Podcasts for Curious Minds
Welcome to Curiopoda, a joint venture started by friends with penchants for traveling, passions for science, and a love of storytelling. We welcome you to join us!
“The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can.” – Neil Gaiman
Andrea and Casey are grappling with what it is to be intelligent this time on ThunkTink – sticking to those easy, non-contentious topics. Ideas bounced around our collective brains include: Can we test if animals can discriminate between twins? How do we best “share” intelligence? How do we best “support” its development – what does the even mean? Are more intelligent species more adaptive to new environments? Can we come up with a better way to display and communicate someone’s intelligence (rather than grades/IQ scores)???
Blasting off with only minor hiccups while reaching warp…well, it’s closer to warp 5 than 9, but forward momentum nonetheless. ThunkTink returns after a summer absence to stare into space and muse about Star Trek! From contradictory aspects of Roddenberry’s universe to man’s best friend, Casey and Andrea find inspiration and comfort in the vacuum that encases our planet–and invite you to come along for the journey!
It’s “philosophy, but fun!” today on ThunkTink as the randomness of the universe decides Casey and Andrea should brainstorm logic! Can we make reason more positive and engaging to remove it from its stuffy, emotionless stereotypes? Can we make tag-team improv art-based debates? How do we best support the development of the tools of logic and reason? Was this episode recorded at the end of 2020 during a deeply psychologically taxing time in our modern history? All discussed in today’s ThunkTink!
It’s time for another episode of ThunkTink where Casey and Andrea spiral down into the realm of beauty and aesthetics. Because why not? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder–and across a culture, there are a lot of beholders! What do we find pleasing, and how are our precious things misconstrued by history?
It’s back to the past, in a classical way, on this episode of ThunkTink! Andrea and Casey discuss the Trojan War and if the myth of the Trojan horse indicates there was an ancient practice of gifting large temporary statuary made of compostable materials as peace offerings. They learn about the less famous cities of northern Greece and brainstorm on a slice-of-life style sitcom that takes place in one of these ancient coastal towns. And they discuss biology! What was the ecology of ancient Greece like? How did it change by removing large mammalian predators and herbivores? How come we don’t hear about the ancient Greek deer boom?!
As spring break is in full swing, Casey and Andrea also get into the swing of things–swing dancing, that is. With a few basic lessons under their belts, they tackle ThunkTink’s steps with varying success, with a few stumbles into history and culture along the way. Judge’s score? Hopefully nothing less than a 7/10, but we understand losing points for our clumsiness.
Andrea and Casey dive into their Zoological roots on this episode of ThunkTink! What could make for a more harsh environment than ghosts? And why don’t people go hunting for animal ghosts? What coloration is associated with pride in the animal kingdom? What if we designed an experiment to look at whether fishes took more pride in some of their offspring? Why aren’t there fossil records of mythological creatures in fantasy series? What would be required to facilitate the evolution of fairies? All this and more discussed this time on ThunkTink!
Since the dawn of the car, these things have kept the world rolling and rolling and rolling. This time on ThunkTink, Casey and Andrea muse about tires (or tyres if you’re a Brit). What makes a tire a tire, and can we lower barriers to preventative car maintenance? Ultimately, sanity’s tread wears thin and we end up in Star Wars land, because why not?
It gets icy and hot today on ThunkTink as Andrea and Casey compare and contrast ideas across biomes: taigas and deserts! Can we make cold climate sunglasses that provide the perception of warmth through warm sounds and scents? Are these environments ripe for the production of artificial amber and pearls? What would be required to grow fresh vegetables in either place? And how best could we land a plane there? Brains are stormed from tundra to sand dune on this episode of ThunkTink!
DISCLAIMER: This episode was recorded mid-2020; our editing schedule coincided with recent U.S. events, so while the random word generator led us in the direction of ‘riot,’ our minds weren’t mulling over the tumultuous scenes that unfolded across many cities throughout the latter half of the year, or on the Capitol.
Curiopoda’s ThunkTink has returned in the New Year! Casey and Andrea start this year with yet another look into the past, this time brainstorming about the Renaissance. They question why this period hasn’t been embraced by more visible sub-cultures, and muse over what an answering machine would have been in those days. Casey’s strong feelings on art history and the current state of art forms also makes an appearance, so let’s get this 2021 ball rolling!
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