Show summary

This week we listen to Jasmin share her knowledge about foraging for wild edibles. We talk about our experiences foraging berries, nuts and various plants in Germany and Nova Scotia. We also explain how we make teas, juices and salads from wild berries and herbs.

Show notes

1:00 - Picking elderberries and making homemade elderberry juice

3:05 - Elderberry juice is an important ingredient for making German Christmas wine (Glühwein)

3:55 - Make your own camomile tea by picking it fresh in your neighbourhood

5:00 - We noticed that the locals in Munich love to forage for wild onions

6:48 - “Bang peas”?

7:22 - Dandelions

8:35 - Fiddleheads

9:02 - Making tea and salads from the prickly stinging nettle

10:29 - Walnuts do not look like walnuts when they’re growing on a tree

11:53 - Hazelnuts

12:53 - Beware of mushrooms (Do not eat wild mushrooms if you don’t know what is safe to eat)

15:12 - Don’t mistake elderberries for “bird berries”

15:38 - Raspberries and blackberries tend to grow in the same areas

16:41 - Wild “German” plums are generally smaller than the imported variety

19:16 - Beechnuts

19:50- Castanea sativa (Sweet chestnut)

21:35 - Les Stroud on his Survivorman show, demonstrated how to eat cattail roots and wild cucumber

23:54 - Foraging is a fun activity for all ages

24:43 - Edible flowers

25:34 - Acorns

26:38 - I caught a beaver stealing corn from a farmer’s field in Munich

29:03 - Suburban farming in Munich

30:41 - Truffles

Show summary

On this week’s show, listen to us reminisce about our eyebrow-raising experiences with servers and cashiers in Germany, Austria and Canada. We compare two different service cultures and two different perspectives to see which one stands supreme. Prepare yourself for a mildly heated discussion!

Show notes

0:50 - “It’s strange how the level of expectation for good quality service is pretty low”

1:34 - During one of my university lectures, our professor asked for a show of hands to see if we agreed or disagreed with American-style customer service

3:36 - Canadian restaurant servers vs. German servers

5:09 - The art of German restaurant billing: it may take multiple waves and shouts to get your server to bring you the bill so you can pay and leave

6:08 - In Canada, good tipping is expected, but in Germany it’s not obligatory

8:36 - Dare to return your food to the kitchen in Germany

10:00 - Germany’s cash culture vs. Canada’s card culture

12:18 - Watch out for those German ATM fees; they’ll sting you if you’re from another bank

12:46 - Amaze German cashiers by using your card’s “tap” feature to pay

13:47 - Two meals, one plate

14:38 - Plate-tossing Viennese servers

17:06 - The automated ordering system at McDonald’s in Germany is much more efficient compared to the same system in Canada

19:00 - The definition of an oxymoron: Being ignored at a car dealership

22:19 - The bubbly charm of Canadian servers

24:24 - Are customer service telephone hotlines universally bad?

26:13 - Third time’s the charm when cancelling tenant insurance in Vienna

27:08 - Germans love their paperwork

29:14 - Parking spots for dogs

30:37 - Off topic... Why are the dogs in Munich so well-behaved?

Show summary

This week on the Gen Y Chronicles podcast, Jasmin and I tackle some complex topics that affect Gen Y. Listen to our personal experiences and stories about the age perception gap between North America and Europe, and our opinions about the evolution of emotional maturity in Millennials.

Show notes

0:40 - How do you define emotional maturity?

1:22 - Jordan Peterson on Theo Von’s This Past Weekend Show #110 discusses why family gets more important as he gets older (YouTube video)

2:25 - Do Millennials value family less and less while career is becoming overvalued?

6:15 - Wisdom from the Game Grumps: You care less about what people think of you as you get older (YouTube video and research article on how age affects perception of emotions)

7:59 - Jerry Seinfeld’s funny observation about older people/fathers: “I can make my own people” (YouTube video)

9:21 - Growing out of your shell of shyness

9:50 - How age is perceived differently in Canada versus Germany

16:39 - At age 18 you are legally an adult, but your brain is still developing until the mid twenties (SciShow Psych video on YouTube)

17:45 - Has the infantilization of youth in North America created an age perception gap between North America and Europe?

