On this episode of Getting Curious, we’re digging deep with Dr. Julia Clarke, Wilson Professor of Paleontology at The University of Texas at Austin and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology. She and Jonathan get to the bottom of how Texas looked 250 million years ago, which dinosaurs roamed prehistoric America, and what Pangaea’s got to do with the age of dinosaurs. Follow Dr. Clarke on Twitter @jclarkepaleolab, and learn more about her work here. Find out what today’s guest and former guests...
May 27, 2020•50 min•Ep 113•Transcript available on Metacast You're invited to a very special episode of Getting Curious, and the dress code is whatever makes you feel stunning! The guest of honor is the CFDA designer Christian Siriano, who launched his brand in 2008 and has since risen to the top of the fashion world, dressing icons like FLOTUS Michelle Obama, Billy Porter, and Lady Gaga. Christian joins Jonathan to discuss his groundbreaking designs, his commitment to body diversity and inclusive pricing, and the more than 25,000 masks he and his team h...
May 20, 2020•54 min•Ep 112•Transcript available on Metacast Journalist and author Mary O'Hara returns to Getting Curious to discuss her reporting on poverty, her new book The Shame Game: Overturning the Toxic Poverty Narrative, and her work reimagining how we talk about poverty with Project Twist-It. She and Jonathan discuss her own experience of childhood poverty, common misconceptions around poverty in the United States and the United Kingdom, and how we can start to see social services as springboards for success. You can find Mary O’Hara’s writing at...
May 13, 2020•49 min•Ep 111•Transcript available on Metacast Queen, did you know that there was a literal doctor teaching a class on happiness at literally Yale?! Dr. Laurie Santos, a professor of psychology at Yale University and the host of The Happiness Lab podcast, gives Jonathan a redux version of her iconic Yale course about the science of happiness and shares tips for boosting our spirits even when we're not near the people and places that usually bring us joy. It's time to get in touch with our vagus nerves! Follow Dr. Laurie Santos on Twitter @la...
May 06, 2020•54 min•Ep 110•Transcript available on Metacast Professor Pascale R. Bos joins Jonathan to discuss the Holocaust and WW2. In part two of their conversation, Jonathan and Dr. Bos explore how the US became involved in the war, the Berlin Wall, and why it's so important to learn from history. Pascale R. Bos is an Associate Professor of Germanic Studies, Netherlandic Studies, and Comparative Literature at The University of Texas, Austin. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJ...
Apr 29, 2020•42 min•Ep 109•Transcript available on Metacast Professor Pascale R. Bos joins Jonathan to discuss the Holocaust and WW2. In part one of our first ever two-part episode, Jonathan and Professor Bos discuss how the term Holocaust came to be, the alarming statistics reflecting a surprising number of people who’ve never heard of the Holocaust, and examine how Hitler came into power. Tune in to next week’s episode for the conclusion of their incredible conversation. Pascale R. Bos is an Associate Professor of Germanic Studies, Netherlandic Studies...
Apr 22, 2020•46 min•Ep 108•Transcript available on Metacast Comedian Mawaan Rizwan got his start creating YouTube sketches that turned his mother into a Bollywood Star. Now, as an established writer and actor, he has written for Netflix’s “Sex Education” and can be seen in the upcoming “Two Weeks to Live” on Sky. In the fall of 2019, he joined Jonathan on their Road to Beijing tour opening in sold-out theaters across the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. On a tour stop in Brisbane, Jonathan and Mawaan sat down to discuss his family’s immigration s...
Apr 08, 2020•51 min•Ep 107•Transcript available on Metacast Lawyer, historian, and author Robert Icenhauer-Ramirez sits down with Jonathan to discuss the Civil War and its aftermath, including what happened to confederate officials, the process of abolishing slavery, Lincoln’s presidency, and much more. Professor Icenhauer-Ramirez's book “Treason on Trial: United States v. Jefferson Davis” exposes the legality behind why no one was held accountable for starting the Civil War. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Inst...
Apr 01, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep 106•Transcript available on Metacast Matthew Riemer & Leighton Brown are the co-creators of the Instagram @LGBT_History, and co-authors of the book “We Are Everywhere.” Both use powerful images of love, protest, inclusivity, and stories, to spotlight movements and people throughout Queer history. They joined Jonathan to discuss why they started these projects, the importance of visibility to avoid erasure and share some interesting stories about important figures from the past! Follow Matthew and Leighton on Instagram and Twitter @...
Mar 25, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep 105•Transcript available on Metacast Carson Tueller is an LGBTQ+ and Disability Advocate. His life changed in 2013 when an accident left him paralyzed. Through his journey, he’s brought to light many issues the Disabled community faces including shame, how to talk about sexuality and human worth. He joined Jonathan to explain what ableism is, how he came out to his family after serving his LDS mission, and why investing in accessibility is great for everyone if anyone plans on getting older! Follow Carson’s journey on Twitter and I...
