Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of My
Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind.
Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb, and I'm Joe McCormick. And hey,
Speaker 1: do we sound different today? I that we might because
Speaker 1: we are both recording from home. It's social distancing time.
Speaker 1: That's right. We should probably set the stage here. We
Speaker 1: were always a little fast and loose with our descriptions
Speaker 1: of our our previous recording scenario. Sometimes we more accurately
Speaker 1: described it. Sometimes we presented a slightly sci fi vision
Speaker 1: of where we might be. Uh. For my own part,
Speaker 1: I am currently hunkered up in my closet, surrounded by
Speaker 1: my clothes and my wife's clothes. I've got uh there's
Speaker 1: a nice shelf of board games across from me. I
Speaker 1: have a monstrous compendium over there as well, full of
Speaker 1: A D and D monsters that I can see. And uh,
Speaker 1: next to me for today's episode, I have a mascot.
Speaker 1: I have my VHS copy of Jerry McGuire, which which
Speaker 1: one day I hope to hand off to the Everything
Speaker 1: Is Terrible crowd and let them take it to the
Speaker 1: desert and build the pyramid. Uh. So it's a symbol
Speaker 1: of hope. You know that that one day this video
Speaker 1: will be a part of the pyramid, and one day
Speaker 1: we'll have moved through and past our current circumstances and
Speaker 1: Jerry will ascend to become part of the all Jerry.
Speaker 1: How about you, Joe? Where are you located at the moment?
Speaker 1: So I'm in my laundry room. Uh Rachel helped me
Speaker 1: set it up. We've got towels and blankets draped everywhere.
Speaker 1: I'm here in my sweatpants and my Electric Wizard T shirt.
Speaker 1: I also inspired by you. I have a little talisman
Speaker 1: uh to to help us through so in this time
Speaker 1: of need for gods and idols, I have my action
Speaker 1: figure of Tom Atkins from Night of the Creeps. He's
Speaker 1: got he's got a little uh he's got a shotgun,
Speaker 1: and he's got his trench code, and he's got a
Speaker 1: bottle of course light. And then I also have with
Speaker 1: me a tiny replica I was telling you about this
Speaker 1: earlier of a tiny replica that we got at the
Speaker 1: National Museum of Iceland. That is a replica of a
Speaker 1: little idol or or trinkett found to leave from like
Speaker 1: the tenth century in Iceland. Uh. And it's a seated
Speaker 1: figure with a with a conical hat holding a cross
Speaker 1: shaped object in front of it, and they don't know
Speaker 1: if this idol is supposed to be Jesus or Thor
Speaker 1: and I like that ambiguity. And I really love the
Speaker 1: the inclusion of the tom Atkins figure because tom Atkins
Speaker 1: and tom Atkins character specifically a Knight of the the Creeps.
Speaker 1: It's a it's kind of like top shelf roused ower,
Speaker 1: you know, like the budget roused It's exactly it. Uh
Speaker 1: So I just want to say real quick, our audio
Speaker 1: quality is obviously going to be down from what it
Speaker 1: usually is, but also we are waiting on some gear
Speaker 1: to be delivered to our houses, so during this time
Speaker 1: of social distancing, we can record hopefully something that sounds
Speaker 1: a little bit better than we sound today. So if
Speaker 1: if the quality is not to your liking, please do
Speaker 1: stick with us for upcoming episodes in in in the
Speaker 1: coming weeks because hopefully it will be better next time. Yeah.
Speaker 1: The the technology is going to drastically improve over the
Speaker 1: next few days. And also I think we're going to
Speaker 1: get more used to recording remotely like this. Uh. Ultimately,
Speaker 1: you the listeners, some of your favorite shows, even in
Speaker 1: our network employ remote production like this and you might
Speaker 1: not have even noticed it before. Um So I think
Speaker 1: we'll get accustomed to it. We'll pick up some new
Speaker 1: tips and tricks to make it work. And either way,
Speaker 1: this is the this is the only path forward at
Speaker 1: this point because we're uh, we're again, we're practicing social distancing.
Speaker 1: We are not going back into the physical studio together
Speaker 1: for the foreseeable future. Now, we know this is a
Speaker 1: tough time, it's a challenging time. Our jobs provide us
Speaker 1: with the privilege of continuing to do this from our homes,
Speaker 1: and we really we don't take that for granted. We
Speaker 1: know not everybody has that privilege. But we're gonna keep
Speaker 1: recording the podcast because it fulfills us and we hope
Speaker 1: that it can continue to be of use to you
Speaker 1: as well as we all work through this together. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: we we hope we can be there for you throughout
Speaker 1: all this, and we appreciate you sticking with us as well.
Speaker 1: This episode is going to be a little different from
Speaker 1: what you probably have come to think of as a
Speaker 1: usual stuff to blow your mind episode. We don't have
Speaker 1: a concrete topic for this one. This is about catching
Speaker 1: you guys. Up. It's about, you know, honestly serving as
Speaker 1: a band aid episode while we get all of our
Speaker 1: gear in so that we can keep pumping out the
Speaker 1: sort of episodes you've grown accustomed to over the years. Now,
Speaker 1: one thing that we did want to talk about today
Speaker 1: is is the issue of social distancing itself. I'm sure
Speaker 1: this point you're not wondering what that is. You've probably
Speaker 1: heard about it, you've probably been told you should do it. Uh,
Speaker 1: But I think it's not clear to me that everybody's
Speaker 1: taking social distancing seriously yet we've even this was last week,
Speaker 1: so hopefully these opinions have changed. But last week we
Speaker 1: even heard from a few people directly who think that
Speaker 1: the recommendations that people should stay home if at all
Speaker 1: possible is a symptom of hysteria or overreaction. I want
Speaker 1: to be very clear that it is not right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: over the weekend, I know, I personally, my family we
Speaker 1: were already practicing social distancing. But then we I was
Speaker 1: in the car, I drove past a popular brunch place
Speaker 1: near where I live, and it was it was packed.
