1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:04,520 Speaker 1: I guess what will what's that man? So I was 2 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: looking at letters of note this week and there was 3 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,559 Speaker 1: this thank you note I found that I was stunned by. 4 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: It's from Clyde Barrow. Clyde, Oh is that is that 5 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:16,919 Speaker 1: Clyde of Bonnie and Clyde. That's right? And he wrote 6 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:18,880 Speaker 1: a thank you note to Henry Ford. So here's what 7 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:21,800 Speaker 1: it reads. While I still have got breadth in my lungs, 8 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:23,919 Speaker 1: I will tell you what a dandy car you make. 9 00:00:24,239 --> 00:00:27,160 Speaker 1: I have drove forwards exclusively when I could get away 10 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 1: with one, for sustained speed and freedom from trouble. The 11 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:33,080 Speaker 1: Ford has got every other car skinned. And even if 12 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 1: my business had been strictly legal, it don't hurt anything 13 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:38,519 Speaker 1: to tell you what a fine car you got in 14 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: the V eight yours truly Clyde Champion Barrow. No is 15 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: this is this real? So there is some question about that. 16 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: But it was sent from Tulsa when Clyde Barrow was 17 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: tooling through the area, and according to Stokes, it was 18 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: very much his style of humor. But I was learning 19 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: about gratitude, and it turns out that counting your blessings 20 00:00:57,520 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: and writing thank you notes like this one actually help 21 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:02,560 Speaker 1: you sleep better at night, And according to the Journal 22 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: of Psychosomatic Research, you should count blessings not cheap because 23 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:09,319 Speaker 1: you actually have more positive thoughts before you sleep, which 24 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: soothes the nervous system and helps people sleep better and longer. 25 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: So maybe an outlaw like Clyde actually had a really 26 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 1: good reason for thanking Henry Ford. But learning about this 27 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:20,759 Speaker 1: story made us wonder what are some of the other 28 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 1: scientific benefits of gratitude. Do human brains start with a 29 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: negative bias? And how much can being thankful and really 30 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: help our lives. So that's what we're digging into. Let's 31 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: dive in. Hey, their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. 32 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: I'm Will Pearson and is always I'm joined by my 33 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: friend man guess how Ticketer and sitting behind the soundproof 34 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: glass bell thing out the theme song to Golden Girls. 35 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: I mean this guy, he's been playing this what do 36 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 1: you Say? Mango for like three hours over Oh he 37 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: loves that thank you for being a friend line. It 38 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: just puts the biggest smile on his face and I 39 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: love to see that. That's our friend and producer Tristan McNeil. Yeah, 40 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: who knew he was such a fan. Well, I know 41 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 1: he loves the eighties, but yeah, you're right. I didn't 42 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:22,200 Speaker 1: know he was such a big fan of this one. 43 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:24,399 Speaker 1: But anyway, turn it down, Tristan, it's time to get 44 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 1: focused here. And I know we wanted to talk about gratitude, 45 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:30,240 Speaker 1: and I thought there'd be no better person to discuss 46 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: this than with our good friend and author A. J. Jacobs. Now, 47 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:35,839 Speaker 1: if for some reason you don't know A. J's work, 48 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: he's done all sorts of amazing feeds, from reading the 49 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: entire encyclopedia for his book That Know It All, to 50 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:44,360 Speaker 1: following every rule in the Bible for the year of 51 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:46,920 Speaker 1: living Biblically. And now he's got a new book all 52 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: about living a more thoughtful life called Thanks a Thousand. A. J. Jacobs, 53 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 1: welcome back to the program. Well, thank you, of course, 54 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: thank you. I have to say that, but I also 55 00:02:56,120 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: mean it. Well, J. Tell us a little bit about 56 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:02,079 Speaker 1: this book. You chose to thank every person