Dr. Miller, Dr. Muth, Dr. Falótico, & Dr. Cantor: Intelligence Across Species
Release Date: 06/18/2024
Dr. Eugene Ohu: Inspiring Empathy in Nigeria's Next Generation Leaders
Stories of Impact
Today, we’re excited to bring you a hopeful and constructive perspective on modern technology — a story about gamified tech that’s positively transformative. Dr. Eugene Ohu is a native Nigerian who grew up in this complex nation observing painful divisions, stereotyping between the ethnic groups, and deep discrimination. He wondered, is it possible to have a united Nigeria? Dr. Ohu wanted to do something radical to help his country unite. He wanted to ensure that the next generation of Nigerian leaders would be compassionate, tolerant, and empathetic toward all citizens, no matter their...
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Embracing Diverse Worldviews in the Classroom
Stories of Impact
Last week we introduced you to Dr. Berry Billingsley, in a conversation about her work studying Big Questions in Religious and Science Education, and her efforts to support multidisciplinary classrooms. This week we're back with the second part of that episode, exploring another Big Questions in the Classroom initiative, in conversation with seven educators who are advancing Dr. Billingsley's work through a collaborative research project called Religion and Worldviews. Together, these research leaders are not only introducing innovative ideas into traditional curriculum, but they're educating...
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Dr. Berry Billingsley: Big Questions That Change How We Learn
Stories of Impact
Is science fundamentally in opposition to religion, or do they just have little to do with each other? Is the way you engage with science and religion in your life informed by your core beliefs, or are your core beliefs informed by them? Do you think it's scientists or religious experts, or both, or neither, that are best equipped to help humans explore the meaning of life? People might find these questions to be provocative or controversial. But our guest in today's episode, science educator and researcher Dr. Berry Billingsley, was raised in a family culture of curiosity, so she's...
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Dr. Nicholas Bloom: What Remote Work Reveals About Equity and Innovation
Stories of Impact
Did you know that you are part of one of the most significant revolutions in the last 85 years? If you’re one of the 180-million Americans in the labor force, and at some point since the 2020 pandemic, you joined the ranks of work-from-home, you are historically revolutionary. Today, we sit down with Dr. Nicholas Bloom, economist and professor of economics at Stanford University. He's studied work-from-home habits for over 20 years—so long before covid-19—and now, his data is showing how the revolutionary shift that happened during the pandemic, is reverberating through society and...
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Dr. Kurt Gray: What Polarization Teaches us About Harm and Human Understanding
Stories of Impact
We’re back this episode for our second timely interview focusing on political polarization, wrapping up in conversation with Dr. Kurt Gray, professor of moral psychology and neuroscience at UNC Chapel Hill, and the director of the Deepest Beliefs Lab in the Center for the Science of Moral Understanding. Moral psychology is the descriptive understanding of our moral judgments, or concern with not just how people should make moral decisions, but how they actually do. Why does this matter? In Dr. Gray’s words: "To understand our contentious and divided political moments where people are...
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Dr. Sean Westwood: What Polarization Reveals About Democracy and the Human Spirit
Stories of Impact
When we spoke recently with Dr. Sean Westwood, associate professor of government at Dartmouth College and the director of the Polarization Research Lab, we knew we wanted to share the conversation with you as quickly as possible, because it speaks so directly to the current moment. Dr. studies American politics and how partisan conflict manifests in the United States, its consequences and its origins. Read the of this episode Learn more about Subscribe to Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts Find us on , , , and Share your comments, questions and...
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Dr. Anna Corwin: Understanding Spiritual Intelligence Across Cultures
Stories of Impact
Today we wrap up an enlightening series of conversations on religious ritual as a pathway to human flourishing with Dr. Anna Corwin. When Dr. Corwin became connected to the Diverse Intelligences initiative and researchers who collaboratively examine the variety of intelligence on the planet or beyond, whether plant, animal, human, alien, or artificial, she was inspired to see new possibilities for her own unique research interest, and to embark on a scientific exploration into spiritual intelligence. Read the of this episode Learn more about Subscribe to Stories of Impact...
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Dr. Adam Cohen, Aliza Kline and Dr. Arielle Levites: Gathering at the Table for Connection and Belonging
Stories of Impact
Today we’re back in conversation with Dr. Adam Cohen, social psychologist and psychologist of religion at Arizona State University, who shares another research project that explores the way religious ritual connects participants more deeply not only with faith, but with community — this time, not through the practice of abstaining from food, but from breaking bread together. Dr. Arielle Levites, Managing Director of the Collaborative for Applied Studies in Jewish Education and a Research Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at George...
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Dr. Adam Cohen & Dr. Kathryn A. Johnson: Flourishing in the Yom Kippur Fast
Stories of Impact
In today's episode, we continue the discussion about fasting, as we hear from two scholars about research focusing on what is considered the holiest day of the year in Judaism: Yom Kippur. During the 25-hour Day of Atonement, observant Jews focus on deepening their relationship with God through prayer, community connection, and by fasting. Over the last three years, two Arizona State University researchers, professor of psychology Dr. Adam Cohen and associate research professor Dr. Kathryn A. Johnson, have been on a scientific mission to understand the universal impact of the fasting ritual,...
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Dr. Mostafa Salari Rad: The Hidden Powers of Ramadan Fasting
Stories of Impact
Meet Dr. Mostafa Salari Rad, a postdoctoral fellow in psychology at the New School in New York City. Born in Iran in a Shia Muslim practicing family, he always had an interest in philosophy, psychology, social science. He wondered why people behaved the way they did, why countries developed the way they did, and later, as a high school student in Japan, when he was the only person observing Ramadan, he started asking deeper questions about the self control he had to exert to fast, as Ramadan asked of him, from sunrise to sunset. Perhaps the first time, Dr. Rad questioned, why am I doing this?...
info_outline In our last episode, we spent time with the extraordinary Dr. Jane Goodall, primatologist, writer, speaker, and conservationist. Dr. Goodall previewed today's episode, featuring the three recipients of the Wildlife Intelligence Project, a $2.7 million joint initiative between National Geographic Society and Templeton World Charity Foundation designed to support "three early-career scientists…whose passion for and discoveries in wildlife field research have the potential to illuminate unknown wonders of our world.” We're proud to be in conversation with cognitive ecologist and bee researcher Dr. Felicity Muth, primatologist Dr. Tiago Falótico, and behavioral ecologist and biologist Dr. Mauricio Cantor.
These three National Geographic Explorers all study animal cognition, but how they do it, and their objects of study — bees, capuchin monkeys, and dolphins — varies. What that shows, as you’ll hear about today, is that intelligence can take many forms, and it’s only once we look past our anthropocentric definitions of intelligence that we can truly understand and appreciate the complexity and beauty of nature.
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- Supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation