Beauty At Work
Brandon Vaidyanathan
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Beauty at Work explores how beauty shapes our lives and the work that we do. In this interview-based podcast, sociologist Brandon Vaidyanathan interviews leaders and experts across many fields to reveal new insights into how beauty shapes our brains, behaviors, organizations, and societies. Learn how to harness the power and promise of beauty in your life and work, while avoiding its pitfalls and perils. New episodes drop on the 1st and 15th of each month.
Available episodes
Newest first
Oldest first
Sep 15, 2023
Beauty and Design with Pallavi Dean
Pallavi Dean plays at the intersection of design and entrepreneurship. She founded her design firm Roar in 2013. A trained architect and sustainability specialist, she has won multiple awards for work across a range of sectors including commercial, hospitality, and residential. Recent work includes The Accor House of Original in Dubai, Sensasia Spa at Kempinski Dubai, and Mckinsey HQ in Doha.
She was born in India, raised in Dubai, and spent years working in London; her designs reflect these eclectic influences. A former professor of design, she strives to implement the latest theoretical and practical research into the firm’s designs. As a product designer, Pallavi collaborated with Artemide to launch ‘Interweave’ an interactive lighting system for Euro Luce in Milan 2019. Her work has been profiled in some of the world’s leading international media including the Financial Times, the BBC, Monocle, Wallpaper, and the Architectural Digest. She was named Architectural Digest Middle East Designer of the Year in 2020 and Designer of the Year globally by Interior Design Magazine in 2021.
*In this episode, we talk about: *
* Growing up as a third-culture kid
* How Pallavi’s upbringing shaped her love for design and creation
* On creating spaces that engage and stimulate all five senses
* Finding the balance between designing poetic and functional spaces
* Highlighting the beauty of imperfection in nature
* The need for pain and suffering in order to appreciate the beauty
* Exploring the vulnerability of artistic pursuits
* How Pallavi launched her own sustainable design firm, Roar
* The importance of empathy-driven design and architecture
* Debunking misconceptions of design innovations in Dubai
*To learn more about Pallavi’s work, you can find her on:*
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roar_design_studio/
Website: https://www.designbyroar.com/about
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pallavidean/ Support the show
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Sep 1, 2023
The Beauty Of Teaching Science with Dr. Dave Gammon
Dr. Dave Gammon is an integrative scientist who builds bridges beyond traditional scientific communities. Since 2006 he has taught mostly interdisciplinary science and general education courses at Elon University, where he is currently a Professor in Biology. His research projects in birdsong and in SoTL have become increasingly more interdisciplinary. He also performs a lot of science outreach, including running a science café, writing science articles for newspapers and magazines, and creating popular science podcasts.
*In this episode, we talk about: *
* Dave’s formative experiences that led him toward biology and teaching
* What drew him to study birdsong
* On finding the beauty in research
* On teaching a course on the Journey Through Time
* Dave’s passion to draw connections between science and other disciplines
* The power of collaboration and curiosity among academics
* The need for interdisciplinarity
* On introducing the beauty of science to the public through science cafés
*To learn more about Dave’s work, you can find him at:* https://facstaff.elon.edu/dgammon/
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Aug 15, 2023
Beauty and Justice with Dr. Sheri Parks
Sheri Parks, Ph.D. is a public intellectual, strategist, senior higher education professor, administrator, and author, working to bridge the wisdom of communities and the academy to address urgent societal challenges. Her positions have included Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at the Maryland Institute College of Art and Associate Dean for Research, Interdisciplinary Scholarship, and Programing, and Founding Director of the Center for Synergy at the University of Maryland. Her signature public projects include Baltimore Stories: Narrative and the Life of an American City.
