The Science Memes subreddit has been around since April 2012, and it has managed to become one of the largest communities on the entire site. It has 1.2 million members and only a few simple rules that keep the community active and engaged.
And while you might not think science and memes naturally go hand and hand, they’re actually a perfect pair! Intelligence is a great tool to utilize with humor, and there’s no question that scientists are smart. Sarah Wong at PNNL even wrote an article titled ‘Who Says Scientists Can’t Be Funny?’ where she discusses how useful humor can be in the field of science. First, Wong explains that giving presentations and explaining concepts and findings can easily become dull if scientists’ speeches are too dry. But utilizing jokes and word play can help them connect with audiences and be better understood.
“Scientific humor on social media can be a strategic way to communicate science,” Sara Yeo, science comedy expert, told PNNL. “People are more willing to engage with content they find funny. It can open the door for a scientist to have a deeper conversation about their research.”
To learn more about how to incorporate humor into science, we reached out to science lover Jill ChaCha, who hosts the Well… That’s Interesting podcast. Jill describes her show as “a weekly comedy sciencey show for people who like learning about weird sh*t,” and lucky for us, she was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda about how it began in the first place. “I created WTI because it’s the kind of show I thought was missing in the podcasting industry: deep dives into scientific discoveries that tell how they came about, using humor and storytelling to make it approachable and memorable,” the host shared.
When it comes to what Jill loves most about creating WTI, she told Bored Panda, “You’ll never know what you’re going to find when doing research for an episode topic: everything from the flat out gross to inspirational. After writing, editing and recording and then finally sharing it with the audience—hearing their responses is a huge joy for me.”
We were also curious how Jill decides which topics to discuss on her show. “There are a number of fantastic journals and websites I scroll through,” she shared. “The [topics] that stand out and make it onto the show are usually on the bizarre side, something that makes you say ‘how?!!’ And ‘what?!?’ Like black holes that are ejected from galaxies or parasites that end up in human spines,” the host explained, adding that she uses a number of sources for research including primary sources (case studies) and secondary sources such as the NYTimes, IFL Science, Scientific American.
As far as Jill’s favorite topics to discuss, she says it’s hard to pick just one. “Recently, deep space discoveries have been mind blowing, along with the latest in eDNA,” she noted. “One of my favorite feel-good stories involves researchers finding out a particular turtle isn’t extinct thanks to finding their eDNA—they were just really good at avoiding humans.”
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Finally, Jill wants to reassure all of you pandas that science is truly for everyone. “It’s not only fascinating, but it’s damn funny and makes for great conversation,” she added. “As an introvert, it’s great to have stories in my back pocket to use. I mean who doesn’t want to hear about the time it rained for 2 million years on Earth and what happened? (Spoiler: it led to the rise of dinosaurs.”
If you’d like to learn some fascinating science facts from Jill, be sure to listen to Well… That’s Interesting anywhere you listen to podcasts!
We were lucky enough to get in touch with two more science and comedy enthusiasts to get their thoughts on this topic as well. Greg Wah and Dan Beeston, hosts of the podcast Smart Enough to Know Better, “a podcast of science, comedy and ignorance,” were kind enough to have a chat with us about how their show came to be.
“I’ve always been interested in science, but I understand how dry it can be. I find comedy is a great bridging mechanic to draw people in. If you get them to associate laughing with learning you’re on the right track,” Greg shared.
“And I was good at comedy, so at least I could provide one part of the solution,” Dan added.
When it comes to what these hosts love most about creating Smart Enough, Greg told Bored Panda, “My favorite part is being surprised at what comes out of Dan’s mouth. My second favorite part is being surprised at what comes out of mine.”
“I love helping introverted scientists out of their shells and making them realize how much they love talking about what they’re passionate about,” Dan chimed in. “If they’re passionately talking about a subject, suddenly everyone else listening gets passionate about it too.”
We were also curious how the hosts decide what to discuss on their show, but they informed me that they “don’t discuss anything.” “It’s part of the joy. We surprise and delight each other each episode,” Greg explained.
“We did have an instance where we both brought the same story to the podcast, so now Greg tends to talk about the latest discoveries, the science de jour, and I tend to delve more into the sort of science that has an effect on our lives,” Dan added.
The hosts explained that they discuss “kitchen sink science,” or science that “everyone interacts with every day, whether they want to or not.”