Trains of Thoughts: Recent Episodes
trainsofthoughtspod.com
The podcast about creative ideas, new perspectives and everything else travelling through our minds. You hear some inspiring thoughts and ideas that are worth sharing with a greater audience. They can be about everyday life and human conditions, society and culture, science, politics or music … Simply anything a train of thought can reach. Every second Friday, I invite you to start your weekend with fresh and stimulating ideas and perspectives that take your minds off your daily routines and lead to lively discussions.
Where is home? … There are plenty of texts in literature and music that take up that question. In this episode, I want to share some of them with you that are really valuable.
Find the transcript of this episode here: https://trainsofthoughtspod.com/e/10-where-is-home/
Worth a look: “Home” – Passenger, https://passengermusic.com “Where Is Home?” – Rich Jacques, https://richjacques.com “Rolling Stone” – Passenger, https://passengermusic.com “Creating A Dream” – Xavier Rudd, https://xavierrudd.com “Der Heimatforscher” (Researching home) – Yared Dibaba, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20643621-der-heimatforscher
Why do we like some languages more than others? What criteria defines the sound of language? Together with Mirjami Heikkinen, we approach the question of what’s in language based on her professional experience as a voice actress. What are the qualities or tricks one needs to make a listener being drawn in by the spoken words? What are the different perceived or unperceived colors of language that make language or the spoken word in general interesting or appealing to us? And ultimately, what means language to us humans in the first place?
Find the transcript of this episode here: https://trainsofthoughtspod.com/e/09-voice-acting-or-the-beautiful-colors-of-language/
Highly recommended: Meidän Festivaali: https://meidanfestivaali.fi/ Website of Mirjami: https://www.mirjamiheikkinen.com/
Have you ever watched a TV program in which almost nothing is happening? Watching co-called Slow-TV with seemingly little content is a huge thing in Norway. What’s behind it? Why are Norwegians so fascinated by it? Let’s take a look at some examples and work out why Slow-TV is not boring, but actually highly addictive…
Find the transcript of this episode here: https://trainsofthoughtspod.com/e/08-slow-tv
Inspired by: Thomas Hellum, TEDxArendal, The world’s most boring television … and why it’s hilariously addictive, 2014, https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_hellum_the_world_s_most_boring_television_and_why_it_s_hilariously_addictive
"In my most natural state, I'll be introverted for say, six days in a row, and then on the seventh day, I'll become very extroverted, completely inside-out. Then I'll have to go back inside myself. Sometimes the change can be quite forceful — it's something I can't really control." (Björk). Many of us can probably relate to that. However, why are we often behaving like this? – I’ve been asking myself this question already for years – until I eventually found an answer. Where? In science, of course! So, here are my thoughts about it – and the ones of scientists.
Find the transcript of this episode here: https://trainsofthoughtspod.com/e/07-when-a-train-of-thought-crosses-the-border/
Sources:
“Production blocking and idea generation: Does blocking interfere with cognitive processes?”, Nijstad, B. A., Stroebe, W., Lodewijkx, H. F. M., 2003, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1031(03)00040-4
“What is an ambivert?”, https://www.scienceofpeople.com/ambivert/, accessed 2021-07-06.
We have a huge problem. Plastics are littering the environment and they survive here over thousands of years. Companies therefore started to produce plastics that should biodegrade. Therefore, solutions are already existing. But is that really the case? Tests have revealed that even biodegradable plastics do not always dissolve into the environment and can survive years. Corresponding labeling of such bioplastics seems to be misleading. Are we suffering again a severe setback on our way out of our environmental crisis? No – provided that we draw the right conclusions and take the necessary next steps. And the first are taking a closer look – not only on biodegradability.
Find the transcript of this episode here: https://trainsofthoughtspod.com/e/06-bioplastics-can-they-solve-our-waste-problem/
Interesting articles and main sources:
Ellen MacArthur Foundation, McKinsey & Company, World Economic Forum, “The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics”, 2016, https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/The-New-Plastics-Economy-Rethinking-the-Future-of-Plastics.pdf
European Bioplastics, https://www.european-bioplastics.org/bioplastics/, accessed: 2021-06-20.
ETH Zürich, P. Rüegg, “Soil bugs munch on plastics”, https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2018/07/soil-bugs-munch-on-plastic-films.html, accessed 2021-06-20, based on: M.T. Zumstein et al., “Biodegradation of synthetic polymers in soils: Tracking carbon into CO2 and microbial biomass”, Science Advances, Vol. 4, no. 7, 2018, https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/7/eaas9024.
I. E. Napper, R. C. Thompson, “Environmental Deterioration of Biodegradable, Oxo-biodegradable, Compostable, and Conventional Plastic Carrier Bags in the Sea, Soil,and Open-Air Over a 3‑Year Period”, Environmental Science & Technology, 53, 9, 2019, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.8b06984.
University of Plymouth, “Biodegradable bags can hold a full load of shopping three years after being discarded in the environment”, 2019, https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/news/biodegradable-bags-can-hold-a-full-load-of-shopping-three-years-after-being-discarded-in-the-environment, accessed: 2021-06-20.