*In this episode, we talk about: *
* What drew Sheri to study aesthetics
* Her research on everyday aesthetics
* Sheri’s inspiration to move beyond academia
* The relationship between beauty and aesthetics
* The "Baltimore Stories" project
* The relationship between aesthetics and social justice
* How aesthetics can be manipulated for unethical practices & propaganda
* Aesthetic experience and trauma healing
* The Natural Dye Initiative
*To reach Sheri, email her at: slp@umd.edu*
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheri-parks-a8029331/
*Resources Mentioned:*
Baltimore Stories: Narratives and The Life of an American City: https://vimeo.com/161042379
The Barclay Art Project which features the video she discusses in the podcast:
https://vimeo.com/211528915
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/BeautyatWorkPodcast
Support the show
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Aug 1, 2023
Beautiful Business with Tim Leberecht
Tim Leberecht is a German-American author and entrepreneur, and the co-founder and co-CEO of the House of Beautiful Business, a global think tank and community with the mission to make humans more human and business more beautiful.
Previously, Tim served as the chief marketing officer of NBBJ, a global design and architecture firm. From 2006 to 2013, he was the chief marketing officer of product design and innovation consultancy Frog Design.
Tim is the author of the book The Business Romantic (HarperCollins, 2015), which has been translated into nine languages to date. Tim’s writing regularly appears in publications such as Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Forbes, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, Inc, Quartz, Psychology Today, and Wired. His new book, The End of Winning, was released in German in 2020.
*In this episode, we talk about: *
* How beauty and art shaped Tim’s childhood
* How he paved a multi-disciplinary career in design and marketing
* How Tim started the New Romantic movement in business
* Tim’s pursuit to find the soul in business
* How The House of Beautiful Business began and expanded internationally
* Unpacking the industry shift from human-centered to life-centered design
* Changing the traditional way we view business
* Navigating the loneliness crisis in workplaces
* What does it mean to create hospitable spaces and workplaces?
* Practical advice to incorporate beauty at work
*To learn more about his work, visit: *http://timleberecht.com/
*House of Beautiful Business:* https://houseofbeautifulbusiness.com/
*Linkedin:* https://www.linkedin.com/in/tleberecht/
*Resources Mentioned:*
The Business Romantic: Give Everything, Quantify Nothing, and Create Something Greater Than Yourself by Tim Leberecht - https://a.co/d/eVPDt6I
Death Over Dinner - https://deathoverdinner.org/
The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work by Simone Stolzoff - https://a.co/d/3BPWRY7
Support us on Patreon:
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Jul 15, 2023
Design Without Borders with Adi Cohen
Adi Cohen is the founder of The New Movement, an architecture studio that designs one-of-a-kind projects worldwide. She is the host of the podcast ‘Go Out and Talk to Strangers’, TEDx speaker, Forbes-featured, passionate creator, and free thinker. Adi is on a mission to create ‘the most inspiring places on earth’, with the intention of using the built environment as a tool to help people thrive. Adi is a global citizen, and the first architect to be living a nomadic lifestyle while working. She uses her travels as a source of inspiration, a way to connect to ancient wisdom and learn from local communities.
*In this episode, we talk about: *
* How Adi’s childhood influenced her desire to explore
* Adi’s life-changing decision to leave behind her stable job to pursue a global education
* How little changes in a space can greatly influence the social behaviors of people
* Understanding the neurobiological pattern of prospects and refuge
* On reimagining offices that are able to genuinely cultivate creativity
* Designing international spaces with remote teams
* On bridging cultural differences among clients and teams
* The beauty of co-living in nomadic communities
* On the absurdity of how humans spend more than 90% of their lives indoors
* On rejecting traditional career paths and notions
* Adi’s commitment to helping others create beautiful lives
*To learn more about her work, visit:
*Website: https://thenewmvt.com/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/nomad.architect.me/
IN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adi-cohen-architect/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/nomad.architect.me
Email: info@thenewmvt.com
*Resources Mentioned:
*Openness to Experience: The Gates of the Mind - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/openness-to-experience-the-gates-of-the-mind/
Accidental Genius: Revolutionize Your Thinking Through Private Writing - https://a.co/d/9wZSJNp
Support us on Patreon:
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Jul 1, 2023
Art, Science, and Food With Rob Dunn
Dr. Rob Dunn is the Senior Vice Provost of University Interdisciplinary Programs and a Reynolds Professor in Applied Ecology at North Carolina State University. As Senior Vice Provost he oversees efforts to spur interdisciplinary scholarship, education, and public engagement at NC State. As a scholar, he studies the ecology and evolution of societies and the species with which they interact. This has included projects on the global ecology of sourdough bread, the evolution of sour taste, and the origin of yogurt microbes, among many others.