Speaker 1: It was frighteningly packed. Um Now, I don't know of
Speaker 1: in some cases, maybe maybe in some cases, people were
Speaker 1: certainly not taking it seriously. Maybe in other places people
Speaker 1: thought that they would show up and basically have a
Speaker 1: mostly empty restaurant at their hands. But if the latter
Speaker 1: is the case, then a lot of people made the
Speaker 1: same error and judgment. Uh, either way, it was I
Speaker 1: think it was pretty clear to a lot of people
Speaker 1: over the weekend that not enough people were taking it seriously.
Speaker 1: And I just hope that an increasing number of people
Speaker 1: are realizing that the importance of social distancing. Yeah, there
Speaker 1: are several reasons why it's important for anybody who is
Speaker 1: able to practice social distancing, meaning you stay at home
Speaker 1: as much as possible, limit your interactions with other people,
Speaker 1: limit trips out, especially to crowded places, to only what
Speaker 1: is absolutely necessary, and that would be things like like
Speaker 1: healthcare visits, uh, grocery and pharmacy basically. Now, there are
Speaker 1: several reasons right now why it's really important that everybody
Speaker 1: who is able limit their interactions with with other people
Speaker 1: as much as possible. Of course, it limits your exposure
Speaker 1: to a virus that is now just uh just you know,
Speaker 1: bouncing around within communities that were no longer talking about
Speaker 1: it just be something that is a product of travel.
Speaker 1: Of course, it's it's throughout cities in the United States
Speaker 1: and many other countries too. Uh. Now, you you might think, okay,
Speaker 1: but I I I'm not all that worried about how
Speaker 1: this virus would affect me. I'm young and healthy. I
Speaker 1: don't really care. I've had a bad flu before. This
Speaker 1: was the nature of some of the messages we were seeing,
Speaker 1: you know, from young people, like posting on our channels.
Speaker 1: And there are several reasons why I want to drive
Speaker 1: home that this way of thinking is really misguided right now.
Speaker 1: First of all, even for young and healthy people, this
Speaker 1: is a much more dangerous infection than a regular flu.
Speaker 1: Like people in their twenties and thirties are experiencing severe cases,
Speaker 1: requiring hospitalization, and sometimes they are dying from this. It's
Speaker 1: just that they are requiring hospitalization and dying at a
Speaker 1: much lower rate than older people, say, in their sixties
Speaker 1: and seventies and eighties. I remember what it was like
Speaker 1: to be a teenager. I remember feeling invincible. You know,
Speaker 1: even even if you are more likely to come through
Speaker 1: this infection without a severe you know, like without a
Speaker 1: need for hospitalization or without dying, like, you are not invincible.
Speaker 1: But more than that that, the much more important point
Speaker 1: is if you're young and healthy, you still want to
Speaker 1: limit your exposure to the virus so that you don't
Speaker 1: get infected and then spread it to others who are
Speaker 1: at much greater risk than yourself. Uh. And so you
Speaker 1: might think, well, okay, that's reasonable, But well, if if
Speaker 1: I start to get sick, then I'll just stay home.
Speaker 1: Then I won't spread it. You know, I start coughing,
Speaker 1: I have a fever, that's when it's time to stay home.
Speaker 1: It would be great if that was the case, but
Speaker 1: unfortunately it looks like it's not that easy. So at
Speaker 1: first some authorities were suggesting that you would only be
Speaker 1: contagious if you were showing symptoms. Actually know people who
Speaker 1: were under this misimpression. Rachel and I were talking about
Speaker 1: some friends of ours who had been mistaken and saying
Speaker 1: this the other day. Um, this does not appear to
Speaker 1: be the case anymore. There is now pretty good evidence
Speaker 1: that people with mild symptoms or no symptoms, who don't
Speaker 1: realize they have the coronavirus at all, can spread it
Speaker 1: to other people. And we don't know exactly how prevalent
Speaker 1: that kind of spread is, but the earlier announcements that
Speaker 1: it was only significantly spread through major symptomatic cases really
Speaker 1: appear to be wrong. Yeah, one celebrity example of this,
Speaker 1: because now we're in the phase, we're definitely hearing a
Speaker 1: lot of stories about various notable individuals, famous individuals that
Speaker 1: are showing up positive for coronavirus. Idris elba as an
Speaker 1: example of this, big driss uh stringer from the wire.
Speaker 1: And of course he's been in so much more now,
Speaker 1: great actor, one of my favorites. Yeah, he's he's he's tremendous.
Speaker 1: And apparently what occurred is he found out that he
Speaker 1: had been in contact with somebody who tested positive for
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen. So adam an abundance of caution, he himself
Speaker 1: was tested and found and it was found that he
Speaker 1: was positive for COVID nineteen despite not displaying any symptoms
Speaker 1: and feeling otherwise, you know, perfectly healthy, which you know
Speaker 1: you look at it yoursel but and you just just said,
Speaker 1: he must just feel perfectly healthy all the time. That's
Speaker 1: that's probably not gonna change. If anybody's invincible. He is, Yeah,
Speaker 1: but just because you feel invincible doesn't mean you cannot
Speaker 1: be positive for COVID nineteen and certainly capable of spreading
Speaker 1: it to people who are not as physically robust as yourself.
Speaker 1: And so he did the right thing and self quarantined.
Speaker 1: That's exactly right. So one example here that there was
Speaker 1: a new study published in the journal Science on March sixteenth,
Speaker 1: I think that was two days ago. Now we're recording
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, March eighteen. And this study was called Substantial
Speaker 1: Undocumented Infection facilitates the rapid dissemination of novel coronavirus or
Speaker 1: SARS c o V two UH. And for quick terminology thing,
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen is the name of the disease you get.
Speaker 1: The pathogen is being referred to as SARS c o
Speaker 1: V two UH. The study was by Rheen Young, Lee Sen,
Speaker 1: pey Bin, Chen, y Ming Song, Tao Jiang Wan Yang,
Speaker 1: and Jeffrey Shaman, and the team used data from the
Speaker 1: outbreak within China to try to understand how the virus
Speaker 1: spreads throughout populations and the role of contagion from undocumented
Speaker 1: cases people spreading it without even knowing they had it.
Speaker 1: Their study estimated that prior to when when transportation lockdown
Speaker 1: went into effect throughout the regions, in China prior to
Speaker 1: that period. On January eight, six percent of all infections
Speaker 1: within China were undocumented. They write, quote per person, the
Speaker 1: transmission rate of undocumented infections was fifty five percent of
Speaker 1: documented infections, yet due to their greater numbers, undocumented infections
Speaker 1: were the infection source for seventy nine percent of documented cases.
