Podcast — Jim Ottaviani: Nuclear Engineer to Graphic Novelist

Jim and Lou go way back – to when they still called it “library school!” Thirty years later, Jim is a NY Times bestselling author who specializes in science-themed graphic novels on subjects ranging from Jane Goodall to Alan Turing. 

Here, Lou and Jim discuss the evolution of cartoon and graphic novels, how their audiences have changed over time, and the role of storyboarding in their respective crafts. 

About Jim

Jim is the author of fourteen (and counting) graphic novels about scientists. His most recent books include Naturalist (with E.O. Wilson), Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier, Hawking, about the famous cosmologist; The Imitation Game, a biography of Alan Turing; Primates, about Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas; and Feynman, a book about the Nobel-prize winning physicist, bongo-playing artist, and raconteur Richard Feynman. His books are New York Times bestsellers, have been translated into over a dozen languages, and have received praise from publications ranging from Nature and Physics World to Entertainment Weekly and Variety. Jim lives in Michigan and comes to comics via careers in nuclear engineering and librarianship.

Jim recommends:

• “Ologies” podcast with Alie Ward
• “99% Invisible” podcast with Roman Mars
• 826 National, which provides writing and tutoring support for kids across the U.S. (Jim has tutored and taught for 826michigan for over a decade.)
• The Sirens of Mars by Sarah Stewart Johnson 
• Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars by Kate Greene