Curiosity Weekly

Humans eat just like every other living creature. Have you ever wondered what drives us to binge eat, or spend too much time at the grocery store? And how does the food we eat impact us emotionally? We talk to Dr. Rachel Herz, author of "Why You Eat What You Eat: The Science Behind Our Relationship with Food," about the surprising science of food in our daily lives.

Dr. Herz is a leading world expert on the psychological science of smell, and has been conducting research on olfaction, sensory perception, emotion, motivated behavior and cognition since 1990. She holds an adjunct appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and sometimes teaches in the Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences at Brown University.

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Additional resources discussed:

Language encapsulates every part of a culture, from its history of ideas to the way its speakers perceive reality itself. And according to linguistics expert Arika Okrent, author of "In the Land of Invented Languages," even "made-up" languages like Klingon and Esperanto serve an important purpose. She joins the Curiosity Podcast to discuss the field of linguistics and why we say what we say.

In addition to her first-level certification in Klingon, Arika Okrent's education includes an M.A. in Linguistics from Gallaudet, the world's only university for the deaf, and a joint PhD from the Department of Linguistics and the Department of Psychology's Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience Program at the University of Chicago.

Additional resources discussed:

• "In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language"
• Arika Okrent's website
• Lingua Francas, Pidgins, and Creoles
• Development and Use of the Klingon Language
• "J.R.R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography"
• "The Return of the Shadow: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part One (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 6)"
• "The Treason of Isengard: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 7)"
• "The War of the Ring: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Three (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 8)"
• The Klingon Language Institute's annual conference, qep'a'
• The Whorfian time warp: Representing duration through the language hourglass
• The Whites of Our Eyes (New York Times)
• Qapla'

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: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/klingon-and-esperanto-are-important-languages-too

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On this special episode of the Curiosity Podcast, we celebrate the end of our show's first year with a look back at some of the stories you never got to hear. You'll hear stories and lessons from past guests that we didn't get to share the first time around! Plus, hosts Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer let their hair down and give you an inside look at how the show is produced. It's a refreshing (and very entertaining) look back at 2017 and forward towards the future of the Curiosity Podcast!

Among other surprising facts and stories you'll hear, this episode features:

• Bryan Davis, founder and owner of Lost Spirits Distillery, telling a fascinating story about the international alcohol industry (with a hilarious history lesson on the side).
• Dr. Alan Hirsch of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation dropping some knowledge about how your sense of smell is linked to your memory and more.
• Handwriting analyst Dale Roberts swapping stories with Cody about the surprising world of hand modeling.
• Dr. Sam Sternberg, CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing expert, discussing classical music and finding some surprising things in common with both Cody and Ashley.
• Some behind-the-scenes fun that could change the way you think about the Curiosity Podcast.

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/learn-a-little-about-a-lot-from-curiosity-podcast-favorites

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

On this special episode of the Curiosity Podcast, we celebrate the end of our show's first year with a look back at some of the stories you never got to hear. You'll hear stories and lessons from past guests that we didn't get to share the first time around! Plus, hosts Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer let their hair down and give you an inside look at how the show is produced. It's a refreshing (and very entertaining) look back at 2017 and forward towards the future of the Curiosity Podcast!

Among other surprising facts and stories you'll hear, this episode features:

Plus, hear a quick lesson in communicating from our most popular episode to date. Click here to follow along with a written transcript of this episode (and share clips with your friends).

More from Curiosity:

More Curiosity Podcasts from this episode's guests:

Curiosity is pretty important. And in this episode of the Curiosity Podcast, Anna Starkey, creative director of top UK interactive science center We The Curious, explains why she believes curiosity will allow humanity to survive and thrive in the 21st century.

A curious person herself, Anna Starkey's areas of experience include live television production, comedy writing, classical music and live arts events, physics and neuroscience, and children's animation. Hear her discuss different types of curiosity, connections between curiosity, memory, and learning, and how to encourage a culture of curiosity.

Additional resources discussed:

• We The Curious
• Anna Starkey's website
• Follow Anna Starkey on Twitter @annastarkey
• Do schools kill creativity? | Sir Ken Robinson TED Talk
• Bring on the learning revolution! | Sir Ken Robinson TED Talk
• How to escape education's death valley | Sir Ken Robinson TED Talk

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-importance-of-curiosity

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

Curiosity is pretty important. And in this episode of the Curiosity Podcast, Anna Starkey, creative director of top UK interactive science center We The Curious, explains why she believes curiosity will allow humanity to survive and thrive in the 21st century.

A curious person herself, Anna Starkey's areas of experience include live television production, comedy writing, classical music and live arts events, physics and neuroscience, and children's animation. Hear her discuss different types of curiosity, connections between curiosity, memory, and learning, and how to encourage a culture of curiosity.

Plus, learn how Curiosity Podcast listeners can get $30 off your first week of HelloFresh using promo code CURIOSITY30.

Click here to follow along with a written transcript of this episode (and share clips with your friends).

More from Curiosity:

Additional resources discussed:

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!

Wordsmith Lynne Franklin, author of "Getting Others To Do What You Want," explains the psychology of persuasion on this episode of the Curiosity Podcast. As a consultant to executives and teams on persuasive communication, she studies how the brain affects our choices and behavior to help people solve their problems and get what they want.

Additional resources discussed:

• Lynne Franklin Wordsmith
• "Getting Others To Do What You Want"
• All You Need to Know About the "Learning Styles" Myth, in Two Minutes | Wired
• 10 Cognitive Biases That Distort Your Thinking | Verywell
• Calming Your Brain During Conflict | Harvard Business Review
• "Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone"

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-to-convince-others-to-do-what-you-want

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

On this episode, we explore what you can learn about a person based on handwriting alone. A handwriting analyst for more than 30 years, Dale Roberts of Write Insights analyzed the handwriting of the Curiosity staff and joined us on the podcast to explain his process.

Play along at home while you listen! Write the sentence "I'm truly happy to be here today at the party" in print and in cursive, then follow along during the episode to analyze your handwriting and decide for yourself how accurate it is. Among other things, co-author of "Handwriting Analysis 101" Dale Roberts discusses:

• Why handwriting analysis works and why people are skeptical of its effectiveness.
• The upper, middle, and lower "zones" of handwriting analysis and what they can tell you about a writer's personality.
• How to identify specific personality traits, including but not limited to: the strength of your relationship with your parents; how skeptical, risk-averse, ambitious, or motivated you are; whether a person is stubborn, outspoken, frugal, detail-oriented, or dislikes being in big crowds; and how men and women feel about the opposite sex.

Additional resources discussed:

• Write Insights
• "Handwriting Analysis 101"
• Paper Personality -- Barry Beyerstein
• All About Graphology | Skeptoid Podcast
• Do differences in sex hormones affect handwriting style? Evidence from digit ratio and sex role identity as determinants of the sex of handwriting
• Bad Handwriting: A Gender Thing?
• What Does a Certified Forensic Document Examiner Do?
• Which Presidents Were Left-Handed?

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/what-does-your-handwriting-say-about-your-personality

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