who helped 57 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: bring a cup of coffee to your lips. But why 58 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: don't you give you this idea? And why do you 59 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,160 Speaker 1: choose coffee over I don't know, cheese or white wine 60 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: or something else. M hmm. That's good. I could do 61 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: sequels on those. I like both of those. Back when 62 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: I was writing The Year of Living Biblically, the book 63 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: you just referenced, and that one was about where I 64 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: tried to follow the Bible as literally as possible, uh 65 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: ten commandments. I grew a huge beard. I stoned people adulterers. 66 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: I stoned adulterers, but using small pebbles so I didn't 67 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 1: get arrested. The Bible says that you should say prayers 68 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,000 Speaker 1: of thanksgiving, so I would do that, and uh, I 69 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: actually found it quite meaningful. But when the project was over, UH, 70 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: I wanted to continue in some way, but it felt 71 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: a little odd because I'm agnostic, so thanking God seemed 72 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: a little strange. So instead I tweaked it and decided, 73 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: before a meal with my wife and kids, I would 74 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: thank some of the people who helped, you know, the 75 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: farmer who grew the tomatoes and the woman at the 76 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: grocery who sold me the tomatoes. And my my kids 77 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: tolerated it for a while and then my son said, 78 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: you know, Dad, uh, those people can't hear you. If 79 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: you really believe this, you should thank them in person. 80 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:23,719 Speaker 1: And I was like, that is a good idea. That 81 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 1: is actually a book idea. So thank you for helping 82 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: my job. Um and uh, I decided to do it 83 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:36,599 Speaker 1: and it was it was a wild experience. I went 84 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 1: all over the world and made me realize that it's 85 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:42,720 Speaker 1: all interconnected. Every little thing we do in life has 86 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:46,160 Speaker 1: hundreds thousands of people involved that we take for granted. 87 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,360 Speaker 1: I decided costs or first of all, coffee. You know, 88 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: I do love it. I have it every morning, and 89 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: it's just such a huge part of modern life. You know, 90 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:58,279 Speaker 1: there's two billion cups of coffee consumed every day around 91 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: the world. And uh, a'm floys a hundred twenty five 92 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,720 Speaker 1: million people. So I I thought, all right, let's do 93 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 1: the coffee. Wow, that is unbelievable. Hundred and twenty five 94 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: he said. Five million people employed by this industry somehow, right, 95 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:18,480 Speaker 1: And that's not counting, as I say, sort of, the 96 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 1: the people who are adjacent, the people who you know, 97 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: make the steel for the coffee roasters so that they work. Uh. So, 98 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:30,160 Speaker 1: you know, if you include that, you can get up 99 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: to I'm sure however you define it, you can get 100 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: it up to you know, a billion or two billion. Well, 101 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: with with that in mind, how do you even start 102 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:41,159 Speaker 1: when you embark on a project like this, it definitely 103 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:44,719 Speaker 1: feels overwhelming. So how did you decide which thousand people 104 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 1: to thank? I mean, and should you have thanked Beyonce 105 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:51,160 Speaker 1: in the process. Yeah, you could thank her because you 106 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 1: could make the argument the chemist who designed the plastic 107 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 1: lining for my coffee cup listen to Beyonce while studying 108 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:02,359 Speaker 1: for her example. But I just followed what fascinated me. 109 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 1: I wanted to focus on for five or six stories 110 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:10,160 Speaker 1: that I thought were really surprising and touching. I started 111 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: with the barista at my local New York coffee shop, 112 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:18,159 Speaker 1: who was lovely and who told me, you're encountering people 113 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:22,599 