Monitoring global networks of seismometers, evangelizing for stronger buildings instead of better predictions, and measuring LA’s slow crawl toward Alaska with Lucy Jones, a seismologist in Southern California. Why does she begin counting when she feels the earth start to shake? And how did a nuclear test ban treaty end up boosting the science of earthquakes?
Lucy is author of the book The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us (and What We Can Do About Them). She also founded the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society.
The piece composed by Lucy featured at the end of the episode is called “In Nomine Terra Calens: In the name of a warming earth”. It was performed and mixed by Josh Lee.
About What It’s Like to Be…
In each episode of What It’s Like to Be…, bestselling author Dan Heath speaks with someone about what it’s like to walk in their (work) shoes. Behavioral Scientist serves as a distribution partner with episodes released every other week. Learn more about the podcast’s mission of “slow curiosity” here, and head here to get Dan’s reflections on how the mission is going after a year of conversations.
The “ Seismologist” episode of What It’s Like To Be… featured Lucy Jones. It was produced and edited by Matt Purdy. Copyright © 2025 by Dan Heath. All rights reserved.