Speaker 1: These findings explained the rapid geographic spread of stars c
Speaker 1: o v two and indicate containment of this virus will
Speaker 1: be particularly challenging, so to make sense of those numbers
Speaker 1: really quick. It looks like the people who didn't realize
Speaker 1: they had COVID nineteen were only about half as infectious
Speaker 1: as the people who did realize they had it. But
Speaker 1: because there were so many more people who had it
Speaker 1: without realizing it than people who realized they had it,
Speaker 1: the people who didn't realize they had it were responsible
Speaker 1: for about eighty percent of the spread, and speaking to
Speaker 1: The New York Times on March sixteenth, one of the
Speaker 1: authors here, Jeffrey Shaman, speculated on on the basis of
Speaker 1: this research that given our lagging testing capacities here in
Speaker 1: the United States right now, the number of real infections
Speaker 1: could be greater than the number of documented infections by
Speaker 1: a factor of about ten. So uh So, to quote
Speaker 1: Shaman quote, if we have thirty five hundred confirmed cases
Speaker 1: in the US, you might be looking at thirty five
Speaker 1: thousand in reality. Uh and a lot of these people
Speaker 1: would have no idea they're sick. I was reading a
Speaker 1: news article from March sixteenth on CNN which quoted several
Speaker 1: public health experts who believe there is a major threat
Speaker 1: from a symptomatic, pre symptomatic or only mildly symptomatic transmission.
Speaker 1: According to Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for
Speaker 1: Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, quote,
Speaker 1: we now know that asymptomatic transmission likely plays an important
Speaker 1: role in spreading the virus and uh and he says
Speaker 1: that asymptomatic transmission quote surely can fuel a pandemic like
Speaker 1: this in a way that's going to make it very
Speaker 1: difficult to control, and that that sentiment was also echoed
Speaker 1: by somebody we quoted, I think in our previous episode
Speaker 1: about COVID nineteen, William Shaffner, who's a professor at Vanderbilt
Speaker 1: University School of Medicine. Schaffner says quote asymptomatic and mildly
Speaker 1: symptomatic transmission or a major factor in transmission. For COVID nineteen,
Speaker 1: they're going to be the drivers have spread in the community.
Speaker 1: Uh So, this is why it's really important. Like it
Speaker 1: looks at this point again, you know, we could get
Speaker 1: a bit of better picture in the future, but it
Speaker 1: looks at this point like it's totally possible to be young, healthy,
Speaker 1: to be only mildly symptomatic or maybe not symptomatic at all.
Speaker 1: Have no idea. You have this virus and then go
Speaker 1: out and do your daily business and spread it to
Speaker 1: people all along the way. So even if you're healthy.
Speaker 1: That's why, out of out of caution, it is very
Speaker 1: important for everybody who is able to stay home and
Speaker 1: self isolate right now or at not totally isolate, but
Speaker 1: you know, practice social distancing another way to think of it,
Speaker 1: even if you're not worried for yourself, staying home is
Speaker 1: a public service. It is an act of charity at
Speaker 1: this time. You know, for the next few weeks at least,
Speaker 1: you could save a life by doing it. Absolutely. I mean,
Speaker 1: as we ask ourselves these questions, do I really need
Speaker 1: to go out for this right now? Do I really
Speaker 1: need to go to is store? Do I really need
Speaker 1: to make this purchase? Um, These sorts of questions, you know,
Speaker 1: are the things we need to be asking ourselves. And
Speaker 1: I mean, you can really think of this as as
Speaker 1: a lot of little sacrifices that we're all individually making, uh,
Speaker 1: to to again cut down on this transmission, and to
Speaker 1: enable us to flatten that curve. Yeah, that's right, and
Speaker 1: and to revisit that technology. You've probably heard a lot
Speaker 1: more about flattening the curve since we talked about it
Speaker 1: in our original COVID nineteen episode, but just to refresh
Speaker 1: really quick, flattening the curve refers to making sure that
Speaker 1: the infection rate doesn't rise so steeply that it overwhelms
Speaker 1: our capacity to care for people who are infected, and
Speaker 1: that makes a huge difference in the overall case fatality
Speaker 1: rate of the disease. We are much better at keeping
Speaker 1: people who have severe infections alive if the hospital system
Speaker 1: is not overwhelmed while they get infected, and so spreading
Speaker 1: more people out over time we think will lead to
Speaker 1: many fewer deaths than everybody suddenly getting it all in
Speaker 1: the next few weeks. Basically, this is I mean this
Speaker 1: is an encouraging UH concept for us to all get behind,
Speaker 1: because it means that as a society, through this you know,
Speaker 1: collective agreeance on the importance of social distancing, we have
Speaker 1: the power to influence the rate of this thing as
Speaker 1: it moves through our population and therefore keep the surge
Speaker 1: in cases below the threshold of what our our hospitals,
Speaker 1: on our our our medical institutions are capable of dealing with. Yeah. Um,
Speaker 1: And now a lot of people have been asking how
Speaker 1: long how long is this need gonna go on? And unfortunately,
Speaker 1: at this point we just don't know for sure. There
Speaker 1: are some pretty grave estimates out there about how long
Speaker 1: people would need to practice social distancing in order to
Speaker 1: get us through, say to UH to an effective anti
Speaker 1: viral treatment or vaccine, or you know, for for immunity
Speaker 1: to build up in the communities. I would say, don't
Speaker 1: get overly fixated on the most dire possible scenarios right now.
Speaker 1: Just focus, okay, you know, one thing at a time.
Speaker 1: In the short term, it is definitely going to help
Speaker 1: either way for more people to stay home for the
Speaker 1: next few weeks, because that at least allows testing capacity
Speaker 1: and stuff like that, and UH, and research to catch
Speaker 1: up to the virus instead of just allowing its exponential
Speaker 1: spread to continue during that whole time. So during this time,
Speaker 1: it's it's very important to make sure that you're getting
Speaker 1: your information about COVID nineteen from from trusted sources, UH,
Speaker 1: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, the
Speaker 1: World Health Organization and UH and also you know the
Speaker 1: mainstream media sources that you can trust. Yeah. But the
Speaker 1: other half of it is, um, okay, So let's say
Speaker 1: you're already on board. You've you've bought in, You've bought
Speaker 1: in on the idea of social distancing. You understand how
Speaker 1: important it is if you are at all able, we're
Speaker 1: staying home. The next part is like dealing with that situation. Obviously,
Speaker 1: this is going to present different challenges for different people.
