This week, the Curiosity Podcast welcomes the fascinating Bryan Davis to share his story. Davis owns and runs a distillery in Los Angeles, but it's not your typical distillery – he's found a way to change the chemical properties of rum to age it 20 years in just 6 days. And here's where things get interesting: he taught himself the science behind how to do it.

Today's conversation isn't so much about what Bryan does as it is about how he got to where he is today. Listen to this episode to learn about history, organic chemistry, and business skills all wrapped into one captivating tale. 

More reading from Curiosity:

Additional resources discussed:

Comedy comes in many forms, each with its own history and style. And while it may be subjective, there's still some surprising science that makes comedy what it is today. This week on the Curiosity Podcast, we talk to long-time performer and teacher Lilly Allison, an expert with a firm grasp on the history and psychology of comedy. In this episode, she explains and demonstrates comedic devices in front of a live audience at the 2017 Chicago Podcast Festival.

Lilly has been involved with comedy since she was 14 yrs old. She has studied, taught, and performed improv with several organizations, including 3 years of traveling with The Second City National Touring Company. In addition to teaching stand-up and improv comedy classes, she also hosts "A Lill Annoyance Stand Up Show" series at The Annoyance Theatre in Chicago.

Additional resources discussed:

• Lilly Allison's bio
• Benign Violation Theory
• Sumerians cracked world's oldest joke
• "Come On And Slam" Space Jam Subreddit

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.

Full episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/where-comedy-comes-from-live-from-chicago-podcast-festival

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Not all music is created equally. You may love the soundtrack of your favorite film, television show, or video game just as much as you enjoy Beethoven's 9th, but you may not know how deliberately the score from your favorite form of entertainment was composed. Elliot Callighan, independent composer and sound designer, joins the Curiosity Podcast to reveal how musicians in the 21st century write for media that didn't even exist when most of history's greatest composers were alive.

Elliot Calligan is a classically trained violinist and pianist, metal guitarist and electronic music enthusiast, a Soundpost Co-Chair for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Overture Council, and an adjunct faculty member in the Film & Game programs at DePaul University. His work has been featured in campaigns for United Airlines, The Chicago Advertising Federation, GMC, The Godrej Group, Chevrolet Motors, The Goodman Theatre as well as many independent films and games.

Additional resources discussed:

• Ramova Music, Elliot's web site
• Native Instruments Komplete 11 Software Suite
• Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2
• Newzoo Global Games Market Report
• MPAA Theatrical Market Statistics 2016 Report
• High Score: How Video Games are Offering New Opportunities to Composers, Producers and Orchestras
• National Endowment for the Arts Research Report #58, January 2015
• Musical chord preference: cultural or universal? Data from a native Amazonian society
• Your culture—not your biology—shapes your musical taste

To learn more about this topic and many others check out Curiosity.com, download our 5-star iOS or Android app and join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, and everywhere else podcasts are found so you don't miss an episode!

Full episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/21st-century-composing-scoring-music-for-film-and-video-games

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Not all music is created equally. You may love the soundtrack of your favorite film, television show, or video game just as much as you enjoy Beethoven's 9th, but you may not know how deliberately the score from your favorite form of entertainment was composed. Elliot Callighan, independent composer and sound designer, joins the Curiosity Podcast to reveal how musicians in the 21st century write for media that didn't even exist when most of history's greatest composers were alive.

Elliot Calligan is a classically trained violinist and pianist, metal guitarist and electronic music enthusiast, a Soundpost Co-Chair for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Overture Council, and an adjunct faculty member in the Film & Game programs at DePaul University. His work has been featured in campaigns for United Airlines, The Chicago Advertising Federation, GMC, The Godrej Group, Chevrolet Motors, The Goodman Theatre as well as many independent films and games. 

More reading from Curiosity:

Additional resources discussed:

Renowned skeptic Dr. Steven Novella, host of The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe and author of the NeuroLogica Blog, joins the Curiosity Podcast to explain how to tell the difference between reality and fantasy – and why it's sometimes hard to do so. He brings years of experience as a neuroscientist and researcher to take a look inside the minds of both skeptics and those who believe in pseudoscience and conspiracy theories.