Mar 11, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep 104•Transcript available on Metacast Tanya Dominguez is a Lead Inspector and Senior Manager for the RSPCA NSW in Sydney Australia. She’s provided care to wild and domestic animals for over 21 years and has always been passionate about animal care education. She joined Jonathan backstage at their last comedy show in Australia to discuss what she does as an RSPCA Inspector, how the wildlife is doing since the bushfires started, and why it’s so important to adopt, not shop! Follow RSPCA and Tanya on Twitter and Instagram @RSPCANSW and...
Mar 04, 2020•58 min•Ep 103•Transcript available on Metacast CONTENT WARNING: This conversation contains details about scenes that emergency first responders encounter, including car accidents, suicide, house fires, and bushfires. Fiona Macken is a volunteer firefighter with the Country Fire Authority and 3rd Lieutenant of the Diamond Creek Fire Brigade. In 2009, she was deployed during the Black Saturday Bushfires, which are considered Australia’s most devastating fires to date. She’s witnessed the lasting impact these catastrophes have on survivors and ...
Feb 26, 2020•50 min•Ep 102•Transcript available on Metacast Professor Deborah N. Archer sits down with Jonathan to explore what it was like to be a Black American before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and how remnants of Jim Crow laws continue to plague our country. Professor Archer is an Associate Professor of Clinical Law at NYU, Co-Faculty Director of the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law, and Director of the Civil Rights Clinic at NYU School of Law. She received her JD from Yale Law School, where she was also awarded the Charles G. Albom Prize. S...
Feb 19, 2020•56 min•Ep 101•Transcript available on Metacast Sallie Krawcheck is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ellevest, a company working to help close the gender pay gap by “redefining investing for women.” She joined Jonathan in the studio to discuss the gender, wealth, and race pay gaps women and people of color face in today’s financial world and why it's so important to intentionally invest. Follow Sallie on Instagram @Sallie.Krawcheck or @Ellevest and on Twitter @SallieKrawcheck. To find out more about Sallie’s work, visit www.ellevest.com. Find out wh...
Feb 12, 2020•54 min•Ep 100•Transcript available on Metacast Actress Nicola Coughlan joins Jonathan in London to talk about growing up in Ireland, life after attending drama school, and an exciting new project with Shonda Rhimes! Follow Nicola on Instagram and Twitter @nicolacoughlan, and watch her in Derry Girls, streaming now on Netflix. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at Pod...
Feb 05, 2020•56 min•Ep 99•Transcript available on Metacast Tom Daley began diving at a very young age, gaining notoriety at nine years old. In 2008, at 14, he represented Great Britain as their youngest competitor in the Beijing Summer Olympics. He went on to compete in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio games picking up 2 bronze medals along the way. He invited Jonathan into his home to discuss all things diving, his husband Dustin Lance Black and their baby boy Robbie (who makes a tiny cameo) and the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics! Follow Tom on Instagram @To...
Jan 29, 2020•56 min•Ep 98•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Alex Monro is a botanist and research leader at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in the Americas Team of the Identification and Naming Department. After watching The Jungle Book at a young age, he became fascinated with tropical forests and has spent the last 20 years working as a taxonomist, systematist, and field botanist. Jonathan joined Dr. Monro in his office at the Royal Botanic Gardens to discuss the Millennium Seed Bank Project, stinging nettles, and all the different ways plants repro...
Jan 22, 2020•56 min•Ep 97•Transcript available on Metacast Wendy Davis came into the spotlight in 2013 when she took to the Texas Senate floor to perform a 13-hour filibuster to block a bill that would severely impact abortion rights. She received her degree from Harvard and practiced law for several years before becoming Texas’s State Senator from 2009 to 2015. She is also the founder of Deeds Not Words, a non-profit organization that focuses on engaging young women in politics. She and Jonathan sat down backstage in Austin Texas while on the road for ...
Jan 15, 2020•1 hr•Ep 96•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. M. Sanjayan is the CEO of Conservation International, and formerly the lead scientist at The Nature Conservancy. He joined Jonathan in the studio to discuss his work with the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Project, which aims to restore 73 million trees in Brazil by 2023—and explore how saving nature is actually about saving humanity. Dr. Sanjayan is a recipient of UCSC’s Global Oceans Hero Award, a member of National Geographic Society’s Explorers Council, and a Disneynature Ambassador. He c...
Jan 08, 2020•47 min•Ep 95•Transcript available on Metacast In the fall of 2019, Jonathan released his book “Over The Top,” where he disclosed his HIV positive status. The occasion prompted Dr. Watkins-Hayes to write an op-ed on the subject in the NY Times, and inspired the two of them to get together to discuss issues they are both passionate about. Dr. Celeste Watkins-Hayes is a Professor of Sociology and African American Studies and Faculty Fellow at Northwestern University. Her first book is “The New Welfare Bureaucrats: Entanglements of Race, Class,...
