This week, we welcome Ethan Siegel on the podcast! Our guest, author of "Infinite Cosmos," discusses his STEM origin story from a curious child with a telescope to a renowned astrophysicist and science communicator. He recounts his educational path, including his PhD from the University of Florida and postdoctoral work at the University of Arizona.…

Adam Shahar is the name that keeps coming up when I ask who is an up and coming star. At 18 he had a breakout year where he won bouldering nationals, climbed V15 in a few sessions while he was on the road doing WC’s, and then became IFSC’s Athlete of the Week when he narrowly missed finals with a 7th place finish at the Prague WC. He also had perha…

Send us a text A MUST LISTEN! This in far from a dismissal of past guests and interviews. This is a personal and human conversation that is insightful and inspiring from struggle to achievement and perhaps a pathway to the later. June and I had a mishap in schedule that, had it not happened, I don't think we would have had the conversation that we …

Welcome to another episode of the podcast! On this episode, I'm sharing my thoughts on AI. Specifically, the tools I actually use with some practical-use metrics to show how it's helping me (the individual) do more and spend more time in my creative zone and less time doing things I dont like. I also share my thoughts on AI, and some fundamental be…

If you watched the Paris Olympics then you remember Hamish McArthur’s stand out performance to secure an incredible 5th place finish. Hamish had already stood atop World Cup podiums and won Youth Worlds, but his Olympic showing was a clear level up. In this episode Hamish shares what changed for him in the year leading up to the Olympics and how it…

Send us a text Bonus episode between our usual schedule! In order to align our guest's upcoming shows with their interview, we're sneaking an additional episode during what would normally be a break. However, we skipped an week earlier in the season, so we hope this makes up for it. Ethan Crystal and Garrett Poladian streamed in to the Playwright's…

You’ve heard of Matt Fultz, but you may not realize just how amazing Matt is. He’s climbed eight V16’s. 8. Eight! By the way, two of them are rarely repeated and recognized as some of the hardest in the world (Hypnotized Minds and Big Z). He’s FA’d 7 climbs V15 and up, including 2 V15’s in one day!! We’re pretty sure that’s a world’s first, but who…

Click the Title to Play or Download. Interview with David King, CTO of Flywire, a company that provides software solutions for student financial services. The interview discusses the company’s history, evolution, and its current focus on addressing challenges faced by universities, such as the need to automate processes, improve student recruitment…

Send us a text After high praise from Ellen Geer a few episodes, we were able to get Jennie Webb to sit in the Playwright's Spotlight and share her experiences as a playwright, dramaturg, and overseer of workshops. We explored her transition from acting into playwriting, her assistance in developing new works from "living voices", the benefits of a…

Hey there Space Fam we’re back for another episode of Today In Space! We need to review SpaceX’s historic success of Starship’s Flight Test 5, which happened just this past Sunday on October 13th, 2024. They made the impossible possible and gave us a glimpse of what our future looks like going back to the Moon, on to Mars in 2026, and beyond in the…

Alvaro Rangel, Al, is back on the podcast after 2+ years! Al was one of the first guests and one of the best. The last podcast we did was incredible, but somehow Al managed to top it with today’s episode. He is the founder and head coach of Team Class 5 in San Diego, CA. Al is also part of the Team USA coaching staff and supports the team at World …

Melina Costanza is an 8x US National Champion. Sometimes as a youth, sometimes as a collegiate, sometimes in Open, sometimes in bouldering, sometimes in lead, sometimes both. Yes, last year at Open Nationals (2023) she won both Bouldering and Lead. She is set to compete in the 2024 Open Nationals coming up in a week, so after you listen to this pod…

We're back to start October for a Space Update! This week on Episode 359: Crew-9 successfully docked with the space station, marking a significant milestone for the Commercial Crew Program as Crew Dragon acts as backup to bring Suni & Butch home in Early 2025 Astronomy news | Comet C/2023-A3 Atlas is now visible, with its brightness increasing as i…

Send us a text Michi Barall streamed into Playwright's Spotlight this week days before her new play Drawing Lessons leaps into rehearsal at Children's Theatre Company. Conceptually complex, Michi shares the concept of translating a graphic novel for the stage, the concept of live drawing on stage and simultaneously performing, putting the concept o…

Ward Byrum is the Director of Routesetting for all Movement gyms in the East Region. Yes, that Movement. The biggest climbing gym chain in America and probably the world. That means that Ward and his team decide what the climbing will be like for thousands of climbers. Scratch that, ten’s of thousands of climbers. It might even be hundreds of thous…

Tom Randall is an iconic climber and founder. You might know him as one of the Wide Boyz, as one of the founders of Lattice Training, as a high level coach, or for his 5.14 Trad FA’s or even his FA of the worlds hardest crack boulder, aptly named “The Kraken” [V13]. Ya, Tom’s done it all, and has helped the best in the world do it even better. In t…

On this week's episode we are joined by John Conafay, the CEO & Co-Founder of Integrate to share his STEM Origin story and chat with us about the company. Integrate is touted as the only program management tool built specifically for multi-team hardware development. Another way of saying it could be that Integrate is bringing all of the various har…

