Words That Make Us

16. Words That Make Us: Laughter

In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “Laughter”. Listen to them as they discuss the different kinds of laughter and they affect both the laugher and those around them. Is it the best medicine? What do the stoics say about it? Are all jokes universal and appropriate across time and space? What is a laughing epidemic? Listen to the episode to find out and hopefully catch a few laughs. 
 
Your Laughter by Pablo Neruda
https://allpoetry.com/Your-Laughter
 
10 types of laughter
https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/emotions/5-types-of-laughter.htm
 
Nietzsche: Laughter of the Herd and Laughter of the Height
https://eternalisedofficial.com/2020/11/28/superhuman-laughter-nietzsche/
 
Why do we cry sometimes when we laugh?
https://www.salusuhealth.com/news/2016/09/why-do-we-cry-when-we-laugh.html
The sad clown:
https://fherehab.com/learning/comedians-depressed-mental-illness
The Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic
https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/12274127
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: 
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15. Words That Make Us: Guilt

In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “guilt”. Listen to them as they discuss the differences between guilt, regret, shame and remorse. What is collective guilt and what purpose does it serve? What is survivor guilt? Do different races, genders and people in general feel less or more guilt than others? Should they? There’s some great poetry, too!
Do women feel more guilt than men?
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna35788411
WHITE BOY PRIVILEGE BY Royce Mann
https://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/13/us/teen-slam-poet-white-privilege-hln/index.html
Stoic strategies for dealing with guilt
https://thebeautyinbeinginsignificant.com/stoicism-management-guilt/?utm_content=cmp-true
Sociopaths and guilt
https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/sociopathy/what-is-a-sociopath-symptoms-traits-treatments/
Guilt by Robert Frost
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/robert_frost/poems/812
A Hymn to God the Father by John Donne
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44115/a-hymn-to-god-the-father
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: 
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14. Words That Make Us: Change

In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “change”. Listen to them as they discuss the reasons why humans might embrace or resist change and how change in individuals and institutions can be implemented. Of course they bring to you what religion says about change and how stoicism regards it. You can also expect lots of poetry that explores the topic. Enjoy!
Choosing Strategies for Change by John P. Kotter and Leonard A. Schlesinger
https://hbr.org/2008/07/choosing-strategies-for-change
 
Journey by Rupi Kaur
https://images.app.goo.gl/tJVBCTZEZaLKoYUW8
 
The Man Watching by Rainer Maria Rilke
https://www.barefootguide.org/poetry-of-change.html
The arrival of spring by RG Gregory
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/rg_gregory/poems/22110
Theory by Kurt Lewin: Unfreeze-change-refreeze
https://www.mindtools.com/ajm9l1e/lewins-change-management-model
 
Who Makes These Changes? By  Jalal ad-Din Rumi
https://allpoetry.com/Who-makes-these-changes-
The Song of the Potter - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
https://discoverpoetry.com/poems/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-song-of-the-potter/?utm_content=cmp-true
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: 
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13. Words That Make Us: Music

In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “Music”. Listen to them as they discuss why music is powerful, where the oldest piece of music came from and why music is banned by some regimes. They also share their favourite songs and read to you poems about the power and beauty of music. Enjoy!
 
Quote on music in a car:
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/222581-i-love-the-way-music-inside-a-car-makes-you
 
Music is a vicious cancer:
https://theweek.com/culture-life/music/why-chechnya-has-banned-music-that-is-too-fast-or-too-slow
The oldest (surviving) piece of music in the world. Video within the article:
https://theweek.com/culture-life/music/why-chechnya-has-banned-music-that-is-too-fast-or-too-slow
Give Me The Flute by Khalil Gibran (altered translation)
https://allpoetry.com/poem/14326975-Give-Me-The-Flute-by-Khalil-Gibran
 
Cultural differences in scale and harmony
 
https://www.hoffmanacademy.com/blog/our-list-of-music-scales-from-around-the-world/
 