Dunn has published more than two hundred peer-reviewed articles and more than a hundred magazine and newspaper articles. He has published seven books, including, most recently, A Natural History of the Future and, with Monica Sanchez, Delicious, the Evolution of Flavor and How it Made Us Human
*In this episode, we talk about:
*1. How Rob’s love for art and biology often intersect and interact with each other
2. The distinction between elegance and beauty in ecology
3. The value of art-science collaboration
4. How can we better communicate important scientific discoveries to the general public?
5. Rob’s interest in the interplay between speculative fiction and the future of science
6. The adaptability of nature
7. Is the scientific pursuit beautiful or violent? Or both?
8. How can we make the funding for science endeavors more just?
9. His new book on the origin of flavor and why pleasure matters
10. The biology and psychology behind our cultural preferences for food
*To learn more about his work, visit:
*https://robdunnlab.com/
*Resources Mentioned:
*Delicious: The Evolution of Flavor and How It Made Us Human by Rob Dunn and Monica Sanchez- https://www.amazon.com/Delicious-Evolution-Flavor-Made-Human/dp/0691199477 *
*Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/BeautyatWorkPodcastSupport the show
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Jun 15, 2023
The Spirituality of Design with Rachael Grochowski
Rachael H. Grochowski is an award-winning architect and designer who is leading the conversation of designing what truly matters. She believes that design surpasses simply being beautiful -- design has the power to inspire a sense of calm, interconnectedness, presence, and gratitude, leading to the belief that “Design is Spiritual.”
As an architect and designer, a traveler and seeker, and both a yoga student and teacher, her personal and professional mission has been to guide others toward environments that make them feel grounded in their histories and inspired to grow into their futures. Under Rachael’s stewardship, her firm RHG Architecture + Design has built and designed award-winning residential, commercial, and hospitality projects that are each defined by a spiritual evolution of collective care.
Rachael’s work has been featured in Architectural Digest, Forbes, Interior Design Magazine, Interiors Magazine, Fast Company, Aspire, MindBodyGreen, Hospitality Design, Sweet Jane, and Open House NYC among others. She lives in Montclair, NJ with her three children.
*In this episode, we talk about:
*1. How Rachael’s passion for architecture began in childhood
2. How architecture can cultivate closeness and community
3. The importance of designing structures that bring out good energy within us
4. How architectural choices are related to spiritual truths
5. How architecture can shape our well-being
6. The role of ugliness in architecture and design
7. The importance of infusing authenticity into design projects
8. How spaces can shape relationships
9. How to build genuine trust with clients
10. Safety and ethics in design
*To learn more about her work, visit:*
https://www.rhgdesign.com/
*Resources Mentioned:*
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand - https://a.co/d/8ulmHwb
Support us on Patreon:
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Jun 1, 2023
Aesthetic Intelligence with Pauline Brown
Pauline Brown is a marketing professor at Columbia Business School, where she teaches a course on ’the Business of Aesthetics.’ Earlier in her career, she held senior executive roles at design-driven companies, including LVMH, and Estée Lauder. She also is the author of a business book, Aesthetic Intelligence, published in 2019 by HarperCollins, and the founder of an e-learning platform Aesthetic Intelligence Labs.
