🎧 Episode 088 The Science & Philosophy of Complexity: An Interview With Carlos Gershenson | Human Current

Listened to Episode 088 The Science & Philosophy of Complexity: An Interview With Carlos Gershenson by Haley Campbell-GrossHaley Campbell-Gross from HumanCurrent

In this episode, Haley interviews research professor and leader of the Self-Organizing Systems Labat UNAMCarlos Gershenson. Gershenson discusses findings from his book, Complexity: 5 Questions, which is comprised of “interview style contributions by leading figures in the field of complexity”. He also shares his own perspectives on the past, present and future of complexity science, as well as how philosophy plays a role in the emergence of science.

Carlos Gershenson

🎧 Episode 116 An Educator’s Guide to Systems Thinking: An Interview With Linda Booth Sweeney | Human Current

Listened to Episode 116 An Educator's Guide to Systems Thinking: An Interview With Linda Booth Sweeney by Angie CrossAngie Cross from HumanCurrent

In this episode, Angie talks with systems educator and award-winning author, Linda Booth Sweeney. Booth Sweeney describes her work as a systems educator and explains why understanding systems is so important. She shares many wonderful examples and stories of patterns (and feedback loops) that show up in everyday life and explains how seeing a pattern is the very first step toward influencing change. Booth Sweeney also talks about her books and why storytelling is such an instrumental tool in her work.

Linda Booth Sweeney
Some awesome ideas hiding in here. Definitely worth a second listen as well as bookmarking some of Sweeney’s books to read in the future. I particularly like the idea of systems thinking for children via storytelling. Some of the ideas here have some overlap with ideas in Big History.

🎧 Episode 115 The Network Science of Success: An Interview With Albert-László Barabási | HumanCurrent

Listened to Episode 115 The Network Science of Success: An Interview With Albert-László Barabási by Haley Campbell-GrossHaley Campbell-Gross from HumanCurrent

In this episode, Haley talks with Albert-László Barabási. Barabasi is the Robert Gray Dodge Professor of Network Science and a Distinguished University Professor at Northeastern University, where he directs the Center for Complex Network Research. He is also a renowned author of several books including his newly released book, The Formula: The Universal Laws of Success, which he discusses in-depth during his interview. Barabási shares key takeaways and important lessons from his new book and research on the science of success. He also gives us insights from his journey of learning about and pioneering the young field of network science and shares his hopes for the future of this field.

Albert-László Barabási

🎧 ‘The Daily’: The Human Toll of Instant Delivery | New York Times

Listened to 'The Daily': The Human Toll of Instant Delivery from New York Times

With the rise of online retailers like Amazon, consumers’ expectations about the speed of delivery have been transformed. But at what cost?

🎧 The Daily: Deployed in the U.S., Just Waiting for the Caravan | The New York Times

Listened to The Daily: Deployed in the U.S., Just Waiting for the Caravan by Michael Barbaro from nytimes.com

The midterm elections are over, and President Trump’s talk of the migrant caravan has dwindled. But thousands of troops sent to the southwest border are still there.

At nearly every turn, President Trump’s own generals tried to persuade him not to deploy active-duty troops to the United States border with Mexico. So what are 5,000 troops doing there?

On today’s episode:

Background reading:

He’s seriously deployed troops for a political reason and they’re going to be drawn down before the reason they’re supposed to be there happens?!

This is just the height of stupidity and government waste. Government institutions keep being eroded by Trumps ineptitude and fear-mongering. This is money and deployment help that would have been far better spent in Puerto Rico for the hurricane.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: Why U.S. Bombs Are Falling in Yemen | New York Times

Listened to 'The Daily': Why U.S. Bombs Are Falling in Yemen from New York Times

The killing of Jamal Khashoggi has renewed criticism of Saudi Arabia more broadly, including the kingdom’s role in the war in Yemen. It’s a war that has created what has been called the worst humanitarian crisis in the world — and one that the United States has backed from the beginning.

