Getting Better with Jonathan Van Ness

What happens when you add JVN to E = mc²? You get an episode of Getting Curious all about physics, explored through one of Jonathan’s favorite topics: figure skating! This week, Dr. Deborah King joins Jonathan to break down the biomechanics behind skating techniques, the cutting edge technology she’s using to research ice sports, and how we can watch the winter Olympics like scientists. Dr. Deborah King is a professor of biomechanics in the Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences at Ithaca College. She began her work with figure skating in 1993 while with the United States Olympic Committee Athlete Performance Division and has continued to work with the sport for the last 21 years. Her work in skating has included studying the biomechanics of figure skating jumps, focusing on 3D kinematics of national and internal level figure skaters, studying injury demographics in competitive and non-competitive skaters, and developing an instrumented blade to study impact forces in figure skating. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the itsy bitsy spider crawls up the water spout, it dawns on her: her exoskeleton doesn’t fit. Is it a fashion emergency—or her moment to shine? This week, Dr. Maydianne Andrade joins Jonathan to share the ins and outs of spider growth, behavior, and reproduction. Dr. Maydianne Andrade is a professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough, and president of the Canadian Black Scientists Network. You can follow Dr. Andrade on Twitter @WidowWeb, and at maydianne.com. The Canadian Black Scientists Network is on Twitter and Instagram @canblacksci. For more resources referenced in this episode, make sure to check out the work of Professor Karen Warentkin at Boston University, including the presentation Crossing boundaries, disrupting binaries: A queer perspective on studying behavioral diversity. Many thanks to Dr. Senthurran Sivalinghem at University of Toronto for permission to use the amazing spider footage featured towards the end of this conversation. And thank you to Dr. Jessica Ware for sparking our curiosity here! Dr. Ware’s episode of Getting Curious about cicadas, dragonflies, and other insects is a perfect follow-up listen. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re ending this year on a high note with none other than Brandi Carlile! She and Jonathan talk Brandi’s incredible music career, queer faith, and Dolly Parton—and Jonathan asks hard-hitting questions like, “Did you know you’d grow up to be Brandi Carlile, Brandi Carlile?” Brandi Carlile is a six-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, performer, producer, New York Times best selling author and activist. Her new album In These Silent Days was released this past fall to widespread acclaim leading to five nominations at the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for the album’s first single, “Right On Time.” You can follow Brandi on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @brandicarlile and find more of her work on brandicarlile.com. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week’s episode is as nourishing as they get, as chef Pati Jinich joins Jonathan to discuss cuisines along the US-Mexico border, holiday foods she associates with growing up in Mexico, and what we can learn from taking a bite out of a burrito. Pati Jinich is a James Beard Award-winning Mexican chef who has dedicated her career to building a shared understanding between her two home countries: Mexico and the United States. Her long-running PBS series Pati’s Mexican Table has brought Mexican flavors, colors and textures into American homes and kitchens, as viewers have watched Pati thoughtfully and enthusiastically guide them through the various geographic regions of the country. Pati is also the host of the recently released PBS Primetime special La Frontera, which highlights the unique foods and culture along the Texas-Mexico border, and has authored three cookbooks including the recently released Treasures of the Mexican Table. You can follow Pati on Instagram and Twitter @PatiJinich, and learn more about her work at patijinich.com. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you’re a regular listener of Getting Curious, you know how much Jonathan loves the Sister Act films. But how realistic were they? This week, former nuns Kelli Dunham and Mary Johnson share what it was like to serve with Mother Teresa (yeah, that Mother Teresa) in the Missionaries of Charity—and why they left the congregation. Kelli Dunham is a comic, writer, nurse, and genderqueer ex-nun. You can follow Kelli on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube @kellidunham—and at kellidunham.com. Make sure to check out Kelli’s storytelling series Queer Memoir at Caveat. Mary Johnson loves life. Her award-winning memoir An Unquenchable Thirst reveals the secret life inside her 20 years as a nun with the Sisters of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. As a Humanist Celebrant, Mary creates ceremonies for weddings, memorials, and all life’s transitions. Mary is also host of The Book Canopy and is working on a second book and a video series. You can follow Mary on Twitter @_MaryJohnson and at