What on Earth is Going on?

Do music and poetry share the same roots? How do you write poetry that embraces complexity, history, beauty and atrocity? How can literature confront the self with the past, and the events that seem out of our control with the urgent need for a new language to understand them? What is creativity, and is there some kind of salvation there?

Ben joins poet and teacher Canisia Lubrin for a fascinating conversation at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where she currently works as writer-in-residence.

About the Guest

Canisia Lubrin is a writer, editor, critic and teacher. Her work is published widely and has been frequently anthologized, including translations into Italian and Spanish. Lubrin's debut poetry collection Voodoo Hypothesis was named a CBC Best Poetry Book, longlisted for the Gerald Lambert Award, the Pat Lowther Award, and was a finalist for the Raymond Souster Award. She was a finalist for the Toronto Book Award for her fiction contribution to The Unpublished City: Vol 1 and 2019 Writer in Residence at Queen's University. Lubrin holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Her upcoming book, The Dyzgraphxst, featuring seven inquiries into selfhood, will be published in 2020.

Mentioned in this Episode

• Lesley Belleau, Anishnaabekwe writer from Ketegaunseebee Garden River First Nation (Ojibwe), near Bawating/Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
• Kaie Kellough, Canadian poet and novelist based in Montreal
• Robin Richardson, Canadian poet and founding editor of the Minola Review
• The Epic of Gilgamesh, a nearly 4000 year-old text from ancient Mesopotamia, widely regarded as one of the earliest surviving pieces of literature
• "Obama on Call-Out Culture: 'That's Not Activism'", article in the New York Times by Emily S. Rueb and Derrick Bryson Taylor
• Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography by Roland Barthes
• A quote from poet Mary Ruefle: "Someone reading a book is a sign of order in the world"
• The shooting of Philando Castile, July 2016
• Dionne Brand, renowned Canadian poet

The Quote of the Week

"Books leave gestures in the body; a certain way of moving, of turning, a certain closing of the eyes, a way of leaving, hesitations. Books leave certain sounds, a certain pacing; mostly they leave the elusive, which is all the story. They leave much more than the words." Dionne Brand

What is the future of technology, and what does it take to be a real lifelong innovator at the ground level? Ben's guest is James Brown, a serial entrepreneur, technologist, and head of Limestone Technologies in Kingston. They have been at the forefront of polygraph and other security technology in Canada for years, and their most recent endeavour might sound unorthodox until you hear the backstory: PLANTChoir, a device that lets you hear the music of plants.

About the Guest

James Brown is the President of Limestone Technologies in Kingston, Ontario, where he has led the way with electronics, software development, polygraphy, phallometrics, employee screening and much more. From 1986 to 2003 he was a project manager with Queen's University's Psychology Department. James's most recent endeavour is PLANTChoir, a technology that lets you tap into the music of your plants. He

Mentioned in this Episode

• Cleve Backster, early developer of polygraph technology and experimenter of the same technology on plants
• Episode of Dragon's Den, where PLANTChoir is pitched by Limestone Technologies
• The Reality Bubble, a science book by Ziya Tong
• Avatar, 2009 film directed by James Cameron

The Quote of the Week

"A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding." - Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Live theatre is one of the oldest art forms, but rather than fade away in the face of easy social media and instant entertainment, it is experiencing a resurgence. What is it about live drama that keeps filling theatres around the world? How are theatre directors keeping the form relevant, accessible and engaging? What are the cultural touchstones of the stage, and what makes it so much fun?

Ben is in Edmonton to chat with Daryl Cloran, Artistic Director of the renowned Citadel Theatre.

About the Guest

Daryl began his tenure with the Citadel in September 2016. He came to Edmonton from his role as Artistic Director of Western Canada Theatre (WCT) in Kamloops, B.C. Past chairman of the Citadel Board of Directors, Sheila Witwicky, has said of Daryl that "he has the special combination of vision, skill, experience and artistry that running a theatre centre like ours requires."