20:59 - The “tween” phenomenon. Clarification: There seems to be multiple definitions of the word “tween”. My interpretation is based on the word’s origin from J.R.R Tolkien’s book, The Hobbit (Words you never knew came from literature). A “tween” is someone between the ages of 20 and 33.

22:56 - How different economic and societal factors affect Gen Y (See list of references from the Millennials at Work research article)

27:24 - If you have any ideas for next week’s podcast, please let us know in the comments below or via our Contact page

Show summary

Let’s talk about tea... the drink of choice for our generation. This week, we discuss the growing demand for tea among Millennials, coffee substitutes, making tea from local plants and the health benefits of drinking various teas. We also share our opinions on some of the finer green and black teas, and we outline the different perspectives on tea in Canada and Germany.

Show notes

0:26 - Tea is more and more popular among our generation than previous generations (YouGov article)

2:34 - Tea shops like DAVIDsTEA in Canada, are catering to the growing demand for more sophisticated tea flavours and varieties

3:06 - Some teas are used as a substitute for coffee (Dandelion coffee and Rooibos tea)

4:00 - Tea perception in Canada vs. Germany (Black vs. herbal)

5:34 - Green, black and white teas all come from the same plant species (Wikipedia article about camellia sinensis and Britannica article about tea production)

6:27 - First flush vs. second flush teas (Article from Tea101)

6:45 - High quality green tea is hard to find in Western grocery stores

8:01 - $28,000 for 20 grams of Da Hong Pao tea (BBC article about Da Hong Pao tea)

8:31 - The best green tea we ever had was Longjing tea or Dragon Well tea... “For a tea drinker, it was a heavenly experience” (Wikipedia article about Longjing tea)

10:00 - Darjeeling is a town/region in India known for its famous tea

10:35 - Tea is for everyone; it’s generally cheap and you can even make your own with local plants (camomile and stinging nettle)

13:35 - Beechnut (Buchecker) is another coffee substitute (The Book of Edible Nuts, page 272)

15:08 - The health benefits of tea

15:38 - Camomile is excellent for treating sore throats

16:25 - Green tea is good for maintaining your oral health (eliminating bad breath and reducing plaque) (Colgate article about green tea being good for your teeth)

16:49 - Ginger tea is good for reducing nausea symptoms in some people who have sea sickness or morning sickness (MythBusters results)

17:40 - Tea is almost treated like a pharmaceutical product in Germany

19:18 - The famous East Frisian tea (Ostfriesentee) in Germany

19:37 - Our favourite teas

20:10 - We attended a Japanese tea ceremony in Hamburg’s Planten un Blomen park (Watch a traditional Japanese tea ceremony)

20:42 - La maison d'à côTHÉ in Gaspé, Quebec, Canada, offered an excellent forest tea containing sprigs of pine, spruce and fir

21:53 - The East Frisian tea ceremony (Watch how it’s done)

22:46 - Tea flowers (Watch a tea flower blossom)

25:27 - Our friend conducted a Chinese tea ceremony for us (Watch an example of a Chinese tea ceremony here)

Show summary

On this week’s episode we sink our teeth into a trending food topic: the meatless burger that bleeds, AKA “The Impossible Burger”. We also review research about the relatively unknown dangers of eating unfermented soy. To finish, we discuss how the ever-increasing global demand for meat may eventually force us to invent a substitute for meat that is equally nutritious and delicious.

Show notes

0:20 - Adam Savage introduced me to the Impossible Burger (YouTube video)

0:40 - What’s an Impossible Burger? (Impossible Foods home page)

1:20 - “Faux” (Dictionary definition)

1:34 - Bill Gates is investing in the Impossible Burger (GeekWire news article)

1:57 - Where can you get the Impossible Burger? In 2018, White Castle started to sell the Impossible Burger in the United States (The New Yorker article)

2:13 - What’s the Impossible Burger’s secret ingredient? What is Heme? (Wikipedia article)

3:19 - The Impossible Burger’s list of ingredients (Impossible Burger FAQ)

3:34 - Does the Impossible Burger actually taste and feel like beef? (The Spoon review)

4:43 - The potential dangers of consuming unfermented soy (Research article)

7:24 - In some people, eating unfermented soy can cause a hormonal imbalance (Research article)

