Choose to be Curious

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 Sean Balick for our theme and other music.

As the new school year gets started, I’ve been thinking a lot about the important teachers in my life, the ones who left an indelible impression. Those special educators helped me see and, as importantly, they made me feel seen. They gave me tools with which to engage the world around me, exciting me about it — and me in it. No surprise: Slovakian educator and author Veronika Darwell caught my eye when she popped up with When You Are Curious, a children’s picture book with delightful illustrations by Johnny Plasil. What I didn’t expect was that our conversation would take us to how teaching finds us, the magic of learning multiple languages, and the importance of representation and inclusive design. Veronika maintains a robust and joyful social media presence on Instagram at @BooksWithMeaning. Theme music by Sean Balick. “UpUpUp and Over” by The Balloonist, via Blue Dot Sessions.

"Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door" -- And what if you build a better shoe? OESH Shoes founder Casey Kerrigan got curious about everything wrong with women's shoes and decided to do something about it. You just never know where curiosity will take you: a data nerd unleashed! Theme music by Sean Balick. "Discovery Harbor" by Cloud Harbor at BlueDot Sessions. Join us next time for the latest in our Curiosity Studies Series: lecturer of anthropology Arjun Shankar takes on capitalist curiosity and student mental health. What happens when we stifle curiosity -- and what's that doing to our college campuses?

Like the proverbial box of chocolates, you never know what you'll get with this show. We celebrate 100 episodes of choosing to be curious with University of Pennsylvania post doc David Lydon-Staley, who researches curiosity in the every day ... including everything ever said on Choose to be Curious! Theme music by Sean Balick. "Silk and Silver” by Azalai via Blue Dot Sessions. Join us next time when Choose to be Curious sponsor, realtor Christine Hopkins takes a turn at the mic with reflections on curiosity and home buying.

Today’s conversation with Ben Rein, PhD is a Choose to be Curious trifecta: a neuroscientist, who studies empathy, has devoted himself to science communication, and willingly stands in the chaotic swirl where curiosity can go weirdly very awry. Ben is a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Robert Malenka's lab at Stanford University and a science communicator on social media. You might know him as @Dr.Brein on TikTok or @Doctor.Brein on Instagram. He’s the one summarizing research papers, teaching neuroscience basics, and debunking viral videos that promote scientific misinformation. Somehow, Ben has managed to combine curiosity, empathy and social media and have genuine good come of it. At some point in our conversation I declared his work a "special kind of alchemy." I stand by that. Find Ben Rein, PhD on line at: www.benrein.com and follow him on social media: Instagram: @doctor.brein TikTok: @dr.brein Theme music by Sean Balick; “Perspiration” by The Ballonist, via Blue Dot Sessions.