The Armen Show

We start from one place and end up at another. In this episode, we close out 2020 with a last episode of the year, bringing us to 52 episodes for the 52-week year~. Here, I discuss the guests we’ve had on in 2020, concepts they brought up, and some takeaways for all of you.

Welcome to episode 293 of the show, with Professor Richard Coss of the University of California, Davis. From his educational transitions to life transitions, he has covered a variety of disciplines, and looks at key elements of animal behavior and predator activity. Of his biography, “Dr. Coss is an emeritus professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, and a faculty member of UC Davis’ Graduate Group in Animal Behavior and Graduate Group in Ecology. Dr. Coss serves as a member of a number of professional organizations, including the Animal Behavior Society, the International Society for Ecological Psychology, and the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology. Dr. Coss also served on the Editorial Advisory Board for Behavioral and Neural Biology.” From his description, “Dr. Coss has two primary research interests, both of which emphasize evolutionary constraints on perceptual and cognitive processes in humans and other species. The first research area examines issues in the behavioral ecology of small mammals. His research typically examines population differences, predator-prey relations, habitat perception, and social communication. Behavioral development in field and laboratory conditions is a consistent theme throughout his experimental studies; Pthis developmental theme is sometimes complemented with neuro-biological measures. The second program of study concentrates on the development of aesthetic preferences and how these preferences are constrained by human evolutionary history. Research on this topic emphasizes visual perception and creativity and often includes cross-cultural comparisons.” You can check out Professor Coss’ material on his faculty page.

Hello to all of you, and welcome to episode 292 of the show, with Professor John Harte of The Harte Lab at UC Berkeley. Focusing on biodiversity, climate change, complex systems, ecology, and policy analysis, Professor Harte and his lab members tackle a range of issues. Professor Harte is an ecologist and Professor of the Graduate School in the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California at Berkeley. “Harte received his B.A. from Harvard University in 1961 and his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Wisconsin in 1965. He was an Assistant Professor of Physics at Yale University from 1968-1973. During his time at Yale, he transitioned into the study of theoretical ecology, and joined the UC Berkeley faculty as an ecologist in the Energy and Resources Group in 1973.” “His work spans a range of scales, from plot to landscape to global, and utilizes field manipulation experiments, the study of patterns in nature, and mathematical modeling. Two specific goals are to understand the nature and causes of patterns in the distribution and abundance of species and to understand the extent to which ecosystem responses to climate change may result in feedbacks to climate that can either ameliorate or exacerbate global warming. An overarching goal of his research is to understand the interdependence of human well-being and the health of ecosystems.” You can check out Professor Harte’s faculty page, as well as The Harte Lab website.

Where will virtual therapeutics take healthcare in upcoming years? Dr. Brennan Spiegel, MD, MSHS, gastroenterologist at Cedars-Sinai, writes about this in his book VRx: How Virtual Therapeutics Will Revolutionize Medicine. Directing the Center for Outcomes Research and Education at Cedars, he guides investigation of the application of digital health technologies, which include wearable biosensors, smartphone applications, virtual reality and social media. Dr. Spiegel is editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology, the leading clinical gastroenterology journal in North America. He has also published “numerous best-selling medical textbooks, editorials and more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He is listed in the Onalytica ‘Top 100 Influencer’ lists for digital health (No. 13) and virtual reality (No. 14). His digital health research has been featured by major media outlets, including NBC News, PBS, Forbes, Bloomberg, NPR and Reuters.”

Welcome to episode 290 of The Armen Show Podcast. This one is about the value of branching out in daily times, and different ways you can branch out in your own life. Adding a little variation to your day can be all you need to keep it interesting. This can be in the form of music, colors used in note-taking, paths taken to travel, locations visited, foods tried, people reached out to, and more.

