My guest this week, Stacey Smith? was one of my first guests in 2019, when we talked about the creative side of mathematics, and particularly about mathematical models of disease outbreaks—and the occasional zombie apocalypse. We also talked about how Doctor Who influenced her decision to become a mathematician in the first place. I asked Stacey to come back and talk about her own personal gender transition, both in terms of how that’s influenced her own work and what it’s taught her, and also to give us an update on how her mathematical work came into play when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

I think you’ll be surprised by a lot of what she has to say, and also find her outlook quite hopeful across the board. And you might just find yourself interested in at least one of her new books. I’d like to dedicate this episode to my friend, writing mentor, and fellow Doctor Who fan Rachel Pollack, a transgender pioneer whose long battle with cancer just ended on April 7th, but whose influence will be felt for generations to come.

You can hear our first conversation here.

Please leave a review and in it, tell us about a time when you were courageously true to yourself.

Want more? Here's a handy playlist with all my previous interviews with guests in writing and publishing!

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Author Lydia Kang balances two careers: In addition to writing adult and young adult fiction, as well as nonfiction, she’s also a doctor. Lydia never thought of herself as a writer, though she was intrigued by writing, until she began to use it to deal with some of her experiences on the job, which eventually led her to try fiction. Her novels include The Impossible Girl and Opium and Absinthe, and one of the things we talk about today is how her nonfiction work has influenced her fiction. We also talk about writing about pandemics, her move from the East Coast to Nebraska, and how her writing and her medical practice balance each other out.

Episode breakdown:

00:00 Introduction

02:15 Lydia Kang and Nancy Norbeck on fading public memory of significant events.

05:45 Predicting future remembrance of the COVID-19 pandemic.

09:30 Speculating on the future of pandemic-related publishing.

12:05 Pandemics’ universality vs. 9/11’s localized impact.

16:10 Deciding on a blog focus.

18:45 Lydia's journey into writing, blogging in late 2000s.

22:30 Combining medical expertise with writing.

25:55 Struggling with professional identity in writing and medicine.

30:40 Family support and balancing careers.

33:15 Writing during COVID-19 and cautious hope for the future.

35:50 Challenges of writing across multiple genres.

40:25 Influence of pharmacology and herbal medicine on her work.

44:10 Working part-time as a doctor, writing the rest of the time.

47:30 Managing overlapping book release dates and schedules.

52:05 Conclusion: Encouragement to leave reviews for authors.

Check out the show notes at fycuriosity.com, and join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

Trudy Cunningham is one of the most insightful and creative people I've ever met. Her background in mathematics and education led her to the improbable position of associate dean of engineering at Bucknell University, which is where we first crossed paths. It's is also why I wanted to talk to her. She later moved to Sewanee, where her husband served as president and she continued to teach. As you'll hear, not only has she steadfastly refused to be told women can't teach math, she's just as consistently stood up for her students' best interests with parents, faculty, and university administrators. Her approach to problem solving is simultaneously practical and creative, and infuses her outlook on everything from teaching to aging. And she understands far better than most what makes people tick. 

Check out the show notes at fycuriosity.com, and join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

As a young child, Rupert Goodwins was equally fascinated by science and gadgetry, and by the English language. He followed both into a career as a tech journalist, both in print--his weekly diary was one of the first blogs--and on radio and TV. He now co-writes The Big Data Show, a play that educates kids about data and hacking, and his BBC Radio 4 essay series, "Let There Be Dark," chronicles the loss of his eyesight and the process of adapting to it.

We talk about how he got hooked on technology, how Clive James influenced his writing, how to find a second (or third!) career path in midlife, the ups and downs of social media, and more.

Check out the show notes at fycuriosity.com, and join the conversation on Facebook and Instagram! You can rate and review the show here. Thanks!

Katy-Rose is a well-being teacher and reinvention mentor whose curiosity led her to earn degrees in psychology and neuroscience on her quest to understand everything she can about what makes people tick. She uses neuroscience, coaching and cognitive strategies to help her clients reinvent themselves without burning everything to the ground.

We talk about everything from how awareness and willpower work to the way your brain influences how you perceive how much you've eaten to how quantum mechanics may explain energy healing, and a whole lot more.

Check out the show notes at fycuriosity.com, and join the conversation on Facebook and Instagram! You can rate and review the show here. Thanks!

Michael Smith is a software engineer turned musician—or is it the other way around? He's worked for Google, Swiftkey, and fuboTV, all while staying active as a musician and actor on the side.

I wanted to talk to Michael about how he balances the two, and also about the creative side of coding, which sounds to so many of us like a highly uncreative activity. We also talk about just what an algorithm is, how he chose whether to focus on code or music, the mathematics of music, and why the delicate balance of math and music is so important to him.

Check out the show notes—including the Bach video he mentions—at fycuriosity.com, and join the conversation on Facebook and Instagram! You can rate and review the show here. Thanks!

In the last few weeks, as we've watched the coronavirus pandemic evolve, I've thought so many times of this interview from last year that I decided to release it again, off-schedule. If you missed it the first time, or are more curious now that we're hearing about statistics and mathematical models on the news so often, it's well worth another listen.

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We think of creativity as something associated with the arts—dance, music, poetry, etc. That's why I wanted to talk to Robert Smith?, a mathematician who creates models that help improve disease control. He gained some fame a few years back for modeling zombie outbreaks—and that work has proven useful in the real world. Robert has also written several books about Doctor Who. If you're skeptical about math as a creative pursuit, or a math agnostic/atheist yourself (I hear you!), I promise you'll see things differently once you listen to this interview.

(Note: In October 2020, Robert transitioned and is now known as Stacey Smith? Because of the quantity of material predating the transition, Stacey has chosen to credit Robert for items before October 2020.)

You can find show notes at fycuriosity.com, and join the conversation on Facebook and Instagram! You can rate and review the show here. Thanks!