• Bob: having seen the effects of climate change first hand…
• Kamran: found myself reading about Woodrow Wilson, Aldís…
• Catherine: I’m working on ancient climate change...
• Shubham: the atmosphere of Venus is like a living hell for humans
• Aryn: one time I walked 60 blocks because the compost wasn’t where it usually was
• Daniel: get some sweat in, shower, and I’m ready to start my day… 6AM except Sundays
• William: When you do the white coat ceremony, you remember you’re really here to take care of people and patients.
• Adam: Everyone in my family is under my care of the longevity diet and I’m happy to report they’re doing quite well.
• Assaad: I went back into ballroom dancing; there’s more to life than – at that point – law school 
• Audrey: I have this whole stack of old t-shirts and a forever shortage of underwear, and I recently had the brilliant idea to just turn those darn t-shirts into underwear!
• Erik: I don’t want to compromise in the way I live my life, and so going electric feels like small way to say I’m committing to a better future.
• Sydney: Once you’ve committed for enough time, I’ve noticed that I don’t view animal products as food anymore.
• Shannon: That's a good example for my biology students because we talk about conservation and I’m running and biking and so simultaneously reducing my carbon footprint.
• Gabrielle: It’s difficult to walk the talk if you don’t have people who’re going to check you. You need those friends who're going to say 'you said you weren't going to eat chicken today, why are you eating chicken?'
• Stan: aerobus zero gravity experiments
• Sushen: going deep into a subject of interest
• Peter: to address accessibility problems with AI
• Neil: because I started to realize that business is a good way to bring about the social changes that can be hard to make in the public or non-profit sector.
• Aldís: It's really a lifelong goal to be part of this climate movement and move the dial forward on solutions for the planet and its people
• Kamran: I always want to be a first an ideas person before I’m a technical or legal professional if you will
• Brabeeba: So actually I didn't have a specific concentration; I switched every year. [gasp!]
• Peter: I have a lot of love for my metamour
• Sydney: Let's question these conventions a little bit more and find out what we actually want
• Kamran: All of these movements at their core are really about injustice and unjust power
• Gabrielle: When I do embody that power that I have as a Black femme, they don’t know what to do with it!
• Assaad: Just plugging along with my writer’s group; at the time of recording, I'm writing Chapter 7.
• Noah: Improvisation streaks where I'll sit down play for like 5 hours.
• Gustav: Essentially my life has been mostly about art.
• Nathan: We built this little device that can do digital contact tracing [for COVID]
• Emma: If you work hard but don't take things too seriously, it's fine.
• Cameron: We’re drawing from a ton of collective knowledge, enriching the hive mind, the collective.
• Sinwah: anytime I can earn money, but to chase my dream is something I can only do when I’m within 20s.

What’s your talk, and how do you walk it?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I started this podcast to share stories and sources of inspiration along that well-worn cliché of accountability and integrity in what you stand for and how you approach your life’s work and relationships.

Thanks to people who were willing to share their thoughts and personal stories, this show has grown into so much more. It’s been bringing together the hashes from all the rehashing of that phrase.

It’s the way you go about asking life’s biggest questions – from everything that’s here on earth, to everything that’s out in space. 

• Bob: having seen the effects of climate change first hand…
• Kamran: found myself reading about Woodrow Wilson, Aldís…
• Catherine: I’m working on ancient climate change...
• Shubham: the atmosphere of Venus is like a living hell for humans

It’s about how you approach your day to day, with grit and dedication. 

• Aryn: one time I walked 60 blocks because the compost wasn’t where it usually was
• Daniel: get some sweat in, shower, and I’m ready to start my day… 6AM except Sundays

It’s about how you take care of yourself and others in times of need.

• William: When you do the white coat ceremony, you remember you’re really here to take care of people and patients.
• Adam: Everyone in my family is under my care of the longevity diet and I’m happy to report they’re doing quite well.

How you find ways to be whole in a system that seeks to channel you in one way or another 

• Assaad: I went back into ballroom dancing; there’s more to life than – at that point – law school 

And it’s about setting an example, whether or not others choose to follow it – by inspiring others to choose their own course of action on the causes they care about. 

• Audrey: I have this whole stack of old t-shirts and a forever shortage of underwear, and I recently had the brilliant idea to just turn those darn t-shirts into underwear!
• Erik: I don’t want to compromise in the way I live my life, and so going electric feels like small way to say I’m committing to a better future.
• Sydney: Once you’ve committed for enough time, I’ve noticed that I don’t view animal products as food anymore.
• Shannon: That's a good example for my biology students because we talk about conservation and I’m running and biking and so simultaneously reducing my carbon footprint.
• Gabrielle: It’s difficult to walk the talk if you don’t have people who’re going to check you. You need those friends who're going to say 'you said you weren't going to eat chicken today, why are you eating chicken?'

It’s about stepping into your role as an authentic creator of whatever it is you do in your life. Asking how you can best apply yourself to problems that really matter, and what it is you truly want to pursue – not because someone says you should but because you want to. 

• Stan: aerobus zero gravity experiments
• Sushen: going deep into a subject of interest
• Peter: to address accessibility problems with AI
• Neil: because I started to realize that business is a good way to bring about changes that can be hard to make in the public or non-profit sector.
• Aldís: It's really a lifelong goal to be part of this climate movement and move the dial forward on solutions for the planet and its people
• Kamran: I always want to be a first an ideas person before I’m a technical or legal professional if you will
• Brabeeba: So actually I didn't have a specific concentration; I switched every year. [gasp!]

It’s about defining your identity; building relationships that enhance your life and tapping into your immense capacity to love many people in no particular order.

• Peter: I have a lot of love for my metamour
• Sydney: Let's question these conventions a little bit more and find out what we actually want

Upending existing power structures in politics, law, the workforce; alleviating the visceral burden on people of color in a system that favors white. 

• Kamran: All of these movements at their core are really about injustice and unjust power
• Gabrielle: When I do embody that power that I have as a Black femme, they don’t know what to do with it!

It’s about having the tenacity to see your visions come to life through music, multimedia art, movement, everyday objects, physical canvas, digital media, and your writing. 

• Assaad: Just plugging along with my writer’s group; at the time of recording, I'm writing Chapter 7.
• Noah: Improvisation streaks where I'll sit down play for like 5 hours.
• Gustav: Essentially my life has been mostly about art.
• Nathan: We built this little device that can do digital contact tracing [for COVID]
• Emma: If you work hard but don't take things too seriously, it's fine.

It’s about how your life may be an expression of your most radical and daring ideas when you have the courage to speak your mind and walk your talk. 

• Cameron: We’re drawing from a ton of collective knowledge, enriching the hive mind, the collective.
• Sinwah: anytime I can earn money, but to chase my dream is something I can only do when I’m within 20s.

This podcast is a place where we openly explore these questions and your unique answers. What’s your talk, and how do you walk it?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• (0:00) "Improv in NYC - 1" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKeHgnoadyQ
• (15:30) "My Song 37 Longer" by Noah Fechtor-Pradines (I am in love with this song!)

Noah Fechtor-Pradines is a quantitative researcher living in New York City who composes and plays the piano in his free time. Most recently he has also picked up the violin and started taking socially-distanced lessons! We talk about his creative process, music theory as the "grammar" of music, and improvisation as the "immersion" of becoming fluent in the universal language that is music.

• I was 11 years old I think.

(0:30) That’s when Noah first started playing the piano. 

• Sometimes I hated lessons and practicing but I loved the piano.
• I think it was something my parents suggested as something I should consider, and I was like sure! But then I loved it and continued.

(0:50) His first exposure to improvisation was at the end of high school, at school assemblies, when people would come in and out of the auditorium for the national anthems.

• I went to a British school so we'd sing the British and United States national anthems.
• And afterwards, I’d stick around, just playing things easy on the ears, not like elevator music but pleasant things.

(1:30) When he’s alone with the piano it’s a very intimate process of creativity.

• I just turn off all the lights, and play by feel. It’s very much a mood thing.

(2:30) I asked if he was then comfortable making such improvisations public on YouTube.

• I get full control over what I put up there, and I’m comfortable playing in public.
• And I’m getting more comfortable with making mistakes in a recording and still posting it. 

(2:55) I was also curious whether putting his improvisations up on YouTube changed what he played in any way.

• Well there’s meter and dissonance … joke about band tripping over missed beat.
• But even the set up is a barrier. 
• [You need a real piano, I say, and laughter].
• I do need a real piano. I really do. 
• Actually one of the things I miss is trying out pianos at the Steinway Store.
• I think they’re willing to bet that in 20 years, there’s a high chance I’ll have such positive associations with them that I’ll buy a Steinway over another brand.

(6:00) We talked about some of the other things he misses during COVID lockdown, like live concerts and jam sessions with fellow musicians.

• It’s been like over a year. 
• [Netherlands street musicians]
• So jealous… I live for that stuff!
• I was at a salsa dance gathering in Boston and there was one of those "Play Me I'm Yours" pianos. I started playing and some guy joined me - it was great!
• There’s a spot in Union Square where people often play music, and I'll be going to work or coming back from work, and there'll be a saxophone screaming down the subway. Those are the moments that make life exciting. I miss it so much.

(8:10) Being around people in person, and hearing live music (or YouTube productions of novel scores) function at the core of his improvisational inspiration.

• Sometimes It’s hard to be creative when there’s nothing to draw inspiration from.
• When I hear something I don’t understand, the process of understanding it is one of the most creative moments for me.
• A big part of my process is just figuring out what I liked about what I heard, and playing it in as many different possible ways as I can think of, and that happens over the course of maybe 5 hours.

(9:04) Those are the kernels of inspiration. And I love that he calls them kernels because it's such a mathematical expression.

• 100% a mood thing, just have to be in the mood and the moment.
• [I remember you were very inspired after a movie and composed my song longer 37…]
• I have a whole bunch of unfinished thoughts that I just abandoned… don’t really know where they are now… [oh no!]

(10:40) You know Neil Gaiman? There’s his idea of compost pile…

• Yeah, it sort of needs to sit there for a while, before the flowers bloom.
• [and sometimes methane comes out]
• Right, we don’t record those… [laughter]
• [Or we do and delete them... they never see the light of day]

(12:09) What have you been doing musically creatively? he asked me.

• [Actually I've started improvising on violin. I was inspired by you, and the way you can create sweeping phrases and beautiful sounding chords… but I don’t know music theory.]
• I actually have an opinion about music theory…
• First of all, everyone’s biased toward the way they learned things, but I think I knew a lot more music theory from just improvising. 
• So taking music theory class was just learning what those things were called.

(13:54) It’s like grammar for language… music theory for music.

• Yeah, like who do I consider more fluent: someone who knows all the grammatical rules for Spanish or someone who lived in Spain for three years and speaks it fluently?

(14:08) So improvisation is the immersion of the musical world of communication and creation.

• I think one of the things that’s bolstered my violin the fastest is I have this practice regimen... but then I explore what’s possible, and what the patterns are.

(15:50) And he’s almost done with book 1 of Suzuki after 2 months. Suzuki is popular among teachers of beginner violinists.

• My teacher makes my progress sound impressive but then he’s comparing me with 7 year olds [laughter]
• [Once you learn one instrument, easier to learn the next]

(16:17) But he’s got a unique goal that sets him apart from students, possibly of any age.

• I just want to be familiar enough that I can understand it and play creatively and write stuff that involves it.
• [Cool because composers need to know how to play the other instruments they write for…]
• It’s so different! The attack is different.
• When I see a whole note over two measures, piano brain sees that and thinks nothing’s happening. 
• [So it’s going to change what you write for violin] 
• Yeah, yeah it’s going to change.
• But I’m already having a ball just squeaking out notes.

(18:06) There is a violin store that’s open, and Noah’s been trying out violins.

• The guy Lukasz Wronski was like here you try this one, I be back in an hour.
• This one better, try!

(18:59) He ended up finding out the violin-maker’s story at the violin shop while he was trying out violins… so we’ll close with this anecdote.