Speaker 1: in a very dangerous situation pre caffeination. And she said 114 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: the worst part is people just treat her like a 115 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:28,680 Speaker 1: vending machine. They don't look up from their phones. They 116 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: just thrust their credit card in her direction. So I made, 117 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: uh the pledge that I would, you know, actually make 118 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:41,039 Speaker 1: eye contact with people that I'm and I know I 119 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:45,599 Speaker 1: deserve a Nobel prize for that. Uh but uh, but 120 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: it's you know, it's a small gesture, but it's so 121 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: it has such outsized impact to to actually look at 122 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:56,360 Speaker 1: someone in the eyes when you're dealing with them instead 123 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: of at your phone. I really love that, you know what. 124 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:01,279 Speaker 1: One of the things, as he mentioned a little earlier, 125 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:04,599 Speaker 1: was about how important the coffee lids are for for 126 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:06,440 Speaker 1: the cups, and I was curious if you could expand 127 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:08,600 Speaker 1: on that a little bit more. Oh yes, so the 128 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: lids I did not know. You know, I could have 129 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: written a book on lids. Probably would not have sold many, 130 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: but it was fascinating to see every little thing has 131 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: so much behind it. And I talked to the designer 132 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: of the lid for my coffee cups and he was 133 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: so passionate about it, and he was very innovative. He 134 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: was sort of like an Elon Musk of coffee lids, 135 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: hopefully a little more emotionally stable. And he thinks the 136 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 1: problem is the lids will block the aroma, which is 137 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: a huge part of the coffee experience. So he made 138 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 1: a bigger hole in the middle. Um he made this. Uh. 139 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: The shape is like this inverted uh hexagon, like you know, 140 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:57,320 Speaker 1: like the buckminster Fuller type uh shape and uh so 141 00:07:57,400 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: you can really get your nose in and get max 142 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: of him a roma. And it is just hilarious how 143 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:09,000 Speaker 1: much thought goes into uh this, this little piece of plastic, 144 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: and it made me realize there are there are hundreds 145 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: of these these mini masterpieces. So I actually loved the 146 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:18,880 Speaker 1: little sides of people who should have been thanked. And 147 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:20,760 Speaker 1: one of the people you bring up in your book 148 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 1: is Jonas Salk, who we all know figured out the 149 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: vaccine for polio, but for most of us who've heard 150 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 1: of him, he's treated as kind of a loan genius. Like, 151 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:34,840 Speaker 1: why do you think more people weren't recognized for that discovery? Right? Well, 152 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: that is one of the big themes of my book 153 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:41,360 Speaker 1: is that it takes hundreds of people for every advance, 154 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:45,840 Speaker 1: and psychologists call it the responsibility bias, that we just 155 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 1: like to focus on the one person and say, you know, 156 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 1: here's the loan genius. And Jonas Salk is a perfect 157 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 1: example of that. And he invented the polio vaccine or 158 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 1: a polio vaccine, and he was like the superhero. He 159 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: was along on the cover of Time magazine and he 160 00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: gave a speech saying how great he was basically for 161 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:12,960 Speaker 1: conventing the vaccine, but he neglected to thank all the 162 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:15,600 Speaker 1: people in his lab, and there were tons of people 163 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:17,720 Speaker 1: in his lab. There are tons of people who made 164 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:21,800 Speaker 1: scientific advances, like on growing polio, so you could actually 165 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:26,839 Speaker 1: do the experiments on the polio uh and and they 166 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:31,679 Speaker 1: were very upset with which I think is understandable. So 167 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: we as humans have this bias to feature the one person, 168 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 1: and I totally as an author, I play into that. 169 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: You know, this book says it's by A. J. Jacobs, 170 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:48,640 Speaker 1: which is ridiculous because a truthful cover would say by 171 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:52,319 Speaker 1: you know, the words by A. J. Jacobs. Here's the design. 