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How does a teacher in a rural US school end up in an International School in Thailand? What is it like to feel the blast of a terrorist bombing? How does a teacher navigate learning during an Ebola Crisis in Nigeria?

It’s springtime in the high desert, and I’m starting to get spring fever. For me, spring fever almost always compels me to a road trip. I think that traveling and seeing new places, stimulates the brain in ways that few other activities can. In fact, one of my favorite quotes about traveling is from T. S. Elliot:

“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”

Road trips also get me to thinking about our Inventor’s Bootcamps, because we always manage to work a road trip into our plans. I love our Inventor’s Bootcamps because students learn so much and see so many new sights. The students build crazy engineering contraptions with 3D printers, wire them up with a little electronic trickery, and program them to do amazing feats. The creativity, confidence, curiosity, and deep thinking of the students in these summer camps is almost unbelievable.

To find out more visit InventingZone.com or you can just click the Inventor’s Bootcamp button on the menu bar above.

Today’s guest started his teaching career in a rural school with only 63 students and ended up teaching in the primary grades of 3 other countries across the globe. Henrique “Rico” Guerreiro shares insights into education in Americanized schools around the world has some interesting twists. Listen in to today’s podcast for the curious answers to the questions above and a great conversation about education abroad!

Original Release Date: 4/2/15

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Could recent research be a breakthrough in Alzheimer’s treatment? Is science more than equations and logical pursuits? Could it be that science is more about creativity than logic? Listen in to today’s podcast for the surprising answers!

Hey there, Innovation Nation! I am thoroughly enjoying the start of springtime here in the high desert. The flowers are blooming, and our little orchard out back is beginning to come to life. I love seeing the flowers and trees growing and getting ready to bust out in a cacophony of color and excitement. It reminds me of the growth and excitement we experience every summer in our Inventor’s Bootcamps. I get really excited about Inventor’s Bootcamp because there’s so much growth and creativity and excitement as the students build crazy engineering contraptions with 3D printers and wire them up with a little electronic trickery and programming prowess. The amount of creativity, confidence, curiosity, and deep thinking of the students in these summer camps is almost unbelievable.

Today’s interview may bring some surprises. My discussion with Chris Schaffer, a professor at Cornell University, unearths some common myths and dusts off the truth about science. The perspectives in today’s podcast are not for the faint of heart, so prepare for a massive unveiling.

Original Release Date: 3/26/15

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Where can I find a circus that employs engineers? Can learning to prepare sushi impact engineering ideas? How can we rebrand Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math to be fun? How do we make STEM subjects more like driving a Ferrari than like driving a grocery getter?

Today, we have a high-energy, fun interview with an engineer who has started a high-tech circus! Creating more intelligent, creative, fun innovators is what we specialize in at Table Top Inventing. In fact, an opportunity is coming this summer to participate in our Inventor’s Bootcamp. I get really excited about Inventor’s Bootcamp because there’s nothing more fun than a room full of teenagers building crazy engineering contraptions with 3D printers and wiring them up with a little electronic trickery and programming fun. It’s enough to make your head spin!

To find out more visit: InventingZone.com or you can just visit http://www.TTInvent.com and click the Inventor’s Bootcamp button.

Grab a hold of something solid because today’s podcast is going to rock your world! Brent Bushnell, the founder and CEO of Two-Bit Circus, is going to blow the doors off. Brent and his business partner Eric have started a high-tech circus staffed not with circus barkers and tight rope walkers but with engineers, scientists, and computer programmers. Let’s listen in to a high flying conversation!

Original Release Date: 3/19/15

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What is a Cube Satellite? Can normal schools really get their projects into space? Are there ways to simulate space conditions or run outerspace experiments without breaking the bank? How does a middle school teacher end up working at the National Science Foundation and starting a business getting middle schoolers into CubeSats?

Few people understand fun, science, and teenagers better than our guest today. Kevin Simmons has a small business aimed at getting middle schoolers into space projects and satellite experiments. I don’t want to spoil the fun so let’s let Kevin tell us more about it.

Original Release Date: 3/12/15

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What is digital ethnography? How difficult is it to learn to use a 3D game creation engine? How would Maker Schools change how we do education? Why are initiation rituals a critical right of passage into a society?

Speaking of rituals, today’s guest Michael Wesch advocates the adoption of some curious rituals. Keep your headphones in or your bluetooth synced up, because today’s podcast has enough quotable ideas to really stir your noodles. I won’t give any spoilers, so let’s listen in to the conversation Michael and I had recently at the Bakersfield College Learning Technologies Conference.

