According to a 2015 article titled Happiness and Productivity: Understanding the Happy-Productive Worker, happier employees exerted higher levels of effort and more productivity than those who were not. This represents just one of many studies regarding employee morale, which shows that employee happiness, while not considered in many office environments, has a positive impact on output, job satisfaction retention, and cohesion amongst employees. On this episode, we discuss approaches to increase employee morale and how to maintain it, regardless of where you are on the organizational chart!

Bullying in grade school is a well-researched topic. There are tons of campaigns aimed at reducing bullying at schools, creating a safe and welcoming environment, and ensuring that the adverse consequences of bullying are avoided. On this episode, Kacey and Carl talk about an interesting project the team at Ology is currently working on, which will be presented through the New York State Public Health Association’s Best Practices & Innovations Webinar Series on November 20th of this year. In this conversation, they discuss their motivations behind choosing the topic, statistical methods and what’s desired as they contribute the study to the fields of public health and education, research and practice.

According to the website YouthMentor.org, 1 in 4 public school children drop out before finishing high school, and African-American and Hispanic students have a 65% likelihood of finishing high school on time. The website also states that 76% of at-risk youth who had a mentor aspire to enroll in college, have lower rates of depression symptoms, are 52% less likely to skip school, 46% less likely to use illegal drugs and 27% less likely to start drinking. On this episode, we want to take a moment to acknowledge mentors during National Mentoring Month (January) and discuss the importance of mentorship in improving individuals and our neighborhoods.

Long gone are the days where children can only flip through channels to watch cartoons! On this episode, we discuss the growing trend of children watching their cartoons on YouTube, and some helpful considerations for parents, and for Carl and Jazmin, whose baby will probably also get pulled into YouTube too!

Often times, we are taught a certain narrative about what life is like in other countries. On this episode, we discuss Kacey’s observations from his recent trip to China, and Jazmin and Carl’s trip to Russia just a few years back, where something interesting happened -- development of a new perception!

According to AAA, about one third of Americans (112.5 million) are expected to travel during the 2018 holiday season! On this episode, we discuss the trend and hypothesize why this trend exists, despite all the hassle, expenses and discomforts associated with travel.

As we enter into the holiday season (aka peak retail season), it’s common for us to give gifts to one another, as a gesture of appreciation, or for workplace secret santas. On this episode, we explore the concept of gift giving during the holidays, and reasons for purchasing gifts for others. Is gift giving meaningful, or useless?

According to Blink, a company which provides motion-detection home security systems, the likelihood of having a package stolen may depend on where you live! California had a per-capita package theft rate of .62%, .19% in New York, .66% in Florida, and a whopping 26% in North Dakota! On this episode, we’ll talk about these rates and the risks associated with leaving packages on our doorsteps!

In looking at 10 years’ worth of retail sales, it appears to have been consistent, with the exception of 2008-2009, where storefront retail seems to have taken a dip. This year, we have noticed the closure of several stores, and increased in sales for Amazon. On this episode, we discuss our observations and projections of retails sales for the 2018 holiday season.

Reflecting on historical drug policies aimed at reducing or even eliminating drug use has led us to wonder -- have those policies been effective? Did they actually result in reduction of drug abuse, or did consumption increase? Should we legislate a life-choice decision, and a crime a crime without victim?