Hidden Compass: The Podcast

Join Hidden Compass co-founders and podcast co-hosts Sivani Babu and Sabine K. Bergmann as they bring you stories from their award-winning magazine, and go behind the scenes with each storyteller to see what inspired them to venture to the frontiers of courage and curiosity. Season 1’s theme is “What Have I Done?”

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Hidden Compass: The Podcast

You Should Be Dancing

November 17, 2021 • Hidden Compass • Season 2 • Episode 3

Three episodes into the second season of Hidden Compass: The Podcast, and we’re delving even deeper into the intellectual and emotional weeds of season two’s theme: “What Have I Done?”

On today’s episode, co-hosts Sabine K. Bergmann and Sivani Babu sit in conversation with marine biologist, storyteller, and self-identified geek Russell Bradley. The three discuss the humanity of scientists, the lure of a wildly remote outpost in the tropical North Pacific, and the intersection of tedium, bliss, and badassery. But first, journey with us, as Russell takes us to Laysan, an atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian islands, where an enigmatic creature forces him to face an ethical dilemma.

Story
“You Should Be Dancing” first appeared in the inaugural issue of Hidden Compass: The Magazine as a feature in our Human and Nature department. See the full story and photos here: https://hiddencompass.net/story/you-should-be-dancing/.

Storyteller
Russell Bradley’s parents threw him in the ocean when he was five years old. He cried for a minute but then never got out. Originally from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Russell is a marine biologist, improviser, storyteller, writer, and nature lover. Currently, he is the Director of the Santa Rosa Island Research Station for California State University Channel Islands. Learn more about the research station here: https://www.csuci.edu/sri/ and follow their Instagram account @csuci. Check out Russell’s Hidden Compass profile at https://hiddencompass.net/journalist/russell-bradley.

Hidden Compass

Hidden Compass is an award-winning, women-led media company that’s forging an Alliance to turn storytellers and explorers into heroes and champion a new age of discovery.

To learn more about us and support storytellers like Russell, visit https://hiddencompass.net and contribute to our fundraising campaigns. We split campaign proceeds 50/50 with the writer of each story, and storytellers receive their cut on top of their article pay.

To support Hidden Compass, recommend us to someone who’s looking to stand up for journalism, science, history, and hope. You can also buy tickets to our virtual events at https://hiddencompass.net/events, and learn more about becoming an Ally at https://hiddencompass.net/alliance. Sign up for our newsletter at https://bit.ly/2Yc2HH1.

See you next week, when we’ll go to the lost forests and flowering fields of Iceland and speak with Shannon Donaghy about an unfolding “Invasion.”