Happy When Curious

Is alcohol a sacrilege or a sacrament? Does it matter how we answer this?

Keep your curiosity candles lit my friends!

What do you reckon? 

Russel Barsh is the director of Kwiaht-Center for the Historical Ecology of the Salish Sea. He studied at Harvard, taught at the University of Washington, and worked for many years at the United Nations on indigenous peoples and their ecosystems before returning to the Northwest and organizing Kwiaht. With a background in human ecology he is especially interested in cultural and economic factors influencing human impacts on the environment, the role of schools, and adaptation of animals and plants to humans. He lives on Lopez Island Washington. 

What elevated feeling do you find yourself craving, but maybe having a hard time articulating exactly what it is, let alone how to get there? For me it's the sensation of not being in the center of the universe-in other words I crave the feeling when the optical illusion that is "I'm at the center of the universe" drops away. Join me as I try to put my craving into words.

Mark Bitterman is an American entrepreneur, food writer and world traveller. He is the author of the James Beard award winning book "Salted: A Manifesto on the world's most essential mineral" along with 4 other books on salt and bitters. He is the owner of The Meadow, a boutique that specializes in a huge array of artisan salts, bean-to-bar chocolates, cocktail bitters, and other products. The Meadow was founded in Portland, Oregon, in 2006, and has expanded to include three locations in Portland and one in New York City.

Getting to talk to one of my personal heroes Mark Bitterman was a real treat and I hope you enjoy it and also check out his awesome and unique company The Meadow and his awesome books!

Have you had the experience of passing someone in a car and waving to them and them just completely being in their own world and not seeing you? That experience has always stuck with me and I think it's got something to do with curiosity. 

What makes for great conversation? Conversation that leaves you feeling enriched, that taps into your best self as opposed to your worst and in which you genuinely learn something?

Listen in as I'm joined by my brother Tyler to try to elucidate some principles of high level conversation and then take a stab at practicing them!

Parenting is full of interesting philosophical questions. Join me as I think on a few of them that have been bopping around in my brain. 

As always what I am aiming for is not answers but rather useful rumination.  I am seeking to be an intellectual ruminant. 

Is the human brain more wired towards story than a set of rules to follow?

Can religion prescribe behavior without trying to describe reality?

What is the most successful example of religious violence?

What is the difference between a cult and a religion?

These questions and more I discussed with Rebecca Moore. 

Rebecca Moore is Emerita Professor of Religious Studies at San Diego State University. One of her research specialties is new religious movements. She co-edited "Peoples Temple and Black Religion in America" and authored "Understanding Jonestown and Peoples Temple" . Her book "Beyond Brainwashing: Perspectives on Cultic Violence" came out in 2018 and "Peoples Temple and Jonestown in the Twenty-First Century" came out in 2022.

Moore also specializes in the history of Christianity. Her book "Voices of Christianity: A Global Introduction" is a text-reader for college courses. "Women in Christian Traditions" offers a feminist analysis of the role women have played in the development of Christianity and "A Blessing to Each Other: A New Account of Jewish and Christian Relations" is one of her newest books.

Check out the amazing Jonestown Institute here