I’ll be on the Philly station WMMR Wednesday morning at 9:30 Eastern time (7:30 Mountain, dagnappit, so I’ll be drinking my coffee early) talking astronomy and probably the book with hosts Preston & Steve. They have a Listen Live option on the site, so click it and hear me shill the book, rather than just read me shilling the book. Their website has a "morning zoo" look all over it, so maybe I’d better have two cups of coffee.
Don’t forget, on Friday, Nov. 14: I’ll be in Second Life with Michael Stackpole, too.
Update: I made some fun of the Phillies in the interview. Let me be clear: I have no idea if the Phillies are awful or not, as I haven’t watched a pro game in years (long story). It was a joke. I love Philly cheesesteaks, and Bassett’s ice cream (srsly), and George Hrab. So Don’t hurt me.
November 11th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Burn! No love for the Delaware valleys favorite morning radio show?
November 11th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Phil, will the Second Life thing be at 6PM PST? Mike Stackpole usually has his things on at 6PM PST. BTW, for us Aussies that will be 1PM EDT Saturday.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:04 am
Really? I can’t wait! I listen to Preston and Steve every chance I get, they run the best morning show I’ve ever heard. They’re suckers for science too. The interview they had with Neil DeGrasse Tyson a few months back was great.
For anyone who’s interested, the podcast of the show is on iTunes, just search for Preston and Steve. They usually get the podcast of the morning’s show up around 11:30 am est. Phil’s interview will be about an hour in.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:28 am
Is this 9:30am GMT -5? (Trying to work out when this will be playing in Western Australia… current thinking is 10:30pm on Wednesday)
November 12th, 2008 at 12:32 am
I promise to listen only if you promise to remove the utterly ridiculous Dr. Who ads. Or at least make them… stretch them back to their proper sizes or something, lol.
November 12th, 2008 at 5:26 am
That’s a first, I can tune in! I have it streaming already. Ha!
November 12th, 2008 at 5:52 am
You’ll love it, Phil!
They’ve had Neil Degrasse Tyson on the show, and they were fawning all over him.
So yes, it is a morning zoo. But they love science.
November 12th, 2008 at 6:05 am
Preston and Steve are very much morning zoo, but you’ll have a great time!
I can’t wait to hear you on a local station, Phil!!!
November 12th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Forget all your silly interviews on the radio.
Come to Kipling Collegiate in Toronto to do a talk for my physics students! It will be far more enjoyable for you. You can even stay with my wife and me. There’s a guest room, two cute cats, beer in the fridge, enjoyable company (well, that’s debatable for me, but my wife is charming!), Dr Who DVD’s and you get to be in Canada!
What more can you want?
Oh, and our school library has a copy of Bad Astronomy AND Death from the Skies
Heh
Pete
November 12th, 2008 at 7:00 am
Used to listen to Preston and Steve all the time when I went to college in Philly (even back when they were on Y100). They’re definitely an odd bunch, have fun.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Good luck! I might just have to listen online…
November 12th, 2008 at 7:11 am
They have a whole show once a year based on science, called science day (sponsored by the Franklin Institute). You should have a great time, they are usually really good to their guests.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:29 am
I haven’t listened to Preston and Steve since they were on Y100, but I always stopped around this time each because they are in deep with ghost nonsense. Has that changed?
November 12th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Listening online. Apparently, Phil has Cred.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:33 am
Phil, do Wookies exist?
November 12th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Way to go, Phil! I listen to Preston and Steve every morning, and you’re certainly holding your own.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:42 am
“There was a time when time didn’t exist? AAAAAAHHH”
I lol’d.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:44 am
This is very entertaining. These guys aren’t dummies.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:50 am
Excellent, Phil!
I enjoyed every second of that!
November 12th, 2008 at 7:50 am
Nice interview! Bet you wish they had plugged your new book more than your old one though.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:51 am
Aak! I joined in just as you were signing off…
Oh well…..
Rich
November 12th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Great show, glad I caught it in time.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Awesome interview Phil!
Jack, I think they might have been confused since the blog is “Bad Astronomy” and the first book has the same name.
But still, great stuff!
November 12th, 2008 at 7:53 am
That was excellent. They really seemed to love it.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Great interview! But really… are you smarter than the mythical wise?
November 12th, 2008 at 7:59 am
That was really entertaining, and thank you for dismissing Casey’s stupid questions, quite well done there.
November 12th, 2008 at 8:11 am
I missed it.
Anyone have transcripts or the like? I’ll give you a whole 15 minutes to come up with them!
