Matthew LaPlante
UnDisciplined HostMatthew LaPlante has reported on ritual infanticide in Northern Africa, insurgent warfare in the Middle East, the legacy of genocide in Southeast Asia, and gang violence in Central America. But a few years back, something occurred to him: Maybe the news doesn't have to be so brutally depressing all the time. These days, he balances his continuing work on more heartbreaking subjects with his work on UnDisciplined — Utah Public Radio's weekly program on science and discovery.
He is the author of "Superlative: The Biology of Extremes," the co-author of multiple other books on the intersection of science and society, and has led or contributed to more than 20 studies on climate variability and climate change. He earned a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from Oregon State University, a master's in education from California State University East Bay, and a doctorate in climate science from Utah State University.
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In 2011, an EF-5 tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri, claiming 161 lives. Almost immediately researchers like Marc Levitan, from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, began working to understand why it was so devastating. The results of that investigation are now being implemented into building codes around the world. And the result is that we’re more ready for the next huge twister. -
Is the greatest existential threat our species has ever faced really something to joke about? Aaron Sachs thinks so. And, in fact, he thinks that, in many cases, we’re not joking about it enough. -
We’ve long found different ways to explain that the world is made up of haves and have-nots. We live in the developed world or the developing world. There are those who are advantaged and those who are disadvantaged. And then, of course, there’s the one percent and everyone else. But under global warming, the climate journalist Jeff Goodell thinks, there may be a new way of describing this dichotomy: The cooled and the cooked.
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For a very long time it was thought that some alcohol, in moderation, could be healthy for us. The latest research suggests that’s simply not true. This certainly doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be allowed to drink — but we should at least know why we drink as much as we do. And that’s a question that Dr. Charles Knowles has tried to resolve in his new book.
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Ten years after publishing This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism, activist and writer Ashton Applewhite reflects on what a decade of living inside her own argument has taught her about aging, identity, and the quiet power of adaptation.
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Historically, an “everyone is a VIP” philosophy made good business sense for Disney amusement parks. But now Disney is embracing tiered services. Daniel Currell explains why and what’s to come. -
Again and again, similar patterns show up in nature in different creatures at different times in their evolutionary histories—even when those life forms have evolved on much different paths for hundreds of millions of years. And when they show up, as it turns out, we often perceive them as beautiful. So, the question is: Why?
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Again and again, similar patterns show up in nature in different creatures at different times in their evolutionary histories—even when those life forms have evolved on much different paths for hundreds of millions of years. And when they show up, as it turns out, we often perceive them as beautiful. So, the question is: Why? -
Again and again, similar patterns show up in nature in different creatures at different times in their evolutionary histories. And when they show up, we often perceive them as beautiful. Why?
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Deep in the ocean, jellyfish, shrimp, fireworms and other creatures use multi–colored lights for defense, luring food, attracting mates, and communication. In their new book, Steven Haddock and Sönke Johnsen explore the nature of underwater light—investigating the varieties of transparency, pigmentation, iridescence, bioluminescence, and fluorescence found in the watery beyond.