*In this episode, we talk about:
*1.* *What Aesthetic Intelligence means
2. The aesthetic genius of Steve Jobs
3. How can we better understand the roots of personal taste and style?
4. How do we distinguish between mimetic desire, trends, and genuine personal styles?
5. Unpacking the limiting nature of the education system in developing our personal identities
6. Can learning to embrace other aesthetics from other people help you become “more yourself”?
7. What is the role of aesthetic intelligence in organizational culture?
8. How aesthetics help better communicate and embody company cultures
9. How do we actually measure aesthetic intelligence in businesses?
10. Unpacking the ethics of aesthetic intelligence
11. How can individuals and organizations cultivate aesthetic intelligence?
12. Why aesthetic intelligence ("the other AI") matters in the age of AI
*To learn more about Pauline Brown’s work, visit: *https://aestheticintelligence.com/
*Resources Mentioned:*
*Pauline’s book **Aesthetic Intelligence: How to Boost It and Use It in Business and Beyond: *https://a.co/d/eIUpkEH
*Aesthetic Intelligence Labs Course:* https://www.aestheticintelligencelabs.com/course/
Support us on Patreon:
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May 25, 2023
Season 2 of the Beauty At Work podcast launches on June 1st!
Season 2 of the Beauty at Work podcast launches on June 1st. What topics and guests would you like to see on the show?
Support us on Patreon:
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May 15, 2023
How Beauty Leads Science Astray with Dr. Sabine Hossenfelder
Dr. Sabine Hossenfelder is a physicist, science communicator, author, musician, and YouTuber. She has published more than 80 research papers on topics ranging from quantum gravity to particle physics, cosmology, astrophysics, statistical mechanics, and quantum foundations. She is the author of Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray, and most recently, of Existential Physics: A Scientist’s Guide to Life’s Biggest Questions. She is also the Creative Director of the popular YouTube channel “Science without the gobbledygook”.
*In this episode, we talk about: *
1. What drew Sabine to pursue mathematics and physics
2. How mathematics can describe the nature of the universe
3. The criteria of beauty (simplicity, elegance, and naturalness) and how they help shape physics
4. Why “Naturalness” is a problem in physics
5. The problems with the reliance on beauty in physics
6. What physics tells us about existential questions such as life after death and free will
7. On how her research has affected her life
8. Science communication, public support, and the inclusion of non-experts in scientific discourse
9. How we can cultivate the beauty of understanding
10. On her sense of meaning and her mission, and how they shape her work.
*Resources mentioned:
Sabine's website: *
https://sabinehossenfelder.com*
YouTube Channel, Science **without the gobbledygook**: **https://www.youtube.com/c/sabinehossenfelder*
*Dr, Hossenfelder’s book **Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray:
**https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Math-Beauty-Physics-Astray/dp/0465094252**
Dr. Hossenfelder's book **Existential Physics**
*https://www.amazon.com/Existential-Physics-Scientists-Biggest-Questions/dp/1984879456/
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/BeautyatWorkPodcastSupport the show
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May 1, 2023
Science, Art, and the Sacred with David Clayton
Born and raised in England, David Clayton is an internationally known artist, teacher, writer, and broadcaster living in Princeton, NJ. He is Provost of online Catholic university www.Pontifex.University where he created their unique Master of Sacred Arts program; and is currently Artist-in-Residence of Scala Foundation, a non-profit based in Princeton, which has a mission of transforming American culture through educational programs that encourage creativity. He has a popular blog at thewayofbeauty.org and writes weekly also for scalafoundation.org; and the newliturgicalmovement.org. He has written several books including: The Little Oratory, A Beginner’s Guide to Praying in the Home; The Way of Beauty, and The Vision for You - How to Discover the Life You Were Made For. As an artist, he has major commissions from churches in the US and the UK. He has also illustrated several books aside from his own.
*In this episode, we talk about: *
* What drew David to science and then into…
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Apr 15, 2023
What’s Beautiful About Mathematics? With Dr. Carlo Lancellotti
Carlo Lancellotti is a Professor of Mathematics at the College of Staten Island and a faculty member in the Physics Program at the CUNY Graduate Center. His field of scholarship is mathematical physics, with a special emphasis on the kinetic theory of plasmas and gravitating systems. He has published in a variety of journals, including Physical Review, Physical Review Letters, the Journal of Statistical Physics, Chaos, the Journal of Transport Theory, and Statistical Physics. He has also translated into English and published three volumes of works by the late Italian philosopher Augusto Del Noce. Lancellotti has also written essays of his own on Del Noce and other topics, which have appeared in Communio, Public Discourse, Church Life Journal, First Things, and other outlets.