Speaker 1: Some challenges, UH might be you know, financial and have
Speaker 1: to do with how you make a living, and those
Speaker 1: are real issues. I mean, I'm hoping some kind of
Speaker 1: public assistance comes along very soon to ease that burden.
Speaker 1: But on on top of that, uh, social distancing is
Speaker 1: socially challenging, right, yeah, I mean we're social animals, We're
Speaker 1: not We're not made up for this kind of you know,
Speaker 1: just long term certainly distance living. Uh. I mean, and
Speaker 1: this is something I come back to again. We've spoken
Speaker 1: about social media on this show plenty of times. We've
Speaker 1: talked about the the the problems with our current social
Speaker 1: media systems, and just looking online these days, one sees,
Speaker 1: first of all, one sees some of the strengths of
Speaker 1: social media emerging. You can see like, oh, well, this
Speaker 1: is what it was supposed to do. It's connecting us
Speaker 1: in especially in times when we are physically distant from
Speaker 1: each other. Uh. It can be very comforting to have
Speaker 1: that kind of connection. On the other hand, I also
Speaker 1: see examples of the negative aspects of social media, unfortunately
Speaker 1: amplified in this scenario as well. Um So, I think
Speaker 1: that's going to be a continuing challenge over the weeks ahead,
Speaker 1: as we figure out how to best use these social
Speaker 1: media tools and these uh, these these connective tools, how
Speaker 1: to use them effectively and in al ways that the
Speaker 1: foster social communication and social connectiveness without you know, giving
Speaker 1: into these negative aspects that are generally built into the
Speaker 1: platforms where you're using. Yeah, I think you're exactly right.
Speaker 1: I mean, this it's funny I'm usually somebody who's pretty
Speaker 1: focused on the negative aspects of social media, but this
Speaker 1: week has really made me think about the good aspects,
Speaker 1: like the fact that it allows you to connect directly
Speaker 1: and often in a higher fidelity way with your friends
Speaker 1: and family. You know, the idea of doing video chats
Speaker 1: with family and stuff like that, and that that can
Speaker 1: be really helpful at these times, like you might just
Speaker 1: need to see other faces, you know, the other people
Speaker 1: that you care about, uh, not just hear their voice
Speaker 1: over the phone and uh. And so that kind of
Speaker 1: stuff I think is great. Now. The darker side I think,
Speaker 1: of course, is that we have definitely seen social media
Speaker 1: as a source for the spread of potentially dangerous misinformation
Speaker 1: about this, uh, this ongoing pandemic. And so I wanted
Speaker 1: to share one thing on here, Robert, if it's okay
Speaker 1: with you. I posted a little bit about this in
Speaker 1: the Facebook discussion module for our show, UM, because a
Speaker 1: lot of people have been asking, you know, they said
Speaker 1: they had frustration about what to do about friends and
Speaker 1: family and acquaintances posting misinformation on the internet, and like
Speaker 1: like how to address that. At this time, I will
Speaker 1: say that I'm someone who generally does not advocate arguing
Speaker 1: with people on the internet. I think it is almost
Speaker 1: always unproductive and often counterproductive. I would say that arguing
Speaker 1: probably isn't the right word. But but this is the time,
Speaker 1: I think, to participate in the information battle. Like it.
Speaker 1: If people are sharing potentially dangerous misinformation about how this
Speaker 1: virus spreads or how you can protect yourself and stuff
Speaker 1: like that, this is the time to get into that conversation. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: we should be able to come together in these moments,
Speaker 1: sign the common ground and fight against the inhuman uh
Speaker 1: enemy that is this virus. Yeah, totally, and and information
Speaker 1: is one of our best weapons in this battle, like
Speaker 1: knowing what works and what doesn't, having a solid information source,
Speaker 1: having a clear understanding of how disease spreads, what can
Speaker 1: be done to stop it, That all really matters. So
Speaker 1: I just wanted to share a few things that came
Speaker 1: to my mind about what to do when you see
Speaker 1: people spreading misinformation online. This one might be obvious, but
Speaker 1: the first one that I wanted to say was just
Speaker 1: make sure that you know what you're talking about before
Speaker 1: you go in and try to correct somebody else. It
Speaker 1: may very well be that you're working off of outdated
Speaker 1: information information landscape is changing really fast right now, and
Speaker 1: so so do your own double checking before you before
Speaker 1: you start a fight that might turn out to be pointless.
Speaker 1: That's right. I mean I I found myself over the
Speaker 1: past few days in conversation with somebody, and they'll have
Speaker 1: a key v on in the background, and they'll suddenly
Speaker 1: be pretty to an update that I don't have, just
Speaker 1: by virtue of me not being plugged in. Uh. For
Speaker 1: you know, ten minutes you can you can miss something. Uh.
Speaker 1: And a minute ago I said fight, I shouldn't. We're
Speaker 1: not encouraging fighting of any kind. I guess. I just mean,
Speaker 1: like you know, in any form of disagreement with somebody,
Speaker 1: you know you've got your disagreement bucks, and you want
Speaker 1: to spend that budget wisely. Um So, if you are
Speaker 1: actually confident that the information you see somebody sharing is incorrect,
Speaker 1: I would say, I mean this it's not a one
Speaker 1: size fits all, but my experience tells me that a
Speaker 1: good strategy for dealing with it is to message the
Speaker 1: person privately first instead of commenting publicly. I think that
Speaker 1: with this strategy you might get more people to take
Speaker 1: down misleading original posts. If you don't like embarrass them
Speaker 1: in front of their friends. Public shaming often has a
Speaker 1: counterproductive effect that causes people to get defensive and double
Speaker 1: down on what they originally did. Right. I like this
Speaker 1: this point because you're leaning into person to person communication
Speaker 1: instead of the ultimately weird person to person communication for
Speaker 1: performance that is, commenting on somebody's Facebook post or what
Speaker 1: have you, or certainly their Twitter tweet because because because yeah,
Speaker 1: like you could. You might not even be intending to
Speaker 1: to publicly shame them, but you are engaging in something
Speaker 1: that is at least semi public. Yeah, and it might
Speaker 1: feel like public shaming to them, even if you don't
Speaker 1: mean it that way, especially with everybody, everybody's UH levels
Speaker 1: are a little off right now, or maybe a little
Speaker 1: more inclined to take personal offense at something like that.
