Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff Lauren Bogle bam here. Education and careers
Speaker 1: in science, technology, engineering, and math, sometimes called STEM, were
Speaker 1: once denied to women due to biased beliefs about what
Speaker 1: women are or should be capable of, Even as only
Speaker 1: of Americans employed in STEM occupations were women, It's been
Speaker 1: relatively difficult for young women, and especially young women of color,
Speaker 1: to find science heroes who look like them in reality
Speaker 1: or in fiction. And that's why author Madeline lingle two book,
Speaker 1: A Wrinkling Time and It's smart, science loving young hero
Speaker 1: Mac Murray struck a chord with many scientists to be
Speaker 1: representation is important. We spoke with three modern day Meg's,
Speaker 1: all grown up to find out how they were inspired
Speaker 1: by the character's bravery, ambition, and intelligence to pursue real
Speaker 1: life science fake success. First up, Dr Amy Saren, a
Speaker 1: successful neuropsychologist, reading A Wrinkle in Time as a girl
Speaker 1: had a huge effect on her future accomplishments, and she
Speaker 1: said via email, it and almost unheard of to have
Speaker 1: a female heroine who I could identify within a book.
Speaker 1: I loved the book so much I actually wrote to
Speaker 1: Madeline Langal and to my surprise, she wrote back. We
Speaker 1: became pen pals for a short time when I was
Speaker 1: in third or fourth grade. She encouraged me to follow
Speaker 1: my dreams, and her responses really helped encourage me. Meg
Speaker 1: was far more than a fictional character to Dr Saren,
Speaker 1: She said, reading the book helped me to identify that
Speaker 1: I should follow my passion and curiosity. Today. Dr Saren
Speaker 1: devotes her professional life to helping people who struggle with
Speaker 1: debilitating neurological disorders like anxiety, PTSD, and depression. We also
Speaker 1: spoke via email with Dr Amy Baxter, a doctor turned inventor.
Speaker 1: Much of the story of A Wrinkle in Time is
Speaker 1: about Meg's quest to find her father throughout time and space,
Speaker 1: but Dr Baxter's zeroed in immediately on Meg's mother, Mrs Murray,
Speaker 1: who was a microbiologist. Baxter said via email, of course
Speaker 1: I was inspired by Mrs Murray. Why wasn't she doctor
Speaker 1: out on the garage with her lab equipment. Mrs Murray
Speaker 1: was the ultimate balanced scientist. Mom. The nurturing skills to
Speaker 1: make hot cocoa when the kids needed it, the presence
Speaker 1: in power to let the kids take care of what
Speaker 1: they should be able to, the will to plug forward
Speaker 1: even when her husband was gone, the courage to ignore haters,
Speaker 1: and the trust in her kids to accept the misses
Speaker 1: who were three characters in the book when introduced, and
Speaker 1: sometimes she didn't leave the lab and that was okay.
Speaker 1: She was a role model for science balance. Like many,
Speaker 1: Dr Baxter also felt a powerful connection to Meg. She said,
Speaker 1: it was the first time I was introduced to a
Speaker 1: female protagonist who felt ostracized for being smart and was
Speaker 1: loved anyway, and whose love for others saved the day.
Speaker 1: Powerful stuff when you're a chubby loner reading books in
Speaker 1: class all day long. The led to Dr Baxtair's eventual
Speaker 1: success as a twenty year emergency room physician turned inventor.
Speaker 1: She said that as a kid quote, I loved the
Speaker 1: idea of solving problems in your garage. I made a
Speaker 1: chemistry lab in my basement at home, but discovered the
Speaker 1: stuff they give you in kids home chemistry kits can
Speaker 1: only turn things pink and blue, not cure cancer. Her
Speaker 1: patients paid off, however, She said, even though I practiced medicine,
Speaker 1: my career ended up pivoting on something I made in
Speaker 1: my basement. That's something is a device. She invented to
Speaker 1: block needle pain, which gained traction as a way to
Speaker 1: avoid using opioids post surgery. We also spoke via email
Speaker 1: with mathematician dr Abby Herzig, who is currently a professor
Speaker 1: in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice at the
Speaker 1: University of Albany. The concept of time travel itself played
Speaker 1: a huge part in her career path. She said, I've
Speaker 1: always been fascinated by the concept of time. What is time?
Speaker 1: Is time travel possible? There are intriguing paradoxes and puzzles
Speaker 1: associated with time travel, all in the nature of the
Speaker 1: passage of time. A Wrinkle in Time was one of
Speaker 1: the first books I read as a child that dealt
Speaker 1: with these ideas and turned me into a lifelong time geek.
Speaker 1: The book's gentle push has since led her to explore
Speaker 1: many areas of science, time, and yes, even time travel.
Speaker 1: She said, my academic focus has always been mathematics, and
Speaker 1: my mathematical skills, coupled with my time obsession, have led
Speaker 1: me to take physics courses and read a lot about science.
Speaker 1: Physics in particular, but not exclusively. She enjoys researching and
Speaker 1: collecting different types of clocks, and also loves investigating the
Speaker 1: various calendars created throughout history. She said, the mathematics behind
Speaker 1: some of these measurement concepts is a real addiction of mine,
Speaker 1: and we think Meg would approve. The Disney Live action
Speaker 1: film adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time that came out
Speaker 1: in cast a young black actor in the role of Meg.
Speaker 1: Here's hoping that kids of all genders and skin colors
Speaker 1: can continue finding inspiration in Meg and other science Here
Speaker 1: is real and fictional m Today's episode was written by A.
Speaker 1: Leah Hoyt and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on
Speaker 1: this amounts of other curious topics, visit how stuff works
Speaker 1: dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio.
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