maryjohnson.co. Want to hear more from Kelli and Mary, and other former Missionaries of Charity? Check out the excellent podcast series The Turning: The Sisters Who Left, inspired by Mary’s Memoir and produced by Rococo Punch and iHeartMedia. Find out what today’s guests and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1903, a Frenchman and an American granted the United States ninety nine years of control over the Isthmus of Panama. No Panamanians signed that treaty. This week, Professor Kaysha Corinealdi and Jonathan explore the political history and legacy of what came next: the Panama Canal. Kaysha Corinealdi is an interdisciplinary historian of modern empires, migration, gender, and activism in the Americas. Her forthcoming book Panama in Black centers the activism of Afro-Caribbean migrants and their descendants as they navigated practices and policies of anti-Blackness, xenophobia, denationalization, and white supremacy in Panama and the United States. Her research can also be found in Black Perspectives (September 14, 2021), Caribbean Review of Gender Studies (Issue 12, 2018), the International Journal of Africana Studies (18:2, Fall-Winter 2017), and the Global South (6:2, Fall 2013). You can follow her on Twitter @KCorinealdi, and read more of her work here. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week’s episode is a cut above the rest, as we explore the history and cultural significance of scissors. Join Jonathan and design historian Teresa Collenette as they talk ancient spring scissors, Victorian-era chatelaines, Jonathan’s go-to hair shears, and Teresa’s incredible collection of more than 100 pairs of scissors. Teresa Collenette is a design historian, curator and collector. Teresa has curated several exhibitions with the Fashion and Textile Museum, including The Secret Life of Scissors in 2018 and Beautiful People: The Boutique in 1960s Counterculture, which is up now! You can follow her on Instagram @thehouseofscissors. Want to learn more about scissors? Check out these resources: Handmade scissors in Sheffield at Ernest Wright Scissors being made at Ernest Wright Scissors maker William Whiteley & Sons, Sheffield Scissor Collecting Magazine Dial M For Murder The Secret Life of Scissors exhibition in The New York Times Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can you map out the Oregon Trail? If you just flashed back to playing The Oregon Trail video game in your sixth grade computer lab, get ready for a journey. Jonathan and Professor Margaret Huettl explore how Native knowledge systems established the Oregon Trail; how Native peoples experienced non-Native settlers moving West; and how Indigenous communities today are reckoning with this past to build a better future. Margaret Huettl, a descendant of Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibweg, Assyrian refugees, and European settlers, is Assistant Professor in History and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is a scholar of Native American history and North American Wests, and her research examines the continuities of Ojibwe sovereignty in the context of settler colonialism in both the United States and Canada, centering Ojibwe ways of knowing. You can follow her on Twitter @historianhuettl. Want to learn more about the Oregon Trail? See whose land you’re living on, or learn more about the Native nations whose land was crossed by the Oregon Trail: Native-Land.ca Visit the only Oregon Trail museum run by Indigenous people: TAMÁSTSLIKT CULTURAL INSTITUTE Explore the Fort Laramie Treaty through an interactive case study: Fort Laramie Treaty Case Study Read Margaret’s work: “Treaty Stories: Reclaiming the Unbroken History of Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Sovereignty” Learn more about Indigenous representations: IllumiNative. Check out some Indigenous-centered games: When Rivers Were Trails Invaders Growing Up Ojibwe Never Alone Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You may have seen tear gas marketed as a “non-lethal” or “less lethal” weapon. The truth is more dangerous. This week, Professor Anna Feigenbaum breaks down what’s in tear gas, who manufactures it, and what its poisonous history reveals about profit motivation and modern policing. Professor Anna Feigenbaum works at Bournemouth University in the South of England. She is the author of Tear Gas (Verso 2017). Her recent project The Data Storytelling Workbook (Routledge 2020) provides a guide to telling more effective, empathetic and evidence-based data stories. You can follow Professor Feigenbaum on Twitter @drfigtree. Want to learn more about tear gas? Here are some recommended resources: Tear Gas: An Investigation — Amnesty International RiotID (@RiotID on Twitter) Welcome to Omega Research Foundation | Omega Research Foundation Chemical Weapons Research Consortium DTP Physicians for Human Rights: Through evidence, change is possible. