[podcast]https://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2010/01/Social-Contagions.mp3[/podcast] Parents (I don’t think I’m giving away any parental secrets here) worry about peer pressure–not least because parents remember how much their behavior was influenced by peers when they were young. The fact is, we’re all influenced by the people around us…and we often think of that influence as a bad thing. As the …
Category: Science Columns
Why I’m not Stephenie Meyer
[podcast]https://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2010/01/Why-Im-Not-Stephanie-Meyer.mp3[/podcast] I’m a full-time writer, but not, alas, a fabulously wealthy and/or successful one. James Cameron isn’t bugging me about film rights; Oprah isn’t plugging me on TV; fans aren’t lugging great stacks of my books around, chasing me for autographs. It’s easy, when you’re one of the little guys in any creative field, be …
Blame your brain for overeating
[podcast]https://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2009/12/Why-We-Overeat.mp3[/podcast] Put on a few extra pounds over Christmas? Wonder why you feel compelled to eat half a box of chocolates half an hour after finishing your second plate of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy? Feel a little guilty? Well, new research offers clues to one of the most baffling aspects of the eternal …
‘Twas the Nocturnal Time of the Preceding Day to the Day We Call Christmas
[podcast]https://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2009/12/Twas-the-Nocturnal-Time.mp3[/podcast] With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore ’Twas the nocturnal time of the preceding day To the day we call Christmas (which is, by the way, Just a modern twist on the eons-old fight To use feast and fire to end winter’s night). And all through our dwelling (a.k.a. the house), Not a creature was …
The mathematics of pizza slicing
[podcast]https://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2009/12/Pizza-Slicing.mp3[/podcast] It’s almost Christmas, and Christmas means food: turkey, dressing, candy canes, oranges, cranberries, chocolate, and, of course, pizza. (OK, maybe pizza is not the most traditional of foods, but it’s still a popular holiday choice, so humor me.) Pizzas normally come pre-sliced. The question is, and I’m sure you’ve asked yourself this a lot, …
O Tannenbaum
Time to re-roast an old chestnut, a column I wrote several years that has become fresh in my mind due to the successful completion last night of Operation Dress-the-Tree (to be followed in a few weeks, of course, by Operation Curse-the-Tree as the needle-shedding skeleton is hauled out to the alley). Is there scientific interest …
Why men and women shop the way they do
[podcast]https://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2009/12/Shopping-and-Gender.mp3[/podcast] They shuffle along with blank faces and dead eyes, unseeing, unthinking, lost in some private hell that you as passerby can only pray never similarly engulfs you. You scuttle by, eyes averted, as though they have some horrible contagion against which neither face masks, Tamiflu nor vaccination can defend…and yet the odds are that …
Measurement
[podcast]https://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2009/11/Measurement.mp3[/podcast] “Inch-worm, inch-worm, measuring the marigolds…” Despite that line from a popular song, the fact is, inch-worms don’t measure anything. Neither to cockroaches, bulldogs, llamas or horned toads…because measurement is the process of counting how much of a sensory signal exists, and so far as we know, no other animals can count. Simply counting things …
The thrill of victory depends on the fear of the agony of defeat
[podcast]https://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2009/11/Sports-Emotions.mp3[/podcast] The Saskatchewan Roughriders play the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League’s Western Final this Sunday. That simple declarative sentence contains a novel’s worth of angst for fans of the Riders (and possibly for fans the Stampeders, too, but I can’t speak about that, not being one of those LOSERS!…oops, sorry, did I type …
To sleep, perchance to dream
[podcast]https://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2009/11/Dreaming.mp3[/podcast] Why do we dream? You’d think we’d know by now. Everyone dreams, and people have been fascinated by dreams throughout recorded history. But scientifically, their origin and importance remain uncertain. Do they serve some vital psychological or physiological function? Or are they just meaningless accidents of our brain’s wiring? A few years ago, Finnish …
Do you suffer from gelatophobia?