Original Release Date: 3/5/15

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Tyler Tervooren is an independent entrepreneur and founder of Riskology.co. He's started 7 businesses and traveled to more than 20 different countries.  His life sounds exciting to outsiders, but anyone who’s known him a while knows it hasn’t always been like this.

He grew up in a small town where you were praised for living a simple, conservative life. You were supposed to play it safe and always go for the sure thing. Step out and do something unusual, and you were quickly discounted as a weirdo.  Living that life felt safe, but unfulfilling. So, when he moved away the day after graduating high school, he started to make a priority of stepping outside his comfort zone and trying new things to see where they’d lead.

There were a lot of false starts and bad paths, but every failure taught a lesson never learned before. Along the way, Tyler met people who were living lives he couldn’t imagine.  They had weird, fun jobs he’d never heard of. They’d been to places he didn’t know existed. They were happy because they’d found ways to get around the default life path.

They weren’t broke (in fact, they were usually quite wealthy), they weren’t outcasts (quite the opposite), and they weren’t crazy.  A lightbulb went on. It actually was possible for normal people to take big risks in life and succeed.

For more than 10 years, Tyler's been fascinated with learning the strategies and tactics normal people can use to do things usually reserved only for the super-privileged.  He studies how investors behave; new breakthroughs and little-known truths of human psychology; and the strategies of thriving artists.

What he's found is most big risks in life are only risky because we don’t understand them. By combining our passion and intuition with proven research and smart-strategy, we can win at almost anything.

Now, he builds courses to teach the principles of Smart Riskology to anyone willing to learn and writes about his findings on the Riskology blog.  Listen in to today's podcast to learn more about Riskology from Tyler.

Original Release Date: 2/26/15

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What happens to trash once it hops into the trash truck from my garbage can? What is the value of a 4-year education beyond the classes offered? Why would federal investigators show up to a landfill? How do we turn play into learning?

Today are talkin’ trash with Mike Ghost! Well, not exactly like that… Today we’ll be talking to a former district manager for Waste Management about what happens to your trash after it leaves the can at the curb. Along the way, we’ll also discover how one man’s journey through high school to college to the workforce and back to college led him to appreciate the value of an education.

This week’s Great Inventor Secrets is actually brought to us by Jonathan Butcher and Daniel Cheung who were featured on last week’s podcast. We had so much great material that I wanted to share a few more minutes of our conversation with a couple of great inventors. Tune in and learn more!

Original Release Date: 2/19/15

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How does an embryonic heart form? How exactly does one set about 3D printing a fully human, fully compatible heart valve? How does failure influence innovation? Is there more to a 3D printed heart valve than just the printing?

Today we have an exciting interview with Jonathan Butcher, a research professor at Cornell University, and one of his graduate students, Daniel Cheung. Before we get started I’d like to remind you to share our podcast with your friends and colleagues. The ideas you hear on this podcast will literally change your world and your student’s horizons. We discuss innovation, success, inventing, learning, and other crucial life skills. On today’s show specifically, Jonathan and I discuss the role of failure in learning. We discuss the path to research success. Oh, and we jump head first into the topic of 3D printing heart valves. There was so much to cover that we skipped the inventor secrets in lieu of the great interview. This is some heady stuff. Put on your diving gear. We’re going in deep today!

Original Release Date: 2/12/15

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Who exactly are Perspicacity and Perspicuity, and why are they on our podcast? What would make an insurance claims investigator participate in renaissance fairs? If the devil is in the details, why are they so important? What can cause a classroom full of budding mathematicians gape in amazement?

Speaking of world change, on the show we have an investigator who pries into the business of large corporations. Now it’s not what you might think, but I’ll let Mark tell you more about what he does.

Original Release Date: 2/5/15

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What is the best strategy for starting a makerspace in your school? How long should you take to plan your makerspace before you get started? Is flying by the seat of your pants a good idea or a bad one? What are the key features of an 8 foot tall DIY teeter totter? Stay tuned for the answers in today’s podcast.

Our guest today is Laura Fleming. Laura is a librarian and media specialist at New Milford High School in Jew Jersey. A little over a year ago, she started a makerspace in her library, and the results have been unbelievable. I’m not a big fan of spoilers, so let’s get straight to the interview.

Original Release Date: 1/29/15