Getting Better with Jonathan Van Ness

Put on your finest loungewear and raise your favorite coffee mug because this week’s episode of Getting Curious is an EVENT! After six years of incredible work, NASA’s Perseverance rover is now exploring Mars, and Jonathan spoke with Christina Hernandez, an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, all about the mission just before landing day. Listen in to learn more about the Red Planet, the...

This week on Getting Curious, we’re celebrating 200 episodes and five years of the show with a look back at some of our favorite segments on empowerment, advocacy, and exploration. We’re so grateful to all of our listeners and guests for taking this journey with us, and we’ll be back next week with an all new episode that’s truly out of this world! Find out what today’s guest and former guests are...

This week on Getting Curious, we’re learning about three women who shaped the movement for civil rights in the United States—Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin—but whose stories have too often been footnotes in books about their famous sons.   The writer and scholar Anna Malaika Tubbs joins Jonathan to discuss her new group biography The Three Mothers, her work studying Black motherho...

In December 2020, the UK High Court determined that trans, non-binary, and gender diverse young people in the UK must have legal approval before they can start puberty blockers—even if these young people, their families, and their doctors advocate for treatment. This week on Getting Curious, Lui Asquith joins Jonathan to break down what hormone blockers are, why this case is so significant, and ho...

This week on Getting Curious, the writer, activist, and educator Dean Spade joins Jonathan to discuss how we can meet our neighbors’ survival needs through mutual aid, and better understand the systems we live under in the process. Listen in to learn about what mutual aid is, how it differs from charity, and why local wisdom is essential for sweeping change.   Dean Spade has been working to build...

This week on Getting Curious, we’re following the money to better understand banking in America and the history of the country’s racial wealth gap. Professor Mehrsa Baradaran joins Jonathan to discuss banking deserts, overdraft fees, home loans, and more. (Like, what are capital gains, even?!)   Mehrsa Baradaran is a professor of law and associate dean at UC Irvine School of Law specializing in ba...

New year, old curiosity: this week on Getting Curious, we’re traveling back in time to ancient Egypt with Dr. Kathryn Howley. She and Jonathan discuss what life might have looked like for ancient Egyptian hairstylists, royalty, and scribes; how ancient Egyptians interacted with neighboring cultures; and what it’s like for Egyptologists to analyze archaeological remains.   Professor Howley is the L...

We’re gliding into the new year with the re-release of an episode from February 2019 with figure skating’s finest: Michelle Kwan and Eliot Halverson. Michelle and Eliot join Jonathan to talk all things skating: judging scandals, big coats, tracing figures, and Jonathan’s journey on the ice.   Michelle Kwan is an American figure skater, two-time Olympic medalist, five-time world champion, and nine-...

This holiday break, we’re re-releasing two of our favorite episodes, with three of our favorite experts, about one of our favorite topics: figure skating. First up is an episode from April 2018 with Olympic figure skater Mirai Nagasu, who was the first American female figure skater to land a triple Axel at the Olympics, earning her a bronze medal in PyeongChang in 2018. Jonathan and Mirai jump rig...

Did you know that if you want to represent your block in Brooklyn as a local elected official, you have to mark a gender designation—and the only options are “male” and “female”? This week on Getting Curious, Jonathan is speaking with Jesse Pierce and Samy Nemir Olivares, both elected District Leaders in Brooklyn, all about this gender rule: how it came into existence, why it’s exclusionary, and h...

If you’re a close listener of Getting Curious, you’ll know that today’s conversation with Professor Saleema Snow, all about the practice known as civil asset forfeiture, is a long time coming. Civil asset forfeiture allows law enforcement to seize and often keep any property they suspect is involved in a crime. Jonathan wants to learn more about this practice: how deep its roots are, how it came t...

You know when you have a song stuck in your head and the only way you can get it out is to play it? Well, Jonathan has a similar feeling: he can’t shake the idea that he needs to sing a song. Like, literally, any song, preferably one with pleasing harmony. And he’s reaching out to the Grammy Award-winning artist Meghan Trainor for guidance. Meghan joins Jonathan to discuss singing and songwriting...

This week on Getting Curious, we’re re-releasing an episode from June 2019 that we hold dear, with the performance artist and writer ALOK. ALOK and Jonathan discuss their experiences embracing life beyond the gender binary, the historical precedents for gender fluidity, and the power of “emotional alchemy” in the face of discrimination.   Follow ALOK on Instagram @alokvmenon, and make sure to chec...

