Blue Dot: Clay and humanity—in conversation with author Jennifer Lucy Allan

By Dave Schlom,

Published April 11, 2025 at 10:41 AM PDT

British journalist Jennifer Lucy Allan joins Blue Dot host Dave Schlom to discuss her new book, Clay: A Human History.

For millennia, humanity has used clay minerals to shape them into vessels for holding food and drink and moulded it into amazing artistic figures.

From the beginnings of human hands shaping clay into the world of modern ceramics and pottery, it's a tour de force for anyone who has ever made a simple pinch pot or been challenged by the physics of the potter's wheel.

Along the way, Dave finds out about Jennifer's unusual passion for foghorns, which led to a Ph.D!

Tags

Dave Schlom

Dave Schlom is the longtime host and creator of Blue Dot. From surfing to Voyager in interstellar space, rock guitar to orcas in our imperiled oceans, the topics on Blue Dot are as varied as the host’s interests and connections -- which are pretty limitless! An internationally respected space history journalist, Dave is also deeply fascinated by all aspects of the grand workings of nature’s awesome machinery on scales ranging from galactic to subatomic. And topics take in all aspects of the arts and sciences.

See stories by Dave Schlom

Matt Fidler

Matt Fidler is a producer and sound designer with over 15 years’ experience producing nationally distributed public radio programs. He has worked for shows such as Freakonomics Radio, Selected Shorts, Studio 360, The New Yorker Radio Hour and The Takeaway. In 2017, Matt launched the language podcast Very Bad Words, hitting the #28 spot in the iTunes podcast charts.

See stories by Matt Fidler