Send us a text Ben Edlin and Deborah Aquila came by the studio to sit in the Playwright's Spotlight before the World Premiere of the collaborative play -TH*IR*DS. In this interview, we discussed the long process of developing this play over the course of seven years, the changes made, the possibility of it becoming a pilot but returning the concept…

On this episode, we're breaking down the Polaris Dawn Mission after the Crew of 4 has returned safely from their 5-Day mission & 1st Commercial Spacewalk! If you wanted a quick catch up of everything Polaris Dawn - we got you covered. We'll start with a mission overview, and discuss the Human Spaceflight records broken, the scientific research done…

David Fitzgerald is back after an absolutely incredible season. Dave was previously on for Testpiece Episode #55, a total fan favorite. Last season Dave had a list of climbs in different styles to tackle. Tierrany, a V14 endurance bloc in Yosemite. Equanimity, a V15 ultra tech testpiece in Tahoe. Lucid Dreaming, the V15+ straight forward power prob…

On this week's episode Matthew Onassis and Luca De Caneva, co-founders of NAVXCOM, join us to discuss their company's mission to develop a Lunar Positioning System (LPS) for autonomous navigation and communication on the moon. Matt & Luca share their STEM origin story which includes meeting at NASA identifying a gap in lunar infrastructure. NAVXCOM…

Garrett Gregor was the head routesetter for the Paris Olympics boulders! That’s all you need to know. Just stop reading this description and start listening now. Garrett is also an accomplished competitor, placing as high as 4th at Nationals, an experienced coach at the legendary Team ABC, and did we mention he’s an elite routesetter?! IFSC Level 5…

Send us a text If there was a formula that could tell you how to become a successful playwright, this episode is it. Nicholas Pilapil dropped into the Playwright's Spotlight for an insightful approach to becoming a working playwright. His approach to workshops lays out a pathway of motivation and accountability. We discuss confidence versus hubris,…

Dr. Tyler Nelson is the founder of Camp 4 Human Performance, a company focused on bringing the principles of sport science to climbing. Tyler is focused on being a cutting edge resource for training and rehabilitation of climbers. This means he is always knee deep in research papers from all sorts of sports and asking how we might apply those lesso…

This is the episode to learn everything about one of, if not the, most important parts of our climbing kit — chalk! The real topic here is how to maximize friction between your hands and the holds, which is crucial for sending your hardest. Kevin Brown joins the pod and goes deep on the science of how to get the best friction on holds. He talks abo…

We're back for another Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test update! NASA has finally made the decision to return the Starliner uncrewed, leaving the Crew 9 mission with two empty seats so that SpaceX can bring Astronauts Suni Williams & Butch Wilmore back to Earth in February 2025. It's been a summer full of human spacflight and enough chaos to go wit…

On this episode we are breaking down the next exciting human spaceflight mission: Polaris Dawn! The mission will be the 1st Commercial Spacewalk at 700km/435 miles above the Earth. Aside from breaking human spaceflight records, there will be an incredible amount of research, science, and technology demonstrations as well! The new SpaceX EVA (Spacew…

Send us a text Actor, director, producer, playwright, and artistic director since 1978 of the famous Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, Ellen Geer stopped by to talk about the history of the Theatricum, growing up in a blacklisted family, and how playwriting helps heal societal wounds. Ellen shares her transition into playwriting, her approach to revi…

Professional climber, coach, routesetter, and frequent Testpiece podcast guest, Tim Kang, is on the pod this week to share his thoughts about the Paris 2024 Olympics. Tim may be best known for his highball ascents that culminated in the film Focus, but Tim is also a seasoned competition climber with multiple World Cups under his belt. Tim loves com…

We're back for the next update of Boeing's Starliner's Crew Flight Test (CFT) and the subsequent delays in the flight readiness review meeting. Coupled with reported internal NASA concerns related to the Starliner's Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters - it's clear there isn't 100% confidence & more options needs to be considered. That means eng…

Tom O’Halloran is arguably the best climber in Australia. He’s an Olympian, he’s climbed 15a and v14, and done FA’s nearly up to those grades as well. But the reason we wanted to have him on the podcast is because of the amazing YouTube content he puts out. He dives into the nuances of hard climbing in a way that actually helps people climb hard. T…

Send us a text Tom Jacobson swung into the Playwright's Spotlight in the midst of his coinciding plays The Bauhaus Project and Crevasse to discuss the correlation to both of the pieces and the subject matter of fascism and anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany. While discussing the historical influence of the Bauhaus, we explore previews and changes within…

Ethan Salvo is back on the podcast! Ethan's first episode (linked here) was a fan favorite so when Josh visited Squamish for a few days they met up do an impromptu live/in-person recording. Since the last recording, Ethan has climbed arguably the hardest climb in Squamish, The Singularity. The experience he had on it was fascinating and made him qu…

