As mobile technologies have proliferated in the 21st century, our technological toolkits have expanded in kind. Specifically speaking, apps like Venmo have allowed for quick and easy transfers of money electronically. But as writers and researchers at Harvard Business School asked in an April 2019 article, “Is the Digital Age Making Us Petty?” This week, we tackle this question in a consideration of how money operates between friends. One interesting find of the research: It’s more preferable in relationships to reimburse with rounded numbers than with specific amounts.
Episode 244: Philosophies of Improv and Stand-up Comedy
As long as we’ve told stories and communicated with one another, humanity has employed comedy to great and widespread effect, to the delight of many audiences. But what about the perspectives and viewpoints that they offer? How do comedians approach ideas and thought in ways that the everyday person might not naturally? This week, we welcome Vally D to explore this relationship between improv and stand-up comedy. Are they distinct in their methodologies and philosophies?
Episode 243: The Indoor Species
According to a 2018 report by the EPA, the average American spends 90% of their time indoors. Belonging just as much to the natural, unkempt world as any other species, what does this statistic/idea say about our culture and its relationship to the indoors? What do indoor spaces lack or sacrifice when compared to the vast and unconquered outdoors? How do we idealize indoor spaces? And what might this sequestration say about our human future?
Further Reading:
EPA, “Indoor Air Quality”
Episode 242: A Pale Blue Launch II
What would you send into outer space to commemorate Earth and humanity, to a potential audience of alien life? This week, we continue an interview series to tackle that question. In each entry, we’ll interview someone about the five objects - with a stipulation - they would place in a space capsule to launch into the starry beyond. For our second episode, we spoke with Wade Roush about the five objects that he would launch - all of which had to contain wood.
