The “Loh Down” on the Pandemic

For the past 16 years, Pasadena-based writer and radio personality has built a national reputation for making science fun and intriguing for the masses via her daily 90-second program “The Loh Down on Science,” which reaches an audience of four million listeners on public radio stations worldwide (including its flagship station, KPCC 89.3 FM).

With the Coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc across the planet, Loh has decided to shift her focus squarely on that virus and attendant issues by launching the limited radio/podcast series “The Loh Down on Science: Special Pandemic Edition.” The series launched Wednesday to commemorate Earth Day, and will run for eight weeks, with five new pieces per week on PRX/Exchange, Stitcher, and soon to be on Apple iTunes, Spotify and all standard podcast platforms.

The series offers three-minute, family-friendly radio/podcast/audio modules covering a range of pandemic science, ranging from the science of herd immunity and the wonders of soap to answering whether a mad scientist could create a virus in a lab. (Her answer is yes, but not a very good one). Other segments already planned include answering why house cats are going nuts amid the national shutdown, the surprising healing powers of copper and how to harness the power of listeners’ home computers into a data-crunching army that can find COVID-19’s Achilles Heel.

“Even in such a dark time, there’s so much to learn, so much to hope for, so much cool science to inspire our next generation of virologists, computer scientists, urban planners, transportation designers, artists, writers, and thinkers,” says Loh, who invites people to subscribe and submit questions for exploring on the series at her website: lohdownonscience.org.

The pandemic edition also has its own site, Ldospandemicedition.org, which already has numerous blogs tied to the themes of the episodes.

“LDOS” is but one of Loh’s many accomplishments in media, as she’s also a contributing editor to “The Atlantic Monthly” and has been a regular contributor to NPR’s “Morning Edition,” APM’s “Morning Edition,”  APM’s “Marketplace” and Ira Glass’ “This American Life.”  Her bestselling memoir, “The Madwoman in the Volvo,” was named a New York Times 100 Most Notable Book, became a hit play of the same name that included a run at the Pasadena Playhouse, and has been optioned for TV by Paramount Television and Anonymous Content.  Her new book, “The Madwoman and the Roomba: My Year of Domestic Mayhem” will be published this June.

The new series continues Loh’s tradition of having the show created by a “Hive,” rather than a staff, of writer/editors. Based in the Graduate Division at the University of California, Irvine, the “LDOS” Hive is a fellowship program that supports young scientists with a passion for science communication.  In keeping with the tech-savvy social distancing requirements of the current moment, the “Hive” members meet on Zoom, correspond on Slack, edit each other’s scripts on Google Drive, and record in their closets.

“LDOS” airs twice a day on KPCC in Pasadena, and reflects Loh’s long history with the city. She is a Distinguished Alumna of Caltech, having earned a Physics degree in 1983, and is the first alumna to give a Caltech commencement speech. Google News will begin running the show in May.

Loh devised the “Pandemic Edition” as a way to spark the imaginations of and inspire the millions of schoolchildren who are at home amid the shutdown. She hopes it will result in creating an entire new generation of scientists, urban planners, journalists, artists, writers and more.

“Science has never been quite so relevant, though, as today, in Spring, 2020, with the coronavirus stress in our daily lives,” says Loh.  “That said, if there is a silver lining, this COVID-19 era offers a unique opportunity for science, science communication, and for turbo-charging US science literacy.

“Because so many are cooped up at home, particularly K-12 school children, rather than focus too  narrowly on coronavirus, our bailiwick is the Science of Pandemics, which, while it can be scary, is fascinating.”