• When he was 14 he went to get his violin fixed, and the maker ended up teaching him how to fix it himself. Eventually he started making his own violins!
• There’s so much craft that goes into these things... damn.

(19:40) Thank you Noah for joining me for this final highlight of the year! Keep on creating, y'all.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• (0:11) Story of how we met at Longy School of Music and studied with Mark Lakirovich. She also taught me violin while studying pedagogy with him.
• (1:22) I asked her if anything carried over in her teaching. "Totally! Basically everything!"
• (2:13) Reminiscing "You couldn't really repeat that time of my life. I was in the right place at the right time to get that experience; just kind of lucky. I just remember spending hours in that teaching room, and it was always an hour behind - and it didn't bother me at all! – and you kind of just knew that if you were last you were not gonna start on time, but you had to show up on time just in case." But then you'd get to listen in to the previous or next lesson, and that's such good teaching too. "It was so cosy and timeless!"
• (3:36) "I just found it fascinating, watching. Especially when he was working with younger students, seeing how he was going to develop them and the order he was going to do things in. I'd never seen him working with such talented kids where it makes a massive massive difference how you deliver and what you give."
• (4:16) Emma would always have a notebook with her, and she'd bring it to our private lessons as well.
• (4:32) She read an entry from the notebook about a hilarious way Mark delivered the feedback. "Have you invented a new bow direction? Sideways?" "You've knocked on the wrong door. D-flat is D's neighbor. Hear the D-flat before you move. Second finger will take you up."
• (5:40) Reminiscing cont. about the usefulness of Mark's practice techniques. "Rhythm practice, double stop practice..."
• (6:13) Emma's students love her "I just try to get them to love violin, but I actually think most of them (barring maybe 5 to 10) cause I've got about 50 kids – I think most of them just come to hang out with me, and talk to me about stuff that's going on at school. They just think that it's fun. But at the same time that's just good. Obviously we're still doing violin stuff. If you enjoy that part of your day it will translate into you liking the violin."
• (7:40) It's not all jolly fun – "You get pretty tired quite quickly; it's a lot of energy. And you always have to be thinking ahead and if you're not really feeling it you have to act like you are. But the kids usually make me feel better and they'll say something really funny."
• (8:52) "Sometimes I have to write them down without letting them see that I'm writing them down. Cause I know that I'll find it funny later."
• (9:20) "Now I'm on my long break. No teaching until first of February. And I find that I really need that time. Kind of like your June-July"
• (9:47) This year isn't the year for a summer academy
• (9:55) Mr. Mark answering the phone calls from composers we were playing.
• (10:08) The Russian we learned at lesson :) "Da" "Horosho" "Baka"
• (10:27) Have you talked to him at all? He asked me to teach at Cremona, an International Music Academy.
• (11:02) Rescinded – "I don't think we'll be going to Cremona because of Corona." and I thought it was a joke but I saw the news. (11:46) So things got real.
• (12:00) "I remember thinking nah it's gonna be fine. Nothing ever happens in New Zealand."
• (12:57) "Everyone did what we were supposed to do. People really care about each other and our country. And if you weren't doing what they're supposed to be doing, people would look at you like you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing."
• (13:30) Prime Minister and government officials in NZ made it easy to follow rules at each level of lockdown. "I kind of wish I was best friends with her. The other week I played a gig for the opening of Parliament, so I snuck a photo in." Perks of being a kiwi: essentially COVID-free country!
• (14:39) "During lockdown level 4, which lasted 8 weeks, that's when I did all my online teaching... in the end sometimes I had a kid who was like kind of in the corner – ok, just keep going – and I only see the top of their head or the scroll"
• (15:20) Where do students get their violins? The generic-type Paganini brand! (The virtuoso violinist and composer with huge hands who could play tenths like nobody's business and who was rumored to have sold his soul to the devil so he could achieve such mastery in his performances).
• (16:04) The mysterious full-size violin and its surprise restoration value :)
• (18:42) Final anecdote with quote coming full circle to the story of her first lesson with Mark Lakirovich: double stop scales! "If you work hard but don't take things too seriously, it'll be fine."
• Adorable video here. https://www.nzmusicteachers.co.nz/emma-colligan/

A big thank you to Emma Colligan for joining me for this amazing conversation and paving the way for this up and coming Kiwi violin rockstars, and to Mark Lakirovich for teaching us all.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Links are to their highlight episodes, available on Spotify: 

• (0:00) Aryn Aiken - can you tell I looked at your questions and was like, these are great, then put it away
• (0:09) Nathan Manohar - we went on a very long tangent! like Caesar ciphers and stuff...
• (0:24) Shubham Kulkarni - is this too much right now? no, no, no. ok
• (0:35) Adam Wong - grindstones and noses, your nose or their noses?
• (0:54) Stan Broere - moving the couch to mini satellites 10cm x 10cm x 10cm which for some reason I found hilarious
• (2:30) Sydney Grange - good to reflect, pulling the pieces of the story together
• (2:46) Cameron Akker - pop guard, I think I need to upgrade my equipment!
• (3:05) Adam Wong - instagram.com, baby!
• (3:09) in conversation with Emma Colligan - UPCOMING from our teacher's phone calls to semiquavers to virtual teaching when the kid only appears at the bottom corner of the screen with the top of their head and the scroll
• (3:51) Gustav Ferri - I kept mishearing what he was saying, from dinosaurs to sorcery!
• (4:31) from learning cantonese with my aunt - couldn't remember where we were going
• (4:42) Noah Fechtor-Pradines - UPCOMING on public transportation in Manhattan and his foldable bike

Have a wonderful day.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• (0:30) Introducing Cameron!
• (1:04) What is the Harvard Psyche and how did you come up with the idea?
• (20:08) How to overcome/deal with the Harvard psyche?
• (4:30) You defied the call to “specialize in one thing” with your experience taking 13+ courses by cross registering at MIT.
• (10:10) Let's talk about bandwidth – how did you manage?
• (14:03) Moving into career experiences, how’s it going with micro-mobility at Lyft? 
• (16:24) Based on your experience, what is your advice for early graduates pursuing tech and project management?
• (25:22) What is the narrative behind your career arc? Universal access to education (25:40)
• (30:12) Ties back to how you structured your own education. Big proponent of self-education.
• (32:05) How to provide free access when everyone's so focused on making money? How to get around the homo economicus?

(33:10) "That's the result of wanting to get your worth for what you put into it. My motives for doing this kind of thing is that I've been helped immensely by the free resources in everything I've tried to learn. It's much like the open source software community. If you're trying to implement something for your own project, you tap into the community knowledge database and can pull something from it, with the expectation that you'll give back at some point in the future." – Cameron Akker

• (34:03) Check out Superminds by MIT Professor Thomas Malone

(34:17) "The future isn't going to be decided by a bunch of individuals. ... The shared intellect of a large variety of people might be the largest resource yet when it comes to progressing humanity. Think of Wikipedia. Very small ownership team, basically maintained by the same internet that uses it. So in the model of wikipedia, how can we have more of these types of platforms? ...enriching the society that engages with this material. I think that investing in education that is freely available is not pouring money into the void; it is pouring it into a society that then reflects that back, much in the way that something like wikipedia reflects that value back onto itself." – Cameron Akker

• (35:45) Super elucidating! Thank you!

You rock, Cameron. Keep walking the talk!

Everyone, thanks for listening, and have a fantastic day.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• (0:33) Introduction
• (1:08) How residency program works and fits into the overall training program for doctors and physician-scientists
• (2:30) Recent experience with pediatric cancer cases, thinking about how to optimize radiation dosage to reduce recurrence rate and minimize potential long-term complications.
• (4:21) Connecting three dots getting to where he is today – from the Canadian Red Cross to summer classes (6:35) and a research program with the Princess Margaret Cancer Center (7:00) alongside an undergraduate computer engineering degree to personal experience with cancer care in the last year of medical school (7:44).
• (9:03) Being on COVID front line – "Overnight, some of the wards were turned into intensive care units" with beds for the patients, and nurses were now ICU nurses (for the intensive care unit) – coming up with ways for family members to visit in person with enough personal protective equipment (PPE) or virtually with iPads, thinking about tough end of life conversations and moments. "You really are dedicating your life to the welfare of these patients." (11:00)
• (16:15) Deciding whether to do rapid fire questions to lift the mood or dive into advice right away... went with rapid fire questions!
• (16:49) One thing everybody should know about maintaining their health – eat well, exercise, maintain mind body and spirit.
• (17:14) Most outlandish other career path you would pursue... pilot and astronaut!
• (18:12) Favorite thing to do in free time – drive around, take road trips, explore new places, (like the lake where he took my call).
• (18:50) One of your ultimate life questions... having been exposed to cancer care it reveals how unpredictable life can be, so how can I really do everything that I love to do within the time I have, and do the best I can so that I don't regret it? How do I seize every opportunity to expand my horizons and do things I didn't think were possible?
• (20:02) Something somebody has said that made you feel awesome ... gratitude from cancer patients, especially with respect to how the care was provided. "It's the way you go about it, the way you explain things to people." "People don't really remember how smart you are, until you show them how much you care about them as an individual, whether or not you are able to cure their disease."
• (21:27) Three core values you strive to live by... #1 Integrity (true to your word and yourself), #2 Happiness (enjoy what you do), #3 Optimism (that things will be better)
• (22:34) Top advice for people who want to go into medicine (22:53) – "have the perseverance and dedication" to see it through. "It's a long career path, but also really rewarding." "We work very very long hours, especially during our training. There's a lot to learn and sometimes very little time to learn all of it." (24:10) "But this is a good time to go into medicine because things are transforming, e.g. through telemedicine and using tech to overcome challenges associated with the pandemic."
• (25:07) Advice for relationships e.g. patients, family, or personal life. (25:28) "You can build the best relationships with people if you're really genuine about each interaction. You can build relationships with a lot of people, but you can also build very deep relationships with fewer people, but really meaningful ones. There's obviously a balance there." (26:04) Value your long-term deeper relationships, and remember the people who've helped you along the way. We're all standing on the shoulders of giants, as the saying goes.

William's one of those people who's helped me along my journey as my freshman advisor in college. Thanks William, you rock! Keep walking the talk :)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Time stamps and some notes:

[Part 1] Journey into Astrophysics

• (0:15) Intro
• (1:09) A prospective zero-gravity experience!
• (1:36) How you became interested in astrophysics
• (2:14) Lots of books, self-study, documentaries and watching Cosmos by Neil DeGrasse Tyson
• (2:31) Advice – "just find a book in a library, and just start reading it"
• (2:47) Astrophysics in a Hurry, by Neil DeGrasse Tyson – good beginning
• (3:10) "Instead of watching Netflix, you can find a lot of good educational videos on YouTube"
• (3:30) People tell you what's important, instead of you finding out. But reading the book is also good, to see the complete version.
• (3:48) What's something recent you read that blew your mind?
• (3:57) Rocket science and propulsion!

[Part 1 cont.] Machine Learning with Digital Art (Van Gogh style!)

• (4:58) On the side you do digital art – how's that going?
• (5:09) Machine learning to convert your pictures into Van Gogh style portraits!

[Part 1 cont.]  Internship Experience in Sydney, Australia - cultural observations

• (6:32) Experience abroad in Sydney Australia – full of stories and culture
• (6:50) Differences – more laid back, relaxed instead of 9 to 5
• (7:03) Was it a factor of your role there?
• (7:14) Also in general, people are a little more relaxed
• (7:26) In NL people are on time, but (7:43) it depends on the person
• (7:52) In the NL we're also more direct – right, more frank with what you mean
• (8:29) How was the directness in Sydney?
• (8:38) “Sometimes my directness was a problem,” like when he went out to a bar and got overcharged, and then went back the next day to say something. "Apparently I was a bit too direct, and he was put off guard, so I didn't quite see that coming."
• (9:26) Started vlogging while there – why?
• (9:35) Other friends had done a lot of filming – finally gotten around to editing, and hopefully release in December first episode (travel to Sydney and leading events)
• (10:25) Did you see anyone like, what's he doing? (Not yet, but probably!)

[Part 1 cont.] Cube Satellites!

• (10:42) Main purpose in Sydney: internship
• (10:47) Went there to do another internship at University of Sydney to research possible propulsion fuel for cube satellites "cube sats" (11:44) used as secondary payloads on a rocket
• (11:57) "The fetish for the tiny satellites is that you only need to spend 10,000 euros for the cost of going upstairs, so it's easier for universities to do some experiments."
• (12:28) What happens to the satellites after they break down out there?"
• (12:58) They come back down into the atmosphere and burn on the way in. Metal wire and electric current induced in it by the Earth's magnetic field results in a net force downward.
• (13:55) You want more space up there. Some satellites from 70s are still orbiting – and they're not providing data anymore or operating – so you want them cleared out. Some people are developing mechanisms to pull them down.
• (14:56) GHGSat cool initiative to put out a train of satellites to take high resolution measurements of methane emissions on the ground
• (15:15) You can let a lot of cube satellites orbit around the earth, and take a lot of pictures to track more places at once instead of the big satellites.
• (15:55) Big satellites cost many millions, but tiny satellites cost tens of thousands.
• (16:14) Can track Amazon, or forest fires in CA and Australia.
• (16:26) Juliette Anema's work at SRON: time scale of fires in Australia – got published on various platforms
• (16:58) "It's really nice to see when people are so passionate about something that they just do it... even when it's not required."  –AE

[Part 2] Cultural Reflections and COVID

• (17:15) "How did you experience the Netherlands" – Stan
• (17:34) Main takeaway was how you can make a city so beautiful by investing in the care of your streets and having bike paths, canals, and vegetation (of course, environmentally dependent)
• (18:04) Biking around everywhere, without any worry of the cars – so well structured! clear lanes, clear lights. Can be unsafe otherwise
• (18:44) Simon van Diepen (another officemate) was saying how important it is in Dutch drivers' tests to be aware of bikers
• (19:03) Whole roads painted red that are specifically for biking ... because climate change, but also because a lot of people love to bike from one place to another.
• (19:27) HUGE bike garages – we're basically on a rant at this point, it's great!
• (20:12) Biking to grocery stores... backpack, or basket, or wheelbarrow
• (20:41) How is it now with COVID? Masks? "It changes every minute... but we're currently climbing up in numbers but slowly decreasing, amidst the 2nd wave. Governance is currently promoting wearing masks. Whereas previously they were a bit more skeptical."
• (21:53) Disinfecting shopping carts, etc.
• (22:04) Similar in U.S. with groceries – people are more cautious now
• (22:20) Netherlands initial response was not quite Sweden. Sweden decided to let it run through, but in NL we still had the six feet society. Six feet distancing. "Social distancing." "Ander halder mader sama leving." <-- sounding it out, "six feet apart society." (22:33)
• (23:00) Some traveling bans even between neighboring countries, museums and restaurants closed, amusement parks...

[Part 3] Working with Dyslexia and ADHD

• (23:51) Working with having dyslexia and ADHD – it's mostly just about practicing
• (24:30) Easier to consume more audiovisual cues rather than reading
• (24:50) Reading more and more over the years over 20 years of experience
• (25:08) I always thought that dyslexia was about words getting mixed up while reading
• (25:21) Sometimes I think it says something instead of something else, so I think I understand, but "Oh, it didn't say that, ok..." so I'm assuming and jumping to conclusions.
• (25:52) ADHD concentrating and focusing – you excel in what you do, so how do you do it?
• (26:07) Also a learning experience – currently with everything going on in the pandemic, it's been difficult. No one's supervising. So I just try to disconnect from the Internet, lay back, and just read it, and say I'll just do some gaming after I've done this and this, and if I don't then I don't game.
• (27:33) Enjoy what you do, don't force yourself, so you don't have a mental breakdown.

(27:53) Closing Notes

• (27:59) "Love your family, enjoy the new year, and hopefully we have a White Christmas, stay inside with warm choco and listen to your podcast!" – Stan

^^ That! Have a wonderful day :) Thanks for tuning in!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Panelists:

• Kirsty Gogan, Co-Founder at Energy for Humanity, and TerraPraxis. 
• Seaver Wang, Climate and Energy Analyst at the Breakthrough Institute.
• Canon Bryan, Chief Financial Officer at Terrestrial Energy.

Host: Jason Grillo, Event Director at AirMiners

• (1:46) EXIGENCE. What are the advantages of advanced nuclear energy tech over other energy sources and why pair it with carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS)? Kirsty (2:03), Canon (5:00), Seaver (7:35)
• (8:50) VISION. What can we do with the combination of advanced nuclear and carbon capture? Seaver (9:17), Canon (11:17), Kirsty (13:46)
• (17:17) DESIGN. What are some design considerations of pairing NP with CCUS? Would either system need to adapt to suit the other? Kirsty (17:41), Seaver (18:54), Canon (20:53)
• (23:02) COST. How much will it cost to roll this out? What are the cost drivers of nuclear/CCUS? Canon (23:19), Kirsty (25:25)
• (29:43) TIMELINE. Given the cost competitiveness, when or how soon could we implement NP+CCS/CU? How close are we? Seaver (29:58), Canon (31:37)
• (34:20) LOCATION / SCALE / STAKEHOLDERS. Where would be best for implementation and at what scale (Gt)? Who is/should be involved; how can audience learn more/get involved? Kirsty (34:53), Canon (37:25), Seaver (39:21), Kirsty (41:51)
• (44:09) AUDIENCE QUESTIONS. Timeline for fusion and how it might play into CCUS? Kirsty (44:28)
• (44:49) What do folks think about advanced nuclear starting in 2028 and commercial fusion in 2035-2040 timeframe? Canon (45:02)
• (46:09) Has anybody modeled out the $ per sequestered carbon via nuclear-powered DAC? Seaver (46:31)
• (46:59) For Canon, whether system can run on current waste streams from existing plants by running on liquid fuel versus solid fuel/ceramics? Canon (47:14)
• (50:30) We hear there's bipartisan support for both nuclear and CCUS. How can we leverage this support and how can audience members get involved in learning more about this? Seaver (50:57), Canon (52:10), Kirsty (53:45)
• (55:54) Final thanks before I passed it back to Jason for final event announcements.

Thanks for tuning in! I hope you found something interesting to learn in this episode. :)

Have a wonderful day.

Support me on Patreon if you'd like: https://www.patreon.com/aldisart/posts. Thank you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• (0:10) In what ways do we encounter cybersecurity in our lives without really realizing it?
• (1:25) Key exchange
• (3:00) What questions guide your research?
• (4:20) Secure genome analysis
• (5:13) Functional encryption
• (6:03) Applications in software obfuscation
• (6:45) Super-schemes for security
• (7:32) Beyond or within your studies, what are you most passionate about?
• (7:56) Journey into cryptography, starting with Sherlock Holmes
• (9:33) World War II applications, the German Enigma machine, and U.S. Navaho code-talkers
• (10:04) Imitation Game
• (11:33) From theoretical to practical projects – digital contact tracing for COVID
• (12:42) Production
• (13:41) Signal strength for communication security
• (14:33) TLS as distinct from Bluetooth
• (15:16) Started in June
• (16:20) Collaborating with the health community to develop a secure digital contract tracing method for COVID
• (21:15) How many people need to have this device for this to be effective?

"People have a hard time admitting that they're not experts in everything; you need the health people to admit that they don't know about computer security, but you need the computer security people to admit that they don't know about how contract tracing is done by the health community." – N. Manohar

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• (0:36) Intro
• (1:07) Current work as assistant garden manager at Victory Gardens for Peace through "biointensive gardening, which works to grow complete diets in the smallest amount of space possible while conserving resources and building soil."
• (2:15) Crops: "Carbon and calorie crops (rye, wheat, barley, oats, sunflowers, quinoa) things that sequester a lot of carbon and produce a lot of biomass which help us reach our compost needs and they're super nutrient -rich in the seeds they produce so they end up being important for the diet. Root vegetables are great for reducing the amount of space you need to grow your own food (potatoes, leeks, garlic, parsnips). Then there's leafy greens like kale, chard, and other crops like beets, onions, and carrots which are super important for vitamins, minerals, and flavor."
• (4:30) 7,000 square feet = 0.16 acres (almost a quarter of an acre) "The less space we need to grow our food, the better. We try to emulate an ecosystem by bringing in pollinators, and things of that nature."
• (5:41) Advice for aspiring gardeners who want to grow their own diet at home. "Just really enjoy the process and the rhythms of nature, being in tune with the seasons and cycles of life and death. And if you feel so inspired, try to grow some of your own compost and your own calorie slash carbon crops. It's pretty easy to process grain and seeds on a small scale (threshing and winnowing the chaff) so you can utilize it for human consumption, and if you get to that point you might as well save some of your own seed."
• (7:34) Journey
• (8:00) "Wouldn't be where I am if I hadn't chosen what I'd chosen"
• (8:10) Started with college at Warren Wilson – "I wanted to walk the talk on values of sustainability and also to have an alternative education experience"
• (9:10) Environmental and social justice crew at Warren Wilson. "Middle-upper class people with a certain amount of financial mobility are raised in society to act like consumers, which also informs how we see solutions to changes. So then coming to this convergence and joining this crew of very aware people [Environmental and Social Justice crew at Warren Wilson], who were aware of systems of oppression and power – really opened my eyes to the actual world, and how our response has to be movement-based, on the ground, grassroots, and not individual."
• (9:20) Earth First - putting bodies in front of pipelines (10:52) to stop them from being built; living in trees to stop them from being cut down
• (12:41) "Oh cool, they had cows and pigs on their brochure, and I thought how fun that would be to work with those pigs and cows! And then I get there and I'm like oh f*, because even with humane animal agriculture, they end up having to act in a lot of the same unethical ways that I had problems with, like with factory farming."
• (15:12) Farmed animal sanctuary, Animal Place
• (16:21) Experience with Beyond Extreme Energy
• (17:37) Getting arrested while protesting the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee's policies about fossil fuel infrastructure
• (21:40) Influential classes in college: "race and the politics of crime, and critical race theory gave a tangible understanding of these systems of power and white privilege and what it looks like and how it operates, and what dynamics were going on in that [arrest] situation."
• (22:07) Horticultural work at a women's prison
• (22:50) Dr. Breeze Harper's Sistah Vegan. "I guess this year was pretty influential for me." "This book provided perspectives from black female vegans talking about health, food, identity, and spirituality." "Of course as it always seems to happen, white people have co-opted it, and in mainstream, veganism has a pretty white presence." Veganism and whiteness has led to the exclusion of people of color and racism in the movement.
• (24:17) Shifted focus to food access and ethical food production, which coincided with involvement in horitcultural program – people growing their own foods who wouldn't have access otherwise.
• (25:03) Some people will argue that you can't grow food without animal products – bone meal, feather meal, animal manure, fish emulsion – but there's this whole movement of "veganic agriculture" that doesn't require any captive animal inputs.
• (35:13) Vegan advice. "At some point you do have to commit. And once you've committed for a enough time, you don't even see animal products as food anymore. You don't need willpower anymore. Also be really intentional about why you're choosing to be vegan, and connect with that. Is it for your health, the animals, the earth? Keep it and come back to it, because sometimes you can forget especially in a society where eating like that is not the norm."
• (29:18) Life advice. "Find your passion by being aware of what lights an emotional response and investigate that because there's a lot of powerful energy behind that to put towards something super fulfilling."
• (30:30) Relationship advice. "Just follow what feels good. If it's not harming yourself or anyone, why not explore? Let's question these conventions a bit more and figure out what we actually want, what actually makes sense, and what we enjoy."