*In this episode, we talk about: *
* Beauty, structure, and harmony and their role in the study of mathematics.
* The aesthetic criteria used by some mathematicians.
* The beauty found in the Boltzmann equa…
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Apr 1, 2023
Can Viruses be Beautiful? with Dr. Mark Painter
Dr. Mark Painter graduated from The University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota with a B.S. in Biology in 2014, and subsequently entered the Graduate Program in Immunology at the University of Michigan. There, he studied how HIV evades the immune response and establishes a persistent infection, working to develop therapeutic strategies to reverse these processes. He completed his Ph.D. in Immunology in November 2020. He began a postdoctoral research fellowship to study human immunology and vaccination in John Wherry's lab at the University of Pennsylvania in January 2021. His current focus is on immune responses following SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination, and his work has been published in journals including Science Immunology, Immunity, Nature Medicine, Science, and Cell.
*In this episode, we talk about: *
* What drew Mark Painter into the study of biology and virology?
* Viruses, the elegance in their intricacies, and their place in the process of life.
* The beauty f…
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Mar 15, 2023
Wonder: Cultivating the Love of Science with Dr. Frank Keil
Frank C. Keil is Charles C. & Dorathea S. Dilley Professor of Psychology and Linguistics at Yale University, where he is also a member of the Cognition and Development Lab. After his BS in Biology at MIT in 1973, he went on to get his MA in Psychology from Stanford in 1975 and PhD in Psychology from University of Pennsylvania in 1977. Keil has published extensively on topics concerned with many areas in the development of cognition and language. He has written two books on aspects of conceptual development. He has served as president of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology and has received numerous awards for his scholarship, including the Boyd R. McCandless Award from the American Psychological Association (Developmental Psychology), the Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology from the American Psychological Association, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, a MERIT Award from the N…
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Mar 1, 2023
The Beauty of Applied Science with Dr. Marcia Otto
Dr. Marcia Otto is an Associate Professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center in the Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Health. Marcia's research focuses on the effects of different aspects of diet on cardiometabolic health and cognition. Marcia received her postdoctoral training in Nutritional and Cardiovascular Epidemiology at Harvard T.C. Chan School of Public Health.
She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Health from the University of Texas School of Public Health, an M.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Sao Paulo, and a B.S. in Physics from the University of Rio de Janeiro State. Marcia’s work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, and the Department of Defense. Since 2020, Marcia has been serving as the leading investigator of a multi-site collaboration to inform the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Harris County, TX.
*In this episode, we talk about: *
* Why Dr. Marcia Ot…
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Feb 15, 2023
Finding Beauty in the Limits of Science with Dr. Marcelo Gleiser
Marcelo Gleiser is the Appleton Professor of Natural Philosophy at Dartmouth, a world-renowned theoretical physicist and public intellectual. He’s authored hundreds of technical and nontechnical papers and essays, and six books in English translated to 15 languages, the latest being Great Minds Don’t Think Alike. His popular writings explore the historical, religious, and philosophical roots of science.
Marcelo is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a recipient of the Presidential Faculty Fellows Award from the White House, and founder and past director of the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement at Dartmouth. He co-founded NPR’s 13.7 Science and Culture blog, and currently writes weekly for BigThink.com. He is the 2019 Templeton Prize laureate, an honor he shares with Mother Tereza, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, and scientists Freeman Dyson, Jane Goodall, Francis Collins, and Sir Martin Rees.
*In this episode we talk about: *
* What first drew Marce…
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Feb 1, 2023
Why Aesthetics is Essential for Science Education with Dr. Punya Mishra
Dr. Punya Mishra is Associate Dean of Scholarship & Innovation and Professor in the Division of Educational Leadership & Innovation in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. He is internationally recognized for his work in technology integration in teaching; the role of creativity and aesthetics in learning; and the application of design-based approaches to educational innovation. He has received over $7 million in grants, published over 100 articles, and edited 3 books. He is an award-winning teacher, an engaging public speaker, as well as an accomplished visual artist and poet. And like any true Douglas Adams fan, he is interested in life, the universe, and everything.
