Wild Connection

The Formula with László Barabási

It’s a new year. Maybe you’ve made some resolutions, come up with your next big idea, or are busy fine-tuning your strategy for the year ahead. Success is on everyone's mind, so what better time than now to talk to someone who has cracked the code. That would be none other than best-selling author, network scientist, and visionary, Albert László Barabási, the brilliant mind behind the groundbreaking book, "The Formula: The Universal Laws of Success"?

We learn at a very early age that if you perform well, even the best, you will succeed. And to a certain point that is true. There is a strong link between performance and success, but it’s not so straightforward. 

How can we balance effort, opportunity, and timing to maximize success? You can’t be successful without strong performance but there are other ingredients, a special sauce, if you will, that can make the difference between ordinary and extraordinary success. We talk about all this ad more in this week's episode. 

We also want to hear from you! Share your thoughts, stories, and questions with us on social media using the hashtag #ScienceOfSuccess.

Keep up with Barabási on Twitter @barabasi and see what he and colleagues are working on by checking out his lab website. 

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The End of the World with David Gessner

In this episode I have a not so ordinary conversation about climate with best selling author David Gessner and we invite you to think about how to talk through what climate change really means from a new point of view, one that connects us instead of divides us.

David Gessner has written many books but we are talking about his latest one:  A Traveller's Guide to the End of the World: Tales of Fire Wind and Water

You can follow David on Twitter @DavidGessner and on Instagram @davidmgessner

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

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Hormones with Randi Hutter Epstein

Let’s talk about hormones. Hormones are so much more than time packages that influence the major events in our lives. We are still learning about some of these major events though in ourselves and other animals. Just a few months again scientists confirmed that chimpanzees go through menopause Here is the NY Times article about the discovery. I was also keen to see the study on chimpanzees since it was research conducted in Kibale National Park in Uganda. Now I want to know if mountain gorillas go through menopause, I have been to Kibale many times and have followed research by John Mitani, David Watts, and Richard Wrangham for quite a long time. Here is a link to the original research article.

In this episode I mention a video I made with a friend and colleague called “Rejecting the Biological Binary". You can check that out here on my Youtube channel Wild Connection TV

This week’s guest is Randi Hutter Epstein, MD. Shes a writer in residence at Yale School of Medicine and teaches both at Yale University and Columbia’s School of Journalism. Today, she is filling us in on all the weird and wonderful things that hormones control by talking about her book Aroused: The History of Hormones and How They Control Just About Everything. They even, well, make you you, mostly, kind of.

If you want to get your copy of Aroused and Randi's other book check out her website: http://randihutterepstein.com/

And if you want to keep up with Randi follow her on 

Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

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Keeping up with Koalas with Danielle Close

This week I talk with natural history writer Danielle Clode about her new book Koalas: A Natural History and an Uncertain Future

As famous as koalas are they are still a bit of a mystery. Danielle shares her love, fascination, and a ton of wonderful knowledge about koalas with us. 

If you want to get a copy of the book or keep up with Danielle

visit her website https://danielleclode.com.au/ and follow her on 

Instagram or Twitter

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

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Under A Rock with David Scheel

I know I am not alone in my fascination of octopuses. They seem a little out of this world and they have so many unusual traits. 

My guest today is scientist and author David Scheel. And We are going to talk about his new book Many Things Under a Rock: The Mystery of Octopuses

One of the things that came up in the podcast was the octopus nurseries. They have always been a mystery to scientists and just this past week we finally have an answer. In the deep waters off the coast of California is an octopus nursery with over 6000 pearly octopuses. The answer only deepens my respect for the incredible intelligence octopuses possess. What is the answer? It seems they somehow have figured out that in these deep cold waters there is a bit of warmth to be found. The baby octopus garden sits on top of extinct volcanic vents that give off a little extra heat.