172 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:54,680 Speaker 1: You know, it would have like two hundred fifty people 173 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 1: on the cover. And I actually proposed that to my publisher, 174 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: and I thought that might be an interesting sort of 175 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 1: marketing angle. But I do have a list in the 176 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:06,320 Speaker 1: back of a thousand people who helped with the coffee 177 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:09,880 Speaker 1: and my book. Speaking of being grateful and especially in 178 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:12,680 Speaker 1: this sense, what are some of the scientific benefits of 179 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 1: being grateful? And you know, like does it have an 180 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: impact on our health or happiness? There are studies that 181 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:21,560 Speaker 1: show you you know, it'll lift depression, it will help 182 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:26,199 Speaker 1: you sleep, improve your diet. Uh. I like this one 183 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 1: study that indicated that gratitude causes you to be more 184 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:33,320 Speaker 1: generous to strangers. If you're feeling grateful, you're more likely 185 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:38,400 Speaker 1: to help others. There's studies on how it boosts athletic performance. 186 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:43,559 Speaker 1: I don't know if that's true. I love that you 187 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 1: thanked a thousand people and now you're gonna, like be 188 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 1: drafted for the NBA or okay, exactly, I should try 189 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 1: out now that I'm so grateful. Many people we have 190 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:57,760 Speaker 1: the negative bias, which was very helpful when we were 191 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:01,840 Speaker 1: cave people trying to uh get away from lions. But 192 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:04,600 Speaker 1: but going through the world with a negative bias and 193 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:07,520 Speaker 1: only focusing on those three or four things that go wrong, 194 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:11,760 Speaker 1: it's not great for our mood. So this really has 195 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 1: helped me to focus on the hundreds of things that 196 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:17,120 Speaker 1: go right every day as opposed to the three or 197 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 1: four that go wrong, and just making a conscious effort. 198 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:25,720 Speaker 1: Like when I was at the airport, uh the other day, 199 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:29,960 Speaker 1: I I'm always annoyed because my gate is always the 200 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:32,439 Speaker 1: one that's a mile and a half walk. It drives 201 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:35,320 Speaker 1: me crazy. But I realized that's not true. That's just 202 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:38,800 Speaker 1: what I remember because I remember the annoying ones. And 203 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:41,480 Speaker 1: so every time the other day I was at a gate, 204 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:44,440 Speaker 1: like you go through security and it's right there, and 205 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:46,240 Speaker 1: I say, you know what, I'm gonna make a note 206 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: of that. I'm gonna remember pay attention, and next time 207 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 1: I try to complain to myself, I'm gonna say, that's wrong, 208 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:58,040 Speaker 1: You're you're being irrational. I I know, I've read these 209 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:02,679 Speaker 1: studies before that if you've fake smiling, it'll actually eventually 210 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 1: make you happier. And I was curious, is that possible 211 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:08,320 Speaker 1: with gratitude, to like, can you fake gratitude and and 212 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:11,559 Speaker 1: end up being more grateful in the process? Right, Yes, 213 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:14,679 Speaker 1: the answer is yeah, and there are studies and from 214 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:18,120 Speaker 1: an anecdotal point of view, totally because I you know, 215 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:21,079 Speaker 1: I would wake up in my default mood of grumpiness 216 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:26,280 Speaker 1: and I would during this project, I would force myself 217 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: every day to spend a couple of hours either writing 218 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: thank you notes or uh calling people cold calling or 219 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:37,680 Speaker 1: visiting people uh to thank them for their role in 220 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:40,800 Speaker 1: my coffee. And it had an effect on me, and 221 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:43,320 Speaker 1: it had the the ideal as if it has a 222 