Benji was an idealistic young man full of hopes for his future…until the 2008 financial crisis left him jobless. At a loss for how to lead a good life and earn a living, he decided to join an alternative community, la ZAD, in the west of France. A transcript of this episode is available at https://podcast.duolingo.com/french.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 24, 2021 is: fathom • \FA-thum\  • verb 1 : to make a searching exploratory investigation : probe 2 : to take soundings 3 : to measure by a sounding line 4 : to penetrate and come to understand Examples: Even those close to him can't always fathom why he repeatedly risks his life to climb the world's tallest mountains. "When the coronavirus pandemic struck, we expected the real estate business to hit a brick wall and never fathomed the possibility of 2020 becoming a record year for the Houston market." — Richard Miranda, quoted in The Houston Agent Magazine, 14 Jan. 2021 Did you know? Fathom comes from Old English fæthm, meaning "outstretched arms." The noun fathom, which now commonly refers to a measure (especially of depth) of six feet, was originally used for the distance, fingertip to fingertip, created by stretching one's arms straight out from the sides of the body. In one of its earliest uses, the verb fathom was a synonym of our modern embrace: to fathom someone was to clasp the person in your arms. By the 1600s fathom had taken to the seas, as the verb was used to mean "to measure by a sounding line." At the same time, the verb also developed senses synonymous with probe or investigate, and it is now frequently used to refer to the act of getting to the bottom of something, figuratively speaking.

When catastrophe strikes, art prevails—and has done so for centuries. In this fascinating talk, writer and director Cara Greene Epstein places the closing of theaters during the coronavirus pandemic in a historical context, exploring how we can use this intermission to imagine a more just, representative and beautiful world, onstage and off.

Significant friendships can impact our lives in more ways than we know. The right friend can provide a subject perspective and give you more insight into how to manage life ups and downs. Want more Andy? Try Headspace today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An effective COVID-19 vaccine is just the first step in ending the pandemic, says global health strategist Johanna Benesty. In this illuminating talk, she explores the various barriers to "equitable access" -- making sure COVID-19 therapeutics are available to all -- and shares a creative approach to research and development that could ensure vaccines are rolled out fairly, efficiently and at a global scale.

From movie plots to ad campaigns to viral videos, if they feature twins, they grab our attention every time. But it’s not only the general public who are fascinated with twins. Over many decades, twins have garnered attention from psychologists and other researchers because of what they can tell us about how our genes and environment interact to make us who we are. Nancy Segal, PhD, a professor of psychology and director of the Twin Studies Center at California State University, Fullerton, talks about the state of twin research today and what we've learned about twins, and from them, over the decades. Links Nancy Segal, PhD Twin Studies Center at California State University, Fullerton Music Funny music (orchestra) by Darkash28 via Freesound.org

In April 2020, epidemiologist-in-training Sophie Rose volunteered to be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. As a young, healthy adult, she's offering to take part in a human challenge trial, a study where participants are intentionally exposed to SARS-CoV-2 to test vaccines and gather critical data. Explaining how challenge trials could speed up the development of effective vaccines, Rose shares why volunteering was the right decision for her.

Today, we're re-sharing a conversation with Christiana Figueres, because we've got a special update for you from TED. On Saturday, October 10, we'll launch Countdown: an exciting new global initiative to champion and accelerate solutions to the climate crisis, turning ideas into action. To get involved, tune in to the global launch which will be live-streamed at youtube.com/ted on October 10 at 11am ET. In 2015, Christiana Figueres brokered the historic Paris Agreement to combat climate change. She gives an inside look at the negotiations that led to a commitment from 195 countries to work toward a low carbon future and discusses her current work on COUNTDOWN, an ambitious new initiative from TED aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero.

Don't think of gratitude as an end in itself. Use it as a step to let your own talents shine through. Positivity can lead to new adventures and great success. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

