Episodes

Can you imagine a time when people thought spaceflight impossible--or at least, unlikely? Just over seventy years ago, three teams of visionaries embarked on a major challenge: to prove that perception wrong. Their stories are the subject of the book The First Space Race: Launching the World's First Satellites. Author, science writer, historian and naturalist Matt Bille, who co-wrote The First Space Race with Erika Lishock, takes readers behind the scenes of the dawn of the space age in the 1...

Stemuli has pioneered yet another educational innovation: the world's first AI-native learning platform! And students get to learn AI literacy, problem-solving and math skills for their roles in a future economy, through a new video game called Founder Tycoon. Dallas-based educational technology company Stemuli, which started in 2016, created the first game-based learning metaverse in the United States. The goal: to engage and provide opportunity for all students--particularly those in underse...

Where do YOU fit into the math, science or computer-science community? Count Play Explore is making these topics accessible to everyone. And their content is fun, easy and free--for children ages birth to eight, their teachers and their families. An initiative led by the Office of the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, Early Care and Education Department, Count Play Explore offers playful math, science and computer science lessons. And they start with storytelling or other fun activitie...

For AI and XR developer Andre "Dre" Smith, virtual reality, brain-computer interface technology and AI are artist's tools. And to describe him as "prolific", would be an understatement. Dre is always exploring, experimenting and creating something new at the edge of immersive computing. Dre's projects include apps, immersive experiences, games and real-time neurofeedback systems. One of his most intriguing current projects, Octobot, is a multiplayer experience in which players use a brain-co...

As we celebrate Over Coffee®'s 500th episode, we've had a very enviable "problem". Too many great guests, and great stories, to include everyone in ONE episode! Consequently, here is our second installment of our Show 500 special. Thank you again to all the incredible interview guests who generously took the time to share their stories, and we're looking forward to spotlighting many more creative innovators at the intersection of art and science.

"What are you going to do for Show 500?" People were asking me that question, as Over Coffee® approached that number of episodes this year. The answer was pretty easy. Without our incredible guests, the Over Coffee® podcast wouldn't exist. So, here is both a retrospective, and an update on just a few of the amazing innovators who have starred in our show, over our years of production. And a quick note--this is only a sampling, highlighting just some of the amazing creative guests with whom I...

Over Coffees® is on hiatus as we complete production on a special-edition episode. Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top episodes from earlier this year. "I wish somehow to contribute to a better world," says Abeye Co-Founder and CEO Michael Kodochian. And a number of students--and adults--would almost certainly agree that that's exactly what his Lexilens® technology is doing. Michael started by inventing patented smart glasses, to help users with dyslexia read more smoothly. These gl...

As we wrap up production on a special-edition Over Coffee® episode, please enjoy this reposting of one of our top episodes of 2023! Class is once again in session with Jim Burnham, "The STEAM Clown". Or, as he describes himself, "a mad scientist in the classroom". This semester, his students are going to be lighting things up, connecting sensors, designing a Rube Goldberg device...and, they may just create some fire-breathing robots along the way. Technically, Jim is an award-winning Mechatro...

"I hated school until I was in about the fifth grade," says California Invention Convention Executive Director Brenda S. Payne. But then, a gifted teacher showed her some of the ways that what happened in the classroom, could be relevant to her future. That project-based learning, combined with some of her experiences visiting an older brother who worked in cutting-edge technology, led to her passion for invention education. And as fall semester, 2026, gets started, now is a great time to spr...

Over Coffee® is on hiatus during production of a special-edition episode. Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top episodes of 2024! This post and podcast are for informational purposes only, and are not intended as healthcare advice. Please contact a medical professional with any health-related questions. "I wish I was three people," says artist/worldbuilder and "Bee Queen" Sara "Tink" Mapelli. "I would love that." She's referencing all the opportunities she sees to create, learn and gr...

Over Coffee® is on hiatus during production of a special-edition episode. Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top episodes of 2024! Fine artist/educator Niklas Roy builds an invitation into his work. That invitation: "Come and play. Enjoy being creative." Niklas, who creates art with technology, specializes in interactive installations which center on a spirit of fun and discovery. His goal: to make art accessible to people from all walks of life. The results tend to be highly engaging...

As production continues on our special-edition episode, please enjoy this reposting of one of our favorite interviews from 2023! "I want it to be a place for women today, where we can meet and where we can support each other..." explained author Helen Lundstrom Erwin, in this 2023 interview. We were discussing her pioneering metaverse space, The Foremothers Cafe. This is the first immersive space in the metaverse created by a historical novelist, based on a setting from her book! Helen first ...

Over Coffee® is on hiatus as we continue production on a special-edition episode! Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top episodes from 2025. "Wow" is one of the most exciting reactions any creator can hear, in response to their work. Tech pioneer, human-centric AI consultant and author/speaker/podcast host Elizabeth Bieniek knows exactly how to evoke that response. In her book, Cake on Tuesday: 25 Lessons to Unlock Corporate Innovation, Elizabeth explains the steps involved in creating...

Over Coffee® is on hiatus as we continue production on a special-edition episode! Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top episodes from 2025. "It truly can go anywhere a car can go," says Think Tank Science Program Manager Christina Campbell, of her nonprofit's mobile STEAM lab. That flexibility allows for a major expansion of horizons for students all over the Los Angeles area. Think Tank Science's mobile STEAM lab, which celebrated its two-year anniversary in March, provides resources...

Over Coffee® is on hiatus as we continue production on a special-edition episode! Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top episodes from 2025. "We try to be creative," says VictoryXR CEO and Co-Founder Steve Grubbs. He's explaining the ways his interactive educational platform engages students through immersive experiences. Those experiences could include learning Newton's Laws from the middle of a pool table. Or exploring the history of ancient Egypt by traveling through the Avenue of t...

Over Coffee® is on summer hiatus as we prepare a special-edition show! Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top conversations on robotics from 2025. Where does inspiration start? Sometimes, it begins with an experience, which makes someone see themselves--and their future--from an exciting new perspective. That's the whole idea behind True Robotics. On their website, this Worcester, Massachusetts-based startup states their mission as, "providing every student the opportunity to learn wi...

Music is Futureproof Music School Founder and CEO John von Seggern's passion. So is guiding fellow musicians as they develop their skills in a constantly-changing industry. And now, AI is allowing him to provide electronic music producers with an affordable platform--and a community--for developing their gifts and completing their projects. John opened Futureproof Music School, the first AI-native music school, in 2024. Students build their music-production skills through courses designed to...

Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira has something exciting to show you. Actually, she has several exciting innovations to show everyone--with more coming. Dr. Cruz is an immersive technology pioneer and the creator of the original CAVE VR system: the world's first real-time environment to allow multiple people to have an immersive experience in the same space. And she's about to showcase her latest projects on the exhibit floor of Augmented World Expo 2026, in Long Beach. Those projects? A human telepre...

Garner Holt Education Through Imagination is inspiring everyone to play, dream and be creative. In the process, students may be discovering future careers. This imaginative Redlands-based STEAM program implements unique "AniMaker" spaces for schools and communities. Students and participants of all ages learn twenty-first century hands-on skills, while designing and creating animatronics. Recently, Garner Holt Education Through Imagination opened a new space at the Boys & Girls Club of Greate...

"We are creating innovators who are solving problems in real time," says Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Redlands-Riverside Teen Services Program Manager Montoya Dunn. That creative process is happening in a new, exciting space. In April, 2026, the Garner Holt Teen Innovation Center opened its doors at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Redlands - Riverside. The first of its kind in the region, the Garner Holt Teen Innovation Center offers youth hands-on opportunities to build new skills as they ...