James Chiles

James Chiles

Biography:

James R. Chiles writes and lectures on technology and wrote "Inviting Disaster: Lessons from the Edge of Technology" in 2001. Much of his writing has dealt with system malfunctions, engineering and safety discipline, including the Challenger disaster, the 1965 New York City blackout, building designs for earthquake resistance, air traffic controller training, airplane manufacturing and airliner simulators. His research has taken him into the wreckage of the World Trade Center towers, into tunnels under construction, on a helicopter during maintenance of high-voltage power lines, on training sessions to fight propane-tank fires, into a nitroglycerine factory, and on top of a broadcast tower under construction. Chiles was born in Springfield, Missouri, in 1955. He graduated with honors from Harvard (1977) and the University of Texas Law School (1981).

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Past Shows:

  • Cosmology, the Universe, & Evolution

    Theoretical physicist Lawrence M. Krauss joined John B. Wells (email) to discuss the origin of the universe and how it could have arisen from nothing. In the first hour, researcher James Chiles commented on the failing Phobos-Grunt space probe and the Costa Concordia cruise ship...More »
  • Economy / Voltage Medicine / Power Outage

    The first half of the show dealt with the economy and Pres. Obama's just announced jobs plan. In the first hour, investment advisor Catherine Austin Fitts noted it was unclear where the money would come from to pay for the jobs program. 2nd Hour guest, chief investment officer...More »
  • Effect of 'God' on the Brain

    Ian Punnett welcomed neuroscientist Andrew Newberg for a discussion on how contemplating 'God', whatever that may mean to a given individual, affects brain activity. In the first hour, meteorologist Patrick Hammer and researcher James Chiles addressed issues related to...More »
  • Druids & English Magic

    Practicing Druid, Philip Carr-Gomm, joined Ian to talk about his life as a Druid and the magical world of England. During the first half hour, researcher James Chiles discussed an odd photo he took, which shows a "brief atmospheric anomaly."More »
  • The Human-Animal Dynamic

    In the first half, the world's foremost authority on human-animal relations, Hal Herzog, joined Ian to discuss the complex relationships people have with animals. Researcher James Chiles provided an update on the Chilean mine rescue in the third hour. The final 90 minutes...More »
  • Infiltrating Hell's Angels

    Jay "Bird" Dobyns spoke about his dangerous work as an undercover ATF agent. Dobyns said he created his undercover criminal persona over a period of 18 years through the use of 'street theaters' -- orchestrated plays with other undercover operatives who would pretend to exchange...More »
  • Irrational Thinking

    Lecturer Ori Brafman and his brother, psychologist Dr. Rom Brafman discussed their new book Sway, which looks at why people make irrational choices. "The way that we defined it," Rom said about irrational thinking, "is that it's about doing something that you know was the wrong...More »
  • Alien Contact & End Times

    Ian spoke with Miriam Delicado about her contact with extraterrestrial beings, their message for the world, and how it ties into the Hopi's Blue Star Prophecy and the End Times.More »
  • UFO/ET Debate

    Stanton Friedman & Michael Shermer squared off on the topic of UFOs and ETs.More »
  • Worst Case Scenarios

    Celebrated business futurist, Joel Barker, who is credited with popularizing the term "paradigm shift," shared several worst case scenarios for planet Earth:On the US Education System...Barker commented on the decision by some states to reduce the number of school days in order...More »
  • Children's Past Life Memories

    Dr. Jim Tucker of the University of Virginia's division of Personality Studies shared his international research into children who report memories of past lives. Such memories are most commonly reported by children, who by the age of six or seven tend to start forgetting these...More »
  • The Influence of Egyptology

    Archaeologist Stephen Mehler shared his research in the field of Egyptology, which he has studied for over thirty-five years. He described working with a teacher from Egypt named Hakim, "an indigenous wisdom keeper" who shared the civilization's oral history with him. Hakim said...More »
  • Catastrophic Challenges

    James Chiles, the author of Inviting Disaster, appeared on Sunday's program, delving into some of history's worst catastrophes in order to show how increasingly "smart" systems leave us wide open to human tragedy.More »
  • Visions and Warnings

    Author Kathleen Keating, the main guest on Thursday night, said a group of visionaries she has contact with, have indicated we are entering into a new time of tribulation. Keating believes such things as severe weather and earthquakes are God's way of "letting us destroy...More »
  • Disaster in Space

    This past Saturday evening Coast to Coast held an unprecedented 9 hour program devoted to looking at the crash of the space shuttle Columbia which had occurred that morning. George Noory hosted the first half of the show, followed by Barbara Simpson in her regular time slot....More »