Teacher Micaela Pond felt called in yet another direction following the first election of Donald Trump.

She soon emerged as a formidable community organizer.

I asked her to reflect on curiosity in the work of fighting authoritarianism through community action.

WOFA: https://wofava.org

Theme music by Sean Balick; “Spunk Lit” by Love & Weasel, via Blue Dot Sessions.

Yvonne Marchese is the lovely and effervescent host of Late Bloomer Living a weekly podcast devoted to redefining what's possible in midlife and beyond. She's a self-described age agitator, play instigator and believer in do-overs on a journey of discovery around that aforementioned play -- which brought her, as it can, to curiosity.

Late Bloomer Living: https://www.latebloomerliving.com

Theme music by Sean Balick; “Are We Loose Yet” by BodyTonic via Blue Dot Sessions.

Ep.#314: "Curiosity is the thing that drives you to figure out who you really are," with jimmy Hatch by Lynn Borton

Kids are learning machines!

But how do they do it?

Cognitive scientist Elizabeth Bonawitz is helping us understand how children learn to learn and what role curiosity has to play in those processes. From dinner placemats to trading stickers for science facts, she finds creative ways to get at the heart of this most human of mechanisms.

Computational Cognitive Development Lab: https://ccdlab.hsites.harvard.edu

Theme music by Sean Balick. “Cradle Rock" by Nursery, via Blue Dot Sessions.

How does an emergency department doctor manage the chaotic swirl of unknowns that show up at their door every day? What are they to make of the needs that emerge from the complex socioeconomic soup in which we all swim?

Is curiosity a tool of choice? And are there lessons the rest of us might learn from an ER doc’s hard-won experience? 

Milwaukee ER doctor Chris Ford replies with a resounding "Yes!"

Check out Dr. Chris Ford's podcast, Pulse Check Wisconsin: https://pulsecheckwi.com

Theme music by Sean Balick. ”Cases to Rest” by Bodytonic, via Blue Dot Sessions.

...there was just too much goodness here, so I made the hard choice to move the analogies and lovely final reflections to an added clip.

Theme music by Sean Balick; "Town Market" by Onesuch Village, via Blue Dot Sessions.

Malka Ranjana Kopell and Palma Joy Strand are co-founders of Civity, a word they created to describe a culture of deliberately engaging in relationships of respect and empathy with others who are different. They offer tools and trainings to help us all do just that. No surprise, curiosity plays an important part, but not just any curiosity...

Civity: https://www.civity.org

Theme music by Sean Balick; "Town Market" by Onesuch Village, via Blue Dot Sessions.

Sommelier and wine consultant Alicia Towns Franken embodies a tantalizing combination: wine --as another in my periodic series on curiosity and our senses--and an actual boots-on-the-ground effort to encourage and enable curiosity where barriers have long existed.

Wine Unify: https://www.wineunify.org

Theme music by Sean Balick; “Down by the Bank” by Barstool, via Blue Dot Sessions.

Photo Credit: Cary Wilton

Curiosity gets a lot of credit for success.

For me, that raises an interesting inverse question: what about curiosity and failure?

Who better to invite into that conversation than Samuel West, creator of Museum of Failure, a collection of failed products and services from around the world.

Museum of Failure: https://museumoffailure.com

Theme music by Sean Balick. “The Rampart” by Castle Danger, via Blue Dot Sessions.

Research tells us that by leaning into externally-focused curiosity – “what do I notice that the world needs?” – and internally-focused curiosity – “How might I be able to contribute?” – we can find meaning and a sense of purpose in our lives.

We can find what lights us up.

Estee Levine did just that. She got curious about where her passions might fill some of the gaps in her community and she set out to do something with that information. She created CheapNFreeDC, an Instagram account that features destinations and activities that are (you guessed it!) cheap and free in and around Washington, DC. It's a celebration of people, creativity and community.

Follow Estee Levine on Instagram @ CheapNFreeDC.

Photo's featured artist is Reggie “Art” Gillumo, on Instagram @ artgillumo

Theme music by Sean Balick. "UpUpUp and Over” by The Balloonist, via Blue Dot Sessions.

Estee is shown in front of a mural by Reggie "Art" Gillumo: https://www.artgillumo.com