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you ever met a redhead? Someone with green eyes? Someone with intersex traits? If you answered yes to the first two questions, you can likely answer yes to the third: being intersex is as common as having red hair or green eyes. And that’s almost definitely an undercount. This week, Alicia Roth Weigel lays out what it means to have intersex traits, why so many intersex children face medical abuse, and what justice looks like for intersex people. Alicia Roth Weigel is a Forbes and New York Times published change agent, working to improve the political and social landscape for marginalized populations in the South through her consulting firm Intrepida Strategy. As a Human Rights Commissioner for the City of Austin, she has contributed to legislation to reduce sexual assault and human trafficking, mandate paid sick leave and abortion funding, decriminalize and alleviate homelessness, and target other social determinants of health. Most notably, Alicia continually advocates for the rights of intersex people like her, for which she was awarded the Ceci Gratias Guardian Award by the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce in 2019. Alicia is committed to fostering body autonomy and culturally competent healthcare for all. Make sure to follow Alicia on Instagram and Twitter @xoxy_alicia. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chances are, you’ve been exposed to vaccine misinformation. And you could be at risk of believing it. This week, Dr. Kolina Koltai joins Jonathan to explore how vaccine misinformation travels online, why it’s so dangerous, and how you can stop it from spreading. Dr. Kolina Koltai is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on the anti-vaccine community’s use of sociotechnical systems to find, share, and assess vaccine misinformation. She received her PhD in 2020 in Information Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. You can follow her on Twitter @kolinakoltai. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dams, what’s their story? Are they scenic sites? Harmful structures? This week, Professor Heather Randell and Jonathan go on a journey through dam history, ecology, and sociology. Listen in to learn about why dams are built; who they serve; and how they can cause displacement, change river ecology, and contribute to climate change. Heather Randell is an Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology and Demography at Penn State. She studies how dam construction affects local communities as well as the health and social impacts of climate change. You can follow her on Twitter @HeatherFRandell, and at www.heatherrandell.com Want to learn more about dams? Here are three short films worth checking out: Guardians of the River Belo Monte: After the Flood (2016) A River Runs Through Us And here’s a recent article from the New Yorker on the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You know those hangout episodes of your favorite TV shows? This episode’s like that, but in podcast form. Grab a seat and spend an hour with Jonathan and comedian, producer, writer, actor (and more!) Amanda Seales. The two explore their shared passion for gymnastics, how Amanda crafts her Instagram-famous comedy songs, and why it can be a compliment to be called “difficult.” Want another round with Amanda and Jonathan? Head over to Amanda’s podcast Small Doses for the second half of their conversation! For more on Amanda and her work, including upcoming performance dates, make sure to follow her on Instagram and Twitter @amandaseales, and head to smartfunnyandblack.com. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Even the best earthquake early warning systems will give you only five to eight seconds of notice before you experience ground shaking. This week, Jonathan and geotechnical engineer Ashly Cabas take more than an hour exploring seismic waves, soils, risk assessment, and other earthquake fundamentals so that you can be prepared in the event of a natural hazard. Ashly Cabas, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University (NCSU), where she investigates seismic hazards and earthquake effects on civil infrastructure. Her team at NCSU collaborates with seismologists, geologists, and structural engineers to understand how the response of soils and rocks to earthquake loading can influence the damaging potential of earthquakes. Her research group’s work has also been recognized with EERI best paper awards in 2014 and 2018, and she has served in reconnaissance missions after the 2018 M7.1 Anchorage, Alaska earthquake, and more recently the 2021 M7.2 Nippes, Haiti earthquake. You can follow Professor Cabas on Twitter @amcabas, and keep up with her work at NCSU on Twitter @NCStateCCEE and on the Cabas Research Group site. Want to learn more about earthquakes? Here are some recommended resources: Seismological Society of America (SSA) Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) American Society of Civil Engineers - GeoInstitute US Geological Survey (USGS), Earthquake Hazards Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure Cyberinfrastructure component, DesignSafe-CI Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure Natural Hazards Reconnaissance component, RAPID Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) GeoHazards International (GHI) ShakeAlert, Early Warning System RaspberryShake Personal seismograph NCSU Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering Department Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Actress, executive producer, activist, and best-selling author Gabrielle Union joins Jonathan to discuss radical transparency, allyship, and her new book You Got Anything Stronger? You can follow Gabrielle on Twitter @itsgabrielleu and Instagram @gabunion. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

