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Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda

Aomawa Shields: When an Actor is Starstruck

Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda

Bobi NYC

Science, Society & Culture, Comedy

4.8 β€’ 3.5K Ratings

πŸ—“οΈ 11 July 2023

⏱️ 41 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Torn between astronomy and acting, she has landed in the sweet spot: leader of a research team judging other planets for their hospitality for life, while using the skills she learned as an actor to connect with and encourage a new generation of girls to become – as she was – entranced by the stars.

Transcript

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0:00.0

I'm Alan Olver and this is Clear In Vivid, conversations about connecting and communicating.

0:15.6

You know I tried to make my home in astronomy, at MIT, and in the sciences.

0:22.0

And there was something missing.

0:23.0

It's like a dream never goes away.

0:25.0

It just, if you leave it, it's still on the side of the road as I say in my book.

0:28.8

You know, it was lying on the side of the road somewhere and I was down the highway

0:33.4

and eventually it caught up with me.

0:36.4

And it was like, hey, what about me?

0:38.7

You know that acting thing?

0:40.4

Don't you still love me?

0:43.0

And the answer was yes.

0:46.8

That's a Omo-Wa Shields.

0:49.0

And the tussle for her attention between astronomy and acting has both dominated and enriched

0:54.6

her life.

0:55.9

She's now the leader of a team checking out newly discovered planets beyond our solar

1:00.4

system for the likelihood they could support life.

1:04.8

As an African-American woman in a field traditionally dominated by white males, that already makes

1:10.2

her unusual.

1:12.0

What makes her unique is that much of her life has been spent furthering her other passion,

1:17.6

acting.

1:18.9

And that's put her skills in connecting and communicating on Vivid display in her new book, Life on

1:24.9

Other Planets, a memoir of finding my place in the universe.

...

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