Book mentions/recommendations:

• A. Breeze Harper's Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak on Food, Identity, Health, and Society

You rock, Sydney! Keep walking the talk :)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• (0:34) Intro
• (2:00) Story-writing with the Post-Landfill Action Network
• (3:40) Using story-telling in our day to day: "Stories are powerful and the more we can use them, the more we can change."
• (5:04) At the 10-day countdown for first published short-story! (as of October 20, 2020)
• (5:30) Journey into writing
• (9:30) Community and writing
• (12:28) Publishing process for the short story
• (14:43) General publishing advice
• (16:35) Life advice and top skills - your commitment to exceeding expectations will be noticed
• (18:22) Quote from Secrets of a Millionaire Mind
• (19:12) Virtual reality
• (23:39) Plans moving forward and movements to tackle climate change
• (25:39) Electrical vehicles and walking the talk on climate change
• (27:27) Closing notes, committing to a better future!

Thanks for sharing your stories, Erik! Keep them coming, out into the world.

To all our listeners, thank you so much for tuning in! Have a wonderful day.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(0:40) Journey into MBA in sustainable solutions and the circular economy

• (1:10) "Waste only matters because of its impact on all of these other systems: biodiversity, toxicity, human life, and the injustice of the ways it's handled. And as I started to think about all the tentacles of its impacts, I started to think about more system-level solutions."
• (1:43) "PLAN gave me a wonderful birds-eye view of companies striving to create change in their own world of solutions. I loved seeing that system and wanted to dive in and be a part of it."

(2:23) Presidio Graduate School– what it's like studying there

• (2:43) "It takes a non-traditional approach to business and attracts values-driven people seeking change. The structure of the program is that it puts the breaks on that solutions-oriented mentality in the first semester, and asks us to just sit in the problems. We take classes like systems, sustainability and social justice; political economics."
• (4:08) "It also attracts deep thinkers who care a lot about the world around them; I've loved being a part of that community."

(4:24) Most recent interesting tidbit learned

• "Framing from a guest speaker: how we form our perceptions on the world ... (4:44) the core of this tidbit is that our nerves can send millions of bits of information every second (11 million), but our brains can only pay attention to about 40 of those bits at a time."
• "How attention frames experience, and how attention leads to having certain beliefs, judgements, and theories about the world. (5:33) I've been thinking a lot about how my attention is managed by me and also other forces acting on me."

(6:03) Top skills

• (6:20) "Facilitation... and finding ways to frame challenges and topics in a way that brings everybody in and gets everybody on the same page."

(6:51) Women and leadership – observations or advice

• (7:15) Fortunate to have worked in largely women-led groups and teams.
• Lean into some ways that my femininity is powerful in a leader context.
• (7:50) Leadership class series over 3 semesters; first one focused on nurturing our own direction and values; emotional intelligence. "In my reading of those articles, the message seemed to me to be: believe it or not, feeling matter!" (8:30) that felt to be connected to a traditionally "professional front" that we put onto certain types of interactions in a way that makes them much less effective.
• "People first then workers second"

(9:34) Problem you want to devote your life to

• Circular economy
• (10:05) fits well with logistics skills and way of thinking
• (10:15) "This challenge is ultimately a logistics challenge"
• (10:45) "I see the circular economy as a door-opener to bigger social change that I'm also excited about... valuing people more."

(11:22) Step back to talk about circular economy

• (11:48) "Materials are extracted from the ground, processed somehow, shipped somewhere, used sometimes for minutes, sometimes for years, and ultimately sent to a landfill or incinerator for them to be disposed of. This system – in addition to being toxic and exploitative at every step – is just illogical. There's so much continued value in the materials that we have."
• (12:49) "So how do we design our system so that there is no waste; so that we treat every output as an input? A sort of waste as food framing"
• (13:15) There's an organic cycle and a technological cycle (everything we might mine or that's man-made), and there are different strategies.
• (13:46) "Reuse: finding ways to ensure that our stuff isn't left or discarded prematurely, but that it's design to be reused from the beginning, instead of being designed to be thrown away."

(14:20) Changes you want to see

• (14:33) Reuse of consumer goods, e.g. start-up Dispatch Goods (15:00), food-delivery with reusable packaging

(15:36) Plans moving forward

• In job search, looking for a role to continue building this vision of a more circular world.
• (16:03) "I've been leaning more into my logistical, operational mind, and thinking about how to use those skills to solve the challenges that come with challenges of designing new systems"

(16:31) Relationships – huge part of business, leadership, management – advice?

• (17:10) "Outside of work, we naturally see people as people, yet in business, that perception is not embraced. (17:46) Each party puts on airs rather than engaging in their shared experience and this makes them less able to collaborate."
• (18:30) "At meetings, I make a point of check-in questions to ask about peoples' creative outlets, childhood stories"
• (19:16) Staying in touch with people, by sending them things that reminded you of them, even after your shared experience is over.

(19:40) What are your thoughts Aldís?

• (20:06) "I think the most recent way of thinking I've come across is from a book called Connect First by Dr. Melanie A. Katzman – it's about connecting with them as people first, like what you said."
• (20:42) "It's not just your status. What drives you, and how do you structure your life around that? Getting to know people on this level is definitely a step forward."
• (21:03) "Living together, cooking dinners together – that kind of experience never goes away."

(21:31) Business relationships versus personal relationships... any carry-over, transferrable skills?

• (21:50) "In the course, Economy, Society, Governance, Society, and Business – which promises to teach you everything you need to know – taught by Prof. Khalid Kadir, we read Undoing the Demos by Wendy Brown. It's about how this neoliberalism that has pervaded our political theories and economic systems is also pervading our personal lives, and is pushing us to engage as homo economicus rather than socially and emotionally. We unthinkingly, unintentionally, have started thinking of our relationships transactionally in terms of what people can give us. Even in our dating lives. We unconsciously try to see ourselves as investments, and try to hitch our wagon to people who are going to bring us forward. And that, while economically is a good approach, on a more holistic human level, it can be so toxic and exhausting to think of ourselves as investments all the time, and leaves so little time to celebrate the joys of being human."
• (24:10) "I think it's less about how I can bring business thinking into my personal relationships, and more about the reverse: how can I bring more of my humanity into business relationships?"

(24:50) What has someone said that made you feel inspired?

• Wendell Berry: "The impeded stream is the one that sings."
• (25:25) "That's a reminder that in my life, challenges are the things that make me thrive... that challenges are kind of the point of it all, and have value in and of themselves."

(26:05) What would you say to thank someone in your life who's made a difference?

• To the people who make the media, who are vulnerable enough to share their thoughts before they're perfect or polished: (27:03) "I get so much value and inspiration and new ways of thinking from people who have the bravery to step out and publicly play with ideas, and just push themselves to think in different ways and just think out loud."

(28:23) Any funny/inspiring/raw/honest anecdotes about walking the talk?

• (28:48) "As a hobby during the pandemic, I've started sewing... plenty of old t-shirts into underwear! What can I make with the stuff I already have?"

Thank you Audrey! You rock. Keep walking the talk.

And to all of you lovely people reading this now, you're doing awesome. Keep going. Take care.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• (0:17) Sinwah Lai
• (0:24) Assaad Lyn
• (0:30) Gabrielle Greaves
• (0:34) Kamran Jamil
• (0:40) Adam Wong
• (0:59) Audrey Kriva – Nov 20, coming soon!
• (1:14) Aryn Aiken
• (1:26) Gabrielle Greaves
• (1:37) Shubham Kulkarni
• (2:37) Brabeeba Wang
• (3:01) Peter Ku
• (3:20) Sushen Joshi
• (3:40) Sinwah Lai
• (4:03) Aryn Aiken
• (4:12) Gustav Ferri
• (4:22) Aldís Elfarsdóttir, in conversation with Stan Broere – Dec 8

Enjoy, and keep pursuing those answers! Have a wonderful day :)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(0:00) Starting thoughts:

• “If white supremacy identifies you as not a part of it, it becomes violent toward you.” – Gabby Greaves

(1:00) Gabby's introduction

(1:43) Black Lives Matter. What is your take on this moment in history, with respect to racial justice? 

• (2:00) “I believe that the protests in the United States were the most attended marches in the world up to this date. So we see a lot of people joining this movement, really frustrated with their living conditions and the negligence they’re experiencing from the government. And this is an opportunity for people to sustain this movement. One, that’s amazing, and two, we have so many different resources at our fingertips about how we can get involved, and how we can sustain this movement.”

(2:54) Have you noticed any changes in the way people have treated you or seen you, since before the Black Lives Matter movement or before 2013?”

• 2012 was the murder of Trayvon Martin, “it was like the straw that broke the camel’s back. The movement was started by Black queer women. And although it has kind of taken different directions, the essence of the movement lives on in every city, especially every major city where Black people reside."
• (4:24) “I wasn’t invited in certain spaces: they knew that if Gabrielle was going to be there, you could not say x,y,z. It was actually me being protected from certain types of violence, but I didn’t see it that way.”
• “Black people may feel like I’m not going to say anything, because I’m always the one calling out the situations of injustice. But what it is is you’re speaking to the violence.”
• “I had to realize this wasn’t an attack on me; it was an attack on the work I’m doing. I still think I’m wrestling with that.”

(5:45) In A Guide for White Women Who Teach Black Boys, a Queer-identifying Black man suggested that it’s not white people who should be “allies” to Black people who then would be seen as shouldering the burden of this movement; rather it’s Black people who should be “allies” to the white people who must shoulder the burden of changing the system that has served them so well. What is your take on the idea of allies and allegiance in this movement? 

• "It’s very difficult for women, Black people, to be calling out these injustices all the time."
• "In that benefitting and those privileges, you have a lot more access to a lot more spaces. If we can depend on these people with the privilege to speak up in the face of injustices, then you are literally saving my life; you are allowing me to not have to take on that form of labor. In thinking about the type of labor that people take on, marginalized people should not shoulder that burden."
• “If we can pledge our allegiance to liberation… it would be amazing if white people could take on that burden.”

(8:45) How white people can work better in this movement.

• Actively listening: letting go of arrogance or the belief that you know. Go in with the idea that there’s something more to know
• Always have people in your circle who are doing it consistently. “You need the friends who say uh-uh, I’m not giving you chicken because you said you weren’t going to have chicken today.”
• “White people definitely definitely need to be doing twice the reading, because it is not their lived experience.”

(11:40) Working within your spheres of influence

• Be your authentic self; when you’re trying to network, be discerning about knowing where your lane is, so you can find the person or group of people with whom to build a network. Sometimes the person who is going to keep you engaged and up to date with relevant information are the folks who might not have a title that has been validated in academia.
• Don’t tokenize: aka “Oh, I have that Asian friend too.” 
• You have to do the work for people to start gravitating toward your authentic self. (13:45) 

(14:03) Advice for facilitating race relations on and off campus.

• Don’t forget the needs of the community. Many universities are built on indigenous land and tend to push out people of color to acquire land. Thinking of Roxbury, Northeastern, Columbia University.
• Whenever you start multicultural events on campus, break out of the university bubble. Realize it’s not a bubble: it takes water, energy, time to build up the campus from the surroundings.
• The communities should always be considered – go out and ask what community needs (newspapers where people can write letters to the editor, or suggestion boxes)
• “We’re not learning this knowledge just to hoard it; we owe it to the communities that we reside in to give back some of that knowledge.”
• (16:00) Leaning on pop culture to talk about these issues. E.g. Miley Cyrus on the MTV awards and conversation with Niki Manaj, “Miley, what’s good?” Pop culture is a very easy way to start having conversations about race. People will have these deep racial debates without even realizing it. 

(17:28) Inspirational figures

• Angela Davis – prison abolition, Race, Women, and Class
• Audrey Lorde “may the Lorde be with you” – talks to this fearlessness that POC should walk around with.
• Assata Shakur – she’s still on the FBI's most wanted list, amazing work, how she maintained hope in this fight.
• James Baldwin, phenomenal writer, being hopeful for our future in America

(19:00) Getting real about patriarchy. What’s the heart of the issue?

