No dumb questions in new Netflix series
Latif Nasser's new Netflix series, "Connected," was only two days old when he and his wife headed to the hospital to have a baby. Add a pandemic to the mix and you have what Nasser calls "the weirdest time on top of the weirdest time."
But Nasser is used to weird. In fact, he thrives in it.
"That's sort of my compass," he said last week from Los Angeles. "Surprise and delight and wonder. Those are the things that I gravitate toward."
It's the approach he has taken at "Radiolab," the popular WNYC audio program for which he is the director of research, and now with "Connected," a six-part documentary series that connects the dots on some of the biggest questions facing science and humanity today. That includes looking at the power of surveillance through the lens of migratory birds in Newark, Delaware; the complex history of human excrement in Minde, Portugal; and a literal fishing expedition through the Sahara.
Nasser's storytelling is known for helping "Radiolab" listeners make sense of the chaos of the world — and maybe even find a little comfort and joy in it. With a Ph.D. in the history of science from Harvard, Nasser sits at an uncommon vantage point to play guide to the world's deepest curiosities.
"Connected" debuted on Aug. 2, and since then Nasser has been splitting his time between work and child care, which often involves checking Twitter in the middle of the night while pacing back and forth with his newborn. Nasser took a moment from his garage home studio to talk about his new project. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Q: You had two babies — an actual child and "Connected" — within a week. How are you holding up?
A: The baby thinks day is night and night is day, and then we have a 3-year-old who is certain that day is day and night...