Preconceived

For many people, travel provides some of the most profound experiences of their lives.  Whether it’s a short excursion or a year living abroad, disengaging from your typical routine and transplanting yourself into the unknown is bound to lead to personal growth and self-discovery.  But for all the good that can come from it, travelling can also be confusing.  Is travelling always supposed to be joyful?  Is there a trap that some fall into of travelling simply because that’s the ‘cool’ thing to do and permits you conceive of yourself as ‘worldly’?  And Is there a risk that one can become obsessed with a certain impermanence that travel breeds, an escapism of sorts?  Jesse O'Reilly-Conlin, author of 'Go: A Memoir of Movement', joins the podcast. Jesse O'Reilly-Conlin - https://jesseoreillyconlin.com

When it comes to our finances, it’s natural for many to follow the traditional approach to investing by using a stock broker.  Over the past couple of decades, however, there has been a growing trend to go against the grain and not use a stockbroker.  You may have seen the commercials online by companies urging you to bypass stock brokers by investing in their online platforms; they show curves of net worth over the course of decades, suggesting that when one takes compound interest into account, all the fees one pays to a stock broker can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in the long run?  So what does the math show?  Is using a stock broker actually detrimental to one’s overall earnings in the stock market?  Or despite the higher fees, does the stock broker bring an added intangible value? 

Since the October 7th massacre and the ensuing war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, much world attention has been given to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.  In this episode, we take a look back at the origins of this conflict, the concept of Zionism, and the events leading up to the 1948 war, known as the War of Independence in Israel, and referred to as The Nakba ('the catastrophe) by Palestinians. This episode explores two perspectives - a Jewish perspective shared by Harvard Professor Derek Penslar, and a Palestinian perspective shared by Brown Professor Beshara Doumani.Professor Derek Penslar - https://history.fas.harvard.edu/people/derek-penslarProfessor Beshara Doumani - https://vivo.brown.edu/display/bdoumani

The relationship between humans and non-human animals is a fascinating one. In particular, the pet-owner relationship begs many questions. The preconception is that it is totally normal that we cohabitate with other animals in our homes. People love their pets, and for the most part, we assume that our pets love us. But how normal really is the concept of having pets? And even if pets do add much value to humans' lives, is it really moral to keep pets, especially in the ways that we do? Professor Hal Herzog, expert in human-animal relationships, joins the podcast.

There is often an expectation that when parents die, their children will be left with some form of inheritance. But what does the research show about what actually happens to inheritance? What do the recipients tend to do with their inheritance? Is the money put to good use, is it spent right way, is it saved, or is it sometimes totally squandered? Jay Zagorsky, from the Questrom School of Business, joins the podcast.

When we go through elementary school, high school, and college, we are tasked with learning and memorizing mounds of information. But how much emphasis is actually put on how we learn? What are the most effect memory strategies that can help us excel on exams? Are the strategies for short-term memory the same as the techniques for long-term retention? And how does an understanding of one's own 'learning style' factor into the way one studies, if at all? Roddy Roediger, co-author of 'Make It Stick', joins the podcast.