The best thing about doing this show has been meeting so many fascinating people. Over two hundred shows in the past year! Guests have included scientists, authors, doctors, comics, technophiles, artists, booksellers, educators and others that defy one-word labels: they sell carnivorous plants, freeze people cryogenically, perform laser shows, make art out of ostrich eggs and dolls for movies, invent names for companies, design tiny flying machines and board games and robots, operate isolation tank facilities and Pez museums, study ants and spiders, babies and brains, earthquakes and termites, and I, for one, want to know more about it.
Seriously.
Previous Guests have
included...
Authors
Scientists
Comics
Technophiles
Producers
Booksellers & Educators
Artists, Musicians, Activists
Authors
William Gibson
Neuromancer
All Tomorrow's Parties
Count Zero
Mona Lisa Overdrive
Chuck Palahniuk
Fight Club
Invisible Monsters
Survivor: A Novel
Robert Olen
Butler, Pulitzer-prize winning author of
Mr. Spaceman
A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
Tabloid Dreams
They
Whisper
Herbert Gold
Daughter Mine
She Took My Arm As If She Loved Me
The Man Who Was Not With It
Ianthe Brautigan
You Can't Catch Death: A Daughter's Memoir
(about her relationship with her father, poet and novelist Richard
Brautigan)
Robert Wright
Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny
The Moral Animal : Why We Are the Way We Are : The New Science of Evolutionary
Psychology
Three Scientists and Their Gods: Looking for Meaning in an Age of Information
Matthew Klam
Sam the Cat and Other Stories
Mark Lindquist
Never Mind Nirvana
Carnival
Desires
Sad
Movies
Robin Marantz
Henig
The
Monk in the Garden : The Lost and Found Genius of Gregor Mendel,
A
Dancing Matrix : How Science Confronts Emerging Viruses
John Conroy
Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People: The Dynamics of Torture
Belfast
Diary: War As a Way of Live
Thomas Sanchez
Day of the Bees
Adriana Trigiani
Big Stone Gap
Christopher
Bram
The Notorious Dr. August
Father of Frankenstein (basis for the movie Gods
and Monsters)
Liza Dalby
The
Tale of Murasaki
Alistair
MacLeod
No Great Mischief
Wyn Wachhorst
Thomas
Alva Edison : An American Myth
The
Dream of Spaceflight: Essays on the Near Edge of Infinity
(foreward by Buzz Aldrin)
Jack Boulware
San Francisco Bizarro: A Guide to Notorious Sights, Lusty Pursuits, and Downright
Freakiness in the City by the Bay
Laurence
Shames
The Naked Detective
Welcome to Paradise
Florida Straits: A Novel
Tim Brookes
A Hell of a Place to Lose a Cow: An American Hitchhiking Odyssey
Signs of Life : A Memoir of Dying & Discovery
Charles Baxter
The Feast of Love
Julia Alvarez
In the Name of Salome: A Novel
Chris Bohjalian
Trans-Sister Radio
Vikram Seth
An Equal Music
Stephen Harrigan
The Gates of the Alamo: A Novel
Jeff Shaara
Gone For Soldiers: A Novel of the Mexican War
Howard Bahr
The Year of Jubilo: A Novel of the Civil War
Kenn Harper
Give Me My Father's Body: The Life of Minik, the New York Eskimo
Oren Harari,
prof. of management, USF, consultant and author of
Beep! Beep! Competing in the Age of the Road Runner
Jules Tygiel
Past Time: Baseball as History
Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy
Steven Saylor
A Twist at the End: A Novel of O. Henry
Thomas Lynch,
poet/undertaker/author of
Bodies in Motion and at Rest: On Metaphor and Mortality
Bill Fitzhugh
Cross Dressing
The Organ Grinders
Pest Control: A Novel
Tim Gallwey
The Inner Game of Work
Nancy Cobb
In Lieu of Flowers: A Conversation for the Living
Irene Lamberti
Spirit in Action : Moving Meditations for Peace, Insight, and Personal Power
Sy Montgomery
and Dianne Taylor-Snow
Journey of the Pink Dolphins : An Amazon Quest
Edvard Radzinsky
The Rasputin File
Wayne Johnston
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams
Mikki Halpin
The Geek Handbook: User Guide and Documentation for the Geek in Your Life
Peggy Orenstein
Flux: Women on Sex, Love, Kids, and Life in a Half-Changed World and
Schoolgirls
: Young Women, Self-Esteem, and the Confidence Gap
Martha B.
