Nerd Nite XVI : Political Junkies & Science Heroes!
On April 4, your bimonthly dose of nerd-nourishment will be served. Learn how to tumble a house of cards from real political junkie Jelmer Uitentuis, and watch how astronomer Lucas Ellerbroek debunks some of science’s greatest myths. Be there and be square!
Jelmer Uitentuis – Becoming a political junkie: A crash course in political communication.
Political junkies are not only junkies because they are addicted to watching politics, can imitate politicians, and know a lot of politics trivia. Real junkies watch politics differently.They recognize spinning and framing, they know the communication strategies used. In this talk we watch and analyze some of these strategies. The conclusion is that politicians have a few things in common: they think that other politicians react rationally, but they also think that voters mostly don’t. Both of these propositions are untrue.
Besides being a political junkie, sociologist Jelmer Uitentuis is a program maker, moderator, journalist and self-proclaimed “broker in curiosity”.
Lucas Ellerbroek – Planet hunters and escapists: Who are your scientific heroes?
We like heroes as much as we like science. Discoveries and theories are often identified with the great personalities who announced or developed them. Newton equals gravity. Darwin equals evolution. Einstein equals the universe. However, some of history’s great thinkers, while rightfully credited for their brilliance, really did not know what they were doing at the time. Some, if not most, discoveries were made by neglecting written and unwritten rules of sanity. We will review some of the most remarkable episodes and characters in the quest to endless confusion which we call science. And even if it is a tragic heroism that surrounds a milestone – it is heroism nonetheless.
Lucas Ellerbroek is an astrophysicist and science writer. Besides organizing Nerd Nite, he enjoys playing the violin and indulging in nerd fare like comics, ’80s-movies and rare marbles.
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