Tayler Nowak has A Beautiful Mind that is full of words, not math equations.

In this episode, Lizzi and Tayler cover career cobwebs*, writing to think, and building worlds that don't exist yet — all before diving into the debate Lizzi's been sitting on since the first part of their conversation. What follows is a volleying exploration of hard science versus soft science, where the humanities actually belong, and why even astrophysics is, at its core, an art and a science.

Also: how a trip to the arcade seeing Ataris and pinball machines in action led to the invention of Apple’s Lisa Mouse.

*Also also: career lattice is the term we meant but could not remember in the moment!

That's a wrap on Season 1 of Technical Rigor! Don’t worry, we’ll see you this fall for Season 2!!

Tayler Nowak didn't know design thinking existed until one professor's mentorship showed her it was the epicenter of everything she wanted to do. In this episode, Tayler and Lizzi talk about the culture shock of trading semester-long academic studies for two-week sprints, the specific vulnerability of asking for help when you're new somewhere, and why Tayler thinks being unheard usually comes down to people listening to respond instead of listening to hear.

Also: the research participant who told Tayler a box of tissues might be needed—turns out no one ever reached for the tissues.

Shout outs from Tayler:

• Dr. Dee Warmath: fcs.uga.edu/people/bio/dee-warmath

More mentions:

• M.S. in Design + Innovation: MDI program @ UW-Madison

Dr. Fran spent her early college semesters dodging every science class she could find before landing on going to med school — and now she is a board-certified ObGyn who moonlights as Paging Dr. Fran fighting medical misinformation online. In this episode, Fran and Lizzi dive into the origin story behind Fran's own podcast, I Did My Own Research, what it felt like to not get into medical school on the first try, and why stepping away from a profession doesn't undo who it made you.

Also: hear which mean internet comment Dr. Fran turned into merch.

All things @PagingDrFran:

• TikTok
• YouTube
• Instagram / Facebook / Threads
• Podcast: Apple / Spotify / YouTube
• Website
• Merch