Life of Wonder with Doug Robinson

Disrupting Our View of Earth with Benjamin Grant

My guest today is Benjamin Grant. He is the founder of Daily Overview, a project that uses satellite imagery to reveal how human activity is shaping our planet.

Benjamin uses the power of image and ART to expand our perspective - to remind us of the interconnected, and fragile, nature of all things. And when we experience this cognitive shift, when we see the earth from this holistic vantage point, perhaps we will also shift our choices and our decisions toward a sustainable future.

Everyday, Benjamin shares a new thought provoking image on his highly popular Instagram Account, Daily Overview.

He is also the author of the book, “Overview: A New Perspective of Earth,” which takes readers on a visually stunning journey across the globe to share an eye-opening account of the many, often unseen, ways that we have impacted and interacted with our planet. I highly recommend checking it out!

You can also follow Benjamin’s project and receive a daily dose of perspective  on his Instagram account: @dailyoverview.

I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did!

Connect with Daily Overview

Instagram | Book | Website

Selected Resources from The Episode

* Benjamin's Book: "Overview: A New Perspective of Earth

* Documentary: "Overview"

* "The Power of Myth," Joseph Campbell

* Earthrise Photograph

* Piet Modrian

Thanks for Listening!

Thank you so much for joining me in this conversation.

You can support the show by leaving a review for the Life of Wonder podcast on iTunes.

And don't forget to subscribe to get all future episodes!

Music: "In This We Are All Brothers" by Blaine Billingsley

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We're All Stardust with Dr. Natalie Hinkel

My guest today is Dr. Natalie Hinkel, a planetary astrophysicist and researcher at Vanderbuilt University where she studies the chemical makeup of stars.

Natalie holds a Ph.D in Astrophysics from the School of Earth & Space Exploration at Arizona State University. She has put together the largest catalog measuring the element abundances in over 6,000 nearby stars, called the Hypatia Catalogue.

Natalie also recently delivered a TEDx talk titled “We’re All Stardust” where she explores our cosmic origins and invites us to rediscover an empowering relationship with the universe.

In our conversation, we talk about new frontiers in our understand of the cosmos, how planets are formed, how chemical elements are created, and how we can find a sense of meaning and significance in the face of our cosmic improbability.

I had so much fun with this conversation! Be sure to check out Natalie's most recent TEDx talk and her podcast "The Science Bar" (links below)!

Connect with Natalie

Twitter | Website

Selected Resources from The Episode

* Natalie's TEDx Talk - "We're All Stardust"

* Natalie's Podcast - The Science Bar

* The Hypatia Catalogue

* James Webb Space Telescope

* Hypatia (Greek astronomer)

* Magnitude measure of star brightness

* Planetary formation hypothesis

* The Watchmen Comic Series

* The Next Solar Eclipse

Thanks for Listening!

Thank you so much for joining me in this conversation.

You can support the show by leaving a review for the Life of Wonder podcast on iTunes.

And don't forget to subscribe to get all future episodes!

Music: "In This We Are All Brothers" by Blaine Billingsley

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The Knowledge Illusion with Philip Fernbach

My guest today is Dr. Philip Fernbach, Professor of Marketing at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Philip is the co-author of the new book: “The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone.”

We all live in a state of ignorance.  We know just enough to get by in our daily lives, and yet, individually we tend to over-estimate our knowledge about world.

Intuitively, we each think we know how a zipper works or why smoking causes cancer. But do you really know, or, like me, have you just accepted these things as common knowledge understood by someone else?

This is the knowledge illusion - the illusion that, as individuals, we know more than we actually do because we treat common knowledge as if it were our own.

In our conversation today, Philip shares some mind-altering insights about the nature of knowledge, the problem with facts, and how it is that we’re able to achieve such technological progress when we know so little.

If you’re like me and you think we’re long over-due for a healthy dose of humility, then you’re in for a real treat with this conversation.

Also, be sure to pick up a copy of Philip's book, The Knowledge Illusion. It's a timely field manual for the "cognitive minefield" we're currently living through. This book will make you laugh and cry about yourself!

Connect with Philip

Website | Book

Selected Resources from The Episode

* Philip's Book: The Knowledge Illusion

* The Science of Cycology, Rebecca Lawson

* Embodied Cognition

* Castle Bravo Nuclear Test

* Transactive Memory

* The Milan Cathedral

Thanks for Listening!

Thank you so much for joining me in this conversation.

You can support the show by leaving a review for the Life of Wonder podcast on iTunes.

And don't forget to subscribe to get all future episodes!

Music: "In This We Are All Brothers" by Blaine Billingsley

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Saving Endangered Alphabets with Tim Brookes

My guest today is Tim Brookes, founder of the Endangered Alphabets project, a project to support endangered and minority cultures by using their writing systems to create art.

Of the thousands of languages in the world, there are only about 100 writing systems, many of which face extinction within just a few generations. Tim is working tirelessly to scour the world to find the last few individuals who can still write in these endangered alphabets. He then uses these writing systems to carve elaborate, one-of-a-kind pieces of wooden art.

What began as an accidental woodworking project has grown into a movement to bring awareness and ultimately to save the worlds endangered alphabets. Tim’s work has many far-reaching implications for our understanding of language, culture, and identity, and in our conversation today we dive into many of these themes. We also explore the impact of the internet, the link between writing and art, and much much more.

I left our conversation even more fascinated than when we started, and I’m sure you will too!

