Choose to be Curious

Americans gave $427.71 billion to charities in 2018. That's a lot of philanthropy. Sonia Quiñónez, Northern Virginia Program Director at Eugene & Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, joins me to explore how curiosity contributes to priority-setting and change-making with all those investments. Speaking of strategic giving: if you enjoy Choose to be Curious, I hope you will choose to support WERA's parent or...

What is it about stories that so captures our attention and bridges distances? And what role might curiosity play, for the teller of tales as well as those who are listening? Storyteller and podcaster Ronald Young, Jr. has some thoughts... This episode first aired on WERA in September 2019; it has been refreshed, December 2023. Theme and other music by Sean Balick. Time Well Spent / "Bypass" clip...

What if curiosity and learning are best fostered not with focusing our attention, but by distracting it? “There should be room in education for daydreaming, flights of fantasy, and intellectual wandering…” declares Tyson Lewis. A conversation in praise of the wonder-fullness that is distraction! This is the fourth in a monthly series of interviews with the contributing authors to the forthcoming a...

When the Arlington County 2019 Profile showed up in my inbox, I was curious about the people behind it. What are they curious about? And what's the "why" behind all that information and the census? Elizabeth Hardy, a principle planner and demographer for Arlington County, tells all. P.S. Please be sure to participate in the upcoming Census 2020! Join us next time when University of North Texas, Co...

When I read Seeta Sistla’s confrontation to the environmental costs of curiosity - a list that is as thought-provoking as it is long - I sent myself on an internal journey of challenged assumptions and weighted values. This was, I imagine, exactly the effect she was hoping for. The third episode in our Curiosity Studies series. This is the third in a monthly series of interviews with the contribut...

Karen Coltrane, president and CEO of Leadership Center for Excellence, sat down with me to talk about LCE's new DMV Diversity and Inclusion Institute -- an exciting effort to put the value of curiosity into meaningful action in the workplace. Join us next time as we reassess the costs of curiosity with ecosystem ecologist Seeta Sistla, the third episode in our Curiosity Studies series. Thanks to S...

What if we really look and listen differently, with a purpose -- or as my dad likes to say, "if we change our point of view" -- might we see something new? That was the thread in this week's "Curiosity to Go" segment that pairs John L. Jackson, Jr,, dean of Annenberg School for Communication and ethnographer, with photographer Jason Horowitz. How might we embody that profound level of paying atten...

Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, John L. Jackson, Jr. is an ethnographer by training -- and by nature. A "conspicuous listener", he challenges us to nurture the cultures we desire, curiosity among them. Lovely, thoughtful and thought-provoking. This is the second in a monthly series of interviews with the contributing authors to the forthcoming anth...

My choice of “choose” was not accidental in naming my show. I believe that we reveal our true selves through our choices -- and, as with exercise or eating right or courtesies -- choosing to be curious is a decision we make about how we show up for life. Philosophy professor Asia Ferrin and improv actor Jesse Robinson explore different ways to think about choosing...

This week we take a poke at the whole premise: CAN we choose to be curious? American University professor of philosophy Asia Ferrin and I try on various philosophical hats as we explore why and where and how and for whom curiosity might be a choice. Or not. Fascinating! Theme music by Sean Balick. Check out Sean's new album "From the Pines" available on Soundcloud. Join me next time when John L. J...

We're curious, we collect, we study. At some level it's all about luring others to share our curiosity, isn't it? Trinity College professor Barbara M. Benedict and George Washington University professor Caetlin Benson-Allott come at "stuff" from different directions, but with a shared delight in all of it!

Trinity College professor Barbara M. Benedict delights in curiosity, curiosities and collecting in English literature. We cover everything from Gulliver's Travels to Freud, from curiosity cabinets to the dawn of journalism. Indie Photobook Library founder Larissa Leclair illuminates her version of what Barbara describes. This is the first in a monthly series of interviews with the contributing aut...

Lani Watson wants to know what makes a question a question - and Andrew Minigan wants to help us get better at asking them. It's all about questions today!

We've talked about better and more beautiful questions, but what about the foundational question: what IS a question? Edinburgh philosopher Lani Watson is thinking a lot about the question question. Join us again next time when Trinity College professor of English Barbara M. Benedict explores curiosity and collecting - with a special feature on the Indie Photobook Library! Theme and other music by...

"What I love most about curiosity is sitting with someone I don't know, asking what makes them tick, what brought them to this day, just really leaning into it -- and enjoying it." Mike Morales just retired as a LtCol USAF, was a White House Fellow, has been to both divinity and business school. He has a lot to say about curiosity as a gateway to community. Enjoy! Join us next time when philosophe...

Think of all the ways we make and find connections. Think how important that is. Mike Morales and I talk about curiosity as a gateway to connection -- and my mother-in-law takes us on a journey to discover family connections she didn't know she had...all that in five fast minutes!

Learning to ask more and better questions, with The Right Question Institute's (RQI) Andrew Minigan and WERA's own Enlighten Me host, Andrea Cambron. #QFT #parenting #questions

The Right Question Institute has pioneered an elegant and deceptively simple way to generate more and better questions, no matter who you are or what your circumstances. Andrew Minigan, PhD, Director of Strategy for RQI's Education Program, joins me to explain. Theme and other music by Sean Balick. Join us again next time when Mike Morales and I explore curiosity as a gateway to connection.

Jacomina de Regt speaks to validating our natural curiosity about sex and our sexuality, and Dr. Judson Brewer explores other forms of awakening in this celebration of human nature.

What could be more basic than curiosity about sex? And yet the topic makes lots of us squeamish. C2BC intern Caroline Kish sits down with Jacomina de Regt, sexuality education facilitator, to celebrate two basics of human nature: curiosity and sexuality. Join us next time for a visit with the Right Question Institute.

Cartographer Alison Davis-Holland and Capital Naturalist founder Alonso Abugattas each help ground us where we are. We're all about being curious in the world around us this week!

Artist-naturalist Ellen Meloy wrote, "A map, it is said, organizes wonder." Cartographer and story map author Alison Davis-Holland couldn't agree more. Where might your curiosity take you, given the right map? And what makes for a good map, anyway? join us to learn more! And join us next time when we consider the inevitable intersection of curiosity and sex ed.

In honor of National Walking Day, and every day that is made for walking, we take a stroll around Arlington -- and another around the farmers market. Complete with a taste of music from -- you guessed it! -- The Walkaways

In honor of National Walking Day, we take a stroll with Eileen and Allen, who've decided they're going to walk every street in the County. They neither know, nor really care, how many miles that is -- they just want the journey. I walked along with them one Saturday. Featuring music thanks to Blue Dot Sessions: "Walking Shoes" by Skittle, "Home Home At Last" by Warmbody; "City Limits" by  Albany,...

I'm delighted to introduce the radio debut of our Choose to be Curious/American University intern, Caroline Kish. She found a link between our conversation with Noobtsaa Vang about the comforts of food and Brandon Charles' insights on empathy: it's all about making the human connection. Theme and other music thanks to Sean Balick.