• “It’s this power dynamic.”
• (20:15) Definitions of power. “One is the capacity to direct or influence behavior or course of events. That’s how we usually think about power. But it’s also the ability to do something or act in a particular way. Power is also your own ability to move authentically and have autonomy in your own body.” –– Gabby Greaves
• (20:50) “With patriarchy there’s this illusion that the power only moves one way. In reality, when the patriarchy is faced with the other version of power – me moving authentically, me speaking how I want to speak, not crossing my legs like a lady” – they don’t know what to do. It makes them uncomfortable. They don’t know what to do with it. If I’ve never been in that space before, if that invitation hasn’t been rescinded yet… You get called a variety of names. I think a lot of femmes and non-cys people face this. (22:00) “And what it is is insecurity. They’re noticing something in you that they don’t have in themselves.”–– Gabby Greaves

(22:40) How do we dismantle the patriarchy and build more egalitarian relationships?

• When we share our experiences, we realize they’re pretty common.
• Let’s think of a strategy to call it out and create policies so it doesn’t happen.
• Building communities and spheres of influence.

(24:17) Inspiring figures in gender equality

• Audrey Lorde
• Belle Hookes (25:00) “So many of our problems stem from a lack of humanity/common humanity. Remind each other that love is our birth right.right to shelter, food, water… so easy to forget that given the systems we live in. 
• Gerda Learner, how Goddesses were flipped into God, different power systems, the patriarchy tries to hoard all this power…
• Oyeronke Oyewumi

(25:45) Sometimes it feels like we need to fight in movements because it’s part of our identity. Do you feel you have a choice in each of these fights, or do you feel that your identity compels you to focus your energy on racial justice and gender equality when – in an alternate reality – you would pursue other ambitions?

• (26:00) “First of all, thank you for asking this question. In all the years I’ve been doing this work, you are the 2nd or 3rd person to ask me that.”
• (26:15) “If we lived in an alternate reality, I would write sci-fi, it would be Afro-futuristic; I’d have an album out, a collection of poems. I really felt a lot of pressure to do it. They heard me talk and put the burden on me to talk. I’m just really good at observing this and putting one and two together. 
• (26:30) “When I first started doing this work, I think people read some of my essays and then turned to me to talk about these things. I wasn’t basing it in the passions or hobbies that would keep me interested, I started experiencing burn out because I was doing what was expected of me as a Black femme in the way I’d been socialized to nurture and take on labor when it’s not my labor to take on.”
• (27:30) “One of my biggest regrets was I lost out on two editing opportunities, and one was about editing an indigenous collection of poems, but I had to organize protests and sit in on policy meetings with the president, which I was never compensated for. And it was reflected in my grades, all the other projects I was working on. Ended up being completely edited by a white woman.” 
• (28:30) “When white people do not assume some of the work, black people miss out on these authentic experiences that are at the essence of our being. I have made it a commitment to myself that I’d find a white person, and say, this is your work; I have a poem to write.”

(29:00) COVID impacts on teaching. 

• (29:30) I always thought I’d teach at the university-level, but when I started doing that, I was like, I need to get out of this for a bit.
• In the burrow I grew up in. Right next neighborhood. Give back to the community that gave so much to me. 
• “I do find it difficult to empower students during the pandemic. There’s a lot of violence here, and a lot of people don’t have access to resources; they’re homeless and just in need of a lot of support.”
• (30:45) Extending compassion and empathy toward the students. Make sure they know that education is really important. Now’s not the time to be strict with deadlines. Just make sure they’re getting the support they need.

(31:00) How are you putting your resolution into action moving forward.

• Her friend wrote a blog: “The thing about hobbies and passions; how to turn your hobby into your passion.”
• Having an outlet is really important. To express myself, and remind myself of my purpose here. 
• The reason why I live is not to dismantle the system. That’s not my main purpose; it’s something else. Racism and sexism and transphobia get in the way of me achieving my purpose. 
• (32:00) Even though I write books and essays about these things, my purpose is to be a writer or sculptor. 
• (32:20) Remembering what your purpose is outside of these movements – you can use those passions to help you be a part of the Black Lives Matter movement or the Feminist Movement. These systems are really just constructions. We can look beyond that. Collectively we can imagine more.

(32:45) Closing remarks

• (33:03) “Center black people and indigenous people at the beginning of any of these conversations. What land you’re on. Look it up quickly: what indigenous tribe/group lives here. And acknowledging the Black folks who toiled the land, and those who are deemed less than... Even if the conversation isn’t going to be about race, gender, or class, bring them up, because they were brought up first.”
• (33:30) “Just because it’s the function of white supremacy to silence, if we can constantly be naming the things that white supremacy tries to eradicate, that just makes the job a lot harder for folks."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(0:30) Master’s thesis at University of Cambridge

• He found a 500-page report written in 1931 about Laboring conditions in the Indian subcontinent. That was the root of his thesis.

(1:33) What did they find?

• Issued by Parliament, King George V, huge inquiry
• Findings: conducted over 2 years, tasked with the questions of “How can we improve people’s daily lives?” “What kinds of policies can we begin to enact?” “How can the government begin to move to improve them?” 
• Royal commissioners, led by John H. Whitley began in Karachi (where Kamran’s parents are from!) in 1929, holding public hearings and interviewing working people.

(2:35) What did they do to improve working lives?

• There wasn’t a lot of regulation in factories, mines, or ports. By not having regulations, you allow people to work for really long hours and bad money-lenders to take advantage of working class people. 
• Major recommendations were to reduce factory hours, and make it illegal for people to be outside workplaces collecting debts from people – predatory money-lending – and the coolest idea lasting into the 1940s, established a central body where workers and business owners to meet on a monthly business; nurseries in factories 4:00
• "There were over 350 recommendations… among them a cool form of cooperativism that we don’t see today" – Kamran Jamil

(4:15) How do we apply this 100 years later?

• “These issues we see, of people not having a livable wage is a continuing issue. It’s one part amazing and evoking to see that these issues have existed for a hundred years. Government officials and labor specialists saw this and developed actions to address them.” – Kamran Jamil
• “It was a huge call to arms; citizenship for them meant having an economic say, and having enough time to enjoy your afternoon, which was a motivating factor for them” – Kamran Jamil
• (5:45) life of John Whittley, born to modest means in Halifax, UK, worked in a factory himself growing up; saw the benefits of industrialization, became representative to Westminster, and to become speaker of the house of commons, and became speaker for hometown; made chairman of this commission to investigate lives of working people in India; 
• “One huge takeaway in modern times is to say people who’ve been driven by their religion, spirituality, or awareness of how these issues cut across every line and geographical area to use that as inspiration in asking: ok what can we do with our lives, careers, and our time?”

(7:00) Top skills that have helped him along

• #1: Friendship, love, companionship 
• #2: Be motivated by what you’re interested in (8:00) “If I didn’t have the interest, I would’ve just stopped at reading the report itself – what did this report say, what did it look at, and what were its recommendations? Instead I asked, what motivated these people to be so committed to the working lives of other people, and what happened to those recommendations? How did the recommendations enter the 1930s and 40s, and how did they inspire people decades after their writing?” – Kamran Jamil
• #3: A love of reading – e.g. Reading Woodrow Wilson, on progressive policies. 

“What Wilson wrote in his progressive agenda had vast acoustics across the world. We have all these cool things as a result of industrialization, but what about all these people it’s left behind or what about all these people who are left without jobs they previously had? Wilson and his agenda are also influencing discussions in the UK and those discussions are also finding their way into the text of legislation in India. … Just like in this moment, there’s a global discussion to be had across boundaries by people who care about these issues [Black Lives Matter, COVID health crisis].” – Kamran Jamil

(10:11) Raising the issue of colonialism, Wilson and Whittley are white men imposing recommendations on the Indian people. How do you grapple with that? Are they imposing or are they raising people up?

• Yeah, Nehru, one of the modern founding fathers of India, made that exact point in 1929 at Nagpur in India in the final closing speech to the All India Union Trade conference: he said that Whittley’s commission was an Imperial commission; one that was going to take advantage of the Indian economy, and should be boycotted entirely.
• (11:30) But some of the first labor activists in India were some of the first people to sign on in support of this commission.
• Neil Joshi and Chowan (founders of the All-India Trade Union Congress and Social Service League for working class interests) ended up commissioning the Royal Commission with Whittley as their chairman

(13:03) What movements do you feel most connected to?

• “There’s Black Lives Matter, the movement to end police brutality;the movement for women’s rights; and, after the travel ban, the movement to support Muslims in America… and I feel like all of these movements at their core, are about injustice and unjust power. When I think about the movements I align myself with, I don’t think it’s one movement, but I think it’s an overall approach to thinking about: who has executive, judicial, legislative power over us, and are they using that power in the right way?” – Kamran Jamil
• “It seems so clear that our officials who ignore what’s happening to our air and who are not paying attention to huge destruction in impoverished areas, also don’t care about the abuse of police discretion and lack of health care in many parts of America.” – Kamran Jamil
• “The fundamental thing is: do the people in power really have an egalitarian commitment? And the answer is really clearly no at this moment. The cause for us will be: instead of focusing on discrete movements, bringing everyone together around the idea of equity and care and going from there.” – Kamran Jamil

(15:24) He asked about my view on changing the system.

• I shared what I thought about how it’s hard to get the people in power to change the systems that serve them so well, and how that point came up in a recent movie, Enola Holmes (historical fiction about a hypothetical reality in which Sherlock Holmes had a sister). But with all the people I’ve been talking to, the change of getting more egalitarian-minded people up there is on the way, and it’s uplifting to hear what that’s what drives us forward.
• [Relating to climate change, it’s also why people don’t feel moved to act if they do not feel directly impacted by it, let alone if they don’t believe it’s happening at all – AE, afterwards].

(16:30) This made Kamran think about Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and her quote: we need to find causes that we can pursue and bring other people along in that pursuit. We are part of a broader collective; bringing people into the conversation is a huge deal. 

• “This is not an individual solution.” – Kamran Jamil
• “We still need to be really hopeful that our generation and those that are coming behind us can identify these problems, see them, and speak about them with their peers and colleagues, and also do something about them too, and bring people in it. Less about leading, this is about hearing a call and answering that.” – Kamran Jamil

(17:58) What career options are you considering moving forward?

• “The main thing that’s motivating me is the question of: how do I use the law as a tool and engine, and not to become a servant of the law in and of itself? I really want to marry the law with an idea that society can be improved and people can feel like they have a voice.” – Kamran Jamil
• “What that means is hard to pinpoint, but I could see myself running for state legislature – by the way, this is still new to me because I was pre-med in undergraduate and always thought I would be found in a biology lab.” – Kamran Jamil
• “What’s beautiful about liberal arts education is that it removes preconceived notions, throws you into a lot of different knowledge, and then throws you the task of thinking where do you go from here with this education under your belt?” – Kamran Jamil
• “I always want to be first a thinker and ideas person before I am a technical or legal professional.”– Kamran Jamil

(20:15) Building friendships 

• "Gets complicated in COVID context. Being with people, just in their presence, is a huge blessing in and of itself. There’s an intangible about being with people." – Kamran Jamil
• “Reaching back to people you’ve been allowed to meet, who intersected with you on the sidewalk here and there.” – Kamran Jamil
• “I’ve just been messaging 2-3 different and new people that I remember when I used to walk around our college campus, or the high school teachers I really enjoyed.” – Kamran Jamil
• “For new relationships, trying to learn more about family and be with them in new and different ways. I hope we can come back to society really having cherished the time that we have lost.” – Kamran Jamil

(22:00) How COVID affected work-life balance, living situation, and family

• “I spent the first month and a half of this pandemic reading a lot of news, also because I’m a policy nerd. It was exciting and dismaying for me to learn about how policy was being handled.” – Kamran Jamil
• “A key part has been making sure weekends stay weekends.” – Kamran Jamil
• “The hardest part will be for the younger kids, who don’t have much experience meeting other people and making friends.” – Kamran Jamil

(24:30) Closing thoughts and final advice for recent graduates

• “Do it if your heart’s in it. Do it as a way to explore intellectual curiosity and adventurism” – Kamran Jamil

(25:57) How are you thinking about this moment? (he asked me!)

