The WRCT Forbes Avenue team recently visited the main gallery of the Hunt Institute For Botanical Documentation on the CMU campus to preview the current exhibition, To Make A Prairie: Pollination and Human Understanding. Senior Curator of Art Carrie Roy and Curator of Art Lydia Rosenberg explained that the artworks and specimens in the exhibition demonstrate an unusual intersection of science and art.

The exhibition includes artworks and specimens from the 18th to the 21st century, allowing a viewer to see how people’s understanding of pollination — of both plants and pollinators — has increased over time. Unusual flora and fauna are represented: the exhibition includes a specimen of a bat that pollinates cacti, a pressed plant from 1829, a Darwin Orchid preserved in alcohol, and over 40 artworks that demonstrate how early observation of the relationship between plants, pollen, and the world has transformed into scientific understanding.

Besides, many of the artworks are gorgeous or intriguing!

The Hunt Institute For Botanical Documentation is located on the fifth floor of the Hunt Library on the CMU campus. The exhibition is free and open to the public Tuesdays – Fridays 9:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. through June 30.

Listen to this episode: Carrie Roy & Lydia Rosenberg

Kate Smigie, interviewer, researcher
Richard Gordon, interviewer, recording engineer, audio editor
Recorded: March 11, 2026
WRCT debut: March 17, 2026

This week on Forbes Avenue, we aired part of a conversation with science fiction author John Scalzi. Scalzi is known for his humorous and approachable fiction that ranges from space operas (his Interdependency and Old Man’s War series) to near-future fiction (his Lock-In and Dispatcher series) to standalone novels that are both humorous and thought-provoking (e.g., Red Shirts, Kaiju Preservation Society, and Starter Villain).

In this portion of our 2022 conversation, John discusses some of his writing strategies, some of his non-fiction writing, and his thoughts about blogging — whatever.scalzi.com has been a going concern since 1998. You’ll enjoy John Scalzi’s engaging remarks!

Listen to John Scalzi (part 1)

Richard Gordon, interviewer, researcher, recording engineer, audio editor
Recorded: August 25, 2022
WRCT debut: February 17, 2026

This week on Forbes Avenue, we talked with high school history teacher Tom Lisak and Andrew Bensch, a Pittsburgh historian and former student of Mr. Lisak’s, on their research and converging interests in Pittsburgh’s rich background. The pair walked us through how they began working together, their research process, and a brief glimpse into the type of content their podcast will include. They look forward to ongoing creation of this project, and hope it will allow listeners to see just how much history surrounds you in your day to day life.

Listen to the episode here.

Abriana Bensch, host, audio engineer, researcher
Recorded January 5, 2026; WRCT debut February 3, 2026