This week on Getting Curious, we’re getting the down low on what’s up in the sky with Professor Kristen Rasmussen, an Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University and an expert on clouds. She and Jonathan break down cloud types, extreme weather, and the lasting impact that the 1996 movie Twister had on both of their lives—and one of their careers.   You can keep up with...

Election Day is behind us, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t more work ahead. Consider this week’s Getting Curious a chance to reflect and recharge, as Jonathan speaks with the writer, editor, activist, and social justice facilitator adrienne maree brown. The two discuss adrienne’s work around emergent strategy and pleasure activism, consider what authentic community engagement looks like, and exp...

Look, we already know the answer to this question. But we can dream! We’re sending you into Election Day with an early release of this week’s Getting Curious, featuring a conversation with the iconic comedian, writer, and producer Samantha Bee. She and Jonathan talk political humor, the Golden Girls, Canadian health care, and so much more. Take a listen when you’re in line to vote, when you need a...

Are you phone banking, leafleting, and heading to the polls early this election season and still feeling like you need a boost? Then it might be time to introduce deep canvassing to your routine. The activist, community organizer, and director of People’s Action George Goehl joins Jonathan to share this go-to practice for building a more progressive nation—and explains why rural America needs to b...

There are more than 2.5 million care workers, nannies, and house cleaners across the United States. They are skilled professionals. Their labor is essential. So are their rights. Alicia Garza, who is the Director of Strategy & Partnerships for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, joins Jonathan to discuss the history of domestic work in the United States, why domestic workers are some of the le...

On this week’s Getting Curious, Dr. Elizabeth Rule joins Jonathan to discuss contemporary Native American rights and representation. She and Jonathan cover reproductive justice, tribal sovereignty, and the incredible work that Dr. Rule is doing to illuminate the relationship between Native history and contemporary Native Americans’ experiences and realities. Dr. Rule is the Director of the AT&T Ce...

Raise a glass (or an amphora!) to this week’s episode of Getting Curious, all about ancient Mediterranean drinking cultures. Associate Professor of History at the University of Iowa Dr. Sarah E. Bond speaks with Jonathan about ancient Egyptians who loved beer, ancient Greeks who sipped the night away at symposia, and ancient Romans who went bar hopping. There’s truly so much to imbibe here, and th...

This week on Getting Curious, we’ve got numbers coming out of our ears. For instance: two. Two? Yeah. That’s how many times the clean water activist and consumer advocate Erin Brockovich has now appeared on the show. How about this for a number? One. That’s how many people it takes to start a movement advocating for safe drinking water. And we’re guessing zero is the amount of hesitation you’ll ha...

This week on Getting Curious, we’re carrying ourselves with confidence, our heads are held high, and we’re comfortable in our environment—we’re feeling big time cat parent mojo! Jackson Galaxy, the cat behavior and wellness expert, host of Animal Planet’s My Cat From Hell, and co-creator of Jackson Galaxy’s Cat Camp joins Jonathan to talk all about cats. He shares how we can better understand and...

There are fewer than 50 days until the 2020 United States elections, and over at Getting Curious, we’re feeling a little… shaky. To lay the foundation for this final stretch of election season, Jonathan’s calling on an expert in strong leadership, intersectional policies, and enduring hope: Sec. Julián Castro. Sec. Castro has served as Mayor of San Antonio, Secretary of Housing and Urban Developme...

One of the lessons in Dr. Edith Eger’s latest book The Gift is that love equals time. And on this week’s Getting Curious, Dr. Eger is joining Jonathan for an hour of love, compassion, and life lessons. Dr. Eger is a bestselling author, psychologist, and Holocaust survivor. Her first book The Choice, released in 2018, details her story of courage and resilience as a survivor of Auschwitz. In her ne...

In the lead-up to Labor Day, Getting Curious is working it! We're re-releasing an episode from 2018 with Rebecca Givan, an associate professor of Labor Studies and Employment Relations at Rutgers University, all about trade unions. She and Jonathan discuss what unions are, how they operate, and why collective bargaining can be such a powerful tool. Follow Professor Givan on Twitter @rkgwork. She’s...