Other names SciFri Running time approx. 110 min. Language(s) English | Genre talk Country United States Syndicates PRI | |
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Science Friday (known as SciFri for short) is a weekly call-in talk show that broadcasts each Friday on public radio stations, distributed by PRI. SciFri is hosted by award winning science journalist Ira Flatow and was created and is produced by ScienceFriday, Inc. The program is divided into two, one-hour programs, with each hour ending with a complete sign-off. The focus of each program is news and information on nature, science, and technology. For most of its existence, Science Friday was a sub-program within Talk of the Nation; it was spun off as a series in its own right when Talk of the Nation was canceled in June 2013.
Contents
Science Friday is also available in a podcasting format and is one of the most popular iTunes downloads, frequently in the top 15 downloads each week. SciFri podcasts are downloaded over 23 million times per year and over 1.3 million listeners tune in each week to hear the program. It is also carried via Sirius XM Radio. In addition to the program, SciFri creates original videos and educational materials, all available on its website.
SciFri broadcasts excerpts from the annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Science Friday maintained an island (Science Friday Island) in Second Life, including an open-air theater with live audio and video feeds of the broadcast. That venue is no longer in operation.
Funding
The Science Friday Initiative is a 501(c)(3) partner organization. It helps create educational materials, and finds underwriting for the program. The Science Friday Initiative accepts tax-deductible donations on behalf of the radio program. Science Friday is funded by the PRI member stations that broadcast the program, by individual donors, and by foundation and corporate underwriters including the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the US National Science Foundation, the Noyce Foundation, the S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation, and the Research Corporation for Science Advancement.
History
SciFri was created when the National Science Foundation agreed to fund a weekly science talk-show on NPR. After the Gulf War in 1991, NPR created the daily talk show Talk of the Nation, and incorporated Science Friday into it. Science Friday moved from NPR to Public Radio International in 2014.
On November 9, 2012, ScienceFriday, Inc. filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in New York state court against a long-running Denver radio program, titled Real Science Friday, hosted by two young earth creationists including a Colorado pastor. The show was re-titled Real Science Radio.