Noah Wheeler and Benn Wheeler represent the next generation of climbers. At 21 and 19, they are some of the strongest board climbers in the world and their styles reflect that. They also are bring a unique point of view to the world of climbing content with their YouTube channel, Wheel Rock. These brothers have climbed up to V16 outdoors, FA’d up V…

In this week's episode Alex breaks down his thoughts on the connections between Space & Sea Travel! It's amazing what being on an adventure in a beautiful place like Scotland can do for your imagination and deep thinking. All the island (isle) hopping we did, along with hiking the highlands and the lowlands, made me see just how similar sea travel …

Send us a text Catherine Filloux dropped into the Playwright's Spotlight before the New York Premiere of her new play How to Eat an Orange. We spoke about her development and involvement in Theatre Without Borders and transitioning from an actor to playwright which would later push her into becoming a librettist for operas. She explained the struct…

AJ has been competing at the highest level for decades. She has won multiple Bouldering World Cups and she climbs just as hard outdoors with her iconic send of The Swarm (v13/14) in Bishop which was recently featured in Reel Rock. AJ also coaches some of the top up and coming Youth Athletes (one of her athletes recently won Nationals), through her …

Drew Ruana is one of the strongest boulders in the world. Period. He over a hundred V14+ sends, and lots of then are V16. While some other climbers may have that amount of blocs under their belt, no one has accumulated this many in such a short time. Drew goes into his infamous “Send Colorado” journey, which is his goal to send all V14 and up bould…

We got an update from the NASA & Boeing teams about Starliner CFT on July 10th, 2024. We wanted to share the TOP 4 Press & Media Questions and the NASA/Boeing team answers for us to all gain more INSIGHT into this Crew Test Flight for Boeing. I think we learned a lot about the problem and how the Boeing & NASA teams think about this. As most reveal…

Send us a text Olivia Sawatzki came by Playwright's Spotlight after the West Coast Premiere of her play Being Alive (& other big jokes) at the Raven Playhouse in North Hollywood. We discuss seeing your work onstage, writing strategies, evolving as a playwright, being influenced and deconstructing playwrights' works, the process of revision, writing…

Felipe Camargo is one of the top climbers in our sport with sends up to 9b and V15. That’s impressive… But what’s more impressive is that he began climbing Brazil where there was no professional climbers, no routes past 8b+, and no modern training facilities. Felipe managed to send the iconic 50m 9a+ Papichulo by mainly training on a 3x3m spray wal…

There was A LOT of space news happening the last 2 weeks while we were adventuring in Scotland! (more on that soon) Our first episode back is dedicated to the Boeing Starliner news and reports of the astronauts being “stranded” on the ISS. We break down why that click-bait headline isn’t true but also how NASA is dealing a double standard with Boei…

On this episode we dive into the Human Factor where we talk about what it means to be human, and how ALL of our traits & skills matter (good and bad). This week we're discussing what it means to be DEDICATED and why 'the Mission' is so important to a person like myself, especially after 10 years of podcasting about all-things space! We want to than…

Tim Kang is a frequent guest on the podcast, but now you get to hear him do a more typical interview. Tim is a professional climber and coach that has competed at the World Cup level, won a Psicobloc competition, climbed v14 and 5.14d, but he is best known for his daring sends of the wildest highballs in Bishop which culminated in the popular film …

Send us a text Recent Harvard-Westlake graduate Ian Kim swung by the studio to sit in the Playwright's Spotlight after the successful production of his second musical - Bakery of Love as part of HW's Playwright's Festival. We talk about making it look simple, the dangers of missing deadlines, musician collaboration and singer coordination as well a…

Greg Loh was one of the strongest boulders in the world during the mid 90’s and early 00’s. He traveled all over the world putting up FA’s of V13+ and climbing with the best. He competed in WC’s, the X-Games, and even won Nationals twice for speed climbing. He is known for being one of the first people who truly embraced bouldering as a discipline …

Entitlement is the opposite of flow and perhaps the most damaging frame to have over the long term in your climbing. This can come from training, previous sends, or comp placement. Hear stories about Daniel Woods and other pro-climbers who have avoided this frame. And hear from Tim Kang and Josh Horsley about how they coach others and themselves to…

The first week of June went HARD for Space - and for Human Spaceflight it was fully loaded! So many launches, including the success of Boeing's CFT Starliner that brought Astronauts Sunita Williams & Butch Wilmore! We break down what happened, why it was a success, and our thoughts on the Crew Test Flight. We really can't stress how important havin…

Send us a text Barry M. Putt, Jr. beamed into the Playwright's Spotlight from New Jersey to discuss the medium of the audio drama, a throwback and homage to radio plays of the 30s and 40s. We breakdown the differences in elements of traditional playwriting vs the audio drama, i.e., setting up the scene, dialogue, sound effects, music, etc. We also …

We love board climbing. And if you do too, or even if you are just board curious, this episode it for you. The history of boards, board training, board ethics, board best practices, the future of boards. BOARDS!! This was a special in person recording in Colorado with part of the Tension Climbing crew (Will Anglin, Michael Rosato, and Quinn Spadafo…