The Attention Collection

In the early 1920s, Garret Morgan, an inventor from Cleveland, Ohio, made a crucial contribution to road safety with his improvement on the traffic light. It's one of the go-to stories of Black History Month. But let's look at it from a different angle.

What can this overlooked and underappreciated innovation teach us about gratitude and human connection?

This is the episode where I unabashedly celebrate the 80s by revisiting the timeless wisdom of the one and only Mr. Miyagi.

Wax on, wax off.

It is always inspiring to scroll social media on MLK Day every year, to see a timeline full of Black excellence and inspiration. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most quotable figures in human history, and we prove that with every quote-stamped photo. But it seems in our pursuit to preserve the legacy of this great man, we've left out some key elements.

We seem to have forgotten he was a revolutionary, notorious in the eyes of the country he loved. 

This episode explores our complicated relationship with one of the greatest leaders who ever lived.

Flying highlights the experience of living. It represents the ups and downs, the turbulence of every day, the shared vulnerability. Life is a series of takeoffs and landings, and each of us will need someone's hand to hold at some point along the way. 

In this week’s episode, Anthony shares a personal story about a flight to Pensacola, Florida, that informs the way he looks at community, vulnerability, and the importance of showing up for each other.

The headlines we respond to. The posts that stop us in our tracks. The news teasers that keep us up to watch the broadcast.

They all reveal something fascinating about the human condition, which can teach us a lot about ourselves.

For the last episode of 2020, Anthony sits down with Tim (in separate locations, of course) to recap the year and discuss the things that helped them maintain sanity(for the most part). They talk about books, films, music, and more.

And stick around until the end for an exciting announcement!

Alien invasions, internet misinformation, and our own wild thoughts...

We gather our information from what we've always known to be credible sources. Sometimes that works out—other times… mass hysteria. 

And the apparently credible source that screws us up the most? 

Our own minds. 

An earworm is a song with a catchy melody that sticks to your consciousness like gum on the bottom of your shoe. Sometimes it's a song you love, but more often than not, it’s a bubble gum pop song or an annoying jingle from a car dealership commercial.

This episode is about earworms of the musical AND cultural kind.

There’s a steep hill in the South West of England called Cooper’s Hill. Every year bunch of people line up at the top to chase after a round of cheese.

They break bones and twist ankles. They dislocate various members of their anatomies. And the winner... takes the cheese.

It’s ridiculous, frankly, to get all bent out of shape for a 7-pound circle of coagulated milk. But is cheese really what they're chasing? 

And don't you and I do the same thing every day?

Have you ever watched a beady-eyed squirrel meticulously clean and then bury an acorn and thought to yourself, “What do you have to teach me about life, you strange little creature?”

Probably not. But you should. Turns out we can gain a whole lot by copying them.