9 Minutes of Wonder

Do you know any pigeon-haters, or pigeon-phobes? Pigeons are actually such interesting birds, and they mean us no harm at all. Bring some wonder into your next city or suburban outing, and maybe you'll see pigeons in a new light.

(Not my best-quality audio, I'm afraid, but this will have to do because I've already recorded it twice!)

A few resources:

Are pigeons as smart as primates? You can count on it.

The human relationship with...

What chance encounters have shaped your life? Don't you look back on them with a sense of wonder — what were the odds?! I'll talk about this phenomenon and also put in a good word for its social cousin, small talk with strangers, even if you're an introvert like me.

Chance encounters (CNN)

Small talk doesn't need to be meaningless: the benefits of talking to strangers

Planned happenstance and your career

Music: Jens East — Daybre...

Even with the internet's endless magic, libraries remain fascinating and important places. Come to the library with me in this episode, where I'll share three reasons I love libraries and think everyone else should too!

A few resources:

World Book Day

Joanina Library

Great Library of Alexandria: New and improved

The world's most extraordinary libraries

'A cultural masterpiece': the world's best new public libraries — in pictures

Pu...

If you haven't heard it from me enough, I'll say it again: cultivating wonder is good for us all! I'm going to share some things you might try today or this week if you're seeking more wonder, awe, and joy.

Why now?

While I always hope this podcast is uplifting, I can't produce it in a vacuum as if I feel all is well in the world. And since I don't feel that way now (and you may not either), I've recorded this episode about how cul...

Few natural phenomena are as magical and mysterious as bird migrations. I wish I had more than nine minutes, but I'll give you just a taste of why migrating birds are so cool. 

"Marshland Elegy" by Aldo Leopold (PDF from A Sand County Almanac, 1949)

These 5 birds are all winners in the migrations Olympics (National Audubon Society)

Bird migration is one of nature's great wonders. Here's how they do it. (National Geographic)

Fabulou...

How much attention do you pay to ice? Maybe you're sick and tired of all the ice around you this time of year, but what about taking a closer look — even if it's just in your freezer? Ice is a menace on the road or sidewalk and can damage our beloved trees, but have you ever considered ice as an art form? Listen to find out more about this simple form of water that we usually either take for granted or curse. (Bonus topic: why do A...

The world is so noisy! Even if we live in relatively quiet places, we are bombarded by noise thanks to all the pinging and dinging on our phones, the din of terrible news, demands from annoying coworkers...the list can seem endless. So let's focus on the more quiet side of life — quiet places we can visit or imagine. If quiet creeps you out, not to worry — this episode only lasts 9 minutes, and I talk through most it! 

A few resour...

If you need to be uplifted, how about listening to some beautiful music and learning why it's awe-inspiring? Awe scientist Dacher Keltner lists music as one of the “eight wonders of life," and there's no question that music is an essential and universal part of being human. So spend nine minutes here, and then spend some more time with your favorite music today. 

See also:

Beethoven Ode to Joy flash mob (YouTube)

Tchaikovsky Resear...

What comes to mind when you think about the upcoming year? What about the "upcoming" 10 million years? Big difference, obviously, not just in the amount of time but also in how we envision these time spans. In this episode, I share a few fun metaphors for deep time — ways of visualizing (and maybe understanding) the unimaginable. 

For more info:

Carl Sagan — Cosmos — cosmic calendar

Earth's entire history (visualized on a football ...

The winter solstice is special from various perspectives. Even if you don't get into the spiritual magic of the day, you can still be impressed at what our planet's tilt makes happen as we go around the sun. And you can watch the livestream of this special day from Stonehenge (link below). Happy solstice! (And happy summer solstice to my southern-hemisphere friends!)

Some links:

Winter solstice at Mission San Juan Bautista (source ...

It's National Poinsettia Day in the US! Make it a good one by learning more about these ubiquitous "flowers." Or listen after the fact to prepare for next year.

A few resources:

Poinsettias at Christmas

8 fun facts to know about poinsettias

How to keep a poinsettia alive

Cuetlaxochitl: a cultural history of the poinsettia

The checkered history of the poinsettia’s namesake and the flower’s origins get new attention

The complicated h...

I can hardly begin to describe how cool this place was, in an industrial sort of way. I'll tell you about it here, but please visit the link to see what the place looks like. This is a fantastic engineering marvel, although in a way it's so simple — harnessing the sun to heat things up. By the way, I mention 3000 degrees, and that's Celsius. In degrees Fahrenheit it would be 5432 degrees. Burnt by the sun: Uzbekistan's spectacula...

Samarkand is a city of gorgeous tiled architecture, but in a way the most interesting site is the observatory of Ulugh Beg. You can only see the remaining sextant now, although a small bit of the observatory building has been reconstructed to help visitors imagine its earlier splendor. The astronomical discoveries made here are awe-inspiring enough, but the architecture must have been dazzling even to people who had no idea what th...

I wrote my fourth-grade animal report about sea otters — so you know I love them! I hope you'll love them too after learning about their magnificent fur (which almost led to their extinction) and their inspiring comeback, as well as some other reasons they're important and interesting. After listening, search "sea otter photos and videos," or use some of the links below, to see how cute they are.

Oregon Encyclopedia: Sea Otter

12 f...

Even mundane things in your kitchen can inspire wonder — or at least be interesting — if you pay attention. If you've never wondered about the history of ketchup, or why it's called ketchup, or what ketchup was like in the olden days, now's your chance to wonder. Edit: I made a mistake when I talked about the "mystery" EZ Squirt ketchup. It apparently didn't have all those colors together. Rather, the mystery was which color you w...

A horror show in August! Not all awe-inspiring phenomena are uplifting — this one surely isn't, but it does inspire a sense of wonder in what nature can do. Learn about some historical and more recent swarms. 

(I don't mention this in the show, but the word "awful" originally meant "arousing or inspiring awe." I think both meanings fit this topic well.)

A few resources:

On the Banks of Plum Creek (Laura Ingalls Wilder)

The Locust P...