Speaker 1: You know, it's it's These are not the best of
Speaker 1: circumstances for for for misunderstandings like that totally. But then
Speaker 1: I would say the next step is okay, if you
Speaker 1: try that and they don't remove the misinformation after a
Speaker 1: private message, then it probably is time to post publicly
Speaker 1: and again, not be confrontational, don't be a jerk, don't
Speaker 1: try to own them, just post corrections or sources for
Speaker 1: the benefit of onlookers, so that somebody can see this
Speaker 1: being answered with correct information. Again, don't it's not about
Speaker 1: it's not about owning people. It's not about showing that
Speaker 1: they did something stupid. In fact, what I would say
Speaker 1: is that generally you want to avoid all forms of
Speaker 1: you language in these communications. You you know, don't say
Speaker 1: like you're posting bs, you're posting pseudoscience, you're doing dangerous stuff.
Speaker 1: Just focus on the information and the facts themselves. One
Speaker 1: example of this in action at a quaintance of mine
Speaker 1: on on Facebook had posted something and I just responded
Speaker 1: to it by saying, the Associated Foreign Press has identified
Speaker 1: some issues with this particular post. Uh. And then I
Speaker 1: uh that they had shared and I included a link
Speaker 1: to that a FP article. Uh. So you know, I
Speaker 1: didn't engage in you. I didn't say you know anything
Speaker 1: of the sword. I just said like, hey, here's some
Speaker 1: information about the thing you just shared, and then they
Speaker 1: took it down. That's great. I think that's an ideal interaction. Like,
Speaker 1: there's no reason to unnecessarily multiply the nastiness of these interactions.
Speaker 1: People are going to be on edge enough. Yeah, Alright.
Speaker 1: On that note, we're going to take a quick break,
Speaker 1: but we'll be right back. Thank alright, we're back. Hey.
Speaker 1: So we're still getting used to this format, and we
Speaker 1: realized we were going to make an announcement at the
Speaker 1: top of the episode, and we forgot to do it.
Speaker 1: So maybe here's the place to make the announcement. We're
Speaker 1: gonna be publishing some playlists of classic stuff to blow
Speaker 1: your mind episodes. Uh. You know, we heard that this
Speaker 1: might be useful to some people while they're you know,
Speaker 1: trying to to find entertainment and comfort and things to
Speaker 1: do while they are social distancing in their homes. So
Speaker 1: first thing, we're basically going to do a Halloween and
Speaker 1: March thing, or as as I've been calling it, Halftober.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, finally looking back on October now, uh, and
Speaker 1: certainly those episodes that we did, So these are going
Speaker 1: to be ten episode batches of past episodes that that
Speaker 1: we that Joe and I have personally curated. We're going
Speaker 1: to make sure that these don't drop in between a
Speaker 1: part one and a part two of anything. But hopefully
Speaker 1: this will serve to put more engaging content out there
Speaker 1: and won't make you feel overwhelmed and hopefully won't be disruptive. Certainly,
Speaker 1: let us know how you feel about it once we
Speaker 1: start implementing it, but you're probably gonna see this on
Speaker 1: a few other shows within this network as well. Uh.
Speaker 1: And yeah, it was actually pretty fun to go back
Speaker 1: through the catalog and pick out a week of in
Speaker 1: this case, October related stuff. Uh, and then a couple
Speaker 1: of other fun themes ahead. That's right, So yeah, download
Speaker 1: the playlists if you want, but also don't don't be
Speaker 1: worried that we're going to playlists instead of our regular episodes.
Speaker 1: We're doing everything we can to keep stuff to blew
Speaker 1: your mind. Brand new episodes coming out on schedule, So
Speaker 1: so we're still doing our thing. Yeah. In fact, uh
Speaker 1: for next week, I believe we have part one already recorded.
Speaker 1: We recorded is the last thing we recorded in the
Speaker 1: studio before uh we uh we put that that sort
Speaker 1: of production on hiatus, and then we're going to record
Speaker 1: Joan are going to record part two of this series,
Speaker 1: uh sometime this week. So yeah, normal stuff to blow
Speaker 1: your episodes are right around the corner. Hopefully that everything
Speaker 1: will be back back and moving next week, because they're
Speaker 1: really fun episodes. I'm excited about them, and they don't
Speaker 1: have anything to do with infectious disease, so I'm excited
Speaker 1: about that angle as well. Wait do they not? Does
Speaker 1: it never come in? Maybe not? Oh well it might show.
Speaker 1: I don't know, it might come up once or twice,
Speaker 1: but for the most part, I don't think it's involved.
Speaker 1: They's got to slip a few germs in there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: all right, So next, I guess we were thinking about
Speaker 1: what talking about what people could do to help keep
Speaker 1: their brains from melting. Apart from listening to a bunch
Speaker 1: of old episodes of our podcast. You know, if you
Speaker 1: if you're stuck at home, you're trying to be responsible,
Speaker 1: do all the social distancing you can. Uh what what
Speaker 1: are some ways to to keep the mind agile and
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, not find yourself giving into all
Speaker 1: of your your worst mental impulses. Well, you know, obviously
Speaker 1: escape into fiction and fantasy and video games and so
Speaker 1: forth is great when you can do it. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: to to quote the great uh and Zevon, uh lock
Speaker 1: the gate scoofy take my hand and lead me through
Speaker 1: the world of self. But uh, but it's hard to
Speaker 1: do that, like NonStop uh and and this is where
Speaker 1: I think mindfulness is UH is really important. So if
Speaker 1: you've listened to the show long enough, you know I'm
Speaker 1: a big advocate of mindfulness practices, especially yoga. And given
Speaker 1: the amount of stress, disruption, anxiety, and uncertainty in everyone's
Speaker 1: life right now, it is the perfect time to maintain, resume,
Speaker 1: or even begin a mindfulness practice. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: disruption and social distancing can make it very difficult. So
Speaker 1: just a quick reminder about what mindfulness practices are and
Speaker 1: what they are not. Mindfulness practices can allow us to
Speaker 1: temporarily remove ourselves from the inner monologue, from the default
Speaker 1: mode network signals that just where it can wear against
Speaker 1: us over time UH. To focus on the moment, to
Speaker 1: focus on the breath, to focus on on something that
Speaker 1: is that is not just this this this inner storm
Speaker 1: and it's such. These practices can help with anxiety and stress.