Fear is a driving force for much of the population, and Dr. Daniel T. Blumstein speaks about fear in his book The Nature of Fear: Survival Lessons from the Wild, released by Harvard University Press. Looking at marmots, snakes, and a variety of animals, in regards to their fear responses and biochemical adjustments, allows us to understand and manage our own fears. Professor Blumstein runs the Blumstein lab at UCLA in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology College. Project topics at the lab include evolution of social behavior and communication, antipredator vigilance, climate change and population biology, conservation behavior, biological impacts of tourism, and many more. From Wikipedia, Professor Blumstein is also “… a professor for the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability [at UCLA]. He has authored or co-authored over 300 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Furthermore, he authored the book The Failure of Environmental Education (and How We Can Fix It) with Charles Saylan, which was featured in the 2011 “Summer Reading: 7 Education Books to Take to the Beach” in Time Magazine. Because of his work in conservation and education, he was invited to join the panel at the first ever United States White House conference on environmental education. Blumstein earned a PhD in animal behavior in 1994 and a MS in animal behavior in 1990, both from the University of California, Davis. He earned a BA in environmental, population, and organismic biology as well as environmental conservation from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1986.” We spoke about marmot research, fear response, nonlinearities in sound, projects his lab is working on, sections from the book, how fear response is looked at, and more. Past guests mentioned in this episode, and the topic with which they were brought up: Professor Peter T. Coleman – Polarization Dr. Geoffrey West – Scaling Laws Dr. Azra Raza – Socialization During Dinner Gatherings You can check out The Nature of Fear on Amazon.

Welcome to episode 288, which might be my first one on this show that is both solo and still in video form. On this one, as the show continues its growth, I describe thoughts in relation to a quote I read that said “Continuation is power”. When I saw that, I recognized the value in it, and that I wanted to talk a bit about it. The people who continue along on a project path or a goal they started before represent their internal willpower when they put out that next thing. It says something to all others out there, and represents that they are still “in the market”. After covering this topic, I covered the topic of continued flow, and how stoppage has such an impact on where you can go in the short term. It’s like a weight that can become heavier by the day, each day that you skip working out, or whatever the activity may be.

Hello and welcome to episode 287 of the show. On this one, I look to recap a few past episodes, what I learned from them, and what you might be able to take away. The episodes are #274 with Dr. Geoffrey West, #268 with Dr. Maryam Baqir, and #267 with James Nestor. Dr. West gave us a sense of connection with humanity through biological and physics laws, while Dr. Baqir took us through the first Covid wave and her direct experience, and Mr. Nestor reminded us that there is a better way to breathe. I hope you enjoy the episode, and I look to do more recaps like this one.

We are joined on episode 286 of the show by guest Robert Bilott. He is an environmental attorney at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP. He is the author of Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer’s Twenty-Year Battle against DuPont, which was then turned into the 2019 film Dark Waters. From his bio, Robert is “A seasoned and internationally-recognized litigator, advocate, and author, Rob represents a diverse range of clients on a wide variety of matters involving federal, state, and local environmental laws. For more than 29 years, he has handled environmental issues of regulatory compliance, permitting, and corporate/real estate transactions, as well as all aspects of litigation arising from such issues, from administrative hearings to multi-party, complex multi-district litigation, mass torts, and class actions.” Show notes: Robert’s background becoming an environmental attorney and progressing in the fieldDark Waters and its representation of Robert’s extended battle with Dupont regarding PFOAs and related chemicalsthe difference in impact of his book and the filmthe details of the case against Dupontsome personality traits that match with being an environmental attorneyand much more You can check out Exposure on Amazon, or Dark Waters on IMDb.

Glad to have you all on here for episode 285 – this one is a treat because it includes visuals of the paintings, sculptures, clothing, and crystals created and procured by Dr. Robby Gordon, who has created the Hollywood Gallery and Sculpture Garden. These entities are packed with artistic works of his own, along with those of many others who he knows of. Dr. Robby Gordon studied art at the University of California Irvine, Irvine Valley College, and Golden West. He also studied at the University of Bologna and UCLA. He spent his first 21 years in Israel, subsequently moving to Europe, where he studied and became increasingly involved in the art world. The Hollywood Sculpture Garden as seen at night Show notes: Robby’s background as an artist, and some of the various works he has createdhow long it took him to set up his gallery in the form that it is, and how he has kept at it dailysome of the countries he has been to, and the culture and artistic sense acquired from those regionsthe things he looked for in the residence he would later use to host the gallery, and how it is necessary to pin down what is important to you in lifekeeping things varied in terms of types of artistic works made, and how Robby has created in so many styles, such that he takes on a category until he feels like it is on to the next onethe many crystals and rocks that he showcases in his facilitya video walk-through of his gallery, narrated by Robby and recorded by myself Having Robby on the show, and recording the episode in person, was a nice change of pace for the content. You can check out the Hollywood Gallery and Sculpture Garden website. Award speechAt a functionWork being doneWalls being removedThe original hillsideEarly work on the hill