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:46,200 Speaker 1: good effect on that. You know, some people I would 223 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 1: call and they'd be like, what's going on? Is this 224 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:52,280 Speaker 1: a pyramid scheme? What are you trying to do? But 225 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: I would call the woman who does the pest control 226 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: for the coffee, the warehouse where the coffee beans are 227 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,079 Speaker 1: word and I'd say, I know this sounds strange, but 228 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 1: I want to thank you for helping keep the insects 229 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 1: out of my coffee. And she would say, well, that 230 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:13,920 Speaker 1: does sound a little strange, but that that's lovely and 231 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:17,600 Speaker 1: that helped make my day and you know, it made 232 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,920 Speaker 1: me feel better, you know, A j There's this little 233 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:23,199 Speaker 1: aside in the book that I really liked, and it's 234 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:25,600 Speaker 1: about how a friend of yours has this trick for 235 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 1: counting her blessings and this is before she goes to sleep, 236 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 1: and she uses the alphabet to do this. Can you 237 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 1: talk a little bit about that. Yeah, that was a 238 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:38,400 Speaker 1: love and that has worked for me, this idea of 239 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:42,680 Speaker 1: when you're going to sleep, instead of counting sheep, do 240 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:46,720 Speaker 1: this little trick, which is go through the alphabet and 241 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,000 Speaker 1: come up with one thing for every letter that you 242 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: are thankful for. So you know, I could be anything 243 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:57,800 Speaker 1: related to your life. You know, A is for the 244 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:02,440 Speaker 1: apple pancakes and my my husband makes on Saturday mornings, 245 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:05,520 Speaker 1: or what have you. It gets you enough outside of 246 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:09,319 Speaker 1: yourself for me that you fall asleep as opposed to 247 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:13,640 Speaker 1: stressing about all of the things you have to do 248 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:16,560 Speaker 1: the next day. That's really wonderful. Well, we're gonna be 249 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:33,360 Speaker 1: back with A. J. Jacobs right after this break. Welcome 250 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 1: back to Part Time Genius, where we're talking to author A. J. Jacobs. Now, 251 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: A J. I want you to talk to us a 252 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 1: little bit about nostalgia. I know you used to have 253 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:42,920 Speaker 1: a calm at mental flass that talked about how things 254 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 1: used to be and falling into this trap of the 255 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: good old days? But what was coffee like in the 256 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:50,360 Speaker 1: good old days? And should we be grateful for how 257 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: it's evolved? Oh? Yeah, I mean I love talking about that. 258 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,240 Speaker 1: The good old days were not good at all. They 259 00:14:56,280 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 1: were They were horrible day where disease ridden, smell a racist, homophobic, sexist, 260 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 1: the whole thing. And yeah, coffee, you are very lucky 261 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:09,440 Speaker 1: that you were not drinking coffee in the nineteenth century. 262 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:11,400 Speaker 1: You did not know what you were getting. There was 263 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,240 Speaker 1: no FBA. So you know, the list of things that 264 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:20,440 Speaker 1: adulterated coffee in the past is quite impressive. You know, sawdust, 265 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:27,600 Speaker 1: dog biscuits, lead arsenic, something called monkey nuts, which I 266 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:30,600 Speaker 1: don't actually think is the private parts of animals. It 267 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: was a sort of plant from South America. But I 268 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:37,120 Speaker 1: am very grateful for coffee for saving the United States, 269 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: at least that's my theory. The because in the Civil War, 270 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:46,400 Speaker 1: the North had real coffee, caffeinated coffee, but the South 271 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:50,200 Speaker 1: had no real coffee. The naval blockade blocked it, so 272 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: they had to make bake coffee out of chicory and 273 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 1: like roasted corn and asparagus seeds and all sorts of 274 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: ridiculous stuff. But you know, they were not caffeinated. So 275 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:06,960 Speaker 1: North was caffinated. And I think it could have been 276 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:12,560 Speaker 1: the deciding factor. Will never know, but I like to think. So. Um. Now, 277 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 1: you you did talk about a friend who happens to 278 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:17,200 Speaker 1: be a professor that reminded you that you do have 279 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:19,720 Speaker 1: to be honest, even in a book about gratitude about 280 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:24,040 Speaker 1: coffees good and bad qualities. And so with that in mind, 281 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 1: along the way, you decided to thank a major petroleum company. 