Words That Make Us

15. Words That Make Us: Sickness

Season 2, episode 15:
In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “Sickness”. This promises to be an episode of fun discussions, varied readings of pain and hilarity, and a few statistics to boot! They discuss questions such as: why do men not go to the doctor’s? Can prayer really relieve pain? What poems, depressing and funny alike, have they found for you? And what are some funny stories doctors have told about patients? Also, what would Marcus Aurelius say about sickness if he was alive today? 
 
Men don’t go to the doctor
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1121551/
Dr Gabor Mate on addiction
https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/23606-what-ails-us
 
Tulips by Sylvia Plath
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49013/tulips-56d22ab68fdd0
 
Sick by Shel Silverstein
https://poets.org/poem/sick
 
Funny stories by doctors:
https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-doctor-patient-stories/
 
Stoic response to sickness - an AI Marcus Aurelius response
https://www.stoicsimple.com/stoic-advice-on-health-problems-illness-ask-marcus-aurelius/#:~:text=Instead%20of%20dwelling%20on%20your,the%20natural%20order%20of%20things.
 
On Pain by Gibran Khalil Gibran
https://poets.org/poem/pain-1
 
Assisted suicide In Germany
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/1000135?form=fpf
https://www.dw.com/en/assisted-suicide-germany-weighs-autonomy-and-ethics/a-66111477
In sickness and in health
https://www.structuralheartjournal.org/article/S2474-8706(24)00034-4/fulltext
https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.801752.de/diw_sp1110.pdf
Walking Around by Pablo Neruda
https://allpoetry.com/Walking-Around
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: wordsthatmakeus@gmail.com

14. Words That Make Us: Cake

In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “Cake”. Listen to them as they discuss their cake eating and baking preferences all while discussing “Let them eat cake!” and why baking shows became so popular. Would you call the sweet little baked goodness Jaffa cake or biscuits? Why does it matter? And of course, here is some poetry in there for you! 
No one said “Let them eat cake”!
https://www.britannica.com/story/did-marie-antoinette-really-say-let-them-eat-cake
 
Betty Crocker cake mix story
https://cantrell.medium.com/the-myth-of-the-instant-cake-mix-a45aaac8b302
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/something-eggstra/
 
Chocolate Cake by Michael Rosen
https://www.uv.mx/personal/jomartinez/files/2011/08/Chocolate-Cake.pdf
 
The most difficult cakes to make:
https://www.findcourses.co.uk/inspiration/hobby-fun-leisure-articles/how-to-make-the-worlds-most-difficult-cakes-17573
 
Simnel cake
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simnel_cake
 
The Jaffa Cake Story
https://www.kerseys.co.uk/jaffa-cakes-cakes-biscuits/#:~:text=During%20the%20court%20battle%20between,recognised%20as%20chocolate%20covered%20cakes.
 
Cake idioms
https://www.ihpalermo.com/Cake-Biscuit-Idioms
 
Sister’s cake By Eugene Field 
https://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/sisters_cake_605
 
Cake by Roger Mcgough
https://allpoetry.com/poem/14373247-Cake-by-Roger-McGough
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: wordsthatmakeus@gmail.com

13. Words That Make Us: Betrayal

In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “Betrayal”. Listen to them as they discuss the different types of betrayal whether in relationships, in a relation to one’s country of oneself. They discuss statistics about cheating from different countries as well as how it is regarded in stoicism, the Quran and the Bible. There is poetry from different eras and perspectives too!
Countries with highest infidelity rate:
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/infidelity-rates-by-country
Is it emotional cheating?
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/emotional-cheating
Medusa by Carol Ann Duffy
https://genius.com/Carol-ann-duffy-medusa-annotated
Betrayal in the Quran
https://submission.org/friday_betrayal.html#:~:text=Those%20elements%20might%20be%20summarized,and%20be%20among%20the%20truthful.
We Who Are Your Closest Friends by Phillip Lopate
https://poets.org/poem/we-who-are-your-closest-friends
Dictionary Definition
https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/betrayal#:~:text=Betrayal%20means%20%22an%20act%20of,someone's%20trust%2C%20possibly%20by%20lying.
 
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/betrayal
Betrayal in the bible
https://renew.org/betrayal-in-the-bible/
Betrayal in Shakespeare
https://nosweatshakespeare.com/blog/top-shakespearean-betrayals/
Famous cases of betrayal in history
https://www.voxnews.al/english/histori/25-tradhtite-qe-ndryshuan-rrjedhen-e-historise-i18600
https://www.watchmojo.com/articles/top-10-most-ruthless-betrayals-in-all-of-history/vidkun-quisling
Judas Goats on Galapagos Islands
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/on-the-galapagos-the-betrayal-of-judas-goats
Farewell, Ungrateful Traitor! John Dryden
https://allpoetry.com/Farewell-Ungrateful-Traitor
Sonnet 142 by William Shakespeare
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56226/sonnet-142-love-is-my-sin-and-thy-dear-virtue-hate
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: wordsthatmakeus@gmail.com

