We’re Jennifer Dudley and Abby Jorgensen, two sociologist moms whose lives (like our toddlers) revolve around curiosity. In each episode, we go down a rabbit hole about some aspect ordinary life that is actually fascinating. We hope you’ll come along for the ride!
Abby and Jennifer talk about common happiness myths, evaluate advice on happiness from popular media, and offer some practical tips for everyday happiness. They also offer a farewell and wrap up for this last episode of season 1 of Fascinating Ordinary.
Digressions include:
Jennifer angles for a Target sponsorship
Abby pokes fun at Maslow and his hierarchy
We debate the value of putting Danes on a pedestal
Abby’s ties to the bagpipe community
Art versus nature
Resources and Links
10 Practical Ways to Improve Happiness For when you need advice that goes beyond “Be Danish” By Arthur C. Brooks
Atlantic How to Build A Life
NY Times 7 Day Happiness Challenge
NY Times Awe Can Improve Your Life
Does Spending Money on Others Promote Happiness?: A Registered Replication Report
Does savoring increase happiness? A daily diary study
How Spending Influences Happiness
Hedonic Adaptation: Why You Are Not Happier
Jennifer also recommends going to your local library or used book store to find The Good Life Method: Reasoning Through Big Questions of Happiness, Faith, and Meaning by Paul Blaschko and Meghan Sullivan
Find us at https://fascinatingordinary.com/
22 Feb 2023
Comfort Food
In this episode, Jennifer and Abby talk about comfort food and grief. They talk about popular ideas of comfort food, the science behind food rituals as comforting, and present a few grief food rituals from around the world.
The episode covers grieving rituals, funerals, loss, and death. Therefore, the hosts urge listeners to use their discretion when deciding if this episode could be triggering.
Digression include:
Hallmark movies
Jennifer loses her Disney-fan crown
Johnny Machete
Navigating 1 TV scandal and 1 science scandal
Our sociological roots
Resources and Links
Comfort food TV tropes
Funeral food rituals from around the world
Resources on sitting Shiva
Comfort Food: A Review
Threatened Belonging and Preference for Comfort Food
The Power of Rituals in Life, Death, and Business
Find us at https://fascinatingordinary.com/
8 Feb 2023
Sand!
Yes, this is an episode about sand. Abby convinces Jennifer (and hopefully you, as well) that sand is actually pretty cool and that the sand shortage is actually pretty terrible.
Digressions include:
Jennifer's limited knowledge of construction default law
A cool service offered by Sherwin Williams
The Princess Bridge
Abby's secret past as a golfer
Jennifer spoils the original Star Wars series
Resources and links
The sand shortage
More on the sand shortage
Sand world and Daniel Helber!
Barking sand
Golfing greens
Anakin’s cheesy sand line
Become a sand collector
Best plants for sandy soil
Find us at https://fascinatingordinary.com/
25 Jan 2023
Feeding Big Kids
In the second part of our series on feeding kids, Jennifer and Abby talk about picky eaters of any age. They offer some science on picking eating as well as some tactics for people trying to overcome pickiness (for themselves or their kids).
Digressions include:
Abby's heartwarming tale of learning to love olives
Jennifer's less heartwarming tale of learning to tolerate celery
Our reasonable suspicion of fresh blueberries
Snacking
Do French kids really eat everything?
Normal Rockwell
Resources and Links
Picky eating during childhood: A longitudinal study to age 11 years
Picky eating in children: Causes and consequences
Feel your food. The influence of tactile sensitivity on picky eating in children
Perception of picky eating among children in Singapore and its impact on caregivers: a questionnaire survey
Parents' anxiety, depression may lead to kids being fussy eaters in 2016
What Happened To American Childhood? Too many kids show worrying signs of fragility from a very young age
USDA Nutrition Evidence Systematic Review
Jennifer also recommend checking out these books from your local library
Emily Oster’s Cribsheet, particularly Chapter 12 (for all post-milk stuff)
Emily Oster’s Family Firm, particularly Chapter 6 (for ages 5-12)
For parents concerned about conversations with their pediatrician:
Jennifer spoke to a professor of social work and sociology at California State University, Northridge who said that social workers and doctors are looking for evidence of neglect. Focusing on the fact that you are trying to provide nourishment to your child should not raise concerns of neglect.
Find us at https://fascinatingordinary.com/
11 Jan 2023
Feeding Little Kids
In this episode, Abby teaches Jennifer all about how kids eat -- starting from two-celled organisms.
Digression include:
A quick lesson on how babies are made
Jennifer brags about her high school A.P. bio exam score
The grossness of kneecaps
References to Alien, the movie and Look Who's Talking
Resources and Links
Robin Elise Weiss for lactation education
Womb milk
Colostrum
How much milk babies need
CDC breastfeeding report card
History of infant formula
Infant Formula Act of 1980
Baby formula shortage
Look Who’s Talking Intro
Find us at https://fascinatingordinary.com/
28 Dec 2022
Cheese
This episode features a little bit of a history, a touch of science, and a lot of love for cheese.
Digression include:
The plot of Heidi
Jennifer narrowly avoids making an enemy of Whole Foods
Goat ladies
Resources and Links
About Elleanor Eldridge
National history of cheese making
History of cheese in the Americas
Timeline of cheese
How an American cheese won the world championship
Swiss cows
Jennifer also recommends checking out these books at your local library or used book store:
American Cheese by Joe Berkowitz
The Book of Cheese: the essential guide to discovering cheeses you’ll love by Liz Thorpe
Cheese, Wine, and Bread: discovering the magic of fermentation in England, Italy, and France by Katie Quinn
I Heart Cheese a cookbook by Mihaela Metaxa-Albu
Find us at https://fascinatingordinary.com/
14 Dec 2022
Struggle
In this episode, Abby and Jennifer explore the joy of watching others struggle. In particular, we found joy watching Jeremy Clarkson struggle in his Amazon show, Clarkson's Farm.
Digressions include:
The Three Stooges and Charlie Chaplin
Jennifer's imperfect knowledge of American history
Abby's recent exposure to a Disney classic
Abby makes Jennifer blush
Resources and Links
Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon
Top Gear
Farmer’s Journal interview
Find us at https://fascinatingordinary.com/
30 Nov 2022
Curiosity
We talk about the driving force of the show: curiosity.
Digressions include:
Octopus terminology
Jennifer scandalizes Abby a bit
We resist the urge to learn about cookies
Disney princesses and Buzzfeed quizzes
Resources and links:
Why? What Makes Us Curious by Mario Livio
Five-dimensional curiosity scale
Most googled questions
Octopus eggs hatching
Find us at https://fascinatingordinary.com/
28 Nov 2022
Introduction
Introducing a new podcast from Abby Jorgensen and Jennifer Dudley. They are two sociologists who want to take you down some rabbit holes to learn what's fascinating about the ordinary parts of life.
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