*In this episode we talk about: *
* How Dr. Mishra began seeing the beauty of the world through science
* How can we revive the sense of wonder and curiosity in our classrooms?
* How education fails to cultivate the skill of curiosity and perception
* The role of beauty in science…
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Jan 15, 2023
The science of awe and the awe of science with Dr. Dacher Keltner
Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the faculty director of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. A renowned expert in the science of human emotion, Dr. Keltner studies compassion and awe, how we express emotion, and how emotions guide our moral identities and search for meaning. His research interests also span issues of power, status, inequality, and social class. He is the author of The Power Paradox and the bestselling book Born to be Good, and the co-editor of The Compassionate Instinct. His latest book is titled Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life.
*In this episode we talk about: *
* What drew Dacher to the scientific study of awe
* How awe differs from wonder and beauty
* What has surprised him the most about what he learned through his research
* What are the causes and triggers of awe, and why it matters for us to experience it
* How might experiences of awe facilit…
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Jan 1, 2023
Beauty, Desire, and Rivalry in Science and Technology with Luke Burgis
Luke Burgis began his career on Wall Street in investment banking and private equity and went on to found multiple companies in technology, consumer products, and wellness. He is Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Director of Programs at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship at The Catholic University of America, where he is also a professor of business. He graduated from New York University’s Stern School of Business with a degree in Finance and Accounting and later studied philosophy and theology at a pontifical university in Rome.
Luke is the co-author of the book Unrepeatable: Cultivating the Unique Calling of Every Person, with Dr. Joshua Miller, and the bestselling book Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life (St. Martin’s Press), inspired by the ideas of the social theorist René Girard on the mimetic or imitative nature of human desire.
In our conversation, we talked about what beauty has to do with mimetic desire and rivalry, especially in the worlds…
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Dec 15, 2022
Does Nature Prefer Symmetry? Beauty at the Intersection of Physics and Biology with Dr. Ard Louis
Ard Louis is a Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Oxford where he leads an interdisciplinary research group studying problems on the border between chemistry, physics, and biology.
He was born in the Netherlands, was raised in Gabon, and received his first degree from the University of Utrecht and his PhD in theoretical physics from Cornell University. Prior to teaching at Oxford he taught theoretical chemistry at the University of Cambridge.
*In this episode we explore:
*1. What drew Ard to study physics
2. Where he encounters beauty in his work
3. What beauty means to scientists in the fields of biology and physics
4. The role of awe and the sublime in science
5. Ard’s recent research of the frequency of symmetry in nature
6. Is there beauty in asymmetry?
7. The significance of beauty in science
8. Can beauty be misleading—a source of bias?
9. How does beauty in science relate to the beauty we encounter in art?
10. Why should the public care about beauty in…
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Dec 1, 2022
Beauty and the Brain: The Science of Neuroaesthetics with Dr. Anjan Chatterjee
Our guest today is Anjan Chatterjee, MD, FAAN. He is a Professor of Neurology, Psychology, and Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and has served as the Chair of Neurology at Pennsylvania Hospital. While his clinical work focuses on cognitive disorders, the focal points of his research are in neuroaesthetics, spatial cognition, language, and neuroethics. His multidisciplinary knowledge has won him recognition and awards. It has led him to author his book, The Aesthetic Brain, a study on how art has embedded itself into the human mind as investigated through the lens of neuroscience and evolutionary psychology.
*Dr. Chatterjee joins us to discuss the following:*
* Dr. Chatterjee’s academic path from philosophy, to neuroscience, to neuroaesthetics.
* Are humans hard-wired for beauty?
* Individuals are influenced by culture, and culture is influenced by the collective.
* The Aesthetic Triad and how it is affected by moral judgments.