• “Sometimes I feel like they are my filters, and I listen to what they have to say about what’s going on.” – Aldís Elfarsdóttir
• “With this education under our belt, it’s so vital that we leverage that, and that we uplift everybody who can’t stand for themselves.” – Aldís Elfarsdóttir
• “I’ve been reaching out to so many people from past and present, who are deciding where they’re going to go from here. It gives me solace to hear a lot of people being really real about the tons of different directions we can go from here. That gives me so much inspiration.” – Aldís Elfarsdóttir
• “This moment kind of gives us pause. Our emissions were reduced by a certain percentage while everyone was on lockdown. This tells us that if we pause, we can all think a little bit more before acting on our next step, and potentially make a significant change in doing so deliberately.” – Aldís Elfarsdóttir
• “We have the possibility of doing something really cool, not just in the national political light, but also in our own personal lives. Can we find that deep peace and contentedness and can we see that mirrored and reflected in the world we want to live in. That is the hardest question and one that we have to continue to grapple with” – Kamran Jamil

As always, thank you to my dear Patrons, friends, and family for supporting this podcast. You can find and support my creative outreach work on https://www.patreon.com/aldisart.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• (0:00) Gustav Ferri
• (0:13) Sinwah Lai
• (0:23) Neil Chavan
• (0:38) Audrey Kriva – Nov 20
• (0:43) Aryn Aiken
• (1:02) Kamran Jamil – Nov 11, coming soon!
• (1:29) Assaad Lyn
• (1:42) Daniel Getega
• (1:56) Shannon Mueller
• (2:11) Gabrielle Greaves – Nov 12, coming soon!
• Mash-up of these voices
• (3:51) Adam Wong
• Mash-up cont. focusing on advice
• (4:22) Aldís Elfarsdóttir
• (4:46) Stan Broere – Dec 8
• Closing note

Thank you for listening! Hope you enjoy this one. It is certainly fun to make these, and I intend to make each highlight's voice heard more than once in these variously themed mash-ups. See you next time!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Neil Chavan follows Aryn Aiken and Bob Keefe as PLANtern #3 of 7 to appear on this podcast (purely based on the order in which we've been able to schedule our conversations). Stay tuned for highlights from the rest of our 2016 summer activist team!

(1:54) About non-profit grant-writing work at the Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN):

• (2:38) Neil says: "it's very much about storytelling and that's really the key; it's about sharing your journey, your mission, your vision, how you inspire others, and trying to get people to subscribe to what you're doing."

(3:35) The kinds of projects he's gotten to work on at Newry Corps:

• Materials science, carbon capture, and lots of other projects, the specifics of which are confidential.

(5:45) People say the economy rewards specialization. But consultants are highly valued. So how does that work out?

• "In some sense, there's certainly value to being a specialist in a certain field. But especially nowadays, you have industries being changed at the drop of a hat with the introduction of a new technology, and it's actually valuable to have experience across a broad range of industries. Many people are also saying that the future is for generalists; in the future, generalists are going to thrive. Being a specialist might mean you can't as easily transfer from one skill space to another."  – Neil Chavan

(7:45) Advice for graduates considering consulting to start their careers:

• It's a good opportunity to figure out where your skills and interests are, and how you can apply those in a way that fulfills you.
• He came from an engineering background with little business experience: "Coming into consulting was certainly intimidating. I felt almost like an imposter like how did I get here? And didn't feel qualified in business. But you don't need any other qualifications than just curiosity and interest in learning and understanding why things happen, how to make things better, or just solve problems." – Neil Chavan

(9:22) Other key skills and qualities helpful in growing into a consulting role?

• Good and clear communication 
• Being collaborative and thought-sharing
• Creativity in how you present solutions or go about finding and creating datasets.
• It helps to have a strong quantitative background as well. (11:29)

(12:35) Building client relationships where they like you, and keep coming back to you:

• Still in early stages, but "being able to put yourself in the shoes of the client and really understand what drives them and what they need at that time" is really important. 
• Empathy is key; "understand what they're going through and how you can help them in the best way."

(13:50) COVID and work-life balance:

• "Overall, COVID has certainly blurred the lines between work and home or non-work life. It has become more of a challenge, especially for a lot of people in consulting who are workaholics, you're just used to going and going, and producing the best output for the client."

(15:17) Raising kittens in quarantine:

• You can foster kittens through the Humane Society: "they give you all the supplies, you don't have to pay for anything you just provide a home and love for the animals." 
• "They are quite messy and they can be destructive, but there's so many more positives to having them."

(16:48) By request from Aryn Aiken, whom I interviewed last week, I asked Neil how he got appointed to city government, and how that's all going:

• Ever since PLAN, Neil has been interested in the public sector. Upon his recent move to Lakewood, he reached out to all the city council members expressing interest in getting involved in city government. The President ended up appointing him to the Community Relations Advisory Commission for Lakewood, where they're starting an antiracism task force and making sure the right people are selected for it.
• "COVID has kind of thrown a wrench in things." re: being able to make progress within the commission

(20:12) Great example of how you just have to ask!

• "Especially in school, I was always so nervous to ask for anything. But when you're a student, everyone wants to help you; but once you're out in the real world, it's almost like there's something that changes and people are less willing, sometimes, to help out. But it never hurts to ask, and you never know who will be willing to help you out." – Neil Chavan

(21:00) Looking ahead at the options in public vs. private sector

• He wants to get back toward mission-oriented work, whether it's full-time or volunteerism through city commissions. "It's hard to say what or how or when I'll get back to that kind of work, but I want to leverage the passion I have for these problems, especially in the environmental space, to really make a difference."
• (23:15) "One of the reasons I decided to go into consulting right after college instead of non-profit was I realized that business is actually a really good way to bring about some of the social changes that can be really hard to accomplish in the public sector or non-profit sector. Learning business strategy, knowing that one day I'll be able to apply these strategies to solving the climate crisis or other areas; that's what's keeping me in this role."
• "This year has been such a crazy year with COVID, the ongoing-struggle with police brutality, racial tensions, and the forest fires in California has stirred something in me; I feel I need to really get more involved in mission-oriented work, and get back to that in some capacity, whether in full-time work or just serving on this commission." 
• (24:00) Potentially grad school in a subject to be determined with further experience. "Time will tell but it's on my radar."

And then Neil closed with encouraging remarks about my podcasting journey, which filled me with joy and gratitude. 

Thank you for supporting me in this journey. I'm feeling the undercurrents of change on the rise and it's going to be big! I am bringing you along for the ride, and highlight the ways in which you are rising up to meet your potential as well. You can find and support me at https://www.patreon.com/aldisart.

Take care, and spread the love and peace today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(0:30) Intro

• Robert Keefe (also Bob or Bobby) was born and raised in Milford Connecticut, studied forestry at University of New Hampshire, and has worked forestry and landscaping jobs. Works at Bridgeport Community Gardens as a liaison with some other non-profit organizations and community groups.

(1:20) At PLAN, Bob coordinated the move-out program, Trash to Treasure.

• Learned about organizing volunteer groups; everything from dealing with customer satisfaction, financial management, and the other PLANterns. "It's been a big part of who I am today."

(2:35) Peace Corps Senegal.

• In September 2018, departed to Senegal.
• Volunteered in agroforestry, which consisted of assisting local folks with projects related to fruit tree management, education in pruning and care of trees, planting of spiky trees or live fences: "a fence that a cow cannot knock down" is the direct Wolof translation.
• Fatick pre-service training between September and December 2018, very applied 10-week language classes
• Culture-based training, went to live with host family, cultural
• Goodem in Fatick was the site, west coast of Senegal – mangroves, small and dense forests; low vegetation but dense.
• Often during dry season, livestock isn't tied up, and roam free so they can pose a real threat – especially goats – to trees and crops planted.

(5:33) Cultural sensitivity and cultural exchange

• Leaders of health programs, safety and security are all Senegalese nationals with a better understanding of the culture than any expat
• Subjects on things that Americans might see as inappropriate or uncalled for, which is more often than not part of the culture in Senegal
• People ask, in simple introductions: do you have a husband? do you have a wife? "While that may be seen as intrusive in the US, it's quite common practice in Senegal, and doesn't have the same connotations, per say."
• "When people see a white person in the street, children especially might be compelled to yell "toobab" which is not offensive. People will vocally point out differences, and acknowledge you; that they see you there."
• "Ousmane, yangui toog" literally meant: "Ousmane, you're sitting"
• "They're not ignoring your presence; they're glad to see you and understand you're there too."

(8:40) Learning Wolof

• By the time he was evacuated in March (due to COVID), he wasn't completely fluent.
• Some fun words to learn: root, pulling water from a well for human consumption; foot, taking water from a well for washing; boot, giving the water to animals.

(10:18) Ousmane was his name in Senegal

• It's an Arabic name, originating from rich man close associate of Prophet Mohammed, one of the holiest names in Islam and one of the most common names he came across in Senegal

(11:03) Some other activities involved in agroforestry on a daily basis

• Long dry season happens between November to June end so a lot of work is focused on vegetable farming and small-scale gardening (which can be watering)
• During rainy season, large-scale field farming; 5-6 hectare fields need rain to be watered
• watered gardens, planted vegetables, worked with a women's group, plant nurseries during cold season (December to early March) seeds, and tree sacs and water them and encourage other people to do the same. distributed Peace Corps tree seeds to people in the village. kept trees in sacs until August, which is when it starts to peak in the rainy season – that's when you dig the holes and plant the trees for the season. one smellifora tree every meter = 400-500 trees to plant a live fence around the perimeter of a hectare sized field
• Busiest time was July to September 2019 "unfortunately only there for one rainy season"
• Side note in regard to cold season; "By 2019, my definition of cold had changed"
• Most proud of mangrove reforestation in Goudem, about 1 km away from the Sine-Saloum river which drains into the ocean – high tides come into the river, so water there is much saltier, so mangroves grow in the tidal areas. Since 1970s when village population grew, a lot of mangrove forests were cut down, which caused a big problem of salination in the surrounding soil areas. So they coordinated a mangrove reforestation event: 2,364 mangrove propagules of risoforia mongule into the sand and mud there. Mangroves provide fish habitat for nesting and eggs; they naturally assimilate salt and store it long term in their tissues. "Very vital weapon in preventing coastal erosion and rehabilitate land that has been rendered infertile by salt"
• Hoped to extend to position specifically with mangroves, but got evacuated due to COVID.

(17:30) COVID evacuation

• Over 48 hours, all 262 Peace Corps Senegal volunteers left the country on the last outbound flights.
• Gave lots of credit to Peace Corps staff and volunteer leaders who were up 24/7 arranging for the closing of bank accounts and telling communities the situation: "it was a lot of work and they were on it the whole time; I could not be more grateful to them for doing what they did."
• In continuation of his work: he began writing a manual for mangrove reforestation in October; is hoping to distribute that to future volunteers in agroforestry
• Translated a book on establishing a French and Arabic school (from French to English)
• Translated a CADDEL Consulting publication from French to English about measures to rehabilitate a community forest in Goudem and surrounding area
• Has been in close contact with host family over WhatsApp, as well as with other volunteers
• "These friendships will endure for the rest of my life; that particularly has been helpful in this time of uncertainty especially in March, April, and May when pandemic really began"

(20:28) Options moving forward

• "Honestly, a lot of what I've been doing lately feels like Peace Corps round two," with not a lot of pay and work focused on working as a liaison with groups and communities
• As soon as Forest Service and Federal Government returns to regular functions; Will sign up for wildland fire fighting; another area of long-time passion, "especially seeing more forested regions in Southern Senegal have seen some really destructive bush fires in recent years"
• "rest of region in Sahel are among the folks at the forefront of the crisis of climate change"
• "Sahara desert has been encroaching on northern Senegal grasslands and savannas; land that was arable back then is not now. Senegal's government has put forth a green wall initiative to (22:51) 15km by 4900 km long from Senegal to Somalia to combat desertification from Sahara Desert. It's a wall of trees, I should say."
• "Having seen the effects of climate change first hand and this doesn't even go to say how they're effecting people in Pacific Islands and Maldives, I ultimately am hoping to engage in work where I can help those who are affected by it first and hardest."
• "I can't really expect anything. One thing I learned was how to roll with the punches on the Peace Corps. There's a lot of difficulties in Peace Corps service: adapting to new culture, not understanding what people are saying a lot of the time."
• "Ultimately I hope to apply what I've learned with newfound grip of French and Wolof (where a lot of English words actually come from) – in the future. But I don't want to have expectations."
• "I want to do what I can to be there for others who don't have the resources or clout to stand up to climate change as well as many injustices like we're seeing in the U.S. right now, as with the unfortunate case of Breonna Taylor and many others. If it's alright, I would like to dedicate a moment – just a moment of silence and thought for Breonna and her family."