Speaker 1: At the same time, these are not magical cures, and
Speaker 1: they are certainly not replacements for medical UH and or
Speaker 1: psychiatric care. If you want more info about the particulars
Speaker 1: of these distinctions, I urge you to check out a
Speaker 1: pair of our past episodes. We did one that was
Speaker 1: an interview with An Swanson titled Science of Yoga, and
Speaker 1: then there was another one titled Meditation lab Empathy and Energy.
Speaker 1: Now for my own part, you know, I have to
Speaker 1: say I I had grown rather accustomed in my life
Speaker 1: to swimming at the y m c A several times
Speaker 1: a week, attending two to three yoga classes both at
Speaker 1: the y m c A and at local studios, local
Speaker 1: Yoda's yoga studios, in addition to some studios Yoda Studios.
Speaker 1: But Yoda is very yoga in this practice. I've never
Speaker 1: looked it up before, but I got I kind of
Speaker 1: assumed that his name is basically uh uh, you know,
Speaker 1: fantasy sci fi ease for for for yoga. So I
Speaker 1: had grown to grown to accustom to a particular rhythm
Speaker 1: of of mindfulness and sort of self care. However, now
Speaker 1: the local y m c A, like I think most
Speaker 1: of these, not all of these facilities are is closed.
Speaker 1: My local yoga studios are all physically closed. My wife
Speaker 1: and I are at home, are seven year old is
Speaker 1: at home. And as many of you are finding out
Speaker 1: as well, teleschooling comes with an adjustment period, shall we say, So,
Speaker 1: it's hard to make time for meditative self care at
Speaker 1: the moment, but it's also very balancing and rewarding of
Speaker 1: for a time like this, Like just yesterday, I managed
Speaker 1: to squeeze in just a little yoga time for myself
Speaker 1: and and then I found that it made a huge
Speaker 1: difference in my ability to roll with a little frustration
Speaker 1: that occurred around dinner time. Um, So I'd like to
Speaker 1: just briefly run through some options. And these are not
Speaker 1: you know, one size fits all options, but I just
Speaker 1: want to run through some options for those of you
Speaker 1: out there are that are in search of mindfulness options
Speaker 1: at this time. So first of all, check and see
Speaker 1: if your local yoga studios, meditation studios, y m c as,
Speaker 1: fitness clubs, et cetera are offering virtual classes in one
Speaker 1: form or another, because many are doing this, some were
Speaker 1: already doing this to begin with, and it's a great
Speaker 1: way to get some level of the social interaction that
Speaker 1: your class entails, uh and the mindfulness practice and even
Speaker 1: the exercise that you need, all while supporting local teachers
Speaker 1: and businesses. So check around, because I'm finding some studios
Speaker 1: and centers are also even just offering free streams right now?
Speaker 1: Is they you know, either just as a way to
Speaker 1: sort of spread the word, to to just do something
Speaker 1: good for for everyone out there, or just to get
Speaker 1: there their technology up and running to where they can
Speaker 1: make it part of their their business model to sustain
Speaker 1: them through a difficult time. And then a plus side
Speaker 1: of this, of course, means that a lot of local
Speaker 1: places become broadly available via this method. So perhaps you
Speaker 1: moved away from your favorite yoga studio, Well, now it's
Speaker 1: a great time to reconnect and see if they're offering
Speaker 1: any kind of online support for you. On top of that,
Speaker 1: there are variously there are some great apps and streaming
Speaker 1: services out there. I want to say that neither of
Speaker 1: these are current advertising advertisers or anything for the show,
Speaker 1: but I'm just mentioning a couple that I personally have
Speaker 1: experience with. There's an there's an app and website online
Speaker 1: service titled Glow g l O formally Yoga Glow. I've
Speaker 1: used this before. It contains tons of yoga and meditation
Speaker 1: videos for all skill levels. UH. For instance, there was
Speaker 1: a period of time where I had a shoulder injury
Speaker 1: and it prevented me from doing a lot of different
Speaker 1: yoga practices. UH in a way that I was pleased with.
Speaker 1: I was able to find some practices that were specifically
Speaker 1: tailored for people who had to go easy on their shoulder,
Speaker 1: that sort of thing. Uh, So that's a good source.
Speaker 1: Simple Habit is another one. This is a meditation app.
Speaker 1: And this one I believe is a previous advertiser on
Speaker 1: the show um some months back, but during that time
Speaker 1: I got to try it out and it seems like
Speaker 1: a pretty solid way of of exploring meditative possibilities for you.
Speaker 1: But these are just two examples that I have personal
Speaker 1: experience with. There are a bunch of them out there,
Speaker 1: so I would encourage you to just, you know, look around.
Speaker 1: Maybe there's one you can you can do a free
Speaker 1: trial on, uh, try out, see how it goes. And
Speaker 1: then there are various streaming opportunities that are going on,
Speaker 1: uh with yoga teachers, meditation teachers, uh, you know, across
Speaker 1: social media platforms, on YouTube, etcetera. All Right, we gotta
Speaker 1: take a break, but we'll be right back with more
Speaker 1: than alright, we're back. Yeah. So we we've also been
Speaker 1: trying to find ways to keep our keep our brains healthy.
Speaker 1: And I will say one thing that's been very useful
Speaker 1: to us is just getting out of the house to walk,
Speaker 1: you know, not going to anywhere that would be uh,
Speaker 1: that would be crowded with other people, or that would
Speaker 1: have you know, places where you'd be touching public surfaces.