Why music moves us
 
https://www.pfizer.com/news/articles/why_and_how_music_moves_us#:~:text=The%20limbic%20system%2C%20which%20is,when%20our%20ears%20perceive%20music.&text=The%20chills%20you%20feel%20when,of%20pleasure%20and%20well%2Dbeing.
 
https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/how-does-music-make-you-feel
 
Erbarme Dich by Johann Sebastian Bach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBeXF_lnj_M
 
The Atlantic Article: Inside the Heads of People Who Don't Like Music
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/03/please-dont-stop-the-music-or-do-stop-the-music-i-dont-really-mind/519099/
 
Music by John Miles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb6XtyFNawM
 
Waiting for a girl like you by Foreigner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dWmKSj5HjI
 
Hero by Lissie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6bo14aOe1I
Music and Stoicism
https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/6i8yjb/music_is_antistoic_what_do_you_think/
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: 
wordsthatmakeus@gmail.com

12. Words That Make Us: Grief

In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “Grief”. Listen to them as they discuss what human beings might grieve and their personal experiences with it. They read some heart-warming texts to you and tell you about some traditions around grief around the world. 
For Grief by John O’Donohue
https://www.ayearofbeinghere.com/2015/12/john-odonohue-for-grief.html
In Lieu of Flowers by Shawna Lemay
https://transactionswithbeauty.com/home/10poemsforloss
The case against the five stages of grief 
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health-history/its-time-let-five-stages-grief-die
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/mar/05/mary-frances-oconnor-the-grieving-brain-grief-psychology
School of Love by Nizar Qabbani
https://www.heliotricity.com/nizar-qabbani-poetry/
Public Grief
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/whats-the-science-of-public-grief/
Grief rituals around the world:
https://ideas.ted.com/11-fascinating-funeral-traditions-from-around-the-globe/
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: 
wordsthatmakeus@gmail.com
 

11. Words That Make Us: Beauty

In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “Beauty”. Listen to them as they explain what the word means to them and what they consider beautiful. Why do humans gravitate toward shiny objects? What makes them deem something or someone beautiful? Of course, there’s poetry too!
Why humans like shiny things (theory):
https://www.thecut.com/2014/01/maybe-we-love-shiny-things-because-were-thirsty.html
What makes things beautiful, novelty or familiarity?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/science-of-choice/202110/how-beautiful-things-make-our-lives-better
Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? By William Shakespeare
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-shakespeare
Pied Beauty BY GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/gerard-manley-hopkins
Bizarre beauty standards around the world and in different eras:
https://steemit.com/life/@ruth-girl/ten-weird-beauty-standards-from-around-the-world
https://elle.in/bizarre-beauty-trends-history/
Change in beauty standards over time
https://www.scienceofpeople.com/beauty-standards/
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/03/07/health/body-image-history-of-beauty-explainer-intl/index.html
 
Social Media and Beauty Standards
https://www.dove.com/us/en/stories/campaigns/social-media-and-body-image.html
https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/73271
 
Cosmetic Surgery
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshwilson/2023/01/18/cosmetic-surgery-is-on-the-rise-with-technology-and-hollywood-is-at-the-centre-of-it/
https://www.isaps.org/discover/about-isaps/global-statistics/reports-and-press-releases/global-survey-2022-full-report-and-press-releases/#:~:text=The%20report%20shows%20a%2011.2,non%2Dsurgical%20procedures%20performed%20worldwide.&text=The%20report%20shows%20a%20continuing,over%20the%20last%20four%20years.
Stoic attitude to Beauty
https://dailystoic.com/a-stoic-response-to-beauty/
Still will I harvest beauty where it grows by Edna St. Vincent Millay
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/148565/still-will-i-harvest-beauty-where-it-grows
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: 
wordsthatmakeus@gmail.com

10. Words That Make Us: Jealousy

In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “Jealousy”. Is there a difference between jealousy and envy? What nuances might there be between these words in English vs. other languages and cultures? Why is the colour green associated with jealousy? Can jealousy be used for good or is it always a toxic, negative feeling? How jealous are you and how does jealousy manifest for you?
 
