Everything is Arbitrary

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It's time to question everything you took for granted. This podcast takes you through the history of pervasive ideas to imagine how everything could have turned out so differently were it not for some arbitrary decisions, moments, ideologies, and beliefs.

Erin Stewart

  • Jun 16, 2020 LATEST EPISODE
  • monthly NEW EPISODES
  • 45m AVG DURATION
  • 8 EPISODES


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Latest episodes from Everything is Arbitrary

Weddings

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 16, 2020 45:44


Music from Danosounds.Sources:Jia Tolentino’s essay, “I The Dread” in Trick Mirror.https://www.boredpanda.com/most-beautiful-and-interesting-traditional-wedding-dresses-around-the-world/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organichttps://www.insider.com/why-are-wedding-dresses-white-2017-4https://www.racked.com/2017/6/5/15726356/white-wedding-dress-history-ambivalencehttps://theweek.com/articles/528746/origins-marriagehttps://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/10/why-do-people-have-engagement-photo-shoots/572755/https://www.brides.com/story/the-gloomy-history-behind-honeymoonshttps://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-37373425https://www.foodnetwork.ca/fun-with-food/blog/secret-history-of-wedding-cakes/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2007/06/the-thinking-man-s-guide-to-bachelor-parties.htmlhttps://www.redbookmag.com/love-sex/relationships/a49906/bachelor-bachelorette-party-tradition-history/http://worldbridemagazine.com/3546/modern-lessons-from-history-the-bridal-shower/https://www.hitched.com.au/wedding-planning/organising-and-planning/change-of-name-list_435.htmhttps://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-ideas/10-wedding-ceremony-rituals-and-the-history-behind-themhttps://www.marthastewartweddings.com/628170/friends-and-family-mad-elopementhttps://phys.org/news/2016-01-gay-couples-pressure-conform-relationship.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/booming/how-should-gay-couples-fend-off-pressure-to-marry.html

Colour

Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2020 36:46


Music from DanosongsThis gif from Wikicommons is what to cast to mind when the topic of a prism dispersing a beam of white light comes up.Sources:Kassia St Clair’s The Secret Lives of ColorPhillip Ball’s Bright Earthhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light#/media/File:Light_dispersion_conceptual_waves.gifhttps://xkcd.com/273/http://brainden.com/color-illusions.htmhttps://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/apr/29/what-vocabularies-tell-us-about-culture?CMP=fb_guhttps://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/are-black-and-white-colorshttps://www.pantone.com/color-intelligence/color-education/color-iq-testhttps://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/11/how-pantone-became-a-pop-culture-icon/414043/http://theconversation.com/curious-kids-do-different-people-see-the-same-colours-107972https://www.thecut.com/2018/02/my-life-as-a-woman-with-colorblindness.htmlhttps://medium.com/@terossjr/indigos-indignity-16cd7ad1f54ahttps://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/gems-of-colour-pigments-of-the-%E2%80%98colourmen%E2%80%99https://slate.com/technology/2017/04/heres-why-people-saw-the-dress-differently.htmlhttps://www.jstor.org/stable/20203637http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/intro/medieval.htmlhttps://www.the-scientist.com/foundations/newtons-color-theory-ca-1665-31931https://medium.com/a-history-of-color/the-debate-over-indigo-671a0154525ahttps://jezebel.com/the-history-of-pink-for-girls-blue-for-boys-5790638https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/when-did-girls-start-wearing-pink-1370097/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0beqeccEEFIhttp://ebdjournal.com/blog/health/mythbusting-colour-therapyhttps://neilpatel.com/blog/gender-and-color/https://theconversation.com/can-pink-really-pacify-102696https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140827-how-the-colour-red-warps-the-mind

