In this episode we explore the power of storytelling and complete the arc of our first five episodes: science communication and perception of the deep sea.

We talk with multiple New York Times bestseller Susan Casey (https://susancasey.com/) about telling a good story and engaging people with a narrative, while still being scientifically accurate. Don Walsh (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Walsh) is kind enough to record his thoughts on the importance of good storytellers, which of course also contains a story we never knew about Don.

Storytelling is an incredibly powerful tool, but it can be a difficult one to wield. Alan talks of some experiences where the public perception of a story was not what was expected but also the risk of not telling the story at all and of assumptions being made.

We have our regular returning segments: Recent news, which seems very squiddy this episode; tails from the high seas, where Alan is imprisoned in a seaman’s mission; and Thom tries out a new segment about the history of some deep-sea animal names.

You can submit your own ‘tails from the high seas’ about an experience you have had offshore or pose us a question on:

[email protected]

Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel (http://marvel.nu/)

Links

• The description of the roundnose grenadier from 1765: https://www.ntnu.no/ojs/index.php/DKNVS_skrifter/article/download/710/642