Dr. Novella is an academic neurologist at Yale University School of Medicine. In addition to his work on The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast, he is the president and co-founder of the New England Skeptical Society. His NeuroLogica science blog covers news and issues in neuroscience, but also general science, scientific skepticism, philosophy of science, critical thinking, and the intersection of science with the media and society.

More from Steven Novella:

• The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe
• New England Skeptical Society
• NeuroLogica blog

Additional resources discussed:

• "The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion"
• The Skeptic Movement
• Why Is There a Skeptical Movement?
• Carl Sagan's Life and Legacy as Scientist, Teacher, and Skeptic
• Science Curiosity and Political Information Processing (Study)
• Bill Nye Had a Fixed View on GMOs. Then Something Happened.

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.

Full episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/inside-pseudoscience-and-conspiracy-theories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Renowned skeptic Dr. Steven Novella, host of The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe and author of the NeuroLogica Blog, joins the Curiosity Podcast to explain how to tell the difference between reality and fantasy – and why it's sometimes hard to do so. He brings years of experience as a neuroscientist and researcher to take a look inside the minds of both skeptics and those who believe in pseudoscience and conspiracy theories.

Dr. Novella is an academic neurologist at Yale University School of Medicine. In addition to his work on The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast, he is the president and co-founder of the New England Skeptical Society. His NeuroLogica science blog covers news and issues in neuroscience, but also general science, scientific skepticism, philosophy of science, critical thinking, and the intersection of science with the media and society.

More from Curiosity:

More from Steven Novella:

Additional resources discussed:

The institution of marriage in America appears to be struggling. Or is it? Dr. Eli Finkel's most recent research reveals that the best marriages today may in fact be the best marriages the world has ever known. A renowned relationship expert, Dr. Finkel joins the Curiosity Podcast to reveal the structure of successful marriages and explain the context needed to understand how to flourish in any serious long-term relationship.

Dr. Eli Finkel, author of The All-or-Nothing Marriage, is a professor at Northwestern University, where he has appointments in the psychology department and the Kellogg School of Management. He has published more than 130 scientific articles and is a regular contributor to the Op-Ed page of The New York Times.

More from Dr. Eli Finkel:

• Dr. Eli Finkel's website
• "The All-or-Nothing Marriage: How the Best Marriages Work"
• The Marriage Hack: Eli Finkel at TEDxUChicago
• "Self and Relationships: Connecting Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Processes"

Additional resources discussed:

• Money Survey: 78% Still Think Men Should Pay for the First Date
• Who Pays? NerdWallet Study Finds Gender Roles Remain Strong Among Couples
• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
• "The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap"

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.

Full episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/how-the-best-marriages-work

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The dating world has radically transformed over the last few decades. Combine advances in technology with radical changes in social roles and a rise in non-traditional relationships and sexual preferences, and you end up with a pretty confusing dating environment. Dr. Eli Finkel joins the Curiosity Podcast to discuss everything from one-night stands to Tinder to pickup artists – and everything in-between.

Dr. Finkel is a social psychology professor who studies interpersonal attraction, marriage, conflict resolution, and more. He is the director of Northwestern University's Relationships and Motivation Lab and has published more than 130 scientific articles – primarily on relationships – as well as being a regular contributor to the Op-Ed page of The New York Times.

More from Dr. Eli Finkel:

• Dr. Eli Finkel's website
• Is Romantic Desire Predictable? Machine Learning Applied to Initial Romantic Attraction (Study)
• Can technology bring us true love? Eli Finkel at TEDxNorthwesternU 2014
• "Self and Relationships: Connecting Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Processes"
• "The All-or-Nothing Marriage: How the Best Marriages Work"

Additional resources discussed:

• Sex at Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships
• Four Fallacies of Pop Evolutionary Psychology
• How evolutionary psychology gets evolution wrong
• Ashley Madison Hack: All Fun and Puritanical Games Until Somebody Gets Dead
• "More than Two: A Practical Guide to Ethical Polyamory"
• "Polyamory and Jealousy: A More Than Two Essentials Guide"
• "Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships"
• "The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists"

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.

Full episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/the-past-present-and-future-of-dating

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.