Speaker 1: But just getting outside and going on a walk. And
Speaker 1: as long as you keep your distance from others, you're
Speaker 1: not like handling you know, stuff that other people have
Speaker 1: been around or interacting with. I think your risk is
Speaker 1: extremely low just walking around. Yeah, and now we do
Speaker 1: want to stress that things can change, as in the
Speaker 1: eventity lockdown where you were asked to not leave your homes.
Speaker 1: But generally speaking this is true. Oh yeah, I hadn't
Speaker 1: thought about the possibility of the lockdown affecting this, uh,
Speaker 1: if that comes about. But but yeah, I mean if
Speaker 1: if it is not prohibited where you are. Obviously, just
Speaker 1: walking around outside can be relieving, it can be refreshing,
Speaker 1: It can make you feel a kind of mental reset,
Speaker 1: uh in a way that does not involve you getting
Speaker 1: within the danger radius of other people or you know,
Speaker 1: like handling door knobs and stuff like that. And you
Speaker 1: can even wave at people and their dogs, which is
Speaker 1: which is nice. I personally have enjoyed working a fair
Speaker 1: amount on my front poor on the weather has been
Speaker 1: nice and people have been out on the walks. I
Speaker 1: can wave to them, I can say hi and uh,
Speaker 1: and that's good. Occasionally a child will make a break
Speaker 1: for it to come up and ask where my son
Speaker 1: is and they you know, some parents will have to
Speaker 1: intervene and say all right, nope, nope, comeback safe distance. Uh.
Speaker 1: The learning curve with the children on this this new
Speaker 1: way of approaching things. UH. But but yeah, definitely encourage
Speaker 1: you to consider nature walks, neighborhood walks if you have
Speaker 1: the ability to do so. You know, just again, provided
Speaker 1: there's enough space to ensure social distancing. UM. Connection with
Speaker 1: nature in end of itself boast proven effects for physical
Speaker 1: and mental well being. We've talked about that on the
Speaker 1: show before. UH. Walking meditation on top of this is
Speaker 1: UH is the way that you can potentially contribute to
Speaker 1: to at least the the mental well being aspect of this,
Speaker 1: adding a meditative practice to your walk. UH. There are
Speaker 1: various guides to this online. You can find podcasts related
Speaker 1: to wall king meditation as well as videos. And I
Speaker 1: I've I've only really dipped my toes in walking meditation
Speaker 1: in the past. UM, I do enjoy walking, but walking
Speaker 1: meditation kind of adds a practice on top of that. Uh,
Speaker 1: that is, it kind of forces you to too again
Speaker 1: in the same way you might focus on your breathing,
Speaker 1: You're you're going to focus on your breath and you're
Speaker 1: going to focus on your steps. So I would I
Speaker 1: would encourage anyone that's interested to look into it, especially
Speaker 1: if you if you find it maybe more difficult to
Speaker 1: disconnect on your walks these days. Yeah, I think that's
Speaker 1: totally right. I mean, I've been thinking about how it's Um,
Speaker 1: I think it's important to try to find ways to
Speaker 1: make sure that you are experiencing and displaying whatever kind
Speaker 1: of normality or normalcy is allowed. Um, you know, whatever
Speaker 1: doesn't actually increase increased disease transmission risk, but helps you
Speaker 1: maintain the sense of a normal life and and not
Speaker 1: feel like, uh, not feel the anxiety creeping in, not
Speaker 1: feeling like everything has changed at once. I think that
Speaker 1: kind of thing is important and not just for you,
Speaker 1: but it's important for other people to see that in
Speaker 1: you as well. Right, on one hand, it is really
Speaker 1: important to see people taking this infectious disease seriously. But
Speaker 1: on the other hand, like you know, the the opposite
Speaker 1: side of the coin would be panic, which is its
Speaker 1: own kind of horrible epidemic. And so finding whatever kind
Speaker 1: of normalcy and comforting routine you can within all this,
Speaker 1: and while adhering to best practices is very important, that's right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it certainly don't give into panic, don't don't give into fear,
Speaker 1: because we we all remember the litany against fear, right, Oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: we we've made great use of that in our household.
Speaker 1: I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer. Fear
Speaker 1: is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will
Speaker 1: face my fear. I will permit it to pass over
Speaker 1: me and through me. And when it has gone past,
Speaker 1: I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Speaker 1: Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only
Speaker 1: I will remain. That's the Benny Jesseret Litany against fear
Speaker 1: from Doune. Of course, we learned that from Paul Trades. Yes,
Speaker 1: and uh and yeah, I have used this in the past,
Speaker 1: like legitimately used it as as a mantra because in
Speaker 1: and of itself it is kind of a mindfulness mantra.
Speaker 1: But it but it also uh, it actually can be
Speaker 1: pretty specifically inspiring on a couple of levels regarding COVID nineteen.
Speaker 1: I mean, these these measures of social distancing and even
Speaker 1: lockdowns and quarantines that we've been discussing. Uh. In effect,
Speaker 1: we're talking about letting the pandemic pass over and through us,
Speaker 1: but at a pace we can handle being the the
Speaker 1: the force of control, uh, that that mitigates it. And
Speaker 1: it's again also just a good insight into fear and
Speaker 1: the uh you know the power of fear and what
Speaker 1: we can do individually to try and stand against it. Yeah. Absolutely, Um,
Speaker 1: as as long as we're we're we're quoting comforting Litany's
Speaker 1: one thing I've been thinking more and more about is um.
Speaker 1: You know, it's not just normal routines and comfort but
Speaker 1: this is an important time to try your best to
Speaker 1: foster a sense of community. I mean you can't do
Speaker 1: that in person right now. For for me, this has
Speaker 1: been a great time to read Walt Whitman, you know,
Speaker 1: the poet, the poet of masses of people and communities. Uh.