You can learn more about Tim and the Endangered Alphabets project at endangeredalphabets.com.

Connect with Tim

Facebook | Instagram | Website

Selected Resources from The Episode

* Endangered Alphabets Project

* Endangered Alphabets Book

* Tim's Most Recent Kickstarter Campaign

* Omniglot.com

* King Ibrahim Njoya

* Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh

Thanks for Listening!

Thank you so much for joining me in this conversation.

You can support the show by leaving a review for the Life of Wonder podcast on iTunes.

And don't forget to subscribe to get all future episodes!

Music: "In This We Are All Brothers" by Blaine Billingsley

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The Art of Micro-Adventures with Sam Werbel

My guest today is my good friend, Sam Werbel. He's the owner and operator of the tour company Active VT.

Sam is a native Vermonter with a deep passion for backyard adventuring as well as fine food and drink. Sam has a way of combining these activities -  breaking bread and breaking trail - into memorable experiences that he shares with others through his company. He’s mastered the art of getting the most out of every moment.

Sam also happens to be an endurance racing juggernaut. I promised him I’d mention that his deadlift PR is 405 lbs...

In our conversation, Sam and I chat about the art of micro-adventures, adventure as a state of mind, and we also trade theories about the state of Vermont, where we both live, and what makes it so special in our cultural imagination.

Today’s episode is a bit different in that I recorded our conversion in person, over a few drinks, and things get a bit rowdy!

Please enjoy my conversion with the one and only, Sam Werbel!

Connect with Sam

Facebook | Instagram | Website

Selected Resources from The Episode

* ActiveVT: Outdoors for Epicures

* Valley Dream Farm

* Michael Pollan

* Joseph Smith

* Alastair Humphreys on Mircoadventures

* Vermont Brewers Association

Thanks for Listening!

Thank you so much for joining me in this conversation.

You can support the show by leaving a review for the Life of Wonder podcast on iTunes.

And don't forget to subscribe to get all future episodes!

Music: "In This We Are All Brothers" by Blaine Billingsley

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Rethinking Cognition & Complexity with Justin Lane

My guest today is Justin Lane. Justin is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute for the Bio-Cultural Study of Religion at Boston University. He has advanced degrees in Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology from the University of Oxford.

Justin is essentially a real-life version of Agent Mulder from the X Files! He also happens to be a dear friend.

Justin is currently using cutting-edge computational methods to develop an artificial intelligence model that scientifically predicts large-scale group dynamics such as social stability, identity, and conflict. And if that's not cool enough, he also researches the cognitive foundations of cult groups and behavior....

In our conversation today we talk about how cognitive science can accurately predict your number of Facebook friends, the process of identity fusion, fractal geometry, cults & the power of belief, and yes, we even dive into the two topics banned from the Thanksgiving dinner table: we discuss religion & politics - sometimes in the same sentence!

I had such a blast with this conversation. You’re not gonna want to miss this one!

Connect with Justin

Facebook | Academia

Selected Resources from The Episode

* Institute for the Bio-Cultural Study of Religion

* University of Oxford, School of Anthropology & Museum Ethnography

* Multi-Agent AI Systems

* Thich Nhat Hanh

* Agent Mulder, X Files

* Academic Study of Religion

* Cognitive Science

* Hyper Active Agency Detection

* Cultural Evolution

* God from the Machine, William Bainbridge

* Hunting the Hidden Dimension Documentary

* Dunbar's Number

* Identity Fusion

* Fractal Dimension

* Heaven's Gate 

* Beyond Human Mind, Rio Deangelo

* Jonestown & The People's Temple

Thanks for Listening!

We Are Cosmic Poetry with Alex Green

My guest today is Alex Green, founder of the Science Journal and freelance journalist based out of Peterborough, England.

Alex has a passion for exploring life's biggest questions. Whether it's writing about the cosmos or the nature of love, Alex  is a modern-day cartographer of meaning, always seeking new modes of self-expression and understanding.

In our wide-ranging conversation, Alex and I riff on rediscovering a personal connection with the cosmos, our creative routines for finding flow, the nature of love, and we end up trading a few 2 am stories about chasing cognitive ecstasy.

I had such a blast with this conversation, and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did!

Connect with Alex

Twitter | LinkedIn

Selected Resources from The Episode

* The Science Journal

* Alex's Film Project: Voices

* Neil Degrasse Tyson

* Jason Silva

* Carl Sagan

* Brian Cox

* Alain de Botton

* Bill Nye

* Albert Camus

* Friedrich Nietzsche

* Hayden Planetarium

* RadioLab

* Joshua Tree National Park

Thanks for Listening!

Thank you so much for joining me in this conversation.

You can support the show by leaving a review for the Life of Wonder podcast on iTunes.

And don't forget to subscribe to get all future episodes!

Music: "In This We Are All Brothers" by Blaine Billingsley

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Welcome to Life of Wonder!

Welcome to Life of Wonder, a podcast exploring stories and ideas that stretch the imagination.

If you enjoy thinking about life’s biggest questions like I do, you can join me each week for in-depth, intimate conversations with fellow wonder junkies and curious minds as we seek out mind-altering insights and as we probe deeper into the nature of reality and the human experience.

New episodes will be published weekly, and I’ll be sharing plenty of bonus content along the way, so be sure to subscribe to the Life of Wonder podcast to get future episodes.

In the meantime, my fellow wonder junkies, remember to stay curious, and thank you for listening!

Music: "In This We Are All Brothers" by Blaine Billingsley

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