Extreme Animals, Veritasium, Winning the Longest Derby, US Russian Invasion

Why Study the World’s Biggest, Fastest, Loudest, Deadliest Organisms? (Besides that they're cool?) Guest: Matthew LaPlante, Professor, Journalism, Utah State University, host of Utah Public Radio's show "UnDisciplined," and author, “Superlative: The Biology of Extremes” Naturally, scientists have studied outliers and extremes hesitantly. Typically, they shoot well inside nature’s bell curve to understand what’s normal or average. But what are we missing when we fail to focus on the wonders of the extremes? For Matthew LaPlante, the answer is a list that starts with a cure for cancer. Science Education Guest: Derek Muller, science educator and creator of "Veritasium" Technology can’t give us an education revolution—but it can help with an education evolution. Leading that charge is Derek Muller. He always wanted to be a filmmaker but he chose a "safe" STEM degree instead. Until one day, he took the biggest risk of his career. Spoiler alert: it worked, and he’s now making films and doing what he loves. And making science come alive for his six million YouTube subscribers. Winning the Mongol Derby Guest: Lara Prior-Palmer, author, "Rough Magic: Riding the World’s Loneliest Horse Race" Lara Prior-Palmer was the first women, and youngest person ever, to win the Mongol Derby, a 1000km race through wild Mongolian steppes. This physically harrowing, profound experience fueled an insightful, gripping and candid book, “Rough Magic.” Join us to consider the limits of human endurance, and what drives the soul of a rider. The US Invaded Russia? Guest: James Carl Nelsen, author, "The Polar Bear Expedition: The Heroes of America’s Forgotten Invasion of Russia, 1918-1919" Between 1918 and 1919, the US military spent a disastrous winter fighting the Russian Red Army. What was meant to be a supporting, defensive role—in conjunction with the British, French, and Tsarist White Army, became a drawn-out winter war that accomplished nothing and, consequently, has been swept under the rug of history. Until now.