Without this extra warmth it would take about 4 years for these octopus babies to mature. Instead in a mere 2 years they're ready to rock and roll in the ocean. Enjoy the episode and grab a copy of David's book

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

 

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Killer Whales with Hanne Strager

This is the first episode of Season 4 and I am excited to talk to marine biologist and author Hanne Strager about her new book The Killer Whale Journals: Our Love and Fear of Orcas. She’s from Denmark but has been working with and studying killer whales in Norway for and leading the way in the conservation and education space. She’s also the Director of Content for a project called The Whale, a new museum in Norway. And naturally, she passionate about killer whales.

If you want to connect with Hanne and get a copy of her book, check out her website and follow her on Instagram

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

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Kingha Coffee with Kingsely Griffin

Coffee, the thing that so many of us love and crave. That is the topic of today’s show. Today coffee is grown all over the world but it originates in Ethiopia and its history is recounted the mythology of a goat herder who noticed goats became energetic after eating the fruits. If you don’t know anything about goats, they are pretty energetic already so they must have really changed their behavior. We too can get the jitters from coffee and soon coffee was being cultivated. It is now a billion dollar industry but few people are connected to where their cup comes from. In this episode I talk with Kingsley Griffin, founder of Kingha Coffee Company, an organic coffee farm and coffee producer in Southwestern Uganda. Check out the video of me making coffee the old fashioned way on my YouTube Chanel, Wild Connection TV.

Kingha coffee is some of the best I have ever had. If you want to follow the journey of Kingha coffee you can go to their website and follow them on Twitter and Instagram

 

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

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Tackling Poaching with Alex Ngabiano

Uganda has made great strides in conservation of its wildlife, notably mountain gorillas, but also the captive breeding and ultimate goal of reintroduction of rhinos back into the system. Uganda has also developed a model of profit sharing and others, like my guest Alex Ngabirano founder and CEO of Bwindi Development Network, an anti poaching organization, are taking the lead to create economic alternatives and education programs through community led decisions.  

To follow Alex and the work of the Bwindi Development Network you can connect with them on their website:

https://bwindidevelopmentnetwork.org/

Facebook

Twitter

And you can read some of Alex's articles on Medium

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

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Sitting with the Batwa

Last week climate refugees came up and this week it’s time to talk about conservation refugees. Many Indigenous communities are losing their ancestral lands for conservation. This week's guest is one of the Indigenous Batwa clan leaders currently living in Buhoma in a settlement at the edge of his former home, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

It was an honor and a privilege to sit with him and his community to talk about who they are as a people, what life used to be like, and what they are hoping for in their future. During our interview, the rains came so you’ll hear how heavy the rains were toward the end. If you want to see one of the Batwa traditional dances you can see it here.

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

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Climate Policy with John Kasiita Ssemulema

This episode continues my Voices of Uganda series that is part of my Fulbright, since I am well, in Uganda. Back home in the US this week there is a climate change trial unfolding in the unlikeliest of places- Montana. What does this mean, a climate change trial?  In this case it is 16 young people that have sued the State of Montana over their reckless endangerment of their future. The case, Held v. Montana, is grounded in Montana’s constitution. You see, Montana guarantees its citizens  the right to a clean and healthful environment You can check out a link to the Yale article  for a more detailed look at the case. 

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/06/inside-the-unexpectedly-wild-landmark-montana-youth-climate-trial/

This case though, ties directly to my guest this week. Born and raised in Kampala John Kasiita Semulema has had an impact well beyond Uganda’s borders. Today Kampala is nothing like it was when he grew up. It still had wildlife and was more like a village than the bustling, hectic, crowded city of today. Change is inevitable and nowhere is that more evident than with the climate. He speaks from a point of view as a Ugandan that grew up there and experienced a deep connection to nature and changes in the environment and now as an accomplished climate policy advisor also speaks from a global perspective. 

If you want to connect with John, you can find him on LinkedIn

If you are digging the show, give it a like, leave a review, and share it with your friends.

You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

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