Listen and learn from reptile expert Dr. David Steen! He comes on the show to bust some myths about snakes and turtles, share science communication strategies, and tell us what to do if we find venomous snakes, reveal the secrets of the Atlanta biology Illuminati.
Human: Dr. David A. Steen, Reptile Expert & Science Communicator
Species
Macken Murphy
4.8 • 606 Ratings
🗓️ 22 October 2019
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
David is the founder and executive director of The Alongside Wildlife Foundation (a 501(c)(3) charitable organization). Until recently he worked as the research ecologist of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, and now he is a herpetology research leader in the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.
He is renowned for his science communication, he is a popular blogger with a large following on both Facebook and Instagram. He is perhaps most famous for his unique brand of Twitter outreach (Slate Magazine calls him "The Best Biologist on Twitter") and if you have any questions you can send him a tweet during or after the show.
David just came out with his first book, Secrets of Snakes, which playfully debunks many of the most pervasive myths about snakes. It is filled with fun facts from cover to cover, and David's engaging writing is accompanied by gorgeous photographs and original drawings. It is available wherever books are sold, including on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | So what is the most annoying or most pervasive or however you want to choose it? |
| 0:05.0 | What is the most worthy of correction myth about snakes that is out in our society? |
| 0:13.0 | The worthy of correction. That makes me think that, you know, you think of me jumping into conversations and say, actually, that's incorrect. |
| 0:25.6 | Welcome to the show. Today I spoke with Dr. David A. Steen, a herpetologist, an active researcher, a conservationist, and a famous science communicator. |
| 0:36.7 | David is the founder of the Alongside Wildlife Foundation. His outreach |
| 0:40.6 | includes his writing, his public speaking, and his social media communication, for which he was |
| 0:45.9 | named by Slate Magazine to be the best biologist on Twitter. One of the best things about David |
| 0:52.1 | is that at any time during this show, you can send him a tweet at Alongside Wild, asking him about something he said, and he might just get back to you before the show is over. |
| 1:02.8 | He is the author of a fantastic new book called Secrets of Snakes. |
| 1:07.5 | I really liked it. |
| 1:08.6 | I think you will too. |
| 1:10.0 | The link is in the show description, and we talk about it more on this podcast. Here really liked it. I think you will too. The link is in the show description, |
| 1:11.4 | and we talk about it more on this podcast. Here's our conversation. I hope you enjoy. |
| 1:20.6 | Are you scared of snakes? No, I'm not scared of snakes. I'm fascinated by them. |
| 1:27.3 | You know, I think a lot of people are kind of scared of snakes |
| 1:32.3 | right off the bat, but you know, you can turn that interest around, and that's what I try to |
| 1:37.4 | encourage people to do. All right. Well, my mother is completely terrified of snakes. Literally can't |
| 1:43.0 | even look at a picture of one without getting |
| 1:45.5 | a little bit nervous. What would you say to someone like her who is probably not listening, |
| 1:52.3 | but may have tuned in? What would you say to them to get them out of that fear zone and into |
| 1:58.8 | the enjoying snake zone? Well, between you and me, I'm a biologist, not a psychologist, and some people are, you know, |
| 2:06.6 | some people are dealing with these real phobias, and that's outside of my area of expertise, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Macken Murphy, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Macken Murphy and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.