12. Words That Make Us: Sarcasm

In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “Sarcasm”, or should we say wit? Humour? Verbal irony? Listen to them as they discuss the nuances in these terms all while reading poetry, research and some (soft) science and statistics. 
Culture and Social Status
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0163853X.2023.2252695#abstract
A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to their Parents, or the Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick by Jonthan Swift
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1080/1080-h/1080-h.htm
Psychology of Sarcasm
negatives
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/and-running/202012/behind-the-scenes-sarcasm
https://www.harleytherapy.co.uk/counselling/what-sarcasm-means.htm
 
positives
https://www.forbes.com/sites/traversmark/2024/02/09/a-psychologist-explains-the-irresistible-appeal-of-sarcasm/
https://www.apa.org/monitor/may05/sarcasm
https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/why-sarcastic-people-are-more-successful.html
Sarcastic TV characters
https://www.storypick.com/hurting-your-stomach/  
A Rational Anthem by Ambrose Bierce
https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/rational-anthem
Not Waving but Drowning By Stevie Smith
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46479/not-waving-but-drowning
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: wordsthatmakeus@gmail.com

11. Words That Make Us: Trees

In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “Trees”. Listen to them as they discuss the fascinating mechanisms trees use to grow and survive. What are the oldest trees in the world? Which countries have the most trees and which countries are planting and cutting down trees? How do trees appear in religion, culture and literature? All these questions (and many more) will be answered.
When Autumn Came - Faiz Ahmed Faiz 1911-1984
https://poets.org/poem/when-autumn-came
 
Be by Nizar Qabbani
https://blogs.transparent.com/arabic/nizar-qabbani-the-tree/
 
The tree of life in Bahrain 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_Life_(Bahrain)
 
Oldest Trees in the world
https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/oldest-tree-in-world
 
Deforestation in Syria:
https://syriadirect.org/under-the-axe-the-fall-of-daraas-forests-and-fruit-trees/
Dragon Blood tree on the island of Socotra
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/12/saving-dragons-blood-island-refused-let-tree-die-out-socotra-yemen
 
Poplar Trees are Happiest  – by John Russell McCarthy
https://woodlandtrust.tumblr.com/post/690916023263789056/poplar-trees-are-happiest-john-russell-mccarthy
Plant a trillion trees
https://www.plant-for-the-planet.org/trillion-trees/
Tree statistics
https://www.morfo.rest/article/top-30-forested-countries
Alternative search engine
https://www.ecosia.org/?https:/www.ecosia.org%3Ftt%3D2044ca88%26tt%3D2044ca88%26gad_source%3D1&tt=2044ca88&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlvW2BhDyARIsADnIe-LLHIog-ZQyQyYZpGApzW-nhZ8RU7MHLLlAPYJ5XN2jR-fQU7bwbFoaAjUYEALw_wcB
When Great Trees Fall Maya Angelou
https://poems.com/poem/when-great-trees-fall/
On Marriage (from The Prophet) by Gibran Khalil Gibran
https://poets.org/poem/marriage-3
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: 
wordsthatmakeus@gmail.com

10. Words That make Us: Patience

In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “Patience”. Listen to them as they discern one type of patience from another. Can one be stoically patient in one context and impatient in another? Is patience always a virtue? What can we do when we feel impatient? What have poets from different cultural backgrounds got to say about patience?
Dictionary Definition
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/patience
The Patience of Job
https://www.gotquestions.org/patience-of-Job.html
 
Types of patience:
https://www.astrazeneca.com/content/dam/az/PDF/2020/covid-19-toolkit/Patience.pdf
Stoicism as a way to learn patience
https://www.stoicsimple.com/stoicism-as-a-way-to-learn-patience-acceptance-be-calm/
 
Laughter and Tears IX - Kahlil Gibran
https://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/laughter_and_tears_ix_21303
 
On his Blindness by John Milton
https://www.owleyes.org/text/on-his-blindness/read/text-poem
 
The marshmallow experiment debunked
https://anderson-review.ucla.edu/new-study-disavows-marshmallow-tests-predictive-powers/
 
Most patient animals in the world
https://learningmole.com/most-patient-animals-in-the-world/
 
Top 10 most patient countries
https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/top-10-most-patient-countries
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/cross-country-variation-in-patience?tab=table
https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2019/0729/Why-wealth-and-patience-appear-to-go-hand-in-hand
 
Exposure to disaster causes impatience
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-03-today-exposure-disaster-impatience-children.html
 
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: 
wordsthatmakeus@gmail.com