282 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:30,240 Speaker 1: And so I'm I'm curious one, you know, why did 283 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 1: you do that and to how did it make you 284 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:36,480 Speaker 1: feel when you decided to do that? Right, it made 285 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:39,400 Speaker 1: me realize the coffee could not have gotten to me 286 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 1: without oil. And you know, it powers the ships and 287 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:48,400 Speaker 1: the trucks that bring it to me. So I figured 288 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:51,360 Speaker 1: I had to thank Exxon because they were that's what 289 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:55,680 Speaker 1: the trucks used. But I also think that Exxon is 290 00:16:55,800 --> 00:17:00,560 Speaker 1: probably doing some horrible things to our planet. So I 291 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:04,080 Speaker 1: wrote what I think might be the most passive aggressive 292 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:07,040 Speaker 1: thank you note in the history of thank you notes 293 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:10,280 Speaker 1: to the CEO of Exxon, where I said, you know, 294 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:14,200 Speaker 1: I appreciate your role in getting me my coffee. I 295 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:18,960 Speaker 1: love coffee. I hope it's around in fifty undred years 296 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:25,520 Speaker 1: and that are planet doesn't explode from overuse of fossil fuels. 297 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 1: And I'm pretty sure that had a huge impact. We're 298 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:36,400 Speaker 1: just we're just waiting. I'm sure that some of those 299 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:40,360 Speaker 1: policy changes are coming pretty soon because of you exactly. 300 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: So I wanted to hear about your experiences at the 301 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:46,200 Speaker 1: coffee warehouse because I saw a line in the book 302 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:48,720 Speaker 1: about gay moths and I was curious to hear a 303 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,359 Speaker 1: little bit more about that. Oh yeah, so that was 304 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:54,480 Speaker 1: I did check up on this, and and it appears 305 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:57,199 Speaker 1: to be true. But they have, you know, they have 306 00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:00,960 Speaker 1: a pest problem at the warehouse because they have the 307 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:04,199 Speaker 1: amount of coffee there. It was, if I believe it 308 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:11,560 Speaker 1: was five football fields, Big phil stacked with coffee fifteen 309 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:15,919 Speaker 1: feet high. You know, it could make a billion cups 310 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 1: of coffee so that you know, of course insects enjoy 311 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:25,119 Speaker 1: their coffee. So but they had found some novel strategy 312 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:29,280 Speaker 1: for getting rid of the moths and it had to 313 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:34,399 Speaker 1: do with releasing a far genome that made the male 314 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:39,359 Speaker 1: moths not attracted to females so that they wouldn't, uh, 315 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 1: they wouldn't mate and have baby moths. And I looked 316 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 1: into it and it seemed to have some scientific package, 317 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 1: so uh, yeah, I don't know it was. You know, 318 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:55,879 Speaker 1: I'm all for uh, moths identifying in any way they 319 00:18:55,920 --> 00:19:01,080 Speaker 1: want and their fluidity and moths is fine by me. Um, 320 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:04,160 Speaker 1: and I guess it's better than killing them. So there 321 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,719 Speaker 1: you go. Now, we've we've got a bunch of stories 322 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 1: on coffee over the years, both at Mental Floss and 323 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:11,879 Speaker 1: now Here a part time genius. And I've read about 324 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:14,359 Speaker 1: coffee cherries before, but I didn't realize that you can 325 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:17,280 Speaker 1: actually eat them. So I'm curious, what does a coffee 326 00:19:17,359 --> 00:19:21,359 Speaker 1: cherry taste like? Yeah, coffees grow on trees and uh 327 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 1: and the fruit looks like a cherry or a grape tomato. 328 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,879 Speaker 1: It's red and inside is the coffee bean. And what's weird. 