(25:30-26:45) Moment of silence, and a prayer for racial justice and solidarity.

(27:00) Advice for people applying to Peace Corps in a non-COVID reality

• "This world is full of such great, kind, and helpful people. Everyone just about everyone I met in Senegal, nobody hesitated to get up and help me when I needed it. People would gladly take large chunks of time out of their day to show me where the best tailor or boutique was for buying small creme du glass packets if I asked. Ultimately, while these people may not always get the attention that their adversaries do, it is important to remember that this world is full of amazing great people, and I've really come to see that as I've lived in Senegal."
• "Absolutely, do it. It is challenging without a doubt to adapt to new cultures and learn a language, but it becomes so worth it because you develop such long-lasting and enduring connections with people of all walks of life. And when you come back here, you'll have so many friends – especially among host country nationals as well as other Peace Corps volunteers who understand what being in the Peace Corps was like. I've done my fair share of talking people's ears off with Peace Corps stories – like I'm doing right now"
• "You will have a perspective that most Americans won't have, as well as long-lasting connections and friendships that according to every Peace Corps volunteer I've ever talked to – will last the rest of your life."

(30:45) Thank you!

p.s. a note from Robert about Senegalese Music Artists!

"It would be impossible to mention Sénégal without touching upon the music, which is renowned as some of the best in the world and among the most popular in Africa. Senegal is regionally known for the Saint-Louis Jazz Festival, which occurs annually in the Senegalese city of the same name. It is known worldwide for hosting a massive array of music artists from Senegal and Africa as a whole. Here are some of just a few of them:

Youssou Ndour - Likely the most famous Senegalese national of all, he has penned and sang music of all genres, never missing the opportunity to innovate and incorporate multiple genres into his songs. He is often credited with the worldwide popularisation of the "Mbalax" genre. Mbalax is ubiquitous throughout Senegal, and almost always dance-themed; it incorporates traditional Wolof and Serere music styles with genres from throughout west Africa, as well as Afro-Cuban styles, jazz, reggae, and blues-rock. Youssou is also a prominent activist and change agent, even serving as Senegal's Minister of Tourism in 2012 and 2013. Papa Youssou has too many great songs to name, most of which are in Wolof, but a good place to start are with "Bul ko door" , "Plus fort", and "Xale Yi Rew Mi".

The long-running band Super Diamono, with a huge variety of music genres from Afro-Cuban to Mbalax-blues based sounds. Many famous musicians, including Youssou himself, had their springboard in this band.

Baaba Maal - A world-famous jazz musician, boasting an extensive catalogue largely sung in the Fulani dialect of Pulaar.

Aïda Samb - An icon of womens' empowerment in Senegal and beyond, she is an amazingly talented singer-songwriter, with eclectic styles of dance-pop, mbalax, EDM, and hip hop. Her song "Lan La?", tackling issues of difficulties in marriage and domestic life, is a favourite among young folks in Senegal.

Wally B. Seck - Currently at the forefront of the Senegalese music scene, his 2018 song "Taxi Love" broke records as one of the biggest ever hits on the Senegalese charts. During my time in the Peace Corps, you had a very low chance of being in a public place without hearing its infectious riff and chorus on the radio.

Souleymane Faye - Another artist bursting at the seams with talent, his style of mbalax is known for its lyrical and intellectual depth.

ElectrAfrique - The EDM and dance club scenes in Senegal boasts talents including DJs Leuz Zarak, TchoubTchoub, Cortega, and many more.

The catalogues of rapper Carlou D, Mama Sadio, and GuneYi are pure delights!

(The below artists are not from Senegal, but are indeed very culturally significant there)

Rokia Traoré - A stunning voice and beautiful catalogue, largely in the Bambara language.

Aya Nakamura - Of Malian-French background, her song "Djadja" made waves in Senegal and worldwide in 2019. A feminist anthem, ode of empowerment, and statement against abuse through false rumours, this soulful number is as likely to be heard at a party as at a protest. Aya has a well-deserved reputation as a worldwide francophone music star.

Of course, we can't include all of the great music artists from the region, but I hope that the introduction of these few artists can acquaint anyone unfamiliar with the local scene!"

- Robert Keefe

Thank you so much Bob! Keep walking the talk. An accompanying article can be found here or here, with pictures that Robert provided from his time in Senegal.

To everyone tuning in: warm greetings, thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• (0:03) Daniel Getega – Sep 9
• (0:30) Audrey Kriva – Nov 21
• (1:41) Peter Ku – Aug 31
• (2:05) Sydney Grange – Nov 30
• (2:31) Adam Wong – Sep 18
• (2:43) Assaad Lyn – Aug 22
• (2:45) to the end = a mix of the above peoples' beautiful voices
• (4:27) Aldís Elfarsdóttir hello + closing blurb :)

Have a wonderful day! Thanks for tuning in. Go build some great relationships and spread the love <3

Thank you to my Patrons who made it possible to purchase the license to use the music by Die Hard Productions that's featured in this and other recent episodes! Woohoo :D Songs are: Bright Lifestyle and Light Up The Way.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aryn Aiken is the first of seven 2016 intern-alums from the Post-Landfill Action Network (aka. PLANterns) to appear on this show. She washes her hair with apple cider vinegar and baking soda. Join us as we talk about what it's like to work in e-commerce (selling shampoo), phone-banking, why we fight for movements, what it might be like to move away from selling a product in the future, and how we can let our curiosities guide us in deciding what to do next (like Elizabeth Gilbert says!). We top it off with a solid 4 minutes of eco tips!

• (1:00) Visual media internship at PLAN
• (2:00) What it's like doing e-commerce and creative outreach for marketing
• (3:05) Overlap between people skills for phone-banking and customer care/outreach
• (5:40) Movements she feels connected to (environmental justice, queer liberation, reproductive rights)
• (7:23) Options moving forward
• (11:23) What difference do you want to be making?
• (12:30) Re: being ok with not knowing what's to do next. "As we're trying to walk the talk, we might not know how. We might stumble and we need to be there to catch each other."– Aldís
• (13:31) What would you say to advise someone in your position? "Don't be afraid to not do the thing that other people think is most useful or that someone else thinks you have the skillset for. Let yourself be curious."– Aryn Aiken
• (14:40) The problem with people-pleasing
• (15:06) Other advice: "just take that class" – Aryn Aiken
• (15:50) Eco habits, personal action items: "The personal action piece rubs me the wrong way because we can't buy our way out of a problem that's deeply rooted in our economic system and the way we prioritize things politically." – Aryn Aiken. But some things we as individuals can still do: use reusable utensils and storage containers, toilet-sink combos to wash your hands with the water that'll flow back into the toilet, natural substitutes for chemicals, e.g. using soap nuts instead of detergent, compost (there's such a thing as "freezer compost" where you store it in your freezer so it doesn't attract flies – we did this at PLAN), and voting for people who will support climate policies. "One time I walked 60 blocks to take my freezer compost to the facility, because the usual one wasn't there." – Aryn Aiken

Quotes:

"For so many people, you don't get to choose to fight for these issues; your connection to a movement either is deeply rooted in your identity and doesn't feel like a choice, or is something you have the privilege to tap into because you feel passionately about it." – Aryn Aiken

"It was a big departure for me, to go from digital media for non-profits to all of a sudden analyzing sales data for consumers for e-commerce." – Aryn Aiken

"The world doesn't need more shampoo." – Aryn Aiken

"Take everything that everyone says, put it on a list, and say, 'does this seem like something that could be fundamentally cool for me?'" – Aryn Aiken

"We can't buy our way out of a problem that's deeply rooted in our economic system and the way we prioritize things politically." – Aryn Aiken

Recommended media:

• The On Being podcast episode with Elizabeth Gilbert, who says "Follow your curiosity, not your passion."

Have a wonderful day. Go be curious and put out the eco vote!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk about:

• (1:14) his chosen English name, a combination of his favorite composers: Brahms, Beethoven, Bach
• (2:10) his musical backstory from piano to picking up the violin
• (8:05) college trajectory, switching majors each year to explore other subjects: math as his core and computer science, neuroscience, and philosophy as branches of study
• (9:56) reflecting on what makes you unique: how he ended up in the EECS department doing philosophical-mathematical cognitive neuroscience research!
• (13:10) an experiment that is performed to determine whether a patient has a lesion in their prefrontal cortex
• the questions he's answering through his PhD research, including (16:33) how does the brain learn, and (21:34) what is the math behind how we understand languages and music?
• (19:15) the role of the prefrontal cortex in decision-making and personality; how it works differently in cases of (19:29) ADHD and schizophrenia (20:05)
• (21:00) plans moving forward – academia
• (23:33) the awesome power of composing sentences, indicative of their inherent structure that could be described mathematically
• (30:05) advice for people entering graduate school, from finding the right department, matching up with a good advisor, to building out your social network through common interests beyond research (think symphony concerts and poker nights)
• (34:15) and finally, how he learned English by reading books and looking up the words

Brabeeba (9:56): I found that what made me unique and irreplaceable was not my strengths in the field of algebraic topology (my advisor could probably do anything I could do, which felt redundant) but my interest in a lot of different areas and different ways of thinking: for example, asking philosophical questions about neuroscience, and then finding ways to answer them through rigorous mathematical frameworks.

Where you can find Brabeeba Wang: 

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brabeeba/?hl=en
• Publications: https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.06171

As always, this episode is dedicated to and made possible by my Patrons, friends, and family. Thank you all!

If you want to support me directly, you can join my Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/aldisart?fan_landing=true.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This one is based on the theme of "life skills," based roughly on people's answers to my question of top skills and pieces of life advice they have found themselves applying thus far.

In order of first audio-"appearance" – with links to their highlights and scheduled release dates:

• Adam Wong – Sep 18
• Kamran Jamil – Nov 11
• Gabrielle Greaves – Nov 12
• Shannon Mueller – Aug 13
• Shubham Kulkarni – Oct 16
• Umar Khan
• Daniel Getega – Sep 9
• Robert Keefe – Nov 2
• Brabeeba Wang – Oct 24
• Gustav Ferri – Aug 4
• Peter Ku – Aug 31
• Neil Chavan – Nov 3
• Audrey Kriva – Nov 21
• Aryn Aiken – Oct 25
• Sinwah Lai – Oct 6
• Catherine Langford – Sep 27
• Sushen Joshi – Oct 15
• Assaad Lyn – Aug 22
• Aldís Elfarsdóttir

If you are new here, welcome! Great to have you. You can find my latest work (apart from these podcasts) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aldisart and Medium: https://medium.com/@aelfarsdottir. As always, thank you so much for listening to and supporting this podcast! Have a great day.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(0:45) Journey into aerospace

• Association of Amateur Astronomy in India
• TU Delft was the only university he applied to apart from U.S. 

(2:08) Thesis on the atmosphere of Venus

• “It’s basically a living hell for humans [on Venus]”
• Due to such huge pressure, almost all the missions observed some failure with sensors
• “I’m trying to fill in this gap and put new constraints using thermal observations in infrared. My thesis is in collaboration with DLR in Berlin.”