Originally from Ontario, Daryl was at the artistic helm of WCT for six years and, in addition, is a nationally recognized director of productions across the country, including at the Arts Club, Theatre Calgary, National Arts Centre, Shaw Festival, Canadian Stage and Neptune Theatre. He was the Artistic Director of Theatrefront, Toronto, known for its unique international theatre collaborations in countries such as South Africa and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which played across Canada and internationally to much acclaim. He's also the co-creator and director of DRUM! a musical celebration of the founding cultures of the Maritimes which features a large cast of dancers and musicians from Celtic, Acadian, African-Canadian, and First Nations origin.

Daryl is thrilled to be spending the next chapter of his career in a theatre town like Edmonton. "My passion as a theatre-maker and Artistic Director is community. It will be my job as Artistic Director of the Citadel Theatre to become a contributing part of Edmonton's artistic community and to provide opportunities to local artists and train emerging artists from the region and across the country," he says. "I believe the Citadel must maintain a high profile leadership role within Edmonton and continue to figure prominently as part of the national theatre scene. As Artistic Director, I will pursue partnerships and opportunities to showcase the Citadel's work on national stages. I believe a theatre with the profile of the Citadel should be known nationally for its work, and while the Edmonton community will always be our primary audience, audiences across North America should see our fabulous productions."

Growing audiences is a particular focus of Daryl's. He's keenly interested in having young people experience the magic of theatre, as well as in the importance of multi-cultural voices on Edmonton's stages. WCT is a national leader in the creation of First Nations theatre work and the support of First Nations artists. Children of God, a musical co-developed at WCT about the residential school experience in Canada, premiered at the National Arts Centre in June 2017, and will appear on the Shoctor stage at the Citadel March 3 to 24, 2018.

Daryl also has a great interest in theatrical experimentation. At WCT, he created the annual High-Wire Festival, which challenged the relationship between artist and audience by exploring different theatre formats (micro-performance, immersive performance, interactive productions). Daryl intends to bring this desire for experimentation and attracting non-traditional audiences to the Citadel.

"I value theatre that asks questions important to its community; I value creative risks," he says. "The Citadel is an incredible theatre company with a history of innovation, high production values and important contributions to the Canadian theatre landscape. I want to build on this success, honour its traditions and also take appropriate risks to lead the Citadel into the next phase of its artistic growth. My wife and I and our two young sons are excited to be calling Edmonton home."

Learn more about Daryl or follow him on Twitter (@DarylCloran).

Mentioned in this Episode

• Western Canada Theatre, a company based in Kamloops, BC
• Poetics, an ancient work on aesthetics by Aristotle
• Theatrefront, a theatre company based in Toronto and originally founded by Daryl Cloran
• Theatre Yes, a theatre company based in Edmonton
• Highwire Series, a new theatre program produced by the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton
• Fight Night, a play that was produced at the Citadel Theatre in October 2019
• Late Fragment, an interactive film co-written and co-directed by Daryl Cloran
• Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, an interactive Netflix program
• Rashomon, a classic 1950 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa
• Mump and Smoot, a renowned Canadian performance clown duo
• Prison Dancer, an upcoming Citadel Theatre project inspired by this video

The Quote of the Week

"I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being." - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Rampant and increasing polarization of our politics? The turn to populism as a result of economic inequality? The growing, scarcely regulated political power of social media and Big Data? These are some of the forces that are reshaping our politics in North America, with a minority government in Canada and an impending election (and ongoing impeachment inquiry) in the United States.

Ben chats with Queen's University political scientist Jonathan Rose about all this and more.

About the Guest

Jonathan studied at University of Toronto and Queen's where he received his Ph.D. In addition to Queen's he has taught courses at the International Studies Centre (Herstmonceux, UK), Charles University in Prague, Bratislava, Slovakia and Kwansei Gakuin in Osaka, Japan where he was the Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies. In 2008, Jonathan was a Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Political Science and International Relations at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

He is the author of Making Pictures in our Heads, Government Advertising in Canada (New York: Praeger Press, 2000). He is also the co-editor of Canada: the State of the Federation, 1998 and is the lead author of First Ministers' Conference, the Art of Negotiation, a simulation exercise published by Broadview Press and translated into three languages. His most recent book co-written with Patrick Fournier, Henk Van der Kolk and R. Kenneth Carty is When Citizens Decide: Lessons from Citizens' Assemblies on Electoral Reform (Oxford, 2011).