Purebred dogs

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2020 52:15


Music via Danosongs.Sources:https://www.sciencealert.com/fruits-vegetables-before-domestication-photos-genetically-modified-food-naturalhttps://www.businessinsider.com.au/what-farm-animals-looked-like-before-breeding-2016-2?r=US&IR=T#/#turkeys-1https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-wolves-really-became-dogs-180970014/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/06/the-origin-of-dogs/484976/http://theconversation.com/canine-and-able-how-dogs-made-us-human-7394https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/services/public/breed/standard.aspx?id=1003https://brightside.me/wonder-animals/how-dog-breeds-have-changed-over-the-last-100-years-172705/http://www.dogbreedhealth.com/basset-hound/https://digitalcommons.law.msu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1146&context=facpubshttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/different-dog-breeds-same-species/https://ticau.com/pages/history/history.pdfhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/15/pedigree-dogs-breeding-crufts-german-shepherd-best-in-breedhttps://www.rspca.org.au/campaigns/puppy-farmshttps://www.rspcavic.org/buying-a-puppy-from-a-pet-shophttps://www.mic.com/p/is-buying-a-dog-from-a-breeder-really-that-bad-the-answer-isnt-as-clear-cut-as-you-think-17296618https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/magazine/is-it-ok-to-get-a-dog-from-a-breeder-not-a-shelter.htmlAlso, the 2008 BBC documentary, Pedigree Dogs Exposed, and its 2012 followup, Pedigree Dogs Exposed: Three Years On.

Breakfast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 28, 2020 49:06


Sources:https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1034&context=cop-facbookshttps://www.vox.com/2016/1/14/10760622/nutrition-science-complicatedhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/why-do-we-eat-cereal-for-breakfast-and-other-questions-about-american-meals-answered-1565858/https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/05/what-is-breakfast/589411/https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/history/cereal-masturbation.aspxhttps://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/when-it-comes-to-fiber-cereal-fiber-may-be-your-best-choice-201102251535https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/06/how-marketers-invented-the-modern-version-of-breakfast/487130/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/10/the-science-of-skipping-breakfast-how-government-nutritionists-may-have-gotten-it-wrong/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puILfPriFxEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaLvVc1sS20https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/opium-war-1839-1842https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-36781368https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-37936349https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/boston-tea-partyhttps://www.diffordsguide.com/en-au/encyclopedia/1155/bws/english-breakfast-teahttps://www.bustle.com/articles/110861-how-old-is-coffee-the-first-caffeinated-beverages-might-be-1200-years-old-so-heres-ahttps://toriavey.com/history-kitchen/coffee-caffeinated-history/https://www.medibank.com.au/livebetter/be-magazine/food/the-history-of-orange-juice/https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/02/misunderstanding-orange-juice-as-a-health-drink/283579/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01459740.2016.1209752?scroll=top&needAccess=true

Mathematical Models

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 21, 2020 40:41


Royalty free music from Danosongs.Read more about the Seven Bridges of Königsberg:https://www.mathsisfun.com/activity/seven-bridges-konigsberg.htmlLinks about weather modelling:http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/about/about_access.shtmlhttp://www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/bulletins/nmoc_bulletin.shtmlMore about the sad story of the Mars Climate Orbiter:https://www.wired.com/2010/11/1110mars-climate-observer-report/What's wrong with opinion polls:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/20/mathematics-does-not-lie-why-polling-got-the-australian-election-wronghttps://reason.com/2016/01/14/why-polls-dont-work/https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/the-trouble-with-pollinghttps://theconversation.com/heres-how-to-make-opinion-polls-more-representative-and-honest-117405And how we don't grieve in five stages:https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20130219-are-there-five-stages-of-griefhttps://blog.sevenponds.com/professional-advice/why-doesnt-everyone-go-through-the-five-stages-of-grief-an-interview-with-dr-paul-coleman-part-two 

Generations

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 14, 2020 42:00


Royalty free music from Danosongs. Source links:https://www.history.com/topics/1960s/ask-steve-generation-gap-videohttps://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/9e6bzr/the_myth_of_the_antiwar_baby_boomers_polled/https://www.jstor.org/stable/23043288?seq=1http://www.localhistories.org/toilets.htmlhttp://marcuse.faculty.history.ucsb.edu/classes/201/articles/27MannheimGenerations.pdfhttps://search.proquest.com/openview/d6c050ba2ec2da1f83c71a6dcec449de/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=47867https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20171003-proof-that-people-have-always-complained-about-young-adultshttps://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewjosuweit/2017/10/22/5-industries-millennials-are-killing-and-why/#543eb4d344e4https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/comment-boomers-and-gen-y-aren-t-so-differenthttps://www.smh.com.au/opinion/dont-call-us-millennials-because-were-not-20171220-h07qqo.htmlhttps://www.wsj.com/articles/tuna-makers-look-to-hook-younger-consumers-1543766400https://socialmediaweek.org/blog/2015/04/oregon-trail-generation/https://tcf.org/content/commentary/a-new-silent-majority-low-income-and-minority-millennials/?agreed=1