7:48 - Consumption of unfermented soy products can lead to lower sperm concentration in men (Research article)

7:51 - Soy milk and soy beverages... how are they made? (YouTube video)

9:17 - Tempeh is a traditional Indonesian fermented soy product (Wikipedia article)

9:43 - Avoid soy-based baby formulas (Health Line article)

11:04 - The evolution of humans and their food

12:25 - The growing middle class and their growing appetite for meat (Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada blog article)

14:29 - From ape-like creatures to humans, the human digestive system and brain size have radically changed over the past millions of years (The Harvard Gazette article)

16:13 - The benefits of eating bone marrow and organ meats (ScienceDaily article)

18:37 - The “super size me” effect (Wikipedia article)

20:00 - Mass production vs. local production of meat

21:51 - The changing diets of cattle, chickens and pigs: grass vs. grain/soy/corn (Health line article)

22:43 - The “meat problem”

23:39 - The hypothetical Willy Wonka of hamburgers

26:29 - Feel free to write us in the comments section below or on our Contact page about a topic you’d like to hear us discuss in an upcoming episode

Show summary

This week we focus on the benefits of marriage, the ever-changing perspective of marriage in Western society and the unfortunate victim mentality of Millennials. We’ve collected a tonne of facts that will make you second-guess your preconceptions about marriage. We also share our opinions about why we should actually be excited about Generation Y’s prospects.

Show notes

1:03 - These days people are much older when they first marry (Article on the Time magazine)

1:18 - In Germany, people wait longer to get married compared to people in Canada (List of countries by age at first marriage on Wikipedia)

1:54 - In today’s Western culture, marriage has become devalued to the point of becoming taboo

2:33 - People see marriage as a first step towards divorce (Divorce statistics by country on Wikipedia)

3:07 - The likelihood of divorce increases if your parents got divorced (Journal article)

4:22 - In Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador has the lowest rate of divorce; whereas, Quebec has the highest rate (News article from the CBC)

5:15 - Marriage isn’t just for the couple; it’s for the children and other immediate family members, and community they live in (Research article)

7:12 - “Marriage is like social glue”

7:50 - Marriages versus cohabiting relationships (Journal article about comparison, research article about cohabitation’s role in declining marriage rates)

9:18 - Marriage is a human universal (Outlined in the book: Human Universals) (YouTube video of Bret Weinstein talking about marriage as an evolutionary phenomenon)

15:30 - People who are married, or were married, live longer (Research article)

16:25 - “...the benefits of marriage are comparable to or greater than anticancer treatment with chemotherapy” (Research article)

19:00 - Why does research show that married couples are healthier than non-married individuals? Two theories: marriage protection and marriage selection (Research article)

20:10 - Being married can reduced your number of days of inactivity due to poor health (Research article)

20:31 - In the United States, wealthier and more educated people are getting married at higher rates compared to low-income and less-educated people (News article from CBS)

21:01 - The cost of a typical American wedding in 2016 was $35,329 (Article on Fortune)

23:10 - The commitment of marriage forces you to be honest with your partner (YouTube video of Jordan Peterson explaining the real reason for marriage)

25:51 - Children do better in communities where marriages and families are intact (Report on poverty and inequality)

27:54 - Generation Squeeze: Some Millennials view themselves as victims being oppressed by the Baby Boomers

29:32 - There are some reports and surveys that show Millennials have higher unemployment rates, more contract work and have a late start in career-building (News article from the Globe and Mail)

30:44 - Generation Y needs to abandon its victim mentality and start leveraging something previous generations didn’t have: the Internet, social media, mobile technology and artificial intelligence

32:39 - Our generation is the first generation to have real access to the Internet... and real power to reach millions of people. We can become a generation of digital entrepreneurs who have no geographical limitations

35:17 - “Technology is going to be the biggest factor of our success as Millennials”

38:32 - You can now subscribe via our Subscribe page to get our podcast episodes sent directly to your favourite app

Show summary

Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there! On this week’s episode, we review a list of seven facts based on research about how fathers can affect a child’s development. We talk about the surprising importance of roughhousing, how fathers encourage courageous exploration and many other relatively unknown facts that will change the way you think about fathers.