America’s first medical patents date back to the 1790s—and patents still inform our every prescription, vaccine, and pharmacy run. This week on Getting Curious, Priti Krishtel joins Jonathan to break down the basics on medical patents. Why do they exist? Who do they serve? And how equitable are they? Priti Krishtel is a health justice lawyer and co-founder of I-MAK, a non-profit building a more just and equitable medicines system. She has spent nearly two decades exposing structural inequities affecting access to medicines and vaccines across the Global South and in the United States. You can follow Priti on Twitter @pritikrishtel. I-MAK is on Twitter @IMAKglobal and at i-mak.org. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Demi Lovato joins Jonathan to discuss the difference between accomplishment and joy, finding serenity off stage, and Dolly Parton’s tour bus. You can follow Demi on Instagram and Twitter @ddlovato. If you loved hearing Jonathan and Demi together, make sure to subscribe to their podcast 4D with Demi Lovato for a special episode coming out soon! Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Some of us have our best ideas in the shower. Others have the best ideas for how to shampoo and condition while we’re taking those showers. This week, Jonathan sits down (in person!) with Ramya Viswanathan, chemist and principal formulator for JVN Hair, to discuss the science of haircare. You can follow all things JVN Hair on Instagram @jvnhair, and at www.jvnhair.com. For hair tutorials, behind the scenes footage, and other exclusive JVN Hair content, head over to JVN Beauty on YouTube. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Need a palate cleanser? Have we got an episode for you. Padma Lakshmi joins Jonathan to discuss the key to a great grilled cheese, the ingredient that makes her chicken stock sublime, her new children’s book Tomatoes For Neela, and so much more. Padma Lakshmi is the creator and host of Hulu’s Taste the Nation and host and executive producer of the Emmy-winning Bravo series Top Chef. She is the bestselling author of two cookbooks, the Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs, as well as her memoir Love, Loss, and What We Ate. You can follow Padma on Instagram and Twitter @padmalakshmi. Tomatoes For Neela is out now. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

School is back in session, and so is Getting Curious! This week, Jonathan sits down with Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to better understand Pell Grants, Pre-K, and how the Department of Education plays a role in each child’s education. Dr. Miguel A. Cardona currently serves as the 12th Secretary of Education. Since beginning his journey as an educator, Secretary Cardona has served as an elementary school teacher, school principal, Performance and Evaluation lead administrator, Assistant Superintendent, and most recently Commissioner of Education for the State of Connecticut. You can follow Secretary Cardona on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @SecCardona. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Refresh your beach playlist with a second serving of Getting Curious LIVE! For our last episode of the summer season, we’re giving you a taste of some top-shelf interviews recorded on Kesha's Weird & Wonderful Rainbow Ride Cruise, at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, and backstage at Jonathan’s Road to Beijing tour in Brisbane. Featuring interviews with Detox, Thorgy Thor, Bob The Drag Queen, Erin Gibson, Nicole Byer, and Mawaan Rizwan. Find out what today’s guests and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com, and full versions of each of the conversations excerpted in today’s episode are available for free wherever you’re listening to the show. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re celebrating the dog days of summer with two weeks’ worth of our favorite Getting Curious tapings from festivals, tour stops, and even a cruise. This week, cool down with interviews recorded live at Clusterfest and Outside Lands in San Francisco, and Vulture Fest in New York. The guests are amazing, the humor is on point, and the admission is free. Featuring interviews with Cat Cohen, Ayo Edebiri, Julio Torres, Jaboukie Young-White, Michelle Wolf, Florence Welch, and Justin Theroux. Find out what today’s guests and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join Jonathan and archaeologist James Doyle as they explore early Mesoamerican arts, cultures, and communities on this week’s Getting Curious. Listen in to learn about the numeral and writing systems that connected Mesoamerican societies thousands of years ago, the significance of commodities like jade and marine shell, and the ways in which Mesoamerican traditions continue today. James Doyle is an assistant curator in the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. James is on Twitter @JamesDoyleMet and on Instagram @jamesdoylenyc. Want to learn more? Check out some