Speaker 1: This morning I was reading the poem crossing Brooklyn Ferry,
Speaker 1: Robert do you know that one? I don't remember this
Speaker 1: one now? Well, it's a it's a wonderful poem. It's
Speaker 1: it's too long to read here, but I kind of
Speaker 1: did want to read a selection from it, uh, that
Speaker 1: I've found sort of inspiring. At this time when he's
Speaker 1: he's speaking in his mind the idea of the you know,
Speaker 1: the masses of people within the city's coming and going,
Speaker 1: and he's feeling this kind of like infinite, ineffable bond
Speaker 1: with all these other people, and uh, you know, and
Speaker 1: and he sort of speaks of coming through crises and uncertainty,
Speaker 1: and towards the end of the poem, ah, he begins
Speaker 1: to to say this. He says, appearances now or henceforth,
Speaker 1: indicate what you are. You necessary film, continue to envelope
Speaker 1: the soul about my body for me and your body
Speaker 1: for you. Be hung our divinest aromas. Thrive cities, bring
Speaker 1: your freight, bring your shows, ample and sufficient rivers, expand
Speaker 1: being that which none else is perhaps more spiritual, Keep
Speaker 1: your places objects than which none else is more lasting.
Speaker 1: You have waited, you always wait, you dumb beautiful ministers.
Speaker 1: We receive you with free sense at last, and our insatiate. Henceforward,
Speaker 1: not you anymore shall be able to foil us or
Speaker 1: withhold yourselves from us. We use you, and do not
Speaker 1: cast you aside. We plant you permanently within us. We
Speaker 1: fathom you, not we love you. There is perfection in you. Also.
Speaker 1: You furnish your parts towards eternity great or small. You
Speaker 1: furnish your parts towards the soul. Oh that's beautiful. It's
Speaker 1: a wonderful poem. I recommend people read it. I always
Speaker 1: uh find myself. I don't know. I like to read
Speaker 1: wal Whitman when when I want to feel U when
Speaker 1: I want to feel not just better in general, but
Speaker 1: specifically better about other people and better about people. I
Speaker 1: don't know. Yeah, yeah, it's it is in many ways.
Speaker 1: It is a good time for inspiring poetry. Um, if
Speaker 1: you have poems that you hold dear and now it's
Speaker 1: perhaps a good time to unearth them. Uh looked them
Speaker 1: up online and uh and read them again. Now let
Speaker 1: me ask you this, Joe, how's your how's your dog handling? All?
Speaker 1: This is? Uh? Oh, it's it's the jackpot for him.
Speaker 1: And suddenly suddenly his people are home all the time,
Speaker 1: and he's just getting so much attention and so many
Speaker 1: snuggles while we're working. It's that this is like the
Speaker 1: best thing that ever happened to Charlie. Yeah, I feel
Speaker 1: like our cat is in a similar boat. Like suddenly
Speaker 1: there's always a warm lap around, there's always someone to
Speaker 1: inquire about when the next wet food can is being opened.
Speaker 1: Uh And in my feet, my socked feet are around
Speaker 1: even more for the cat to hunt an attack while
Speaker 1: I'm you know, getting my steps in just sort of
Speaker 1: nervously walking around the house. I've been doing a lot
Speaker 1: of that too, just random pacing way more than usual.
Speaker 1: Even my wife took my son on a nature walk yesterday.
Speaker 1: I stayed at the house. I did some yoga, but
Speaker 1: I didn't have like my phone doesn't capture that. I
Speaker 1: didn't have my phone on me anyway. But then afterwards
Speaker 1: we compared our steps for the day, and uh, I
Speaker 1: think I had equaled or exceeded hers just through a
Speaker 1: nervous pacing around the house. So and it has a
Speaker 1: it has a purpose. Uh, well, you know what, I
Speaker 1: think maybe we can conquer some of that anxiety, not
Speaker 1: just with pace thing, but by staying busy. And we
Speaker 1: are definitely going to stay busy working on the show.
Speaker 1: That's right, um yeah, and again hopefully it will be
Speaker 1: uh comforting entertaining, informative for you, and it will be, um,
Speaker 1: you know, if you're a regular listener of the show,
Speaker 1: it will be a normal part of your life that's
Speaker 1: going to continue, even if other things are kind of
Speaker 1: in a state of transition. All right, in the meantime,
Speaker 1: let's say, first of all, if you want to socially
Speaker 1: connect with us and with other listeners. Uh, we do
Speaker 1: not personally engage on our social media platforms that much,
Speaker 1: but uh, there is a Facebook group for our show.
Speaker 1: It is the Stuff to Blow your Mind discussion module.
Speaker 1: You have to ask to be letting in, and you
Speaker 1: have to like answer a question which is just it's
Speaker 1: an easy one, like what's the title of the show?
Speaker 1: That sort of thing. Uh. So it's pretty easy to
Speaker 1: get in, and there's some basic rules to maintain order
Speaker 1: and civility there. But it's a great way to connect
Speaker 1: sometimes with us, but more generally with other listeners. So
Speaker 1: if you need that in your life right now, uh,
Speaker 1: go look it up. Otherwise, if you want to check
Speaker 1: out the show, you can find stuff to Blow your
Speaker 1: Mind wherever you get your podcasts and wherever that happens
Speaker 1: to be just rate, review and subscribe. Those are the
Speaker 1: actions you can take to help our show. Huge thanks
Speaker 1: as always to our excellent audio producer Seth Nicholas Johnson.
Speaker 1: If you would like to get in touch with us,
Speaker 1: you still can. You can let us know topics you'd
Speaker 1: like to hear in the future. You can give us
Speaker 1: feedback on this episode or any other I don't know
Speaker 1: what your feedback about this episode would be, except I
Speaker 1: don't know people. People who you know might be able
Speaker 1: to weigh in about their own mindfulness practices, how they're
Speaker 1: coping with changes, or just hey, tell us what I'm
Speaker 1: interested in, just knowing what what video games are you playing?
Speaker 1: What what books are you're reading, what movies you're watching,
Speaker 1: what are you know, some of the pleasant things that
Speaker 1: you're you know, maybe even amplifying your life right now
Speaker 1: to help get you through it. I just had a
Speaker 1: great idea, actually we should put together with Stuff to
Speaker 1: Blow your Mind community sourced reading ist. Yeah, for for
Speaker 1: the social distancing period, So yeah, maybe we will try
Speaker 1: to do that. But also yeah, anyway, I never got
Speaker 1: to the address. So if you want to get in
Speaker 1: touch with us, it is contact at Stuff to Blow
Speaker 1: your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is
Speaker 1: production of i heart Radio. For more podcasts for my
Speaker 1: heart Radio, this, the i heart Radio app, Apple podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you're listening to your favorite shows.