Jonathan's teaching is varied. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in Canadian politics, political communication, federalism, the mass media, electoral systems, intergovernmental relations and public policy. In 2010 he received the Frank Knox Certificate of Commendation for Excellence in Teaching. In 2011, Jonathan was the recipient of W.J. Barnes Teaching Excellence Award.

He has provided advice to the Auditor General of Canada on government advertising and sponsorship, and is a member of the Advertising Review Board for the Auditor General of Ontario, a board that enforces legislation regulating government advertising in Ontario. In 2006, he had the privilege of being the Academic Director of the Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, the first such body in Ontario and second in the world.

Learn more about Jonathan or follow him on Twitter (@JonathanRose).

Mentioned in this Episode

• POLS 101: "What is Going on? Explaining Donald Trump", a course taught by Jonathan at Queen's University
• UN Speech by climate activist Greta Thunberg (video)
• Teardown, a book by Dave Meslin
• Jody Wilson-Raybould, independent Member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville
• Path dependence, a concept in the social sciences
• "Justice Dept. Is Said to Open Criminal Inquiry Into Its Own Russia Investigation", an article in the New York Times
• Episode 45 of this podcast, about marketing and human nature, featuring guest Terry O'Reilly
• Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, a book by Marshall McLuhan (and origin of the quote: "the medium is the message")

The Quote of the Week

"A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding." - Marshall McLuhan (1911-80)

We can't seem to talk about gambling without reference to its very real, very serious social problems -- whether it's the association with organized crime, the addictiveness, or the ruination of many people's lives. But what if we look at gambling through the lens of everyday life? Where does it come from, what does it say about us, and how should we manage it in our society?

Ben is in Edmonton to chat with University of Alberta gambling expert Fiona Nicoll.

About the Guest

My greatest strength as a researcher is the creation of interdisciplinary conversations about some of the most challenging political issues of our time, from cultural genocide and reconciliation to gambling policy, white nationalist movements and the challenges facing the neoliberal university. I apply this research expertise to facilitate public art and other knowledge transfer projects. In addition to producing a body of art writing for books and catalogues, I have curated, managed and produced media (including websites and film) related to whiteness, reconciliation and Indigenous sovereignties.

In 2002 I curated a social history exhibition for the Liverpool Regional Museum on the life of Aunty Nance DeVries, a survivor of the 'stolen generations' of Aboriginal children and speaker to the New South Wales Parliament on the occasion of the Government's apology in 1997. Working with veteran documentary photographer, Mervyn Bishop and videographer, Sandra Peel, I drew upon and exhibited extracts from a large archive of documents about Nancy's 'case', from her birth up to the age of eighteen when she was released from institutions of state care. Titled Ten Hours in a Lifetime (a reference to the time spent with her biological mother), this exhibition was the most popular in the museum's history, with thousands of school children attending tours while it was on site, before later travelling to the New South Wales Parliament House.

In 2014-2015 I delivered a major project for the University of Queensland titled Courting Blakness: Recalibrating Knowledge in the Sandstone University. This project centred on the Great Court as the symbolic and material heart of the University of Queensland. Reflecting the University's heritage, traditions and prestige, this gathering place and thoroughfare is also a space where images of Aboriginal people prior to, during and after the colonization of Australia are carved in sculptural reliefs. Curated by Fiona Foley, Courting Blakness entered a creative visual dialogue with these carvings. Works by eight Aboriginal artists (Archie Moore, Ryan Presley, r e a, Natalie Harkin, Megan Cope and Michael Cook, Christian Thompson and Karla Dickens) made the Great Court a unique staging platform for discussions about the relationship between Indigenous people and the University; the edited collection of essays published by UQP provides a permanent record of these discussions. While on site, it reached over 25,000 people, including 800 students across fourteen different courses through disciplinary specific frameworks of discussion and assessment tasks. It delivered staff training through public seminars and two university-wide 'Diversity Discussions' and provided over 1,000 hours of volunteer activity. The website attracted over 3031 unique users and was a valuable teaching, learning and research resource for the exhibition. It now forms a digital archive for future research on public art and universities.

