The Jann Arden Podcast
Bats, Bugs, Space Exploration & Hazardous History with Dan Riskin
05 Jun 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hello and welcome to the Jan Arden Podcast.
Chapter 2: What is Hazardous History and why is it important?
What an exciting day. I am in Toronto.
Chapter 3: What are Dan's most memorable bat adventures?
Caitlin is in Toronto. Sarah's in Toronto. Our wonderful guest is also in Toronto. And let me tell you who he is. He's a friend of this show.
Chapter 4: Why is nature exposure crucial for children's development?
We are thrilled once again to have our friend Dan Riskin back. He's a biologist. Our IMDBs read so similar. So when you hear me introduce him, you're going to be like, oh my God, Jan, that is so, it's exactly like yours. He's a biologist, a science journalist.
Chapter 5: How do parenting styles affect outdoor exploration?
Everybody knows that about me, Dan. An author, sort of, kind of. A face you've likely seen on TV. I'm talking about me, not you. He's, of course, busy working on season two of Hazardous History.
Chapter 6: What is the myth of lemmings and how did Disney influence it?
If you haven't seen this show, it is fantastic. It's jump scares.
Chapter 7: What ethical considerations exist in wildlife filmmaking?
I need Xanax to watch this show. We're going to ask him about it. He also puts out a fantastic newsletter called The Bat Signal, where he rounds up five of the most interesting science stories of the week. But most importantly, he makes us feel smarter. Like he just makes us people, us simple folk, feel like, oh, I understand, which we really appreciate. Please welcome back Dan Riskin. Yay.
Chapter 8: How does climate change impact conservation efforts?
I don't know.
Thanks. Yeah, I think my secret to that is that I am also one of the simple folk. And so I have to get it into a frame where I can understand it. And then by the time I do that, it's understandable to anyone because if I can get my head around it, we're good. We're good.
How are you enjoying the horrific history, the hazardous history, the hazardous, horrific, horrendous, all those things?
Yeah, no, it's good. So Henry Winkler is the star of the show and he comes on and introduces these crazy ideas. And it's just like a flashback to the things like people joke about the 80s. Like they just let kids go rogue and like they just, oh, you're on a two wheeler. the city's yours, go nuts. Oh, you're going to go in the ravine all night. Sure. Why not?
You know, like they just let things happen. And I kind of remember my childhood in the eighties and nineties that way. Um, but this is like, you know, all the different things, mostly like products that were available, um, that were just very dangerous. Like there's a doll that if you gave it a bottle, so I think if you gave it a bottle, it would move its jaw in order, or if you
Girls would get this thing would get their hair and it would just keep chewing and it would just keep pulling and pulling and pulling and like moving closer and closer to their head. And then it would like rip their hair out of their head. And so this is like before they did safety testing apparently or something. I don't know. But it's just stories like that over and over and over.
And they're so fun. And the producers have done such a good job finding these. And they're so fun to talk about.
It's like a scarf on an escalator. You know, it's just like there's just so many things. Caitlin, I'm going right over to you because I know we have questions. We have so many questions in front of us right now, Dan. You might be here for four hours.
Right on. He's undersold himself at the start of the show as being smart because it's like I was recently on vacation in Mexico. And it's very few people you come across in media where they've not only been to the exact place you're going, which was Cabo, but then can send you a photo of them holding like a rare bat. when they were in Cabo at that moment. I was like, this isn't a normal exchange.
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