Hopkins
Second Chances: A Travel Narrative of Southern Africa
Ryan Omega
The Anime Trivia Quizbook
Scientists
Brian Greene
physicist/mathematician/author of
The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the
Ultimate Theory
Ken Croswell
astronomer/author of
Magnificent Universe
Planet
Quest: The Epic Discovery of Alien Solar Systems
The
Alchemy of the Heavens : Searching for Meaning in the Milky Way
www.ccnet.com/~galaxy
Dan Werthimer
chief scientist of the SETI@home
project
Roger Gilbertson
Mondo-tronics and the Robot Store
www.mondotronics.com
www.robotstore.com
Greg Munson
co-founder of Battlebots
Rick Murdoch
former CEO of biotech firm CellPro and author of
Patient Number One: A True Story of How One CEO Took on Cancer and Big Business
in the Fight of His Life
Dr. Dan Kindlon
child psychologist and author of
Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys
Dr. William
S. Pollack
Real Boys' Voices, Real
Boys:Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood
Dr. Daniel
Amen
neuroscientist, founder of the Amen Clinic,
and author of
Change Your Brain, Change Your Life
Ron Hipschman
webmaster of the Exploratorium
Charles Carlson
Director of Life Sciences at the Exploratorium
Dr.
Mark Levy
Forensic Psychiatrist
www.lawandpsychiatry.com
Dr. Douglas
Long
Manager of Bird and Mammal Collections, California Academy of Sciences
www.calacademy.org
Keith Garcia
of the Lucidity Institute founded by
Stanford sleep researcher Stephen LaBerge
Dr. Pamela
Palmer
Dir. of Pain Management at SFSU and advisor to The
Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation
Robert
Abbott
fisheries scientist and natural resource planner
Dr. Robert
Kloner
Prof. of Medicine, USC and Dir. of Research at the Heart Institute of Good
Samaritan Hospital, author of Mind
Cure
Kirsten Vanstone
Morrison Planetarium
www.calacademy.org
Jim Yount
American Cryonics Society
www.jps.net/cryonics
Dr. Wally
Sampson
one of the founders of the Bay Area Skeptics, and editor of the Scientific
Review of Alternative Medicine
www.baskeptics.org
Norm Gershenz
entomologist, Dir. of the Center for Ecosystem Survival, SFSU
www.savenature.org
Norm Sperling
astronomer and skeptic
www.everythingintheuniv.com
www.baskeptics.org
Patrick O'Reilly
psychologist specializing in cults, Chairman of the Bay Area Skeptics
www.baskeptics.org
Paul Hewitt
physics teacher and author of the best-selling textbook
Conceptual Physics
www.conceptualphysics.com
Martin Goldstein,
D.V. M.
veterinarian and author of
The Nature of Animal Healing: The Definitive Holistic Medicine Guide to Caring
for Your Dog and Cat
Robert Nadeau
Berkeley Seismological Laboratory
www.seismo.berkeley.edu/seismo/homepage.html
http://quake.wr.usgs.gov
Linda
Seekins
seismologist, U.S. Geological Survey
Ben Macri
Physics and Automotive Mechanics instructor, CCSF
Brad DeLong
neurosurgeon
Geoffry Goodrich
laser technician, Arcturus Engineering
Daniel Sabsay
inventor, pres. of East Bay Skeptics Society
www.eb-skeptics.org
David Wall
physics instructor, City College of SF
Seth Prosterman
clinical sexologist
Roe
Gallo
nutritionist, author of Perfect Body
Comics
Brian Regan
Rick Overton
comic/actor/Emmy-award winning writer for the Dennis Miller show.
Greg Proops
comic, host of Comedy Central's Vs. and a regular on Whose Line
Is It Anyway?
Tom Rhodes
www.rhodesworld.com
Tom Sawyer
owner/manager of Cobb's Comedy Club, San Francisco
Felicia
Michaels
comic and independent film-maker
Mike Larsen
television writer and comic
Doc
Barham
comic and paranormal reporter
Clark Taylor
comic and screenwriter
Kevin Kataoka
comic/internet writer
Jim Short
Australian for beer
Mike Spiegelman
writer for Berkeley Systems and game
tester for Sega
Bruce Cherry
comic and head writer for Flipside.com
Robert Mac
comic and leader of FOOT! tours
Sabrina Matthews
www.sabrinamatthews.com
www.lesbiancomic.com
Harmon Leon
comic/freelance writer
Robert
Hawkins
comic
Lord Carrett
Colin Mahan
did all the voices on the Austin Powers Operation: Trivia game from Berkeley
Systems
Kurt Weitzmann
comic and writer for Berkeley Systems
John O'Connell
comic and web searcher
Mike Meehan
comic/artist
Dan Rothenberg
Dan Lewis
Joe Klocek
Mike Strong
Technophiles
David Spark
Sr. Writer at ZDTV
www.davidspark.com
www.zdtv.com
Marc Hershon
Lexicon Branding
and the improvisational comedy troupes
the Start-ups.comedy and the Riffingtons
Michael Gregor
multimedia developer
www.velope.com
Valerie Casey
visual and web designer and teacher
www.valcasey.com
Scott Beale
primary tentacle of Laughing Squid
Mike Wooldridge
web developer, QuickTime VR author, and tech writer.
