Monitoring global networks of seismometers, evangelizing for stronger buildings instead of better predictions, and measuring LA's slow crawl toward Alaska with Lucy Jones, a seismologist in Southern California. Why does she begin counting when she feels the earth start to shake? And how did a nuclear test ban treaty end up boosting the science of earthquakes?

Lucy is author of the book The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us (and What We Can Do About Them). She also founded the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society.

The piece composed by Lucy featured at the end of the episode is called "In Nomine Terra Calens: In the name of a warming earth". It was performed and mixed by Josh Lee.

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Butchering whole alligators, costing out every plate down to the garnish, and perfecting grilled sweetbreads with Cindy Wolf, an executive chef. What was it like to cook for Julia Child? And what popular item does she wish she could purge from the menu?

Dan's latest book is Reset: How to Change What's Not Working. It's out in hard cover and as an audiobook.

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Writing for the ear rather than the eye, racing to meet teleprompter deadlines, and recasting lost memories as timeless advice with Stephen Krupin, a speechwriter. What was it like to write speeches for President Obama? And when can a speaker's desire for "authenticity" go too far?

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WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

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