A nice little overview of some of the history behind what’s going on in several portions of the Middle East.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: How El Chapo Ended Up in a Brooklyn Courtroom | New York Times

Listened to 'The Daily': How El Chapo Ended Up in a Brooklyn Courtroom from New York Times

The U.S. government has its first chance to publicly present its account of one of the world’s most notorious drug kingpins.

A fascinating story.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: Letting Louis C.K. Back Onstage | New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: Letting Louis C.K. Back Onstage from New York Times

Nine months after admitting to sexual misconduct with multiple women, Louis C.K. dropped into a New York City comedy club unannounced and tried to make a comeback. And then he returned, again and again. We talk to the club owner who gave him that stage.

An interesting story that brings up an important philosophical question. It’s one thing for phenomenally rich people who could otherwise have retired and disappeared, but how this plays out will also inform how it will affect other lesser famous people going forward as well.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: Diplomacy and Deception From North Korea | New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: Diplomacy and Deception From North Korea from New York Times

President Trump says the nuclear threat from North Korea is over. But new satellite images of hidden missile bases suggest that the situation has only worsened since his meeting with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: What Facebook Knew and Tried to Hide | New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: What Facebook Knew and Tried to Hide from New York Times

The story of Facebook in the past few years has been that of a company slow to understand how powerful it has become. But an investigation by The New York Times finds that once Facebook’s leaders understood the problems they faced, they sought to conceal them.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: The Plan to Discredit the Florida Recount | New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: The Plan to Discredit the Florida Recount from New York Times

The partisan battle over several close races risks damaging public confidence in the state’s election systems.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: A Conversation With a Freshman Democrat | New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: A Conversation With a Freshman Democrat from New York Times

We spoke with Abigail Spanberger, a recently elected congresswoman from Virginia, about her first days in the Capitol and what it means to be a Democrat today.

Last week on “The Daily,” we looked at the campaign of a candidate who embodied the Democratic strategy for winning the House. This week, she arrived in Washington.

Abigail Spanberger a former C.I.A. officer, was elected as a Democrat in Virginia’s Seventh Congressional District. Listen to last week’s episode of “The Daily” about how the Democrats flipped the House, with a spotlight on Ms. Spanberger’s victory in a reliably conservative district.

The incoming group of House Democrats is the most diverse, most female freshman class in history. Members of the group also have major differences in ideology, which may present a challenge for Democratic leaders trying to unify their new House majority.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: The California Wildfires | New York Times

Listened to 'The Daily': The California Wildfires from New York Times

What was once a seasonal concern has become a persistent, year-round threat across the state.

🎧 Episode 56: The Juggernaut (MEN, Part 10) | Scene on Radio

Listened to Episode 56: The Juggernaut (MEN, Part 10) by John Biewen and Celeste Headlee from Scene on Radio

Writer Ben James and his wife Oona are raising their sons in a progressive and “queer-friendly” New England town. They actively encourage the boys to be themselves, never mind those traditional gender norms around “masculinity” and “femininity.” All was well. Until the elder son, Huck, went to sixth grade. Story by Ben James, with hosts Celeste Headlee and John Biewen, and psychologist Terrence Real.

🎧 Episode 55: Be Like You (MEN, Part 9) | Scene on Radio

Listened to Episode 55: Be Like You (MEN, Part 9) by John Biewen and Celeste Headlee from Scene on Radio

Lewis Wallace, female-assigned at birth, wanted to transition in the direction of maleness—in some ways. He shifted his pronouns, had surgery, starting taking testosterone. None of that meant he wanted to embrace everything that our culture associates with “masculinity.” Story written and reported by Lewis Wallace, with co-hosts John Biewen and Celeste Headlee.

Brings up interesting ideas about why we do or don’t expect people who are born women and transition to also take on the toxicity traits of maleness. Why can’t we just be who we are?