www.thatguy.com
www.mediacosm.com
Jefferey
Modic
Y2K consultant and author of Nothing
to Fear
www.trespinos.com
Michael Mitchell
previously a user interface engineer at Scient
now VP of Creative Development at Sherpa
Ears
Avi Weiss
Phone.com
Peter Black
creator of Informatica 1.0
www.etronica.com
Dan Conway
Macromedia
Mark Strassman
Macromedia
Chris Hayes
PlayTV's own Mr. Machine
Alex Amado
web developer and creator of the comic book Nobody
Alison
and Caroline Bellach
Snap.com
NetReamer
David
Hewlett-Packard
www.hp.com
Dave Dayen
and Rebecca Tollen
producers of ZDTV's
You Made It
Brian Putnam
PlayTV's own cameraman and in-house automobile/coffee expert
Larry Stull
associate producer of But Seriously...
Enrico Abruzzo
tech recruiter and swing dancer
Producers
Mark Steensland
and Andy Massagli
producers of the documentary The
Gospel According to Philip K. Dick
Adrian Belic
co-producer (with his brother) of the Academy Award nominated documentary
Genghis Blues
David Bolt
Studio Miramar, producer of the PBS series Digital
Divide (and author of the
book)
Craig Duff
television producer and independent filmmaker
Chris Carlsson
Shaping San Francisco CDrom and website
Lise Swenson
media artist & director of TILT: Teaching
Intermedia Literacy Tools
Brent Meeske
and Mike Dong
The End of the Road: The Final
Tour of the Grateful Dead
Russell Dowden
and Sonny Salas
UFOlogists/producers of the SETLAB website
and radio show
(the Study of Extraterrestrial Life and Answers from Beyond)
Booksellers and Educators
Brian Bilby
proprietor of Chelsea Bookshop, SF
Henry Toledano
online bookseller
Ron Blum
proprietor of Kayo Books, one San
Francisco's coolest vintage paperback bookstores
David Yaffie
Asst. Principal of a high school in suburban Houston
Lisa Yager
famous sixth grade teacher
Andrej Diamantstein
teacher of traditional Japanese Swordsmanship
www.iaido.org
Phillip Scott
founder/director of Ancestral Voice Center for Indigenous Lifeways
Alexandra
McIntyre
teacher of Transcendental Meditation
Lawrence
Gerald
Sir Francis Bacon's New Advancement of Learning
Artists, Musicians, Activists...
Ron Campbell
actor, star of the one-man show
R. Buckminster Fuller: The History(and Mystery)
of the Universe
Dr. Brody
Culpepper and Rusty Blazenhoff
BigRig Industries
www.bigrigindustries.com
Jesse Reklaw
creator of the comic strip Slow Wave, author of Dreamtoons
www.nonDairy.com/slow/wave.cgi
Darick Robertson
comic book artist and co-creator of Transmetropolitan
John Marr
creator of the 'zine Murder Can Be Fun
Dan Sullivan
creator of Infection The Game
www.earwig.net
Sebastian
Melmoth
prankster and head dog steward of DoggieDiner.com
Lynda Williams
physics teacher and science performer
www.scientainment.com
Joe
Gizmo
science songwriter/performer
Stevie B
www.freestyleradio.com
Hopechild , SF band
James Combs
Amy Ventura
producer, Mod Songwriters and Poetry series
Dreambeach
Voice/Bass duo from Santa Cruz
Toby
and Charlie
The KGB
Dan Dion
photographer
www.dandionphotography.com
Michael Phillips
Project to Label Gene-Altered Food
Julie Light
Corporate Watch
Julia Carter
The Drug Peace Campaign
Chris
Conrad
Hemp Activist
Mikki Norris
Human Rights and the Drug War
Families Against Mandatory Minimums
Marilyn Milos
NOCIRC - the National Organization of Circumcision
Information Resource Centers
Debby Dunn
San Francisco Recycling Program
Nina Grossman
and Yan Wirengarden
San Francisco AIDS Foundation Needle Exchange Program
Lynette Anderson
The Floatation Center
(ala Altered States! I actually went in and tried it. I didn't devolve or
anything, but I'm going again.)
www.floatationcenter.com
Bob Steiner
magician and member of The Bay Area Skeptics
www.baskeptics.org
Rynn Lemieux
science fiction writer
Gary
and Nancy Doss
Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia
Peggy
Vincent
egg artist