"Meditation helps calm me down on tough afternoons. It helps me slide into sleep, too." --Swati from Mumbai, your fellow meditator Does negativity seem to consume you? When consumed by negative thoughts, It can be easy to lose sight of the ordinary miracles happening in life like the morning sunrise, the loyalty of your pet, or the blossom, and fragrance of a flower. This week, you are invited to refocus your thoughts on the positivity in the world. This is day 4 of a 7-day Staying Positive in Negative Situations Meditation series, episodes 2236-2242. THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE: You're invited to take part in an Ordinary Miracles Quest. You are encouraged to focus on an aspect of the positivity happening in the world every day. In each episode, I'll share the day's specific positivity focus and you're encouraged to journal about it. Begin to focus on the miracle of life around you. THIS WEEK'S MEDITATION TECHNIQUES: Day 1: Visualization of Kindness Day 2: Affirmation, "I am a part of the miracle of life." Day 3: Breathing Technique Day 4: Mudra Technique Day 5: Chakra Technique Day 6: Layer Meditation Techniques Day 7: Reflection + Introspection SHARE YOUR MEDITATION JOURNEY WITH YOUR FELLOW MEDITATORS Let's connect and inspire each other! Please share a little about how meditation has helped you by reaching out to me at Mary@SipandOm.com or better yet -- direct message me on https://www.instagram.com/sip.and.om. We'd love to hear about your meditation ritual! SUBSCRIBE, LEAVE A REVIEW + TAKE OUR SURVEY SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss a single episode. Consistency is the KEY to a successful meditation ritual. SHARE the podcast with someone who could use a little extra support. I'd be honored if you left me a podcast review. If you do, please email me at Mary@sipandom.com and let me know a little about yourself and how meditation has helped you. I'd love to share your journey to inspire fellow meditators on the podcast! SURVEY: Help us get to know more about how best to serve you by taking our demographics survey: https://survey.libsyn.com/thedailymeditationpodcast FOR DAILY EXTRA SUPPORT OUTSIDE THE PODCAST Each day's meditation techniques shared at: * sip.and.om Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sip.and.om/ * sip and om Facebook * https://www.facebook.com/SipandOm/ JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP Connect with other meditators on the Daily Meditation Podcast private Facebook group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/thedailymeditationpodcast/ SIP AND OM MEDITATION APP Join Mary for deeper, longer daily 30-minute guided meditations on the Sip and Om meditation app. Give it a whirl for 2-weeks free! Receive access to 2,000+ 30-minute guided meditations customized around a weekly theme to help you manage emotions. Receive a Clarity Journal and a Slow Down Guide customized for each weekly theme. 2 weeks for access to the iOS version: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sip-and-om/id1216664612?platform=iphone&preserveScrollPosition=true#platform/iphone 2 weeks free access to the Android version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sipandom.sipandom All meditations are created by Mary Meckley and are her original content. Please request permission to use any of Mary's content by sending an email to Mary@sipandom.com. Resources: Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke and Greg Keller.

Want a new way to get energized about saving the planet? Jonathan Cybulski is a marine ecologist and athlete who channels these disciplines into personal climate activism— something he calls “climate fitness”. This talk was filmed at TEDxTinHau. All TEDx events are organized independently by volunteers in the spirit of TED's mission of ideas worth spreading. To learn more about TEDxSHORTS, the TEDx program, or give feedback on this episode, please visit http://go.ted.com/tedxshorts. Follow TEDx on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TEDx Follow TEDx on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tedx_official Like TEDx on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TEDxEvents

How do the world's best leaders and visionaries earn trust? They don't just present data -- they also tell great stories. Leadership consultant Karen Eber demystifies what makes for effective storytelling and explains how anyone can harness it to create empathy and inspire action.

In the grand scheme of history, modern reality is a bizarre exception when compared to the worlds of ancient, precolonial and Indigenous civilizations, where myths ruled and gods roamed, says historian Greg Anderson. So why do Westerners today think they're right about reality and everybody else is wrong? Anderson tears into the fabric of objective reality to reveal the many universes that lie beyond -- and encourages a healthy reimagining of what other possible ways of being human could look like.

Centuries of inequality can't be solved with access to technology alone -- we need to connect people with training and support too, says tech inclusionist 'Gbenga Sesan. Sharing the work behind the Paradigm Initiative, a social enterprise in Nigeria that's empowering young people with digital resources and skills, Sesan details a vision for creating life-changing opportunities for generations of people across Africa.

By Rae Armantrout

Centuries of inequality can't be solved with access to technology alone -- we need to connect people with training and support too, says tech inclusionist 'Gbenga Sesan. Sharing the work behind the Paradigm Initiative, a social enterprise in Nigeria that's empowering young people with digital resources and skills, Sesan details a vision for creating life-changing opportunities for generations of people across Africa.

An argument for spending more time practicing subtlety and nuance and complication in our thinking. This episode is sponsored by Kialo Edu and Kiddom.

What is Wikipedia In short, Wikipedia is a multilingual, openly collaborative online information platform. Like the "wikis" that came before it, the online encyclopedia's content is editable by volunteers from across the globe. Wikipedia has tens of thousands of editors, from issue experts to the casual fans, who can expand, delete, or change information at will. This allows for a wide array of information to be supplied and verified about a particular person, place, or thing. As a result, Wikipedia can function as a great starting point for research, providing users with general information that can be followed up with more legitimate and reliable sources outside of the site.  Wikipedia was launched on January 15, 2001, by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. Sanger coined its name[5][6] as a portmanteau of "wiki" and "encyclopedia". It was initially an English-language encyclopedia, but versions in other languages were quickly developed. With 6.3 million articles, the English Wikipedia is the largest of the 317 Wikipedia encyclopedias. Overall, Wikipedia comprises more than 55 million articles,[7] attracting 1.7 billion unique visitors per month.[8][9] Wikipedia has been criticized for its uneven accuracy and for exhibiting systemic bias, including gender bias, with the majority of editors being male.[4][undue weight? – discuss] Edit-a-thons have been held to encourage female editors and increase the coverage of women's topics.[10] In 2006, Time magazine stated that the open-door policy of allowing anyone to edit had made Wikipedia the biggest and possibly the best encyclopedia in the world, and was a testament to the vision of Jimmy Wales.[11] The project's reputation improved further in the 2010s as it increased efforts to improve its quality and reliability, based on its unique structure, curation and absence of commercial bias.[4] In 2018, Facebook and YouTube announced that they would help users detect fake news by suggesting links to related Wikipedia articles.[12]