Show notes

2:28 - Analyzing statistics with a critical eye and remembering that studies don’t always use the same research methodologies

3:54 - A good rule of thumb for reliable research: if at least three studies show similar results using similar research methodologies, then the results are probably reliable

4:41 - Fathers encourage courageous exploration; they push you to your limits and help you achieve your potential (Research article)

6:09 - Having a father in your house decreases the chances of having shorter telomeres (Research article)

9:28 - Clarifying the terms: non-resident fathers, resident fathers and fatherlessness

11:24 - Rough-and-tumble play with fathers has many benefits such as: children being able to delay gratification (the marshmallow test), they have better spatial awareness in social situations, they don’t confuse assertiveness with aggression and they learn their physical limits, and can better read others’ emotional cues (Research article) (YouTube video - The absolute necessity of fathers: Warren Farrell/JB Peterson)

15:25 - Discipline and punishment are two completely different things

20:34 - Are hands-off policies in schools desocializing children? (News article about a hands-off policy in a Canadian school)

22:10 - Boys who don’t have fathers tend to join gangs; gangs are a poor substitute for a father’s masculinity (Research article)

23:43 - Children who are emotionally close to their fathers are 80% less likely to spend time in jail during their lives (White paper on the importance of fathers)

24:36 - Children with actively involved fathers have better academic performance and lower risk of dropping out of school (NCES publication)

26:20 - Working fathers earn 22% more than non-father workers, and the more children a father has the more they earn (Trades Union Congress report)

29:09 - The postmodernist view of families

Show summary

On today’s show we talk about two cities that make the top-five list on both Mercer’s and Monocle’s “the most livable cities” rankings: Munich and Vienna. Having lived in both cities, we compare our own anecdotal evidence with these two livability rankings. We also chat about how some cities in North America are starting to plan their cities for people instead of cars. To finish, we discuss how happiness is not a goal, but rather a side effect.

Show notes

0:28 - The most livable cities in the world (Wikipedia article)

1:48 - Many of the most livable cities are in Canada and Germany

3:15 - The ranting U-Bahn operators in Munich

4:48 - Strangers in Munich are friendlier than strangers in Vienna

5:10 - Comparing Munich’s infrastructure to Vienna’s infrastructure

7:15 - Munich has hundreds of bicycles hanging upside-down in trees (The Local news article)

7:54 - Why are there so few American cities in "the most livable cities" rankings?

9:29 - The affordability of accommodations doesn’t seem to be accounted for in "the most livable cities" rankings

11:00 - Some of the Viennese apartments we looked at appeared to have never been renovated since Mozart’s time

12:17 - Fun fact: Bavaria has over 5000 castles (List of the major castles in Bavaria)

13:12 - The first step to making a city a better place to live in: change the attitude to change the living standards

15:48 - Old school city planners designed most North American cities for cars

17:07 - Halifax, Nova Scotia used to have a railway network of street cars, but they were replaced by cheaper electric and later diesel buses (Article by the Halifax Transit)

18:46 - Organic city design vs. planned city design

21:00 - In Canada, not being a car owner impacts your social standing with your friends, family and co-workers

24:12 - North American cities like Halifax are starting to change the way they plan cities #CitiesForPeople

24:35 - Some cities are starting to convert their car-only streets to pedestrian streets (See the before-and-after photos)

25:52 - Dodging cars while walking to work in Canada was commonplace (cars turning right on a red light was often a problem)

27:40 - Was the #CitiesForPeople concept always a thing in Germany?

28:34 - A free universal transport system might be an option for some cities (New article)

31:02 - Only investing in a city’s outer-core and suburbs is a losing strategy for the city’s tax payers

33:45 - Happiness is not a goal; it’s a side effect (Podcast on YouTube)

37:36 - Preparing for Father’s Day: appreciating the importance of fathers and grandfathers in society

40:09 - Roughhousing is beneficial for a child’s physical and psychological development (Research article about rough-and-tumble play)

Show summary

Do you know how your personality compares to 10 000 others? This week we try to demystify ourselves by taking a scientifically valid personality test. The results were somewhat surprising... we also discuss some facts worth knowing about intelligence and how your IQ is determined. To top it off, we talk about our childhood experiences in an obsolete education system.

