The big questions of astrophysicist Mario Livio's new book Is Earth Exceptional? The Quest for Cosmic Life are as close as we get to an ultimate curiosity -- questions about the origin of life, the universe, and where and how those two intersect.

Dr. Livio worked with the Hubble Space Telescope and is a bestselling author of seven books. Together with Jack Szostak, a biochemist and Nobel laureate, he's written a kind of cosmic “what-dunnit” that shifts between the many and various disciplines that may someday provide the answers they seek about life's origins.

Learn more about Mario Livio: https://www.mario-livio.com

Theme music by Sean Balick; “Great Great Lengths" by The Balloonist, via Blue Dot Sessions.

In 2007-2008, Chris Kolenda led an 800-paratrooper task force in eastern Afghanistan. While there, he motivated a large insurgent group to switch sides, the only example of such success in the 20-year history of the war.

We can learn a lot from his stories.

Find Chris Kolenda here: https://chriskolenda.com

Theme music by Sean Balick; “Turning to You" by Landsmen Duet, via Blue Dot Sessions.

Once you know it, you see it everywhere. Ever since Gregg Potter put collaboration on my curiosity radar, I'm seeing it in everything.

Gregg is a collaboration coach and founder and executive director of the International Institute on Collaboration. He knows a thing or two about how people work together toward shared objectives -- whether they think of it that way or not.

Five skills work together as building blocks of collaboration --and curiosity just keeps coming up.

Check out the International Institute on Collaboration: https://internationalinstituteoncollaboration.com

Theme music by Sean Balick; “Spins and Never Falls” by Tiny Tiny Trio, via Blue Dot Sessions.

Curiosity, biodiversity, rewilding -- these are the exciting places Carolin Sommer-Trembo Ph.D. takes us today.

Carolin is an evolutionary biologist. Her big goal is to focus attention on animal behavior as it effects evolution and biodiversity. To get there, she has studied curiosity in cichlid fish in Africa's Lake Tanganyika, combining some good old-fashioned field work with exciting new investigative tools, including AI and genetic scissors.

I came to the conversation interested in the curiosity angle, but Carolin's impassioned case for the importance of this basic research to eventually rebuilding vanishing biodiversity -- and the aforementioned "rewilding" -- puts the discussion on another level entirely.

Curiosity doesn't only promote biodiversity, it might just save us all.

Find Carolin Sommer-Trembo here: http://www.salzburgerlab.org/team/carolin_sommer-trembo/

Theme music by Sean Balick; “Lakeside Path” by Duck Lake, via Blue Dot Sessions.

Photo Credit: Eleni Kougionis and the University of Basel.

I could listen to peace-builder and story-teller Kiran Singh Sirah all day.

Not because he's a gifted and generous story-teller -- he most certainly is -- but because his world view is so encompassing, so uplifting, so empowering.

So beautiful.

Our conversation about curiosity, stories and belonging gets to the heart of who we are as humans, and what we can be as a society.

Pull up a comfy chair, pour a cozy cuppa, and sit with me.

Better still: bring a friend.

Kiran Singh Sirah is an award-winning storytelling industry leader, folklorist, arts & culture strategist, creative thought leader, and past president of the International Storytelling Center. Learn more here: https://www.kiransinghsirah.net/

Theme music by Sean Balick; “Home, Home at Last" by Warmbody, via Blue Dot Sessions.

We all want to understand the world around us, but sometimes our curiosity can lead us down some strange paths.

Dr. Joe Stubbersfield is a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Winchester in the UK. He's curious about how our various stories and narratives might shape -- and are shaped by -- our curiosity.

Joe has researched how morbid curiosity can lead people to conspiracy theories –  an intersection that feels, frankly, important to understand in this day and age.

More about Joe Stubbersfield's work: https://www.winchester.ac.uk/about-us/leadership-and-governance/staff-directory/staff-profiles/stubbersfield.php

Theme music by Sean Balick; “Rough Hewn" by Castle Danger, via Blue Dot Sessions.

I'm intrigued by the concept of social enterprises -- businesses with a sense of purpose larger than themselves.

Timothy D. Craggette is founder and Chief Education Officer of NAASBI, The National Association for the Advancement of Small Business Innovation.  He trains business owners and supports small business innovation through the association and his radio show/podcast The Swift Kick Show. Timothy is a man with a purpose.

I wanted to know how curiosity shows up in his line of work.

Turns out, for this businessman, it's all about the people.

Learn more about Timothy and NASSBI at https://www.naasbi.org

Theme music by Sean Balick; “Partly Sage” by Bodytonic, via Blue Dot Sessions.

Anne-Laure Le Cunff is a Choose to Be Curious trifecta: researcher, theoretician -- and practitioner. A neuroscientist and deep thinker about the personal and social implications of our curiosity, she conducts tiny experiments to focus closely on how we use our time and energy to best effect.

Anne-Laure is the founder of Ness Labs, a collective platform for curious people, where “ambitious knowledge workers come together to achieve their goals without sacrificing their mental health.”

Ness Labs offers content, coaching, courses and--perhaps most importantly--a community for learning in public together.

I am excited to see how her vibrant and collective study-and-practice culture shapes how we think about curiosity in the years ahead.

More about Anne-Laure Le Cunff: https://anne-laure.net

Theme music by Sean Balick; “Discovery Harbor” by Cloud Harbor, via Blue Dot Sessions.

What do people who know and appreciate a place deeply see that I might not?

The Mount Vernon Trail winds its way along the river, a combination national park and major commuter artery. It's a place I find myself frequently and I wondered: what am I not seeing in this place that is so familiar?

The Trail is there because the Potomac River is there, an always-scenic but often-silent companion. What might I be missing?

This is the second in a periodic series of shows in which we "walk a mile" in someone else's shoes, seeing the world through others' eyes.

Guests:

Dean Naujoks, Potomac Riverkeeper: https://www.potomacriverkeepernetwork.org/our-history/

Amy Zang, Washington Sailing Marina: https://boatingindc.com/washington-sailing-marina/

Ryan Miller, meteorologist & science educator: https://www.instagram.com/miller_weather/

Music by Bayou Birds, via Blue Dot Sessions.

Annabelle Tometich -- writer, editor, former food critic and now author -- joins me to explore the tricky, high-traffic intersection of identity and curiosity.

Who gets to decide identity? How do we determine our own, let alone someone else's, identity? How might we allow ourselves and others a little grace to figure these things out?

Find Annabelle Tometich at https://annabelletometich.com

Theme music by Sean Balick; “Lemon & Melon” by Onesuch Village, via Blue Dot Sessions.