Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

Dr. Alex Monro is a Botanist and research leader at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in the Americas Team of the Identification and Naming Department.  After watching The Jungle Book at a young age he became fascinated with tropical forests and has spent the last 20 years working as a taxonomist, systematist and field botanist. Jonathan joined Dr. Monro in his office at the Royal Botanic Gardens to discuss the Millennium Seed Bank Project, stinging nettles, and all the different ways plants reproduce.    Follow Dr. Monro on Twitter @alexmonro and the Royal Botanic Gardens on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @kewgardens.   To find out more about Dr. Monro and RBG’s work visit   Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on @CuriousWithJVN.   Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to .   Jonathan is on .   Catch Jonathan on .

Wendy Davis came into the spotlight in 2013 when she took to the Texas Senate floor to perform a 13 hour filibuster to block a bill that would severely impact abortion rights. She received her degree from Harvard and practiced law for several years before becoming Texas’s State Senator from 2009 to 2015. She is also the founder of Deeds Not Words, a non-profit organization that focuses on engaging young women in politics. Her and Jonathan sat down backstage in Austin Texas while on the road for his comedy tour to discuss her epic filibuster, the current state of Texas politics and why she’s passionately running for Texas’s 21st Congressional District in 2020!   Follow Wendy Davis on Twitter @wendydavis and on Instagram and Facebook @wendydavistexas.    To find out more about Wendy’s work visit   Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on @CuriousWithJVN.   Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to .   Jonathan is on .   Catch Jonathan on .

Dr. M. Sanjayan was formerly the lead scientist at The Nature Conservancy before becoming the CEO of Conservation International. Together with CI they have created the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Project which aims to restore 73 million trees in Brazil by 2023. He’s a recipient of UCSC’s Global Oceans Hero Award,  a member of National Geographic Society’s Explorers Council and a Disneynature Ambassador. He can be seen co-hosting and hosting several nature based documentaries on BBC, Discovery and PBS to name a few! He joined Jonathan in the studio to discuss how our lives are interconnected with the earth and why saving nature is actually about saving humanity.   Follow Dr. M. Sanjayan and Conservation International on Instagram @ConservationOrg, on Twitter @ConservationOrg and @MSanjayan and on Facebook @Conservation.Intl.   To find out more about Sanjayan and Conservation International's work visit .   Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram .   Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to .   Jonathan is on .   Catch Jonathan on .

Dr. Celeste Watkins-Hayes received her M.A. and Ph.D in Sociology from Harvard and is a Professor of Sociology and African American Studies and Faculty Fellow at Northwestern University. Her first book titled “The New Welfare Bureaucrats: Entanglements of Race, Class, and Policy Reform” and most recent release “Remaking a Life: How Women Living with HIV/AIDS Confront Inequality” bring to light the uncomfortable fact that racism is still disproportionately affecting people of color in many ways. In the fall of 2019 Jonathan released his book “Over The Top” where he disclosed his HIV positive status which prompted Dr. Watkins-Hayes to write an op-ed on the subject in the NY Times. This inspired the two of them to get together to discuss issues they are both passionate about.   Follow Dr. Celeste Watkins-Hayes on Instagram @celestewatkinshayes, on Twitter @watkinshayes and on Facebook @celeste.watkinhayes.   To find out more about Celeste’s work visit   Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram .   Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to .   Jonathan is on .   Catch Jonathan on .

Dr. James L. Gelvin is a Professor of Islamic Studies at UCLA. He holds his B.A. and M.A. from Columbia University and his Ph.D. from Harvard. He’s also taught at Harvard, Boston College and MIT. His most recent book is titled “The New Middle East: What Everyone Needs to Know” where he covers the social, political and economic landscape of the New Middle east. In December of 2015 he joined Jonathan in the studio to discuss the relationship between Shia and Sunni Islam and to record the very first episode of Getting Curious...the rest is history!    To find out more about Dr. Gelvin’s work visit u   Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram .   Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to .   Jonathan is on .   Catch Jonathan on .