[podcast]https://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2009/10/Gelotophobia.mp3[/podcast] It’s getting on toward Christmas, which means A Charlie Brown Christmas will soon be on TV…and we’ll once again get to watch Lucy give her nickel’s worth of psychiatric advice to Charlie Brown, listing all the phobias he could be subject to. One she won’t list is gelotophobia, which, though it sounds like it …
The silent majority
[podcast]https://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2009/10/The-Silent-Majority.mp3[/podcast] It’s probably happened to you. It’s certainly happened to me. You’re at some social gathering or public event when someone says something so outrageously extreme that you can’t believe it. The thrower of this verbal bombshell seems to assume everyone agrees with him…and since no one speaks up, except for a couple of people …
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Episode 168: Dan Flanigan – An American Tragedy
A chat with novelist, playwright, poet (and practicing lawyer) Dan Flanigan about An American Tragedy, third book in his Peter O’Keefe crime-fiction series. Websitedanflaniganbooks.com Facebook@eAuthorDanFlanigan X@_DanFlanigan Dan Flanigan’s Amazon Page Amazon Links for An American TragedyAmazon.comAmazon.ca About the Book No good deed goes unpublished In the scorching summer of 1988, amidst the frenzy of the… -
Episode 167: E.C. Hibbs – The Shade Between Shadows
A chat with author, artist, and storyteller E.C. Hibbs about the first book in her new Nightland Quartet, The Shade Between Shadows. Websiteechibbs.weebly.com Facebook@echibbs Instagram@e_c_hibbs TikTok@e_c_hibbs YouTube@echibbs E.C. Hibbs’s Amazon Page Amazon Links for The Shade Between ShadowsAmazon.comAmazon.ca About the Book I didn’t think myself truly silent. I possessed a voice, as sure as any… -
Episode 166: Jennifer Anne Gordon – The Japanese Box and Other Stories
A chat with award-winning horror author Jennifer Anne Gordon about her new short story collection, The Japanese Box and Other Stories. Websitejenniferannegordon.com Facebook@JenniferAnneGordonAuthor Instagram@jennifergenevievegordon X@JenniferAnneGo5 Jennifer Anne Gordon’s Amazon Page Amazon Links for The Japanese Box and Other StoriesAmazon.comAmazon.ca About the Book A collection of short stories contemplating horror, grief, and trauma. Simulacrum: A dark comedic… -
Episode 165: Dr. Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes – A Fifth of the Story
A chat with author, podcaster, and blogger Dr. Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes about her new spy thriller, A Fifth of the Story Websitedrkatherinehayes.com Facebook@authordrkatherinehayes Instagram@authordrkatherine X@khutch0767 Dr. Katherine Huthcinson-Hayes’s Amazon Page Amazon Links for A Fifth of the StoryAmazon.comAmazon.ca About the Book A fascinating thriller of espionage that takes you into the secretive world of the CIA… -
Episode 164: Kristen Ciccarelli – Heartless Hunter
A chat with New York Times bestselling YA author Kristen Cicarelli about Heartless Hunter, The Crimson Moth Book 1, a “dangerously romantic Scarlet Pimpernel-inspired fantasy.” Websitekristenciccarelli.com Facebook@AuthorKristenCiccarelli Instagram@kristenciccarelli Pinterest@kciccarelli Kristen Ciccarelli’s Amazon Page Amazon Links for Heartless HunterAmazon.comAmazon.ca About the Book Enemies-to-lovers doesn’t get more high stakes than a witch and a witch hunter falling… -
Episode 163: Sebastien de Castell – Play of Shadows
A chat with award-winning fantasy author Sebastien de Castell about Play of Shadows, Book 1 of Court of Shadows, set in the world of his popular Greatcoats series. Websitedecastell.com X@decastell Facebook@decastell Sebastien de Castell’s Amazon Page Amazon Links for Play of ShadowsAmazon.comAmazon.ca About the Book Swordplay, magic, intrigue and friendships stronger than iron: the first… -
Episode 162: Lyn McGinnis – Amarel Mountain
A chat with author Lyn McGinnis about Anu Awakes, an epic fantasy series, and the most recent release in that series, Book 2, Amarel Mountain. Websiteanuawakesseries.com Bluesky@anuawakes Goodreads Instagram@anuawakes Lyn McGinnis’s Amazon Page Amazon Links for Amarel MountainAmazon.comAmazon.ca About the Book Descendants of the Tolku of the Primary Epoch, the Koru, Yakku and Yelda, now… -
Episode 161: Jared N. Michaud – Brightstar
A chat with new author Jared N. Michaud about his upcoming YA science fiction novel Brightstar, first book in the Energematric6 space adventure series. Websiteenergematrice6.com Facebook@Energematrice6 X@Energematrice6 Instagram@jarednmichaud Jared N. Michaud’s Amazon Page Amazon Links for BrightstarAmazon.comAmazon.ca About the Book Brightstar is the beginning of an epic space-adventure series that introduces readers to Nate, a… -
Episode 160: Breakfield & Burkey – Enigma Tracer
A chat with the writing team of Charles Breakfield and Rox Burkey about their long-running techno-thriller series, Enigma, and Enigma Tracer, first book in their new Enigma Heirs trilogy. Websiteenigmabookseries.com Facebook@TheEnigmaSeries X@EnigmaSeries@1rburkey Instagram@enigmabookseries YouTube Amazon Links for Engima TracerAmazon.comAmazon.ca About the Book The clock is ticking … can Gracie uncover the truth? Phillip Pliant is… -
Episode 159: Steve Truitt – The Mindset Chronicles
A chat with author and former television host Steve Truitt about his new science fiction novel series, The Mindset Chronicles. Websitestevetruitt.com Facebook@AuthorSteveTruitt Amazon Links for The DeletionAmazon.comAmazon.ca Steve Truitt’s Amazon Page About the Book In a world where artificial intelligence has become an integral part of daily life, the sudden death of all AI sends…