Jan 01, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep 94•Transcript available on Metacast In December of 2015, Dr. James L. Gelvin joined Jonathan in the studio to discuss the relationship between Shia and Sunni Islam and to record the very first episode of Getting Curious...the rest is history! Dr. James L. Gelvin is a Professor of Islamic Studies at UCLA. He holds his B.A. and M.A. from Columbia University and his Ph.D. from Harvard. He’s also taught at Harvard, Boston College and MIT. His most recent book is titled “The New Middle East: What Everyone Needs to Know” where he covers...
Dec 25, 2019•43 min•Ep 93•Transcript available on Metacast Senator Elizabeth Warren was a professor of law for over 30 years at several esteemed universities including Harvard. In 2015 she became the first female Senator elected from Massachusetts and continued her fight for financial justice within the system. During her campaign for president of the United States in 2020, she sat down with Jonathan and they talked about her childhood, her ongoing campaign, and solutions to big government problems. Follow Senator Elizabeth Warren on Instagram and Faceb...
Dec 18, 2019•52 min•Ep 92•Transcript available on Metacast CONTENT WARNING: This conversation contains details about addiction, eating disorders and mental health disorders. Dr. Richard Schwartz earned his PH.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Purdue University. He is the founder of The Internal Family Systems Model or “parts” therapy and coauthor of Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods, one of the most widely used family therapy texts in the United States. Together, they discuss how Richard got into psychotherapy, the creation of IFS and how parts ...
Dec 11, 2019•50 min•Ep 91•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Shuchi Talati is a geoengineering governance fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a non-profit organization founded 50 years ago by faculty and students from MIT. Upon a chance meeting at the U.S. Capitol, she explained to Jonathan the importance of our votes when it comes to combating climate change. With so much more to discuss, she joins Jonathan to talk about how she got into her field of work, geoengineering, the effects of climate change in the weather and much more! Follow Dr....
Dec 04, 2019•48 min•Ep 90•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Charles J. Innis is the Director of Animal Health at the New England Aquarium and co-editor and author of “Sea Turtle Health and Rehabilitation,” which covers sea turtle husbandry, medicine, and surgery. He joined Jonathan in the studio to discuss the difference between land and sea turtles, how turtles have sex, the illegal wildlife trade, and how conservation is the key to the survival of aquariums and zoos. For more information and conservation resources, visit Turtle Survival Alliance an...
Nov 27, 2019•49 min•Ep 89•Transcript available on Metacast Tan France is the host of Netflix’s upcoming show Next in Fashion and Dressing Funny on Netflix is a Joke and co-host of Queer Eye. He sits down with Jonathan in a mysterious location (on set) to discuss life since Queer Eye, the beauty industry, and learning to not just love but advocate for the beautiful color of his skin! Follow Tan France on Instagram and Twitter @tanfrance and check out his side project on Instagram @shaded. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by followi...
Nov 20, 2019•56 min•Ep 88•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Doreen Dodgen-Magee is a psychologist, speaker, and the award-winning author of “Deviced! Balancing Life and Technology in a Digital World.” She joins Jonathan to discuss how reliant on technology we are, and the mental, emotional, and cultural ways this dependence is affecting our lives. Follow Dr. Dodgen-Magee on Instagram and Twitter @drdoreendm, and at www.doreendm.com. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Trans...
Nov 13, 2019•59 min•Ep 87•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Erroll Southers joins Jonathan to discuss the threat domestic terrorism, how that term is applied on a federal level, and how to survive a mass shooting situation. Dr. Southers is a recipient of the Earl Warren Outstanding Public Service Award and author of Homegrown Violent Extremism, a book investigating radicalization, recruitment and ideological trends in domestic terrorism and extremism. Dr. Southers is the Director of the Safe Communities Institute and Homegrown Violent Extremism Studi...
Oct 30, 2019•55 min•Ep 86•Transcript available on Metacast Jonathan is joined by Nancy Birtwhistle, winner of Great British Bake Off Series 5. The two discuss all things Great British Bake Off and how she followed the recipe of her heart to become an international baking icon. Follow Nancy on Twitter @nancybbakes, Instagram @nancy.birtwhistle, and Facebook @nancybirtwhistle. Her website is www.nancybirtwhistle.co.uk/. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each ep...
Oct 23, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep 85•Transcript available on Metacast Actor, activist, and author Diane Guerrero joins Jonathan to blow their mind and open our eyes to something many Americans have experienced but isn't talked about enough. Diane is an outspoken advocate for commonsense, comprehensive immigration reform and has worked with Immigrant Legal Resource Center and Mi Familia Vota, a nonpartisan Latino civic engagement organization to promote citizenship and voter registration. Follow Diane on Twitter @dianeguerrero__, Instagram @dianexguerrero, and Face...
Oct 16, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Ep 84•Transcript available on Metacast 