of James’ writing for the Met, including: Ancient Maya Sculpture Ancient Maya Painted Ceramics Olmec Art Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are in for a real treat this week as Dr. Sarah-Elizabeth Byosiere joins Jonathan for an episode all about dogs! How do dogs perceive colors and sounds? What are best practices for dog training? Is alpha behavior a real thing? And are Jonathan’s dogs Pablo and Elton on track to be best friends?! Sarah-Elizabeth Byosiere, Ph.D., is the Director of the Thinking Dog Center and Assistant Professor at Hunter College (CUNY) where she focuses on studying the behavior and cognition of domestic dogs, and occasionally cats. You can follow Dr. Byosiere on Twitter @SEByosiere, and follow the Thinking Dog Center on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @HunterTDC. Want to learn more about dog behavior? Here are some recommended resources: How to Choose a Dog Trainer Guide to Cooperative Care Companion Animal Psychology Blog Bark Magazine Fear Free Pets Whole Dog Journal The Other End of the Leash Blog Pet Professional Guild IAABC Foundation Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One in four women and one in two trans people will experience intimate partner violence in the United States, and the primary obstacle to safety for survivors is financial security. Sonya Passi joins Jonathan to discuss what it looks like to reframe intimate partner violence as a structural economic issue, and what it will take to give survivors the support they need to thrive. As a sensitivity warning, this episode discusses intimate partner violence in detail. We hope that centering an episode on this important topic helps to bring awareness to survivors’ experiences, and the incredible work that Sonya and other advocates are doing through organizations like Freefrom. Sonya Passi is the founder and CEO of FreeFrom, a national organization on a mission to create pathways to financial security and long-term safety for survivors of gender-based violence. Sonya and her work emphasize the creativity, resourcefulness, and power that each survivor has to achieve financial independence, and to build communities that support individual, intergenerational, and collective healing. Keep up with Sonya and Freefrom’s work on Instagram @freefromdotorg, Twitter @freefromorg, and Facebook @freefrom.org. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the eve of the Tokyo Olympics, we’re turning our attention to another era of athletic competitions: the ancient Olympics. Professors Sarah E. Bond and Joel Christensen join Jonathan to discuss these early games and what they reveal about ancient Greek and Roman politics, religions, gender roles, and more. After you listen, make sure to check out Dr. Bond’s first appearance on the show: Would I Have Been The Toast Of The Ancient Mediterranean? Sarah E. Bond is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Iowa and the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Her book, Trade and Taboo: Disreputable Professionals in the Roman Mediterranean, was published with the University of Michigan Press in 2016. Follow her on Twitter @SarahEBond. Joel Christensen is Professor and Chair of Classical Studies and Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs at Brandeis University. He also runs the blog sententiaeantiquae.com and the associated Ancient Greek and Roman (and Cats) Twitter account @sentantiq. He has published introductory books on Homer with Elton T. E. Barker (Beginner’s Guide to Homer, One World, 2013) and Erik Robinson (A Commentary on the Homeric Battle of Frogs and Mice, Bloomsbury, 2018) and recently completed The Many-Minded Man: the Odyssey, Psychology, and the Therapy of Epic with Cornell University Press (2020). Find out what today’s guests and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Getting Curious, we’re going from table to farm to learn more about where our food comes from, and who is producing it. Activist and lawyer Mónica Ramírez joins Jonathan to discuss the history of farmwork in the United States, the labor conditions facing contemporary farmworkers, and the work she and her peers are doing to prioritize legal and mental health support for farmworker communities. Mónica Ramírez is an attorney, author and activist. She is the founder of Justice for Migrant Women and co-founder of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, The Latinx House, and Poderistas (formerly She Se Puede). Mónica has received numerous awards, including Harvard Kennedy School’s first Gender Equity Changemaker Award, Feminist Majority’s Global Women’s Rights Award and the Smithsonian’s 2018 Ingenuity Award. She was named to Forbes Mexico’s 100 Most Powerful Women’s 2018 list and TIME Magazine included her in its 2021 TIME100 Next list. Mónica is also an inaugural member of the Ford Global Fellowship. Follow Monica on Instagram @activistmonicaramirez and Twitter @MonicaRamirezOH. Justice for Migrant Women is on Instagram and Twitter @mujerxsrising, and at justice4women.org. