Science! It’s pretty awesome. And you know, despite popular belief, women are pretty darn funny. Proving both of these are our friends over at Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, who know all about both and are bringing their knowledge to you with a brand new web series starring Megan Amram. Check out the first episode below!
Amram is a Harvard-educated funny lady who likes to post fun at ridiculous stereotypes with comedy. She’s best known for her hilarious Twitter account and her writing on Parks and Recreation. In 2014 she applied her smarts and skills to writing a new textbook called Science…For Her! that explores the gender dynamics in male-dominated fields like science. Teaming up with the people at Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls just felt like the next natural step for world domination and thus Experimenting with Megan Amram was born.
The first episode of the show introduces Amram and her characterâcomplete with white lab coat and snazzy looking labâperforming a very important science experiment that directly relate to her female audience: the biological clock. Though I have to say, something about that doll just tells me it’s not going to actually alter the tick-tocking of the potato clock she created. Amram also introduces Dr. Beverly McKeon, Professor of Aeronautics at Caltech. McKeon talks about her work, the really cool real-world application of the field she studies, and the barriers to entry that she faced as a young woman interested in science at the beginning of her career.
Whether you love to laugh, are interested in science, or have a young lady in your life who you think is interested in science (and who wants to learn how to verbally smack down anyone who says she can’t be anything on account of her gender), Experimenting has something for everyone. Give it a watch, and let us know what you think in the comments below!