329 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:32,800 Speaker 1: It's a very paradoxical fruit because you've got If you 330 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:37,040 Speaker 1: taste the fruit, it's quite sweet, but the but the 331 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:40,520 Speaker 1: bean is bitter. And there's the legend of how coffee 332 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:44,639 Speaker 1: was discovered. I guess people didn't need it, but the 333 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:49,600 Speaker 1: legend is that called the the Ethiopian goatherd, and Millennia 334 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:53,639 Speaker 1: passed saw his goats eating the the cherries and like 335 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:58,600 Speaker 1: flipping out and just dancing and bouncing around, and he's like, huh, 336 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:03,000 Speaker 1: that looks fun, and so he uh started to eat him. 337 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:06,439 Speaker 1: You know, I did think collect heard in the book, 338 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: but ever existed. That's a great point. I didn't and 339 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 1: that is an oversight. Thank you. In the follow up edition, 340 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:20,919 Speaker 1: I will so. One of the facts that struck me 341 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:23,320 Speaker 1: was that if you actually paid minimum wage to everyone 342 00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:25,679 Speaker 1: involved in the process, you're write that a cup of 343 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:29,440 Speaker 1: coffee would cost Is that right? Well, there was one 344 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:34,040 Speaker 1: calculation from one team. I can't swear that that's true, 345 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,760 Speaker 1: but yeah it was. It's weird because you pay three 346 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:41,679 Speaker 1: dollars for this little cup of brown liquid. You know, 347 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,360 Speaker 1: one part of me is like, this is ridiculous, This 348 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:50,480 Speaker 1: is yeah crazy. Uh, but once you look into the 349 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:54,399 Speaker 1: supply chain, there are so many hundreds of people, and 350 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:57,200 Speaker 1: it has to travel so far, and if you paid 351 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,199 Speaker 1: minimum wage to the people who were working in the 352 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:05,359 Speaker 1: developing countries, then the coffee should actually be twenty five dollars. 353 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:10,840 Speaker 1: Some people are afraid that beings super grateful makes you complacent, 354 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:14,320 Speaker 1: And there was a Barbara Aaron Reich, the writer. She 355 00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:16,600 Speaker 1: wrote a New York Times op ed that said, you 356 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:19,960 Speaker 1: know gratitude is She said it was basically a right 357 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:25,080 Speaker 1: wing conspiracy to keep people from making real reforms, like 358 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:30,040 Speaker 1: Walmart workers would be so grateful for their for minimum 359 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:32,800 Speaker 1: wage or whatever they can paid that they wouldn't object. 360 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:38,840 Speaker 1: But luckily, the research says the exact opposite. It actually 361 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:41,879 Speaker 1: says the more grateful you are, the more likely you 362 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,879 Speaker 1: are to advocate for change. I'm curious, what was it 363 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:46,920 Speaker 1: like to thank the people who plucked and produced the 364 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:49,800 Speaker 1: coffee cherries in Colombia? Like, how did they respond when 365 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:52,600 Speaker 1: you thank them? I think they were a bit confused 366 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:56,880 Speaker 1: as to my project. But in the end, I think 367 00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,480 Speaker 1: I got through and I tried to make it as 368 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:01,840 Speaker 1: vivid as possible, which is what they say the best 369 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:04,920 Speaker 1: ways of thanking. You know, I said, you, you know, 370 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:07,879 Speaker 1: every morning I drink the coffee that you that you 371 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:12,520 Speaker 1: guys make possible, and and I couldn't do my job 372 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:14,800 Speaker 1: or take care of my kids without your coffee, so 373 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:17,400 Speaker 1: thank you. And and they did come around, and they 374 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:21,840 Speaker 1: actually said that they couldn't do their job without a 375 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,159 Speaker 1: hundred other people. And they talked about, uh, you know, 376 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:29,480 Speaker 1: the pickup truck that they drive is made from parts 377 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:33,199 Speaker 1: all over the world, and the machine that takes the 378 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:36,560 Speaker 1: skin off of the coffee cherry that's made in Brazil. 