Choose to be Curious

We all have a curiosity origin story. What’s yours? CEO, author and marketing exec Tyler Chisholm’s happens to involve a pool cue. Enriched by his experience in strategic growth-oriented marketing and as host of not one but two podcasts, Tyler polishes that first little nugget into robust guidance for leaders everywhere in his new book Curious as Hell, We focused on the wonderfulness of rapport, s...

Mónica Quesada Cordero and her colleagues at el Colectivo 506 have learned a lot in their five years of bringing solutions journalism to Costa Rica. These are curiosity lessons for journalism, and for life itself. el Colectivo 506: https://elcolectivo506.com/?lang=en Theme music by Sean Balick; “A Burst of Light" by Delray, via Blue Dot Sessions.

"We think there's a little more of a selective process going on with curiosity." ~ Mary Whatley No surprise: curiosity changes over the lifespan. Yes surprise: not in the way you might imagine. There are some advantages to aging... Mary Whatley, PhD, studies motivated memory, aging and curiosity. She joins me to explore trait versus state curiosity; her recent research on increasing state curiosit...

Creativity strategist Natalie Nixon has a fresh take on productivity and our ideas about time. She makes the case for leaning into joyful movement, deep thinking and the pause of a "strategic speed bump" to tap into -- and cultivate -- our creativity and curiosity. Natalie Nixon: https://www.figure8thinking.com Theme music by Sean Balick; “Mind Body Mind” by Bodytonic, via Blue Dot Sessions.

Dating coach Tim Molnar blends social science and statistical scholarship with both personal experience and practical suggestions in hopes of transforming how people approach modern dating.  How can curiosity help in our dating lives? Tim has thoughts! We explore research's origins in "me-search"; getting curious about what is -- or isn't -- actually working; second dates and old-school advantages...

This was a wide-ranging and exciting conversation about neuroscientist Matthias Gruber's ongoing efforts to understand curiosity's role in learning and memory. There's a lot here. You may have to listen more than once -- I know I did! Matthias Gruber: https://profiles.cardiff.ac.uk/staff/gruberm Theme music by Sean Balick; “A Little Powder” by Nursery, via Blue Dot Sessions.

Lisa Kristine is a humanitarian photographer and fine artist. She uses her photography to expose deeply human stories and make pictures that tap our curiosity about the people and lives she has documented. "Curiosity calls us to be present." ~ Lisa Kristine Lisa Kristine: https://lisakristine.com Theme music by Sean Balick; “Sand Reverie” by Desert Orchard, via Blue Dot Sessions.

Lean into the language of smell with me: we sniff things out, we follow a scent. We’re nosey! Is this not curiosity, enacted? Embodied!? So what do we know about our sense of smell, and might studying it offer insights into the way our brains explore, learn and remember? Venkatesh Murthy: https://vnmurthylab.org Theme music by Sean Balick; “A Palace of Cedars” by Pine Barrens, via Blue Dot Session...

Much as I champion curiosity, sometimes it can take us down bad paths. Thank goodness there are excellent resources that help us lean into our curiosity, recognize misinformation -- and stop it in its tracks. RumorGuard is an initiative of the News Literacy Project to do just that. It fact-checks viral rumors and offers concrete tips to help us build our news literacy chops. News Literacy Project:...

How does a ghost writer get to the juiciest heart of their subject? Laura Zigman is the author of six novels and has ghostwritten and/or collaborated on multiple memoirs and non-fiction books. We have fun talking about writing with someone -- not about them -- and getting their voice right; the line between curiosity and nosiness; compassion, empathy, trust and asking questions with kindness; resp...

Mikel Herrington is a veteran of both AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps. We explore curiosity as the underpinning that brings people into civil service, reciprocal curiosity across cultural and experiential divides, humility, humor, how service allows room for listening, and why someone might carry a pecan for years... Theme music by Sean Balick; "Home, Home at Last" by Warmbody, via Blue Dot Session...

For 15 years, Professor Shawkat Toorawa has offered "three things worth knowing" from literature, music and general knowledge, no strings attached. Each week during the academic year, "Dr. T" delivers a curiosity booster shot for anyone who wants to partake. It's his gesture toward true liberal arts and an ever-expanding appreciation of the rich and diverse world around us. A delightful discussion...

What happens to intellectual freedom when libraries come under attack? What happens to curiosity? Librarian and director of the Department of Libraries in Arlington, VA, Diane Kresh joins me to explore the long and storied history of bad-ass librarians, book bans and book sanctuaries, the "curiosity paradox" of such bans, what makes libraries a center for community, and how curiosity is like an in...

This week’s conversation is about curiosity in translation and interpretation. Not just the literal, “how do you say this thing in that language?”– but how do we use our curiosity to communicate our ideas effectively, to investigate what’s really being said when we're quite literally not speaking one another's language. Luckily, there are people like Silvia Villacampa who have a few things to teac...

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", showcasin...

In the first of what I hope is a periodic series, Rabbi Nancy Flam joined me to explore curiosity in the Jewish tradition. It's a lovely discussion of everything from Moses' response to the burning bush and the Jewish value sakranut, to creative betrayal and the importance of not getting kicked out for our questions. Theme music by Sean Balick; “Patched In" by Studio J, via Blue Dot Sessions.

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 su...

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....

I think of choosing to be curious as acting on the idea that there is opportunity in the unknown -- a very optimistic enterprise. Kevin Kelly, a man of many passions and pursuits, is a self-described radical optimist. So, what's to be found at the intersection of curiosity and choosing to be optimistic? We explore how radical (and not utopian) this approach is; our moral obligation to create oppor...

Today we dive into a tantalizing “kinesthetic framework for curiosity” a way of understanding how we move between ideas and bits of information. Researcher Dale Zhou thinks of our curiosity as our search process in specific conditions. His research shows we’ve each got our own style — and that architecture can be mapped using knowledge networks. Dale Zhou: https://www.dalezhou.com Theme music by S...

Educator Patty Gómez used a question formulation technique to cultivate a collaborative culture of curiosity at work. Theme music by Sean Balick; “Entrance Shaft 11” by The Depot, via Blue Dot Sessions.

The World Peace Game is the brainchild of educator John Hunter. He describes it as “learning to live and work comfortably in the unknown.” It's hard to imagine a more curiosity-centric undertaking. A three-dimensional, hands-on political simulation, the World Peace Game explores the interconnectedness of the global community through economic, social, and environmental crises and the imminent threa...

Menka Sanghvi and I feel our ways around noticing as the first step to caring, taking responsibility for where and how we direct our attention, attention activism and artistry, not accepting default settings, the essence of parenting, and why looking at the sky first thing in the morning is such a good idea. Menka is a mindfulness and digital habits expert based in London. Her writing, speaking an...

XuanJun Gong is interested in media selection, computational modeling, communication networks, and information diffusion. He’s looked at how we choose media to manage our moods, how the sequence of our choices matters, and what draws us to that next book. All of this is one version or another of the old curiosity conundrum: explore or exploit? Do we seek novelty or leverage what we already know? W...

I have the good fortune of living in a place that values public art -- art that anyone can see at any time of night or day-- and that, with its very presence, invites just a little curiosity in a way that you might imagine would appeal to me. So I was delighted when Tomora Wright Swann, Public Art Projects Manager of Arlington County (Va.) reached out -- and propelled me to connect with contributi...