* Using beauty as a heuristic.…
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Nov 15, 2022
Beauty and Innovation: Science, art, and entrepreneurship in Italy with Dr. Luca Cottini
Today’s guest is Dr. Luca Cottini, a scholar, associate professor at Villanova University, and the host and creator of the YouTube show Italian Innovators. Although trained as a classical philologist and cultural historian, his interests go beyond Italian art throughout history. Through his show, Dr. Cottini explores the present artistic contributions of Italy through entrepreneurship and innovation across multiple disciplines. His books include The Art of Objects: The Birth of Italian Industrial Culture and a monograph on Italo Calvino.
*Dr. Cottini joins us to discuss the following:*
* What attracted Dr. Cottini to study design and innovation.
* His thoughts on Galileo being the father of modern science.
* How Italy’s humanities-focused education influences science.
* How different ideas contribute to each other and create innovation.
* Some examples of encounters with Beauty that spurred innovation.
* Could aesthetic principles also hinder innovation? How?
* The…
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Nov 1, 2022
Beauty and Mental Health with Dr. Eloise Ballou
Dr. Eloise Ballou is a psychiatrist specializing in psychotherapy for adolescents and hospital-based emergency psychiatry. She received her medical degree from the University of Ottawa in the French stream and completed her Psychiatry residency at the University of Toronto. She enjoys supervising Psychiatry residents in psychodynamic psychotherapy at the University of Toronto, and also works as a locum psychiatrist in Northern Ontario in acute care and emergency room settings. She studied Art History and Psychology at the University of Toronto prior to starting her medical training and has a particular interest in applying insights from the humanities to her medical practice.
* In our interview, we explore:*
* What drew Eloise to medicine/psychiatry in the first place
* Where she encounters beauty in her work as a psychotherapist
* The obstacles to encountering beauty in her work and in the medical profession generally
* How beauty might be relevant to mental health
* What…
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Oct 15, 2022
Can scientific experiments be beautiful? with Dr. Milena Ivanova
Today’s guest is Dr. Milena Ivanova, a philosopher of science based at Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge University, where she is a fellow, graduate tutor, and the Director of Studies in Philosophy. Dr. Ivanova’s research involves studying aesthetics in the expansive field of science and publishing numerous articles, papers, and books on the subject. She is the author of *Duhem and Holism* (Cambridge UP, 2021) and co-editor of* **The Aesthetics of Science: Beauty, Imagination, and Understanding *(Routledge, 2020)*.*
*Dr. Ivanova lends us her expertise to explore the following:*
* What attracted Dr. Ivanova to studying beauty in science
* The relevance of beauty and its role in understanding science
* Functionality and optimality of purpose contributing to an experiment’s beauty
* The beauty of experiments beyond visual aesthetics through design and significance
* On beauty contributing to bias
* The benefit of learning about beauty in science for scientists and phil…
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Oct 1, 2022
Beauty in Physics with Dr. Mario Livio
My guest today is the astrophysicist and author Dr. Mario Livio. Dr. Livio is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. For 24 years, Dr. Livio worked with the Hubble Space Telescope. He has published more than 500 scientific articles on topics such as cosmology, supernova explosions, black holes, extrasolar planets, and the emergence of life in the universe. He is the author of seven books including *The Golden Ratio**, **Is God a Mathematician**, and **Brilliant Blunders*. His latest book is *Galileo and the Science Deniers*.
*In this episode, we explore:*
* What attracted Mario to astrophysics in the first place
* Mario’s definition of beauty in science consists of three specific criteria
* Mario’s experiences of encountering beauty in science
* How mathematics may be relevant to our understanding of beauty
* Whether the beauty we can encounter in science and art are similar or different
* Whether scientists should care about beauty in th…
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Sep 20, 2022
Beauty at Work Podcast Trailer
Beauty at Work explores how beauty shapes our lives and the work that we do. In this interview-based podcast, sociologist Brandon Vaidyanathan explores the role of beauty in domains like science, business, religion, food, justice, and more. You’ll hear from leaders and experts across many fields and will gain new insights into how beauty shapes our brains, behaviors, organizations, and societies. Subscribe and learn how to harness the power and promise of beauty in your life and work, while avoiding its pitfalls and perils.
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