As convenor of the 2017-2018 Political Science Department Speakers' series, I brought scholars to campus to reflect on some of the most difficult questions raised by the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Speakers included Glen Coulthard, Audra Simpson, Jaskiran Dhillon, Robert Nichols, Jeremy Schmidt and Aileen Moreton-Robinson. I am currently producing a short film titled Afterlives of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission: What Comes Next? Directed by award winning Métis film-maker, Conor McNally, it will feature provocative research presentations by Indigenous and non-Indigenous academics and interviews with leaders of Prairie Aboriginal communities. The film will be used in classrooms and boardrooms to educate non-Indigenous people about the meaning and ramifications of 'cultural genocide' and current aspirations to national reconciliation.

Mentioned in this Episode

• Where the Action Is: Three Essays by Erving Goffman
• On Liberty by John Stuart Mill
• Beyond Freedom and Dignity by BF Skinner
• The Reality Bubble: Blind Spots, Hidden Truths, and the Dangerous Illusions that Shape Our World by Ziya Tong
• Yuval Noah Harari, popular historian
• Anzac Day
• No Logo: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs by Naomi Klein
• Governmentality, concept invented by French philosopher Michel Foucault

The Quote of the Week

"Gambling is a principle inherent in human nature." - Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

What makes an election work? Is it the technology aggregates our preferences? Is it trust that our choices will be fairly counted, that they have an impact? Is it the institutions that manage the voting process? Or is it, ultimately, the people we elect and whether or not they choose to respect the process? What happens to our democracy when these components are stretched and strained?

Ben chats with Holly Ann Garnett, political scientist and elections expert at the Royal Military College of Canada.

About the Guest

Holly Ann Garnett is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, and cross-appointed faculty at Queen's University, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Her research examines how electoral integrity can be strengthened throughout the electoral cycle, including electoral management, registration and voting procedures, election technology and cyber-security, civic literacy and campaign finance. She is a co-convener of the Electoral Management Network, and contributes to the Electoral Integrity Project.

Holly Ann was an Endeavour Research Fellow at The Australian National University (2017), a visiting fellow at the Åbo Akademi, Finland (2017), a visiting researcher at the University of Sydney (2014), and a Killam Fellow at Cornell University (2009).

She completed her PhD in Political Science at McGill University (2017), where she was a student member of the Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship. She is also a proud alumna of Queen's University (MA in Political Studies, 2011) and Nipissing University (BA (Hon) in History and Political Science, 2010).

Learn more about Holly or follow her on Twitter (@HollyAnnGarnett).

Mentioned in this Episode

• Episode No. 68 of this podcast, about Higher Education with Mark Sollis
• Episode No. 13 of this podcast, about the division of political power with Anthony Sayers
• Elections Canada
• Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, a book by Robert D. Putnam
• Pippa Norris, comparative political scientists at the Harvard Kennedy School
• The Electoral Integrity Project, an academic research project based in Harvard and Sydney Universities
• Episode No. 74 of this podcast, about gamification with David Chandross
• On Liberty, classic philosophical work by John Stuart Mill
• Michel Foucault (1926-84), French philosopher
• Radical Markets: Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society, a book by Eric Posner and E. Glen Weyl

The Quote of the Week

"When people put their ballots in the boxes, they are, by that act, inoculated against the feeling that the government is not theirs. They then accept, in some measure, that its errors are their errors, its aberrations their aberrations, that any revolt will be against them. It's a remarkably shrewd and rather conservative arrangement when one thinks of it." - John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006), Canadian-born economist

Some argue that all of humanity today faces an identity crisis, as we struggle with rapid change and a deteriorating habitat -- and that the solutions may lie in indigenous social technologies, especially the power of the story. This is a wide-ranging discussion covering a lot of ground (reconciliation, diversity, Back to the Future), but one that should be relevant to all.

Ben is in Edmonton for an inspiring conversation with Jacquelyn Cardinal, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Naheyawin.

About the Guest

Jacquelyn Cardinal is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Naheyawin, as well as Co-President and Director of Social Awareness Group. Jacquelyn was nominated for Edmonton's Top 40 Under 40 class of 2018, and received an Esquao Award for Achievement in Business and a SHEInnovates Award from the UN Women's Global Innovation Coalition for Change.