The green-eyed monster:
https://poets.org/poem/othello-act-iii-scene-iii-o-beware-my-lord-jealousy
Othello Syndrome
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2507072/Paranoid-woman-Debbi-Wood-suffering-Othello-Syndrome-forces-fianc-lie-detector-test.html
And God Wept:
https://philipchircop.wordpress.com/2012/07/19/and-god-wept/
Is jealousy genetic?
https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2013/nov/01/jealousy-genes
Where jealousy comes from:
https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/where-does-jealousy-come-from
Delilah by Tom Jones banned
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/feb/01/delilah-welsh-rugby-union-choirs-banned-from-singing-tom-jones-hit
How legal system sympathises with male jealousy-
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29612916
A Lover’s Envy by Henry Van Dyke:
https://allpoetry.com/A-Lover%27s-Envy
 
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: 
wordsthatmakeus@gmail.com

9. Words That Make Us: Attraction

In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “Attraction”. What does it mean to be attracted to someone? Can you control who you are attracted to? What has our childhood got to do with who we are attracted to? What do some animals do to attract a mate? Scientifically, what are the three elements of a happy relationship? Listen and find out more.
Definition from WebMD:
https://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/what-types-attraction
 
Bowerbirds:
https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=100364
 
Mystery circles:
https://www.livescience.com/57869-animals-with-weird-courtship-rituals.html
The Ring of the Dove:
https://www.imagomundi.com.br/espiritualidade/hazm_ring_dove.pdf
To the Black Beloved by Langston Huges
https://poets.org/poem/poem-black-beloved
Unusual ways to become more attractive:
https://www.jonbrooks.com/how-to-be-more-attractive/
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: 
wordsthatmakeus@gmail.com

8. Words That Make Us: Authenticity

In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “Authenticity”. Listen to them as they discuss the connotations of the word in the contexts of business, relationships and as individuals.
Words of the year
https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/word-of-the-year
The Man in the Glass by Peter Dale Wimbrow Sr.
http://www.inspirationpeak.com/cgi-bin/poetry.cgi?record=155
On Self-knowledge by Khalil Gibran
https://poets.org/poem/self-knowledge
Authentic leadership
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathymillerperkins/2023/05/27/authenticity-the-key-to-great-leadership-and-how-to-embrace-it/
What the stoics say
https://www.redalyc.org/journal/6945/694573720008/html/
Recommended reading on how to be authentic:
https://www.betterup.com/blog/authentic-self
I am Not I by Juan Ramon Jimenez
https://allpoetry.com/I-Am-Not-I
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: 
wordsthatmakeus@gmail.com
 

7. Words That Make Us : Luck

CORRECTION: Paulo Coelho does NOT come from Spain. He comes from Brazil.
In this episode of the "Words That Make Us" podcast, Rama and Tony discuss the topic of “Luck”. Listen to them as they discuss the connotations of the word “luck” and debate its existence. Of course they have some poetry for you too. 
If you would like to check out some of the readings on this episode, you may find them here:
Are some people born lucky?
https://www.furman.edu/news/are-some-people-born-lucky-a-ut-psychologist-argues-inequalitys-genetic-roots/#:~:text=She%20writes%20that%20some%20people,a%20greater%20risk%20of%20homelessness.
Marcus Auelius’ take on luck:
https://www.themarginalian.org/2021/09/19/marcus-aurelius-luck/
“May the Road Rise to Meet You”
https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/may-the-road-rise-meet-you-irish-blessing-meaning
Good and Bad Luck by John Hay
https://allpoetry.com/Good-and-Bad-Luck
Luck is Not Chance by Emily Dickinson
https://poets.org/poem/luck-not-chance-1350
If you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback, please send us an email at: 
wordsthatmakeus@gmail.com