9. Words That Make Us: Light

In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “Light”. Listen to them as they discuss how light is perceived in different cultures. What is Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and how does it affect us? How did ancient peoples explain the sun and other light-related phenomena? Some great poetry awaits you!
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20364651
Silver by Walter de la Mare
https://allpoetry.com/poem/8494557-Silver-by-Walter-de-la-Mare
The light triad
https://www.simplypsychology.org/light-triad-personality.html#:~:text=The%20light%20triad%20consists%20of,narcissism%2C%20Mechiavialinism%2C%20and%20psychopathy.
Myths about Aurora Borealis
https://www.nathab.com/blog/fifteen-native-tales-about-the-northern-lights/
Light and darkness in Romeo and Juliet
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/cliffsnotes/subjects/literature/how-does-shakespeare-use-light-and-darkness-in-romeo-and-juliet
A World of Light - Elizabeth Jennings
https://www.kidsworldfun.com/learn-english/poem-a-world-of-light.php
Near death experiences and light
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-near-death-experiences-reveal-about-the-brain/
Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Amenouzume
Bread, Hashish and Moon by Nizar Qabbani
https://allpoetry.com/Bread,-Hashish-And-Moon
Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night by Dylan Thomas
https://poets.org/poem/do-not-go-gentle-good-night
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: 
wordsthatmakeus@gmail.com
 
 

8. Words That Make Us: Doubt

In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “Doubt”. Listen to them as they discuss the useful and not-so-useful manifestations of doubt. They discuss Impostor Syndrome and why it might be more prevalent in females than in males and talk about ways to alleviate self-doubt and its negative impacts. They have some powerful poetry for you too.
 
How to overcome self-doubt:
https://eugenetherapy.com/article/overcome-self-doubt/#:~:text=However%2C%20when%20it%20becomes%20debilitating,self%2Ddoubt%20later%20in%20life.
Descartes on doubt:
https://philife.nd.edu/descartes-meditations-doubt-everything/
Doubt in Islam:
https://islamqa.org/hanafi/daruliftaa/8377/having-doubts-about-allah/#:~:text=Having%20doubts%20in%20Allah%20Almighty,a%20sign%20of%20one's%20faith.&text=The%20above%20two%20narrations%20cleary,or%20evil%20due%20to%20them.
 
Freethinker by Robert William Service
https://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/freethinker_11000
 
If by Rudyard Kipling
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46473/if—
My Doubt by Jane Hirshfield
https://poets.org/poem/my-doubt
Still I rise – Maya Angelou
https://groundedafrican.com/2023/01/25/still-i-rise-maya-angelou/
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: 
wordsthatmakeus@gmail.com
 

7. Words That Make Us: Water

After a short summer break, Rama and Tony are back with you with a new episode on this episode of the topic of “Water”. Listen to them as they discuss the different effects of water on us as humans. They discuss the many ways water has been used in different analogies attempting to describe the human experience. How does water feature in Christianity and Islam? What do stoics and mystics say about it? And of course, how does water feature in Shakespeare’s writing, especially Hamlet? How much water are we using for our different purposes and how does water scarcity threaten to affect us? 
 
Becoming the Ocean by Khalil Gibran
https://bradwcarr.medium.com/becoming-the-ocean-fb17376975ad
 
 Stoicism on Water
https://www.beststoicquotes.com/blog/on-digging-deep
 
Global market for bottled water
https://www.statista.com/outlook/cmo/non-alcoholic-drinks/bottled-water/worldwide#revenue
 
Top 10 countries with freshwater resources
https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/top-10-countries-with-freshwater-resources-1537440475-1
 
Industries that consume most fresh water
https://2030.builders/world-water-day/
 
“Water” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52342/water-56d230b9c3194
 
Types of water use:
https://watercycle.byu.edu/blue-green-and-gray-water-use#:~:text=Blue%20Water%20deals%20with%20human,quality%20issues%20or%20excessive%20heat.
 
How much water does it take to make a pair of Jeans?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0ckr93c
 
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: 
wordsthatmakeus@gmail.com

6. Words That Make Us: Stationery

In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “Stationery”. Listen to them as they discuss what stationery items mean to them as teachers. There are some interesting facts and statistics about stationery that might surprise you. What are the most stolen items of stationery? Tony also reads you poetry about stationery which we hope you enjoy!
 
Stealing stationery from work
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20180524-the-psychology-of-stealing-office-supplies
https://yougov.co.uk/economy/articles/21708-what-are-britons-stealing-work
https://www.furniture-work.co.uk/blog/post/13-eye-opening-statistics-about-theft-in-the-workplace
The history of pencils (and other stationery)
https://inkymemo.com/unknown-facts-stationery-tricks/
Pens Are Better Than Pencils by Dan Brown
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/pens-are-better-than-pencils/
Most expensive pens:
https://www.executivepensdirect.com/blogs/fun-stuff/the-ten-most-expensive-pens-in-the-world
History of BIC biro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bic_Cristal#:~:text=The%20 BIC%20 Crystal%20(stylised%20as,billionth%20sale%20in%20 September%202006.
 
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: 
wordsthatmakeus@gmail.com