Show notes

0:35 - understandmyself.com (A scientifically valid personality test that compares the five big personality traits against +10 000 people who’ve also taken the test)

2:32 - Learn more about the understandmyself.com personality test and its practical applications (YouTube link)

5:40 - Jordan Peterson’s 2017 lecture on Biology & Traits: Openness/Intelligence/Creativity I (YouTube link)

5:45 - Fluid IQ and crystallized IQ (Wikipedia article)

7:03 - Fluid IQ decreases with age, but you can slow down this process with exercise (Research article)

8:05 - Brisk walking is a good kind of exercise for all ages (Research post by Harvard Medical School)

9:00 - “We evolved to out-walk our prey” (Wikipedia article about persistence hunting)

11:14 - “Does diet affect intelligence”? (Research article)

11:40 - Breastfeeding boosts fluid IQ (Research article)

12:44 - “If you have a big head, it might be a good thing”

12:58 - The controversy surrounding IQ

13:52 - China is trying to find the Holy Grail of intelligence

15:19 - The United States military has been testing the IQ of their recruits for decades

16:54 - “I’m sure there are a few other things about childhood development that could affect your fluid IQ” (Spanking or other forms of corporal punishment can lower a child’s IQ)

19:31 - How do you define intelligence, and are there different types of intelligence?

23:13 - “You may have a great brain that can process things really quickly, but if something is taught to you in a really poor way, then it may take you a very long time to learn that properly”

23:39 - “Good teachers are underrated”

27:27 - Learning mathematics in university was much easier than learning it in grade school

28:38 - “That’s a big critique of the modern Western education system” (Article about the downfall of the Western education system)

33:00 - “I don’t understand why financial knowledge is not taught from early on”

34:03 - What are your alternatives to the current education system? (Montessori education, Waldorf education, etc.)

37:29 - School-aged children aren’t getting enough free play and this is a serious public health issue (Research article)

42:27 - Is homeschooling or home education an option worth looking at?

Show summary

Warning: listening to this week’s podcast episode may change the way you think about food and your genes. Did you know what you eat today can affect your great-grandchildren’s genes? Can fasting actually make you live longer? Did you know that the recommended limits on alcohol consumption significantly differ from country to country? Is eating eight servings of grain-based foods per day still a relevant recommendation?

Show notes

0:18 - Learning about epigentics on SciShow in 2012 (YouTube link)

0:48 - What does epigenetics mean? (Wikipedia article)

2:32 - How starvation affects epigentics and future generations

3:24 - Study on roundworms passing on their epigenetic information to their offspring (Research article link)

5:27 - Reduced caloric intake in rodents has shown to increase overall lifespan (Research article link)

5:50 - Fasting in cultural and religious traditions

6:58 - How dietary practices outlined in the Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible/Torah) helped ancient people live safer lives

8:25 - “A 24-hour fast restructured the gut microbiome in diabetic mice which beneficially impacted the shape and number of colon cells”... (Dr. Rhonda Patrick on Twitter)

10:51 - “Everything I do in my life, will affect my future children and their children”.

12:40 - Did you know that Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory was filmed in Munich?

15:48 - The processed food revolution in the 1950s and 60s (Check out some actual 1950s recipes being prepared)

17:11 - Is it too expensive to buy fresh whole foods?

19:56 - Tips on how to eat healthy in Canada when you’re living on a tight budget

21:36 - Getting some good deals on local fruits and vegetables at the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market (Home page)

22:42 - The national guidelines for alcohol consumption from country to country differ drastically (Research article) (UK’s guidelines vs. Germany’s guidelines vs. Canada’s guidelines)

24:20 - Beer used to be consumed as a substitute for water (Wikipedia article)

25:10 - Learn more about the latest research on the risks of alcohol consumption (BBC documentary - The Truth About Alcohol)

26:46 - The confusing and outdated Canada’s Food Guide (Link to the Guide)

29:31 - Eggs are good for you (yes, even the yolk) (Harvard Health Letter)

31:13 - “Europeans in general, don’t stay away from the fatty stuff”.

31:41 - Why do Canadians usually tend to drink milk that only has one to two percent fat content?

34:29 - In Europe they don’t refrigerate eggs in stores, but in North America you’ll always find them refrigerated (YouTube link)

37:42 - Egg vending machines are a thing in Germany (Image)