How might choosing to be curious help us keep the conversation open, hold onto history that's being erased, and find moments for celebration, even still?

Monique "Moe" Bryant was my teacher and guide when I took a course called Challenging Racism back in 2015-2016. I had her on the show twice then, once before and once after I'd taken the eye-opening, humble-making, nonetheless-empowering program.

Given where conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion are now, I thought it was time to have her back.

Challenging Racism: https://www.challengingracism.org 

Theme music by Sean Balick; “Turning to You” by Landsman Duets, via Blue Dot Sessions.

Ep. #281: Curiosity in Challenging Racism & Celebrating Juneteenth, with Monique Bryant

Are you a curious individual who is burdened with too many heavy thoughts? Today is your lucky day, this track replaces those stressful nuisances with the freedom and pleasure of pure ecstasy.

Enjoy. :3


CW:

This track is intended to create deep trance through vocal induction, causing temporary release of thoughts, fears, morals, intellect, and even concept of self in the pursuit of pleasure. Listening to this track is intended to encourage the feeling of pleasure in regards to the ideas of compliance, freedom from thought or mind, and the ideal of being owned by another, along with creating a trigger that allows the listener to feel intense physical pleasure in exchange for thoughtlessness when I speak the phrase "mindless delight". 

A Curious Touch of Mindless Bliss

Here it is: the story of how this whole curiosity enterprise came to be and some of the many insights I’ve picked up along the way -- with a little timely bias for all things peace and conflict-transformation related.

For those of you who are new, this is how it all began! For those who have been around a while, here's the origin story, plus some of the challenges and glory of which you've been such an important part. I'm hoping there's something here for everyone.

Theme music by Sean Balick; other music by One Such Village, via via Blue Dot Sessions.

Ep. #282: Choose to Be Curious: Lessons Learned

With science under attack, researcher Anthony Zador joins me to make the case for its value, especially of curiosity-driven basic science.

We explore the charms of curiosity as a research motivator, what distinguishes curiosity-driven research from all the rest, federal investment in science -- and recent disruptions thereto and the gutting of American research, the "curse of knowledge", showcasing practical applications, debate in the lab, and what's to love about Gila monster venom and Yellowstone's thermal pools.

Theme music by Sean Balick; “Waterbourne” by Algea Fields, via Blue Dot Sessions.

Ep. #283: In Praise of (Curiosity-Driven) Research, with Anthony Zador

Imagine a place right here on Earth—not on Mercury or Venus—where it’s not particularly unusual for the summer temperature to soar to 180 degrees Fahrenheit (82 degrees C). Now imagine a 20-meter or 60-foot-tall building in that hellish place where ice can be safely stored, completely frozen, for the entire summer. Oh—I should also add that the building has no electricity and is made out of mud, goat hair, ash, and egg whites.

These buildings exist, and they’re called Yakhchals. They’re found in the Middle East, mostly in Iran, in places where it gets very cold in the winter, when ice can be made, and very hot in the summer. They’re a type of evaporative cooler—in the dry parts of the American south, a similar technology is called a swamp cooler—and these Yakhchals been in continuous use since at least the fourth-century BCE. 

Episode 284-Magical Yakhchals

On a warm fall day in eastern Nebraska, I met up with wildlife biologist Bethany Ostrom of the Crane Trust. As we talked, we took a long walk along the banks of the Platte River, watching as small grasshoppers by the hundreds boiled out from under our feet like popcorn, listening to meadowlarks and bobolinks calling from the scrubby brush along the river.

The Crane Trust monitors the health and welfare of North America’s population of both migratory sandhill cranes, which number in the hundreds of thousands, as well as the highly endangered whooping cranes, which number less than a thousand in the entire migratory population.

The health of the crane population is a bellwether for other species, and underlines the importance of the work done by Bethany and her colleagues.

