It's Monday, January 15th, 2018, and you're listening to Inquiring Minds.

I'm Andra Viscontas.

And I'm Kishorehari.

Each week, we bring you a new, in-depth exploration of the space where science, politics, and society collide.

We endeavor to endeavor.

And why it all matters.

You can find us online at inquiring.

On Twitter, at inquiring. Show, on Twitter, at Inquiring

show, and on Facebook. And you can subscribe to the show on iTunes or any other podcasting app.

Andrea, would you vote for a scientist for Congress? Absolutely. Well, I guess it depends on who.

So that covers my reaction to the developments of 2017 now into 2018. A number of scientists

have declared and are actively running for federal positions and state positions

in many states across the country. And initially I had this rush of

excitement and like, yes, scientists will be in office. Science is going to maintain like a level

of interest inside these halls that have largely been shut off to scientists in the past. And then I was

like, wait, why are they running? Right? Like,

what are they standing for? Yeah. Yeah. Are they, you know, it is, it does take a certain

amount of skill to be a politician and do they have those skills. And also, what are their views?

Because of course, just because we assume they are going to make rational decisions, that doesn't mean that they don't have their own biases.

Yeah, and I think that's why I want to use some of 2018 to actually explore why scientists are writing for office.

And if scientists inhabiting those halls will actually lead to any changes for science itself. I'm going to start by

interviewing this week's guest, Jess Phoenix. She's a volcanologist, coolest name for a scientist

...