Choose to be Curious

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...

I believe journalist, photographer and all-around producer Andy Isaacson has found ways to lean into his own curiosity, creating vehicles for the rest us to come along for the ride – in one case, literally. For him a good day sparks his curiosity -- a thought that came to him for the first time in this conversation. (Hurrah for asking about what makes for a good days!) We talk about why it's so im...

I see clear curiosity overtones in the ways we think about wisdom -- the meta-cognition processes of wisdom -- including intellectual humility, openness to others’ ideas and insights, even the search for constructive conflict resolution. So I wondered: is anyone thinking about wisdom through a curiosity lens? Igor Grossmann, Ph. D. leads the Wisdom and Culture Lab at the University of Waterloo, in...

Deep canvassing is built on listening, building rapport, staying in conversation -- sharing stories. I don't know when I first became aware of deep canvassing as an organizing tool, but I was immediately taken with it as a curiosity enterprise. Sulma Arias, executive director of People's Action and People's Action Institute, joins me to explore just what it is about this model that proves so trans...

A family trip to the Pacific Northwest and the Salish Sea inspired my own curiosity about orca whales -- and that led, inevitably, to my curiosity about the orcas' own curiosity. Lucky for me, I found my way to Sara Shimazu & Jeff Friedman, orca fans, whale watch captains, and co-hosts of After the Breach Podcast. Theme music by Sean Balick; "Discovery Harbor" by Cloud Harbor, via Blue Dot Session...

According to the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia and its sister sites, people spent an estimated 2.9 billion hours reading English Wikipedia in 2024. I wondered: What does it take to be a trustworthy repository for all that curiosity? Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight has been a Wikipedia editor since 2007, and an administrator since 2009. With 100,000+ edits to her credit, s...

Deanne Fitzpatrick is a virtuous rug hooker. Her art looks like the love child of wool and Vincent Van Gogh. She looks for--and sees--fresh and beautiful things in the world around her, and she supports others in doing the same.  Deanne encourages the rest of us to lean into creating--beauty, community, and time for ourselves. And she has thoughts about how curiosity can help. Find Deanne Fitzpatr...

Psychologist Kimberley Wilson says we habitually consume a diet that is depriving our brains of nutrients -- and that has all sorts of consequences for our health and well-being. She focuses on "psychology, mental health, food, and everything in between" and I wanted to know how curiosity might fit into that mix. Find Kimberley Wilson: https://www.kimberleywilson.co Theme music by Sean Balick; “Mi...

An experienced multi-lingual education specialist and organization leader, Loretta Goodwin is passionate about creating innovative, “anywhere/anytime” learning environments for young people, especially underserved youth.  She's also very curious about what AI offers her field -- and what it implies for all of us. So she undertook a 100-day learning journey. Lucky for us, she's got wonderful insigh...

If you came across something that promises to offer students "evidence-driven, rigorously tested ideas that consider alternative perspectives" wouldn't you be interested? Research shows that high school policy debate teaches students how to analyze, explore and understand the world around them, while it hones additional skills like research, critical thinking, and communication. Sounds like a curi...

Six years ago I sat down with Jacqueline Gottlieb, Ph. D., Professor of Neuroscience and Principal Investigator at Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute, the very first neuroscientist I’d ever interviewed.  It was a delightful and far-ranging conversation. At some point she made a bold and quite tantalizing statement. “Curiosity," she said, "is going to take neuroscience to the next frontier.”...

How do you like to learn? We all do it differently. Argha Manna uses comics. Argha is a cancer researcher turned comics artist. He specializes in documenting the history of science and explores how knowledge is generated. Find Argha Manna here: https://drawinghistoryofscience.wordpress.com Theme music by Sean Balick; “Purple Light", Marble Run via Blue Dot Sessions.

How does choosing to be curious about the people and places around us help us discover, elevate and amplify history that's perhaps less well-known? In this third episode of the "Mile in Their Shoes" series, we use the Mount Vernon Trail as a vehicle for tracing our shared history, with the help of a local museum, a local government, and an independent journalist. Photo: "On the Point – ‘Buddies,’...

Jason Logan is an artist and ink maker. But he doesn’t just make ink. He concocts magical potions from found ingredients. He forages, often in urban environments, everything from the berries you might expect, to scrap metal, cigarette butts and dry wall. It’s as if he looks at the world with one big “What if…?” Check out Jason Logan at: http://www.jasonslogan.com and https://torontoinkcompany.com...