Diana Lutz

By Catherine Watson YOU’VE almost certainly seen Stanley McGeagh on television. For decades he was a fixture of British drama and comedy: Doctor Who, The Bill, Minder, Dad’s Army and Softly Softly, among many others. He was never the leading man but always a memorable supporting actor, lean of frame, with piercing blue eyes, a presence that stuck in your mind long after the credits rolled.

In February 2016, news surfaced that parts of Bangladesh were suffering from a severe outbreak of wheat rust, a fungal disease of grasses that had never before been seen in Asia. Seed farms and badly infected fields were burned with gasoline in a desperate attempt to prevent the disease from reaching major wheat-producing areas in neighboring countries. Taproot is a new podcast that tells the story behind the journal article.

The following is the strange and improbable tale of the founding of Ultra-Condensed Science, an animated science series at Washington University in St. Louis. By Diana Lutz I learned science one-on-one with scientists who drew lots of diagrams, watched to see if I understood, backfilled when I didn't, told jokes, and talked shop. That interaction had a lot to do with why I loved science and scientists. When YouTube Science Channels came along, I subscribed.