November 12th, 2008 at 8:12 am
I really need to set an alarm or something for the Second Life thing or I’ll forget, it being Friday night and my already tiny brain being drained by my PHBs.
What to wear, what to wear…?
November 12th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Larian,
They podcast their shows, and those are usually posted in iTunes by around noon EST.
I think I may have to rip it and post it on youtube by tomorrow.
November 12th, 2008 at 8:22 am
That was fun! But I fell asleep reading on the couch last night, so I didn’t get up early enough for coffee. Yikes.
November 12th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Thanks Chris. I don’t subscribe to iTunes (I know, I’m soooo 2005 or something), so I’ll keep an eye on YouTube.
I can’t imagine facing a day without at least some coffee. If you were even reasonably coherent, you are a much better man than me!
November 12th, 2008 at 10:20 am
I still can’t believe that I emailed the show yesterday and they got Phil on today.
Makes me feel like I have powers…mwahahahahah!
November 12th, 2008 at 10:51 am
I haven’t listened to Steve and Preston in a looooong time. I know they used to have Grant and Jason from Ghosthunters on every so often. I was under the impression that Steve and Preston believed much of that stuff.
In light of some previous comments that Steve and Preston are science fans, do they consider what the Ghosthunters show does as legitimate science? Just wondering.
Matt A
November 12th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Phil,
Are you stopping by the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics later on today?
Another group of geeky people meeting today in Philly. They just have their feet firmly on the ground (or in the test tube) when it comes to science.
Make sure you get a good cheese steak and a soft pretzel before you leave!
November 12th, 2008 at 11:29 am
The podcast is here http://www.wmmr.com/goout.php?url=http://prestonandsteve.libsyn.com/ I thought it was hilarious and you got some good content in there, starts around 3/4 in.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Tom,
Phil called in, he’s not in Philly. (Sadly.)
Mattand,
Preston and Steve and their cast do still believe in some paranormal stuff. Most of them are religious, at least very liberally. But in the 2 years I’ve been listening to them they haven’t had the Ghosthunters on, nor talked about ghosts, and they’ve instituted a “science day” where they get people from the Franklin Institute to come in and do strange/fun science experiments on air.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
@Chris Morse:
Just got done listening to the podcast. I remember why I stopped tuning in to Preston & Steve. I’m not a morning person, and they like to yell.
A lot.
Anyways, thanks for the update. That’s good to know they’re at least putting science in a positive light and promoting it as such.
Phil, you sounded great as always, even without the coffee!
Matt A
November 12th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
The Bad Astronomer on Morning Radio!
Something strange happened recently.
I was reading my new book, DEATH FROM THE SKIES by the Bad Astronomer himself, Phil Plait!
It’s an awesome book, all about the many ways in which nature and the universe can destroy this pale blue dot of a pla…
November 12th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Um, the Phillies are a BASEBALL team, and they don’t suck, having just won the World Series on October 29 after a 2 day rain suspension(and yes, that is a stupid name for the major leage baseball championship, considering there is only 1 non-U.S. team, the Toronto Blue Jays, that could possibly compete in it).
I think that Phil meant to make fun of the ‘pro football’ Philadelphia Eagles, who are not really awful this year, either, having 5 wins and 4 losses so far. This kind of information is really easy to find on the intertoobs, even if you do not actively follow sports.
November 12th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
I’ve put the interview on YouTube. Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH_oggX7hmQ
November 12th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
“Update: I made some fun of the Phillies in the interview. Let me be clear: I have no idea if the Phillies are awful or not, as I haven’t watched a pro football game in years (long story). It was a joke. I love Philly cheesesteaks, and Bassett’s ice cream (srsly), and George Hrab. So Don’t hurt me.”
Oh Phil…
The Phillies are the baseball team, and just won the World Series last month.
The Eagles are the football team, and they are losing, so you were probably right to badmouth them.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
OK, I missed this earlier, and haven’t gotten the podcast yet, so I don’t know how much you’re joking, but you’re joking , right? The Phillies? World Series? 2008? In the words of the 2nd base player, “World F&$%*#g Champions!”
Don’t you be dumping on my Phils, Phil. After 25 years, these boys earned their rings…
November 12th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Heh. I was thinking baseball but write football. Weird! I fixed it.
November 12th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
It was the Eagles that Phil talked smack on. It was a pretty quick and appropriate joke, especially considering they just lost a big game at home this past weekend. It sounded like he knew exactly what he was talking about.