[Post by our host, Brian Southwell] We face choices every day. All of those choices are constrained by the circumstances in which we live, but nonetheless we often have opportunities to look at the world in one of several different ways. On our show, we have been making choices about what topics and people to feature for our listeners. Given…
What a few weeks we have all experienced, as the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many of our usual patterns around the world. We strive to produce relevant and timely interviews, but many of our recent episodes now are particularly evocative given the state of the world. We’ve talked about the importance of social interaction, for example, with Jeffery Hall of…
January 2020 marks the fifth anniversary of the debut of The Measure of Everyday Life. Getting the show on air in the first place was no small feat and keeping it there weekly as a service to our listeners has reflected often heroic effort that happened quietly and without fanfare. As a public radio station without enormous coffers, WNCU has…
When you hear the words “Farmers Market,” what comes to mind? Stalls of organic produce, Mason jars full of different picked oddities, maybe a few handcrafted items? The term “Farmers Market” can bring up a lot of different images in a person’s mind or maybe nothing at all if they’re unfamiliar with the concept or have never been to one.…
As we close another calendar year and a holiday season arrives in the U.S., we are grateful for the connections we share with our listeners. This time of year offers opportunities to look back and look ahead, and also to reflect on the connections between people in various communities that could be strengthened or built. [Image: Peace and Plenty by…
We explore a wide range of issues on The Measure of Everyday Life that social science researchers have explored. One of the challenges that researchers face is a tendency for academic papers to present topics in broad and abstract terms, partly because of format and formality, rather than offering insight regarding the emotional responses and even mundane logistical challenges people…
The interview didn’t seem likely to happen. We were scheduled to talk with David Gill, a faculty member at Duke University who investigates marine science and conservation. We wanted to talk with David because his work not only has direct implication for the health of our planet but also because his work intersects with human behavior. He considers ocean conservation…
Every day, we encounter a dizzying array of disparate stimuli. We interact with a wide array of information as we live our lives, whether it be the sensation that the afternoon air is getting more humid before a sudden storm or a text message from a friend or a video presentation on a new policy at work. We are used…
Regularly, Duke University sponsors an innovative course called the Social Science Radio Workshop in which a group of students work with Brian Southwell (who is host of The Measure of Everyday Life, RTI International program director, and a Duke faculty member) to explore how public media can put a spotlight on new ideas emerging from university research. We sometimes have…
Social science research can help us find new and interesting ways to deploy current technologies for new purposes. We discussed an example of that on an episode of the show in which we interviewed Niranjan Karnik of the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, IL. We specifically talked with Dr. Karnik about his team’s use of mobile phone technology to…
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