In early 2019, her first play, Lake of the Strangers, co-written with her brother and co-produced with Fringe Theatre, premiered and received the Sterling Award for Outstanding New Play. When she isn't using ancient tools to solve contemporary problems, she is learning all she can about emergent technologies and exploring her love for film.

Mentioned in this Episode

• The Reality Bubble, a book by Canadian science journalist Ziya Tong
• Hunter Cardinal, Jacquelyn's brother and Naheyawin's Director of Story
• The Inconvenient Indian, a book by Thomas King
• Back to the Future, the 1985 film
• Wilfred Buck, Cree astronomer mentioned by Jacquelyn
• Caravaggio, prolific 16th and 17th century Italian painter
• Episode 70 of this podcast, featuring Fleming Puckett on Power, Colonialism and the San People

The Quote of the Week

"Everybody has their stories about the sky, because everybody lives under the sky." - Wilfred Buck

We often see video games as a form of consumer entertainment—an escape from reality, not that different from watching TV or reading a book. But the structure of games are perhaps fundamental to what it means to be human. By playing them, we can learn to be and rehearse as doctors, pilots, engineers, lawyers, and more. We might also overcome real conditions, such as depression and addiction.

Ben has a powerful and provocative conversation with gaming, gamification and learning expert David Chandross.

About the Guest

David Chandross holds masters degrees in both cognitive neuroscience and higher education and a doctorate in curriculum design. As one of the founders of the field of gamification he has not only developed numerous games for training in industry and universities, but also participated in broad research projects in this field.

His original work was on neuroscience, pharmacology, and the role of attention in the brain. This transformed into an interest in education for the health professions, where he held the rank of Dean, Assistant Dean, and Program Coordinator across sectors like medical technology management, medical education and allied health professions training. He developed an interest in the use of simulations in medical education which then focused on the design of games to use simulations effectively in undergraduates. After participating as a researcher in the $3 million dollar SAGE gamification grant at Simon Fraser University he worked with organizations across many sectors to improve learning through serious game design.

Since that time Dr. Chandross has designed game systems for improving memory in seniors, training health professionals for management of the frail elderly, the design of instruction for the financial sector, cyber-security professionals, Elections Canada, the Canadian Armed Forces, the Faculty of Medicine at University of Toronto, Baycrest Health Sciences, Ryerson University, the National University of Health Sciences, ARC Business Solutions, the energy sector, the College of Family Physicians, Ontario and Humber College.

His current research focus is in two areas: (1) The treatment of memory loss in seniors with dementia using streaming digital technology and (2) the optimization of virtual reality and immersive technology in learning. He is the program coordinator for seniors' off campus education at Ryerson University and is active in the development of advanced systems for training health professionals as part of the E-Campus and Contact North initiatives for the province of Ontario.

Mentioned in this Episode

• Walter Greenleaf, a behavioural neuroscientist at Stanford University
• David Kaufman, professor of education at Simon Fraser University
• Martin Seligman, American psychologist (positive psychology)
• Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, a book by Robert Sapolsky
• Richard Bartle, British professor and game researcher
• Paul Howard-Jones, professor of neuroscience and education at Bristol University
• Ready Player One, a book by Ernest Cline followed by a 2018 film directed by Steven Spielberg
• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari
• The Matrix, the 1999 film
• Jordan Peterson, University of Toronto psychologist
• Black Mirror, a series on Netflix
• Donald Trump, Doug Ford and Jordan Peterson, an article in the National Post by guest David Chandross

The Quote of the Week

"A game is an opportunity to focus our energy, with relentless optimism, at something we're good at (or getting better at) and enjoy. In other words, gameplay is the direct emotional opposite of depression."

- From Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal

What is consciousness? Where does the mind reside? Can we create artificial intelligence that can fake intelligence, or maybe just have it? What happened in 17th century Europe that led to such a fascinating time for deep thinkers? And are we going through a similar period of churn today?

Ben has a fascinating and wide-ranging chat about these big questions with University of Alberta professor of philosophy Amy Schmitter.