379 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: They didn't Jonas Salka and just take all the credit 380 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:44,639 Speaker 1: for all the coffee exactly that it's all us. Uh No, 381 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 1: they were very nice. Stay right there, Listeners will be 382 00:22:47,800 --> 00:23:04,160 Speaker 1: back with A. J. Jacobs after the break. Welcome back 383 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:06,320 Speaker 1: to Part Time Genius. We're here with A. J. Jacobs 384 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:09,160 Speaker 1: talking about his new book, Thanks a Thousand. I love 385 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:11,600 Speaker 1: seeing the list some of the funnier entries in there. 386 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:14,160 Speaker 1: I know it was a little surprised to see Joe's 387 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:17,399 Speaker 1: parents from Joe's Coffee thanked in here. And I'm curious, like, 388 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 1: who were some of the funnier, maybe more surprising people 389 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 1: that you didn't exactly expect to thank as you were 390 00:23:23,359 --> 00:23:27,640 Speaker 1: on your way to a thousand thank yous. Uh yeah, 391 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:31,479 Speaker 1: there were some very you know, I used my credit 392 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:34,400 Speaker 1: card and I didn't know how much went into just 393 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:37,679 Speaker 1: making the credit card. The people who have to make 394 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,800 Speaker 1: the magnetic strip and the people who assigned the numbers 395 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:44,880 Speaker 1: to the credit cards. There's a there's a whole institute 396 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:51,159 Speaker 1: that assigns numbers two various credit cards. Um, and you 397 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 1: know that they don't do it themselves. Uh. I will 398 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:58,199 Speaker 1: say this one was crazy. If you go on the 399 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 1: Apple website, you can find a list of their suppliers, 400 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:06,000 Speaker 1: and it's I could have done the whole thing just 401 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,639 Speaker 1: that list that I restrained myself. But a lot of 402 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:12,159 Speaker 1: companies don't do that. They don't say where their stuff 403 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,200 Speaker 1: comes from. But but some do, and the Apple was 404 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 1: one of them. M hm. Well, I'm not going to 405 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 1: spoil it for people, but the way you end the 406 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,600 Speaker 1: book with the Italo Calvino quote and how the world 407 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:25,479 Speaker 1: could look if we were all a little bit more 408 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:28,240 Speaker 1: grateful made me just genuinely want a world where we 409 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:32,000 Speaker 1: could be more aware and more connected and not like 410 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:35,439 Speaker 1: social media, connected but actually grateful and connected. And I 411 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:37,480 Speaker 1: just wanted to thank you so much, truly for writing 412 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,440 Speaker 1: this book, and thank you of course in mangas as 413 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: I mentioned, I you know I'm a huge listener, and 414 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:46,320 Speaker 1: I that a few episodes ago you told the story 415 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 1: of how you were in Portland and everyone thanks and 416 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:53,399 Speaker 1: the bus driver and how touched you were, and I 417 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:56,280 Speaker 1: thought that it's lovely. If we can turn the world 418 00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: into one giant Portland bus, the world would be a 419 00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:07,520 Speaker 1: better place. I agree. The book is thanks at thousand. 420 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:24,480 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for being here. Thank you, thanks 421 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:26,840 Speaker 1: again for listening. Part Time Genius is a production of 422 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:29,600 Speaker 1: how stuff works and wouldn't be possible without several brilliant 423 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:32,080 Speaker 1: people who do the important things we couldn't even begin 424 00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:35,359 Speaker 1: to understand. Tristan McNeil does the editing thing. Noel Brown 425 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:37,680 Speaker 1: made the theme song and does the MIXI mixy sound thing. 426 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:41,200 Speaker 1: Jerry Rowland does the exact producer thing. Gay blues Yer 427 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:43,640 Speaker 1: is our lead researcher, with support from the Research Army 428 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:46,639 Speaker 1: including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams and Eve. 429 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:49,199 Speaker 1: Jeff Cook gets the show to your ears. Good job eves. 430 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:51,240 Speaker 1: If you like what you heard, we hope you'll subscribe. 431 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,160 Speaker 1: And if you really really like what you've heard, maybe 432 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 1: you could leave a good review for us. Do we do? 433 00:25:55,359 --> 00:26:03,560 Speaker 1: We forget Jason? Jason who depict the body the deeper