BMI

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 7, 2020 31:14


Apologies: I mispronounced Nick Trefethen's name. And possibly other names too. There was also an audio glitch at 24mins that's fixed now.Royalty free music from DanosongsSources/Related Links:https://people.maths.ox.ac.uk/trefethen/bmi.htmlhttps://www.theguardian.com/science/the-h-word/2014/jan/16/body-mass-index--discovered-by-a-belgian-astronomer-https://etherwave.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/hump-day-history-adolphe-quetelet-statistics-and-social-physics/https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/australias-health-2018/contents/bmi-where-do-you-fithttps://slate.com/technology/2009/07/why-are-doctors-still-measuring-obesity-with-the-body-mass-index.htmlhttps://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-useful-is-the-body-mass-index-bmi-201603309339https://www.self.com/story/weight-bias-and-health-carehttps://www.glamour.com/story/weight-stigma-is-keeping-patients-from-getting-the-care-they-needhttps://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170803092015.htmhttps://www.who.int/social_determinants/sdh_definition/en/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/26/health/obese-patients-health-care.htmlhttps://healthfeedback.org/evaluation/scientists-discuss-widely-shared-huffington-post-article-everything-you-know-obesity-wrong-michael-hobbes/https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/everything-you-know-about-obesity-is-wrong/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB105761372351532900https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/12/19/16742884/weight-loss-bariatric-surgery-pros-cons-storieshttps://medium.com/the-establishment/my-friends-would-rather-have-their-guts-cut-open-than-be-like-me-95a33a96d400http://suethsayings.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-dark-side-of-gastric-sleeve.htmlhttps://www.healthline.com/health/what-its-like-to-live-with-atypical-anorexia#3

Time

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 31, 2019 69:44


Correction: although there were heliocentric theories (i.e. the Earth revolves around the sun) in antiquity, this was an unsettled matter until the Copernican Revolution. Source Links:https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-telling-time-55408https://www.timeanddate.com/time/how-do-atomic-clocks-work.htmlhttps://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/04/16/the-interpreter-2http://www.aboriginalastronomy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Hamacher-Thesis.pdfhttps://plumvillage.org/mindfulness-practice/mindful-apps/http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p266811/pdf/Vietnam.pdfhttps://abelamculture.wordpress.com/https://www.academia.edu/24249577/_Yam_Cycles_and_Timeless_Time_in_Melanesia._Ethnology_38_211-225_1999https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/theres-nothing-inherently-special-about-nye--except-uber-surge-pricing-20171230-h0bkg9.htmlhttps://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/persian-calendar.htmlhttps://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-calendar/https://www.history.com/news/soviet-union-stalin-weekend-labor-policyhttps://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2013/11/30/244995264/spains-been-in-the-wrong-time-zone-for-seven-decadeshttps://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/11/china-only-has-one-time-zone-and-thats-a-problem/281136/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/samoa/8984423/Samoa-skips-a-day-as-it-crosses-international-date-line.htmlhttps://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/03/daylight-savings-time-arizona-florida-spring-forward-science/https://www.independent.co.uk/student/student-life/the-strangest-oxford-tradition-of-all-making-sure-the-clocks-go-back-with-the-time-ceremony-8908472.htmlhttps://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/03/tired-of-daylight-saving-time-these-states-trying-to-end-clock-changes/ And books:David Graeber - Bullshit JobsSeneca - On The Shortness of Life Music credits:Elevate from bensound.comTime Perception from purple-planet.comRoyalty Free Music by ANtarcticbreeze at soundcloud.comTime Rider by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.com, promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

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