I know I’m relaxed when I’m barefoot in the grass.
Something about the smell. The cool dampness, even in heat. The uneven texture beneath my feet. The associated breeze and bird song. It pulls me fully into the moment, settles me.
So I’m putting my toes in the proverbial grass this month.
I’m taking a little break in June. Call it some curiosity R&R— curiosity respite & re-airs. I’ll get a production break, and my radio audiences will continue to enjoy uninterrupted listening, thanks to Pacifica Radio Network, with four great C2BC Classic re-airs. I’ll be back with a great lineup in July.
Of course, I don’t want you to miss out, so here’s a peek at what my radio audiences will be getting, in case you’d like to listen along.
Maybe you’ve heard these episodes before, maybe not. For me, each is a little like toes in the grass…
Listen to Putting My Toes in the Grass (5 mins.)
“This is one of the things with the fast world that we’re in,” says solutions journalist Mónica Quesada Cordero, “how do we get people to stop — and to question?”
As I try to slow down a little right now, I returned to solutions journalism, a rigorous form of reporting that focuses on responses to problems. No more handwringing, no more oversimplifying.
The approach embraces complexity and, in so doing, manages to restore our faith in the news and, maybe, in ourselves.
June 4 – Curiosity Lessons from Solutions Journalism, with Mónica Quesada Cordero
Some shows renew — or, honestly, restore — my faith in this effort. Neuroscientist Matthias Gruber’s research was hugely influential on my entry to this field. When we spoke, I learned our original stories were more entwined than I knew.
“I actually still remember our first encounter,” he said, “You gave me one of the buttons — the ‘Choose to Be Curious’ buttons — and then I realized wow! there’s even a podcast about curiosity, so this must be really an interesting topic to study…You inspired me to keep going.”
It was a lovely reminder that we don’t always know the positive impact we have on people.
All of which was very on point for this fascinating conversation about curiosity, memory, spatial and visual exploration and how our brains experience curiosity and interest at different ages!
June 11 – Curiosity Becomes the Engine for Learning, with Mathias Gruber
I often find myself laughing that my biggest job as a radio host is not talking, it’s listening. That resonated for novelist and ghost writer Laura Zigman.
“When you’re interviewing or trying to get the[ir] story out,” she says, “the best thing you can do is just not say anything. The more you just let the silence be…the more will come. Ask a question, and then just listen.”
It was fun for me to go back to this conversation about getting at what really matters…
June 18 – Getting to the Heart: Curiosity & Ghost Writing, with Laura Zigman
Each week, for 15 years, Yale professor Shawkat Toorawa has offered to talk about “three things worth knowing” from literature, music and general knowledge, no strings attached.
“It’s not me, the pedagog in the classroom who has a certain responsibility,” he said, “it’s me navigating the cultural landscape with the people in the room and saying, ‘Ah, look at this! Isn’t this interesting?!’”
June 25 – Dr. T projecT & Things Worth Knowing, with Shawkat Toorawa
Shawkat keeps an extensive list of topics for his talks, but I know from him and my own experience that serendipity and a little distance from the same-old-same-old play a big part in keeping it all fresh.
It’s been fun to anticipate stepping away (into the grass!) for a bit by revisiting these curiosity conversations. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have…
Thanks, as always, to Sean Balick for our theme music. “Lull” by Ray Catcher, via Blue Dot Sessions.
I hope you take some time to put your toes in the grass.
Until next time, choose to be curious!
You can subscribe to Choose to Be Curious on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
