Shine Bright Like the Firmament

In this episode, Madeline chats with Cole Ciervo, a propulsion engineer for Ursa Major Technologies. During their conversation, they discuss IU-Purdue banter, insights into Purdue Engineering, first year engineering classes, the importance of working on a team, the importance of safety checks and clarifying jargon, why he got a master’s, his journey from Methodist to Catholic, what it was like bei...

In this episode, Madeline chats again with her friend Thomas Salerno, a freelance writer, editor, and fellow podcaster with a background in paleontology and anthropology to celebrate the release of his new book, The Riddle of The Tongue Stones. During their conversation, they discuss his work on other podcasts, his love of Bl. Nicholas Steno, and overview of Bl. Nicholas Steno’s life, the writing...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Connor Thompson, a chemical engineer in training at a company in the Pacific Northwest. During their conversation, they discuss some I&A lore, his different science phases as a kid, his high school science experience, undergrad at Montana State, engineering exams, what a professional engineer is, science and natural philosophy, and so much more. Feel free t...

🎉 🎉 🎉 It's been THREE years since the start of this podcast! 🎉 🎉 🎉 In this special anniversary episode, Madeline shares an interview of herself that originally aired on The Work of Thy Hands podcast with fellow creative Allison Ramirez. In this interview, she and Allison talk about science, creativity, faith, and the intersection of them all! If you are interested in listening to more o...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Kyle Shepard, an engineering PhD student at Purdue University. During their conversation, they discuss his childhood in Oklahoma, Internet research rabbit holes, critical thinking, his undergrad and Master’s at Oklahoma State, PhD work at Purdue, being a lifelong learner, embracing being a dork, koinania, savoring classic works of literature, St. Francis de Sal...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Tyler Kropp, a software engineer for a consulting company. During their conversation, they discuss how he went to Purdue for computer science, his first forays into computers and programming, AP exams, how he ended up at Purdue, knowing your limits, what college computer science classes are like, insights into remote work, the importance of learning the faith i...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Katy Downing, the planetarium and programming director at the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center. During their conversation, they discuss what got her interested in astronomy, connections between their advisors, her REU, what she does in her role on the day to day, constellation oral traditions, what goes into planetarium content creating, how sci...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Matt Kavanaugh, an agricultural meteorology graduate student at Iowa State University. During their conversation, they discuss his early fascination with meteorology, how he ended up at Valparaiso University for his undergrad, the classes he’s had to take, nowcasting, landscaping, the connection between meteorology and environmental science, having good science...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Jess McKendry, a student support professional at an Australian university with a background in freelance IT. During their conversation, they discuss big families, linguistics and conlangs, digital literacy, using technology for good, casual observational astronomy, a brief history of Australia, religion in Australian schools, showing love in times of...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Fr. Jhobany Orduz-Duarte, a Viatorian priest (who at the time of recording was a deacon) from Colombia who is a former soldier, civil engineer, and professor. During their conversation, they discuss how he and Madeline met, English as a second language, what the Viatorians are about, his family’s coffee background, how the murder of his sister affected him, the...

In this episode, Madeline chats with James Ronan, a British paleontologist. During their conversation, they discuss his undergrad degree in geography, his masters in paleobiology from the University of Bristol, his work with CAFOD, what higher education looks like in his country, the sorts of things you learn about as a paleontologist, his field work in Montana, how science can lend credence to ce...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Fernanda Psihas, a particle physicist with a background in AI and also a professor at Franciscan University. During their conversation, they discuss her growing up in Mexico City, her ministry where she speaks at local parishes about science and faith, her fascination with English, the post-Christian age in the West and Latin America, her undergrad e...

In this special birthday episode, Madeline celebrates turning 27 by reading her second published short story, Spooky Action at A Closeness. It is in an anthology of Christmas ghost stories called There'll Be Scary Ghost Stories . The anthology is edited by Inkwells and Anvils, a Catholic writing community she spends much of her time in when not podcasting. If you enjoyed Madeline's Chris...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Fr. Zach Glick, a priest of the Diocese of Gary and a military chaplain in the Air Force. During their conversation, they discuss the podcast he co-hosted as a seminarian, his mechanical engineering degree at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Air Force ROTC, why he chose Rose-Hulman, coming back to and owning his faith in college, the power of personal invit...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Bob Smith, a blind computer programmer. During their conversation, they discuss the connection between coding and mechanical things, his degree in sociology from UIUC, community college, how he got into college, how he became blind, the accommodations that allow him to do his job, his love of COBOL, the story of him almost drowning, things that have inspired hi...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Adria Kamm, who has a background in biological anthropology. During their conversation, they discuss her unique education, sports, how she got interested in science and fascinated with death, what anthropology is, her own journey with mental health, her time in community college, biological anthropology, her reversion, respect for the dead, the impor...

In this episode, Madeline chats again with her friend Melissa Ring, a recent graduate of Valparaiso University with a degree combining geography and meteorology. During their conversation, they discuss the event that made her love weather, how she ended up at VU, what you learn as a meterology major, what happens when science doesn’t love you back, the interdisciplinary nature of geography, storm...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Fr. Joseph Shenosky, a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia with a degree in mechanical engineering. During their conversation, they discuss his time at Penn State University, spending a few years in the industry and learning important life skills, his discernment process, his love of Mary, the importance of having supportive bosses, the influence of his c...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Dan Kuebler, a professor of biology at the Franciscan University and the vice president of the Society of Catholic Scientists. During their conversation, they discuss his undergrad at Catholic University of America, the importance of great mentors, how he discovered he loved teaching, PhD at Berkley, how he came into his faith at University of California at Ber...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Steve Barr; an author, a professor emeritus of theoretical physics at the University of Delaware, and the founding president of the Society of Catholic Scientists. During their conversation, they discuss the isolation religious scientists sometimes feel in academic historically, the great Catholic scientists, his own faith journey, the role model of his father,...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Hannah Bernstein, a landscape architecture student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. During their conversation, they discuss the Pacific Northwest and Spain, UIUC’s Newman Center, what landscape architecture is, how our expertise gets embedded in us, living at a residential Newman Center, American accents, her study abroad and resear...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Caroline George, a quality process engineer in manufacturing. During their conversation, they discuss what a quality process engineer does, her undergrad at Auburn, how she ended up in Pennsylvania, her internship at Honeywell, her reversion, discovering the TLM, being challenged, praying for others, fasting, the TLM, the validity of all Catholic lit...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Maddie Smith, a wife, mom, and former pharmacy technician. During their conversation, they discuss what a pharmacy technician does, the importance of patience and customer service, the golden rule, becoming who God sees us as, how she met her husband Slater, her conversion, the importance of confession, her advice for fellow survivors of sexual assau...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Matt Nelson, a high school math and science teacher at Cardinal Ritter High School in Indianapolis. During their conversation, they discuss the prep that goes into teaching, his original degree in marketing, his unconventional path to education, music and math, what Indiana’s transition to teaching program is like, his advice for future teachers, how...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Paul Rimmer, a professor at the University of Cambridge studying the origins of life. During their conversation, they discuss eclipses and the April 2024 eclipse, Colorado, his time at University of Colorado at Denver, changing your trajectory, learning lessons, his atheist phase, Madeline’s trip to Switzerland, an impactful REU and symbolic logic professor and...