Episode 285-Conversation with Wildlife Biologist Bethany Ostrom

I read something the other day that had a reference in it to a new book that had just come out. The book’s called, “Sing Like Fish,” and it’s written by author and science writer Amorina Kingdon. Needless to say, I immediately ordered the book, and I have to tell you, I burned through it in three days. The subtitle is, “How Sound Rules Life Underwater,” which you can imagine, as a wildlife sound recordist, really caught my attention. 

Actually, a few things in the book caught my attention, including this quote:

“For all the wonders and worries of this subject, the truth is that noise does not match the deep threat posed to the oceans by climate change. And yet, neither issue is monolithic or exists in a vacuum. Warming or acidifying waters will conduct sound differently: Sound’s effect on ecosystems like reefs or Arctic food webs will ricochet into animals’ responses to climate change.

Yet I believe that it is never a waste to examine the world though a new lens, through a new sense.”

That’s powerful writing. So, as I tend to do, I went looking for the author, and I found her north of the border in British Columbia. Amorina and I had a nice chat, discovered that we have a lot of common interests, including, of all things, the acoustic work done by Bell Laboratories, and she agreed to be on the program. Our conversation wandered all over the landscape—I recorded more than three hours of tape—but I edited it down to the most important points. Here's Amorina.

Episode 286-Conversation with Science Writer Amorina Kingdon

ในโลกของการทำงานที่เปลี่ยนแปลงอย่างรวดเร็ว ความสามารถในการ “เรียนรู้ให้ไว” ไม่ใช่แค่การมีทักษะทางเทคนิคหรือความรู้ทันสมัย แต่คือการมีวุฒิภาวะภายใน — การกล้ายอมรับความผิดพลาด กล้ารับฟังความจริง และกล้ามองเข้าไปในตัวเองอย่างไม่ตัดสิน
เช่น ผู้จัดการคนหนึ่งเพิ่งได้รับคำติจากผู้บริหารว่า การนำเสนอของเขายังไม่ชัดเจนพอ แทนที่จะรู้สึกเสียหน้า เขากลับเลือกกลับไปทบทวนว่า “ที่ฉันนำเสนอไม่ชัดเจนนั้นเป็นเพราะอะไร? ฉันเข้าใจประเด็นนั้นดีพอหรือไม่?” แล้วนำคำถามเหล่านี้กลับมาปรับแผน เตรียมตัวให้พร้อมยิ่งขึ้นในการนำเสนอครั้งต่อไป ความใฝ่รู้ในตัวเองเช่นนี้ คือก้าวแรกของการเติบโตที่แท้จริง


EP. 1337 ความใฝ่รู้ในตนเอง (Curiosity) ทักษะสำคัญ เพื่อการเติบโตของคนทำงานยุคใหม่

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[FREE] UK Drill Type Beat x NY Drill Type Beat "CURIOSITY" (prod. neyoooo & s1monbeatz)

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Make Electronica Great Again
Independent Artist

neyoooo hailing from Poznan, Poland, is an artist whose musical journey is defined by his quest for originality and creativity. Unlike many artists who draw from specific influences, neyoooo doesn't limit himself to inspirations from established icons. Instead, he embarks on a continuous journey of self-discovery, experimenting with new sounds and collaborations. His music is rooted in the Drill genre, yet he deftly blends it with the strong, pulsating beats of electronic music, creating a powerful hybrid that is unmistakably his own. This fearless approach to music-making allows neyoooo to switch styles effortlessly, refusing to be confined to a single genre.

Choose to be Curious is a show all about curiosity. We talk about research and theory, but mostly it's conversations about how curiosity shows up in work and life.  

Now syndicated and available via Pacifica RadioNetwork.

I photograph, record, and write about the natural world. I see, I listen, I write. I fundamentally believe that curiosity can save the world—so I publish stories to make people curious. Ultimately, curiosity leads to discovery, discovery leads to knowledge, knowledge leads to insight, and insight leads to understanding. Please enjoy!

We deliver HR knowledge directly to your place.

New tracks tagged #curiosity