About the Guest

Besides her position as Professor of Philosophy, Amy is an Executive Editor and Board Secretary for the Canadian Journal of Philosophy.She is also involved in the project "New Narratives in the History of Philosophy," supported by a Partnership Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. In April 2016, she was a Visiting Professor in the Facultad de Filosof Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, where she lectured and held several seminar sessions. Before coming to the University of Alberta, Amy taught at the University of Pittsburgh, Hamilton College in New York, and the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She has also been a Visiting Scholar at the University of California at Berkeley and at New York University, and during 2002-03, held a Fellowship at the Stanford Humanities Center, Stanford University. She has received several awards for Summer Institutes and Seminars from the National Endowment for the Humanities (U.S.A.) and two Standard Research Grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She also serves on various committees, including the Religious Studies Advisory Council for the U of A, the Program Committee for the Pacific Northwest-Western Canada Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, and review committees for several grant organizations. Amy's main areas of research and writing are the history of early modern philosophy and philosophy of art. But those are broad and eclectic areas that (necessarily) take her into many different topics, historical periods and approaches to philosophy. Her teaching interests and educational history cover yet further fields. The result is that she knows a little bit about many different things.

Mentioned in this Episode

• Here are the thinkers we mentioned in this episode: Hume, Plato, Aristotle, Hegel, Russell, Marx, Descartes, Hobbes, Leibniz, Spinoza, and Poulain de la Barre. Check them out!
• A History of Western Philosophy, a book by philosopher Bertrand Russell
• Crash Course on Aesthetic Appreciation, a video that mentions the example of a chained cat statue (is the chain part of the art?)
• The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History, a book by Stephen J. Gould
• The Cave and the Light: Plato Versus Aristotle and the Struggles for the Soul of Western Civilization, a book by Arthur Herman
• Discourse on Method, a 1637 work of philosophy by René Descartes
• Physics, a 4th century BC work of philosophy by Aristotle

The Quote of the Week

"One cannot conceive anything so strange and so implausible that it has not already been said by one philosopher or another."

- René Descartes

It's Friday 13th! What does that mean? Is it an unlucky day? According to science—no, it means absolutely nothing. But there is one exception: the date has meaning if we think it does. As meaning-machines, we impart significance everywhere we look. We don't want to live in a world where randomness reigns. So what traps have we set?

Ben has a fascinating chat with University of Toronto Professor Jeffrey Rosenthal, statistician and author of "Knock on Wood: Luck, Chance, and the Meaning of Everything".

About the Guest

Jeffrey Rosenthal is a professor of Statistics at the University of Toronto, and author of Knock on Wood: Luck, Chance, and the Meaning of Everything. Born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada in 1967, he received his BSc in Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science from the University of Toronto at the age of 20, his PhD in Mathematics from Harvard University at the age of 24, and tenure in the Department of Statistics at the University of Toronto at the age of 29.

For his research, Rosenthal was awarded the 2006 CRM-SSC Prize, and the 2007 COPSS Presidents' Award, the most prestigious honour bestowed by the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies. For his teaching, he received a Harvard University Teaching Award in 1991, and a University of Toronto Outstanding Teaching Award in 1998. He was elected to Fellowship of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics in 2005, and to the Royal Society of Canada in 2012, and was awarded the SSC Gold Medal in 2013, and a President's Impact Award in 2019.

Rosenthal's book for the general public, Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities, was published in sixteen editions and ten languages, and was a bestseller in Canada. It led to numerous media and public appearances, to his work exposing the Ontario lottery retailer scandal, and to a President's Impact Award. Rosenthal has also published two textbooks about probability theory, and well over one hundred refereed research papers, many related to the field of Markov chain Monte Carlo randomized computer algorithms and to interdisciplinary applications of statistics. He has dabbled as a computer game programmer, musical performer, and improvisational comedy performer, and is fluent in French.

Despite being born on Friday the thirteenth, Rosenthal has been a very fortunate person.

Learn more about Jeffrey at his website or follow him on Twitter (@ProbabilityProf).

Mentioned in this Episode

• The Secret, a book by Rhonda Byrne
• Poisson clumping, a phenomenon where random events tend to occur in clusters, clumps, or bursts.
• The hard problem of consciousness

The Quote of the Week

"Luck has a way of evaporating when you lean on it." - From Keys to the Demon Prison by Brandon Mull