(3:15) Experience at internship with DLR in Stuttgart

(3:45) Work ethics there

• “Everyone was there at 7:30am, and without taking any breaks, the work would go on until noon.”
• “They will usually finish lunch in 10 minutes, and they will always be back around 12:20.”

(5:45) Options moving forward

• Job to pay back educational loan – ”hopefully in the space sector: instrumentation, analytics, image processing, or propulsion. However my main aim is to do a PhD in planetary sciences and joining the research field again.”

(6:30) Changes to see in higher education and space agency level

• “Even just to watch TV we need satellites. Soon enough, to use the internet, we will need to use another satellite."
• “I see a lot of changes happening including space-related courses in education.”
• “For space agencies, we are only looking at a handful of space agencies: NASA, European Space Agencies, and India, Japan, China, Russia. But most of the world does not have their own launchers or space programs. So in order to really advance, we need a contribution from each and every country. And here, I think space agencies should provide aid for the nations which cannot provide stations on their own.”

(8:45) More programs of study to include industry experience

• He got a taste of this with industry internship at DLR, as part of TU Delft's program
• “Where I came from, we had almost no practical, application-oriented knowledge exposure.” 

(10:30) Influential experiences while abroad, and how they’ve shaped interests

• Got to use remote observations from Mauna Kea observatory in Hawaii 
• “For a long long time, I’d been working with observatories housing small telescopes, so this made me change from technical mechanical field to planetary sciences field.”
• Becoming independent / self-reliant for cooking, grocery shopping, chores. Back in India, someone else could be hired to do the small chores, or there would be easy access to discounted restaurants for students.
• “Following the indian style of meals, I spent 2-3 hours a day on cooking, while still managing everything else. In the beginning it was a bit difficult.” 

(13:58) COVID impacts on studies

• “Badly, is what I would say.”
• Both positive and negative: working from home has been an adjustment (not working at the libraries or at the institute, and not being able to work at the DLR facilities in Berlin). On the positive side, learning how to manage yourself.
• “You won’t always get a stimulating work environment, and even so, you should be able to keep up with your work and do it fully.”

(15:45) Advice on balancing academics and wellness?

• “My main advice would be to have a second task: whether it’s a sports activity which will keep you fit, or a new type of dance, learning a musical instrument, or exploring.”
• “Sometimes we are only doing one task at one time, and you mentally get constrained by the task and it’s difficult to think of new things.”
• It can help you return to work with more energy.

(17:34) People’s relationships with technological devices. How can we use our technological capabilities better or should companies develop their apps differently?

• “Imagine you’re on an autobahn highway in Germany, without any speed limit and you have the fastest car in the world – let’s say a lamborghini – but there is one small clause: there are no partitions on the road, no rules about driving in any specific lane, and there are 7 billion more people on this road with their very high-tech and super fast cars. And so, what do you think would happen?"
• "Oh, and one more clause: no one is taught how to use their cars.”
• “There would be some fraction of adaptable people who quickly understand the working of the car, and come up with a plan that they would only drive in one lane. But for most of the people, they would struggle and there would be chaos. And even if you are good with your management, someone will come and knock you down. And in my opinion this is what we have with our social media applications and various websites.”
• “Our technological devices are very powerful technologically, but they are not being properly used, and the main point here is that the majority of the population is not aware that something wrong is currently happening. A lot of social media apps are being very carefully designed to be addictive. While governments do emphasize privacy issues, the attention given to the psychological effects to social media that almost everyone in this era is currently facing is really undermined.”

(21:30) The problem is lack of awareness and rules on the highway.

• 21:49: “It’s not the case that it’s really bad. It’s because of technology that we can record this podcast. But there should be certain rules about how social media platforms should be used, and moreover they should be designed in such a way that people can focus better on the tasks at hand and connect with the people in the room.”

(23:00) Social Dilemma 

(23:34) Doing away with money problems in our lives, and just contributing our best while here on Earth. 

• (24:10) “In our society, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. And it’s because of the way we deal with economics.”
• (24:48) “To make a change, food and shelter should be free. Because you are already born on earth, you are entitled to some space, and some amount of food. Just the way it was in the earlier days, our basic needs were taken care of by nature itself. But as we progressed technologically, we made our own rules and built the foundation of the current economic systems. The basic needs of human beings should be fulfilled, and then the ranks or status of the individual should be determined by the contribution of work that they are doing.”

(27:20) We close with advice for building relationships across cultures

• Communication, patience, and tolerance are key.

As always, thank you to my Patrons, friends and family for making each and every podcast episode possible! You can find and support me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/aldisart.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk about:

• (0:55) His project at SRON
• (5:35) His thesis at TU Delft
• (9:13) Origin story of interest and pursuit of "an insatiable curiosity" in aerospace and space exploration
• (14:33) His decision-making process for graduate school, weighing the options in India (15:22), USA (16:00), and Europe (16:30)
• (18:55) Future potential steps after a PhD in planetary science and atmospheres
• (21:25) Changes he wants to see in the way we approach space exploration
• (23:45) Sources of inspiration, biographies of whom he's read, including A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Albert Einstein, and Elon Musk
• (28:38) Making decisions based on the best information available to you, like greedy computer programming (30:00)
• Making decisions by doing thought experiments, decision matrices, and listening to your gut
• Thinking about the bigger picture of your specific contributions in any particular field of interest
• Going deep into your interests, with a questioning attitude toward popular norms and beliefs
• Never giving up
• (32:30) Tapping into the power of relationships through observation, conversation, and understanding

Quotes:

"We have only one life and we should strive to give the highest contribution that a human can give in that period." – Sushen Joshi (25:15)

"If we want to make humans a multi-planetary species, it is a difficult thing for just one nation to do." – Sushen Joshi (23:30)

"Focus on the signal over the noise." – Sushen Joshi (28:30)

Book/Author mentions and recommendations:

• The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
• Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance
• Pale Blue Dot and Cosmos by Carl Sagan
• The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene
• The Elegant Universe and The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene
• One, Two, Three...Infinity by George Gamow
• Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman
• Wings of Fire by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and Arun Tiwari
• Many books by Stephen Hawking, Michio Kaku, and Neil deGrasse Tyson

Other resources:

• Toggl application for time management tracking and analysis (https://toggl.com/)
• https://www.mindtools.com/, decision-making, time management, healthy habits
• A note from Sushen: "The urgent-important decision-making matrix is known as Eisenhower matrix/principle which was first devised by 34th U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. This is different than the other decision-making matrix - also called the Pugh matrix."

Sushen's social/professional links are: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sushenjoshi/?originalSubdomain=nl
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sushen.joshi.1
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sushenspacejoshi/?hl=en
• Email: sushenjoshi93@gmail.com

As always, this episode is dedicated to and made possible by my Patrons, friends, and family. Thank you! If you would like to support me in this journey, you can find me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aldisart?fan_landing=true. Thanks to Patrons who have been with me since the beginning, I was able to purchase the music license to use Light Up The Way and Bright Lifestyle by Die Hard Productions in this podcast. Woohoo! Special thanks to you all out there, and this is my gift back to you :)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Sinwah shares stories about her past and ongoing art projects pertaining to food, languages, and spirituality, as well as tips on specializing your craft to build a reputation for project referrals and commissions. Sinwah's view of success is to go deep in your life reflections and set targets to have a positive influence on the world; that is, to not harm others. Her future plans include entering the field of art therapy.

• You can watch Sinwah's latest art show at https://www.twitch.tv/sinwahlai/ or schedule a time to visit (the exhibition is open in Utrecht, Netherlands until October 11th) at https://m.facebook.com/HKUMAFINEART/posts/3656876864323341.
• You can also check out Sinwah's website at https://sinwahlai.blogspot.com/p/bio.html to continue this conversation!

As always, thank you for supporting my creative journey. As Sinwah says, "the 20s are a time to chase your dreams," and you are helping me chase mine–– so a big heartfelt thank you for your support!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you have questions about pursuing a PhD, studying geology and micropaleontology, or if you want further advice on connecting with someone with Asperger's, you can contact Catherine at her email: ceg4@hi.is. Later in the year, you can search for her on Google Scholar for her publications :)

As always, thank you to my dear Patrons, friends, and family for supporting each and every episode and making this all possible. You are my heroes. To follow my latest work, you can click "Follow" and create a free account on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/aldisart?fan_landing=true.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can find Adam Wong on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamsulliwong/.

As always, thank you to my lovely dear Patrons, friends, and family for supporting my episodes and encouraging me to push forth in this journey. You can like or comment on this episode at https://www.patreon.com/posts/40909808.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daniel Getega has been supporting me throughout my art journey as both a Patron and a dear friend. He’s also been providing quality feedback that helps improve each new episode! Thank you, Daniel.

The social media post about the optical computing research we discussed: https://www.instagram.com/p/B8OojJXHc78/?igshid=1p9d2cl0x4jbc.

As always, thank you to my Patrons, friends, and family for supporting each and every episode, and guiding the direction and quality of this podcast. You can find me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/aldisart.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we hear about Peter’s career plans to start working at a very niche intersection of accessibility and machine learning after 3 years at Amazon (0:56), social housing (8:58), their unique exploration of gender identity (12:12) – (17:36), polyamory (19:37), overcoming jealousy (25:43), and a village vision that supports the upbringing of the next generation (30:33). These are super hot topics! If you would like to continue this conversation in any way with Peter, you can message Peter Ku on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SonderInSerendipity.

Book mentions/recommendations:

• Far From the Tree, by Andrew Solomon

As always, thank you to my dear Patrons, friends, and family for supporting each and every episode here! You can get early access to episodes and bonus artsy content on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aldisart.

Pianist Noah F.P. is on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUqLC-KycMQrVL5hGjXha8g. Subscribe if you like our intro-outro clips. :) You can also find me, the violinist, on Youtube at Aldís Art.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen in for advice on how to build your online presence, manage expectations in your client-provider relationships and network in professional settings. We close with our thoughts on the art of maintaining a good relationship, including what it's like to stay friends after dating, how to respect boundaries, and the personal growth task of owning up to and overcoming personal insecurities.

For legal advice, networking, and referrals, you can find Assaad Lyn at http://www.assaadlynlaw.com/. As for social platforms, he is on Twitter https://twitter.com/blazeknyt and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aelynlaw/. Feel free to reach out and drop a note if you want to carry out your own conversation. :)

As always, thank you to my Patrons, friends, and family for supporting me on this journey: https://patreon.com/aldisart.

You can find Noah F.P., the pianist in the intro-outro jingles here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUqLC-KycMQrVL5hGjXha8g.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All my episodes are dedicated to and supported by my Patrons, friends and family. Thank you for your support, dear ones!

If you liked the pianist in the intro-outro jingles, you can find Noah F.P. on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUqLC-KycMQrVL5hGjXha8g. You can find the violinist at Aldís Art on YouTube. :)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As always, each episode is dedicated to and supported by my Patrons, friends and family. You can find and support me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/aldisart.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you're new to my podcast, you can find me at https://www.patreon.com/aldisart. For as little as $1/month you can show your support, get bonus audiovisual content, and have unlimited digital access to my photography and oil-paintings!

You can find the amazing pianist, Noah Fechtor-Pradines on Youtube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUqLC-KycMQrVL5hGjXha8g

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• (0:15) Marty and Bart on saxophone and guitar in Utrecht
• (0:48) DJ at a climate rave in Amsterdam, hosted by Extinction Rebellion, organized in part by Chalice
• (1:56) Maui playing the hang. Merin is on Soundcloud
• (3:35) Quartet by the Rijksmuseum
• (4:12) André the violinist in Dam Square, Amsterdam
• (4:58) Duet with guitarist, Federico in Utrecht
• (5:40) Reinier Sijpkens on his music boat in Utrecht

A big thank you as always to my friends, family, and Patrons! You can find and support me on Patreon for as little as $1/month at https://patreon.com/aldisart.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.