This is the interview that leaves me no room to say “I have no time to write". Here's a podcast guest who awed me so much with his passion for science communication that I lost my words at one point.
Freelance science journalist (and full time copywriter) Mikael Angelo Francisco runs Flipscience with co-founder Hana Abello. The platform, which he calls a "passion project" reports on science in the Philippines and serves a mainly Filipino audience. Started in 2017, Flipscience now attracts 80,000-100,000 views per month and has just started a podcast called Ask Theory.
Mikael and Hana achieved all these despite having never ever been full-time journalists. Mikael shares his journey, his inspiration, his goals, and plenty of practical advice for science journalists/communicators in Southeast Asia.

Show notes and more goodies at https://scienceilluminates.com/monsoon/

Markers:
02:43 A gap to fill in science communication
06:29 Story behind the name
09:22 Nurturing new writers
12:08 Social media is key
13:09 They will flock to you
13:50 No money to do this full-time
14:34 We pay our writers
15:46 100,000 views per month
16:51 #HowHardDidHumansHitYou
19:06 "So what?"
19:32 Journalist or communicator?
21:27 Too many scientists to highlight
23:41 Why just one Flipscience?
24:33 Inspiring new science communicators
26:06 How to make Flipscience strong (stronger)
29:18 Advice for science writers

Do you dive? I don't, but as a kid, I have swam in coral reefs off the coast of Malaysia. The colours of the corals and the fishes - everything was alive and over the top. While Southeast Asia is the crown of marine diversity, the corals are severely threatened. Marine biologist James Tan Chun Hong tells us about the lives of corals and how we can protect them. Show notes and more goodies at https://scienceilluminates.com/monsoon/ . Write to monsoonpodcast@gmail.com

Resources mentioned:
Coral Spawning Database - A public database of >6000 observations of coral spawning events in the Indo-Pacific region.

(Show recorded on 8 March 2021. Episode cover photo by James Tan.)

You want to take flight as a freelance science journalist in Southeast Asia? It's a testing but rewarding venture. My advice is to start small and aim big. Come listen and take your pick of the strategies and suggestions dished out by science journalists Dyna Rochmyaningsih and Sandy Ong. Detailed notes and goodies at https://scienceilluminates.com/monsoon/ . Write to monsoonpodcast@gmail.com

(Show recorded on 2 Feb 2021. Episode cover photo by Denny Aulia on Unsplash)

Resources mentioned

1. Pitch database at The Open Notebook. Over 200 successful pitches here; you can add yours too.
2. Robin Lloyd's mega-list of outlets that accept pitches from journalists. A rich hunting ground, updated periodically.
3. Science Journalism COOPeration project, or SjCoop.
4. Some of the outlets mentioned: ENSIA, Hakai, Nature, Sapiens, SciDev.Net, Science, Science News, The Scientist, YaleE360

Frizzy beard above the nose; thick warts on the face; chitty-chatty and yet ready to butt heads for sex. Scientists Matthew Linkie and Sheherazade from Wildlife Conservation Society (Indonesia) share stories about the many species of wild pigs that roam the forests of Southeast Asia and their deadly new threat, the African swine fever. Show recorded on 16 Feb 2021. Detailed notes and goodies at https://scienceilluminates.com/monsoon/

Resources mentioned in show

1. Luskin et al. 2020 – the paper that assessed the threat of African swine fever for wild pigs; co-authored by Matthew Linkie and Sheherazde.
2. Suiform Soundings – the newsletter of the IUCN’s Wild Pig Specialist Group.
3. Ancient cave paintings of wild pigs in Sulawesi (Jan 2021)

Science journalists Dyna Rochmyaningsih (Indonesia), Sandy Ong (Singapore), and I talk about our careers and its joy (it's a career for the curious!) and pain (show me the money, please). Show recorded on 2 Feb 2021. Detailed notes and goodies at https://scienceilluminates.com/monsoon/

Resources mentioned in show

1. The Open Notebook. This is my first reference for everything science journalism
2. Science journalists to follow, as recommended on show: Rachel Nuwer; Harry Sujardi; Ahmad Arif
3. The World Federation of Science Journalists

What Monsoon, a bi-weekly podcast on science in Southeast Asia, is about.
Credits: "Rasa Sayang" music arranged by Yap Sheau Jia.