To note or not to note, that is the question. … How often do you forget things? How often are you in a situation in which you cannot remember something that happened or something that someone told you? We usually keep the colorful memories of our lives in our hearts until they go black and white, or worse – disappear. Can note-taking or journaling help us to prevent such situations?
Find the transcript of this episode here: https://trainsofthoughtspod.com/e/05-to-note-or-not-to-note/
Interesting articles: - Kira M. Newman, How Journaling Can Help You in Hard Times, Greater Good Magazine, The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, 2020, https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_journaling_can_help_you_in_hard_times. - K.M. Chan, K. Horneffer, Emotional expression and psychological symptoms: A comparison of writing and drawing, The Arts in Psychotherapy, vol. 33-1, 2006, p. 26-36, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2005.06.001.
Have you ever heard of the word ‘kafkaesque’? It always comes to my mind when I am in a melancholic or ‘deep thinking’ mood. I believe, we all having such a mood from time to time. Let’s try in this episode to look for some hints where such feelings evolve from. Let’s try to identify the reasons behind and find out what we can do to counteract such times whenever they come over us and annoy us.
Find the transcript of this episode here: https://trainsofthoughtspod.com/e/04-deep-thinking-kafka/
Sources: [1] NHS, Overview - Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad/, accessed 2021-05-23. [2] Bridges, F. S.; Yip, P. S. F.; Yang, K. C. T. (2005). "Seasonal changes in suicide in the United States, 1971 to 2000". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 100 (3 suppl): 920–924, doi:10.2466/pms.100.3c.920-924. [3] Association for Psychological Science, Grin and Bear It! Smiling Facilitates Stress Recovery, https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/smiling-facilitates-stress-recovery.html, accessed 2021-05-23. [4] Kraft TL, Pressman SD. Grin and Bear It: The Influence of Manipulated Facial Expression on the Stress Response. Psychological Science. 2012;23(11):1372-1378. doi:10.1177/0956797612445312
“Why are we scared to put ourselves out there?” the two brothers Ali and Taimur asked themselves in one of the first episodes of their podcast "Not Overthinking". Some answers they found made me think differently about publishing content online and nurtured the idea of putting myself out there as well. In fact, I believe that everyone of us has something that is worth sharing with a greater audience. So, listen to this episode and start putting yourself out there!
Find the transcript of this episode here:
https://trainsofthoughtspod.com/e/03-put-yourself-out-there/
“Why are we scared to put ourselves out there?”, episode 2 of the “Not overthinking” podcast by Ali and Taimur Abdaal, https://notoverthinking.com/why-are-we-scared-to-put-ourselves-out-there/
“Show your work”, book by Austin Kleon, https://austinkleon.com/show-your-work/
“Changer d’altitude”, book by Bertrand Piccard, https://bertrandpiccard.com/publications
Environmental sustainability – a big buzzword nowadays. We all want to go green. Concerns about our environment have maybe never been as present in today’s politics and daily routines as they are now. We all must act, the earlier the better. We all know that. So, it’s not a matter of realising the urgency or of setting goals, but of defining the exact modes and measures. However, defining such modes and measures seems difficult and can become frustrating: Why can’t ‘green’ be more black-and-white?
Find the transcript of this episode here: https://trainsofthoughtspod.com/e/02-why-cant-green-be-more-black-and-white/
A light-read scientific article on systemic design: Jones, P.H., 2014, Design research methods for systemic design: Perspectives from design education and practice, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289551227_Design_research_methods_for_systemic_design_Perspectives_from_design_education_and_practice
Why do we face so many situations in our everyday life in which it is so hard to motivate ourselves or to resist temptation? We might well lack willpower. In the first episode of Trains of Thoughts, we discuss the importance of willpower and go through a checklist of steps on how to strengthen our willpower to reach our goals.
Find the transcript of this episode here: https://trainsofthoughtspod.com/e/01-willpower/
A video of the famous marshmallow experiment can be found here: The Marshmallow Experiment – Instant Gratification, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo4WF3cSd9Q
Further interesting papers:
Baumeister, R. and Tierney, J. (2011). Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. New York: Penguin Press.
Duckworth, A. (2011). The significance of self-control. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(7), 2639–2640. Link: https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/108/7/2639.full.pdf
Zhao, Z., and Hou, J. (2009). The study on psychological capital development of intrapreneurial team. International Journal of Psychological Studies, 1(2), 35.
Hello and welcome to “Trains of Thoughts” – the podcast about creative ideas, new perspectives and everything else travelling through our minds. In this podcast prologue you hear everything you need to know listening to this podcast. It is so to say your ticket for all our journeys. And the best of it: its free!
Find the transcript of this trailer here: https://trainsofthoughtspod.com/e/00-prologue/
The quote from Joseph Fort Newton was found here together with an inspiring image: https://vessels-of-vision.com/2012/10/23/train-of-thought/
The one psychological study on disruptions of a train of thought, I am talking about in this prologue, can be found here: “Production blocking and idea generation: Does blocking interfere with cognitive processes?”, Nijstad, B. A., Stroebe, W., Lodewijkx, H. F. M., 2003, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1031(03)00040-4