling for sure. so a lot of times I you might you might hear me breaking down some science around wrestling as well too. So I'm yeah, I'm always popping up at WrestleMania's and other wrestling events, whenever they get out here locally. So that's definitely one thing I'm big into. I'm a foodie as well, too. So I actually have a I actually have a food company outside of my science work that I do. my company, my company Jada that I run with my business partner. This is what you were on Shark Tank for, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Yep. We were on Shark Tank back in 2020. and yeah, we have our line of seasonings, our chicken salt seasonings, all sorts of different flavors of chicken salt seasonings that are really versatile. so I you know I love to cook. I love to conjure up all sorts of random ingredients. I think that's the the science side of me shows up in in in in the cooking world as well, too. And so that's an area I'm love food. Yeah. So a lot of random a lot of random things that I that I find myself getting into, sure. Well, goals for the future. Anything you haven't done that you seem like a l a guy with a list of things that you want to accomplish. What's on that list? What do you want to do next? Yeah, for sure. I definitely have a list. I have a list of places I still want to go. I'm trying to I'm trying to make an Antarctica trip happen next year. I gotta do an Indonesia trip still and get out to Jung was out there in Indonesia. So it's kind of setting that up as far as expiration stuff. and then kind of just overall science work. one of my big goals when I started this platform was to create my own show. You know, growing up watching Bill Nye and, you know, being a Bill Nye lover and watching his evolution with all his shows and programming that he's done. I still think there's a great space, even though we're kind of a unique place right now with social media and you know, YouTube, obviously. I've always wanted to be able to develop my own show. So I have some sh ideas that I've been pitching for years now that I'm still still dedicated to hopefully making happen that will kind of bridge bridge that gap between entertainment and science on really hopefully a big major platform. And so that's something I'm always actively pursuing and been kind of my dream goal as a science communicator to get my own science show on. big network. So still speaking that into existence. Awesome. Well thank you for what you're doing and thanks for joining me today to talk all about it. I appreciate it, Emily. Thanks so much for having me. This is fun. Thank you to Maynard O'Karake for joining me on this episode of Atmosphere. If you're not already head over to Instagram and follow Hip Hop Science. The other science influencers he mentioned in this episode are linked in the show notes. If today's episode sparked any questions, or if you just want to talk weather and science, you can connect with me on Facebook as Emily Gracie Meteorologist or follow along on Instagram at Atmosphere Podcast. For those who like to go beyond the audio, I'm also publishing deeper dives, episode recaps, and extra content every week over on Substack. If that sounds like your thing, I'd love for you to subscribe and join the community there. If you enjoyed this conversation, take a second to follow Atmosphere on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. Or all three. It ensures you won't miss the next episode. Also, leaving a rating or review can make a huge difference in helping new listeners find the show. And if you know someone who loves science, sharing an episode with them is the best support you can give. I'm meteorologist Emily Gracie. Thanks for taking the time to slow down, stay curious, and explore the atmosphere.