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Getting Curious, Sister District’s Lala Wu and Gaby Goldstein are here to remind us that there are no off-year elections, only odd-year elections—and we’re in the midst of a major campaign season. Lala and Gaby break down why this year’s state legislature races are a bellwether for the midterms, what’s going on with redistricting, and how you can get involved in electing progressives across the country. Once you’ve listened to the episode, make sure to check out Gaby’s first appearance on Getting Curious, in 2018 (“How Do We Flip Red States Blue In The Midterms?”) and head over to Instagram for a 2020 conversation with Sister District’s Rita Bosworth. Sister District is a grassroots organization of over 50,000 members, which provides hands-on field and fundraising support to endorsed state legislative candidates. Sister District Action Network, their affiliated c4, focuses on political research, civic engagement and state legislator support. You can learn more at https://sisterdistrict.com/. Sister District is on Twitter and Instagram @Sister_District and on YouTube and Facebook at Sister District. Lala Wu is thrilled and humbled to be the first woman of color to take the helm as the Executive Director of Sister District. In her previous role as the Director of Engagement & Partnerships, she successfully led the expansion of the organization's volunteer infrastructure to over 150 chapters in 31 states. Prior to co-founding Sister District, Lala was a clean energy and land use attorney. Lala is on Twitter @_lala_wu_. Gaby Goldstein is an attorney, political strategist, and health & state policy enthusiast. As Co-Founder at Sister District, she is building progressive power in state legislatures and helping legislators succeed once elected. She serves as Political Advisor at Sister District Project, and as Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at Sister District Action Network. Gaby Goldstein is on Twitter @gaby__goldstein. Find out what today’s guests and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last June, LGBTQIA+ activist, journalist, and media personality Ashlee Marie Preston joined Jonathan on Instagram Live for a conversation about Pride, racial justice, and everyday acts of resistance. To round out Pride this year, we’re releasing that conversation as a podcast episode. Follow Ashlee Marie Preston on Instagram @ashleemariepreston and Twitter @AshleeMPreston, and learn more about her work at YouAreEssential.org. Make sure to revisit her first appearance on Getting Curious, recently released from our archives: “Am I A Self-Karen?” Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. While you're on Instagram, check out some of our other Instagram Live conversations with activists, politicians, scientists, and more friends of the show. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Getting Curious, Jonathan and David Yi explore the history of beauty beyond the gender binary. Listen in to learn about Neanderthals who used highlighters, Korean warriors who invented three-in-one sticks, ancient Egyptians who relied on anti-aging creams, and more stunning historical figures. David Yi is the co-founder of good light, a gender-inclusive beauty brand, and editor of Very Good Light, a men's and masc-identifying beauty publication. They are the author of the new book PRETTY BOYS, which honors beauty icons past and present who have redefined masculinity and gender expression. You can find David on Twitter and Instagram @seoulcialite; good light is @goodlight.world; and Very Good Light is at @verygoodlight. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Professor Jue Guo returns to Getting Curious, which means we are returning to Early China! She and Jonathan discuss what a week in the life might look like for a royal hairdresser, a performance artist, a regional king, and other figures from this period and place. This episode can be enjoyed on its own, but if you can’t get enough of Early China, make sure to check out Professor Guo’s first appearance on the show, where we ask: Can You Set The Scene For Early China? Jue Guo is an Assistant Professor of Barnard College in New York City. She is a social and cultural historian of Early China (terminus ante quem ca. 3rd century CE), with a geographical focus on southern China. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Put on your ruby red slippers and click your heels three times, because this week’s episode of Getting Curious is taking us to Kansas. Congresswoman Sharice Davids joins Jonathan to discuss her historic election (and re-election!); her experience representing Kansans in Congress; and her new children’s book Sharice’s Big Voice. Sharice Davids is currently serving as the representative for Kansas’ Third District in Congress. Sharice was raised by a single mom and worked her way from Johnson County Community College to Cornell Law School, juggling multiple jobs to put herself through school. In 2018, she became one of the first two Native American women ever to serve in Congress and the first LGBTQ+ person to represent Kansas in the House of Representatives. You can follow Representative Davids on Twitter @sharicedavids and Instagram @shariceforcongress. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are ringing in Pride Month with a very special episode of Getting Curious, recorded live from the set of Netflix’s Queer Eye. Listen in for sit-down interviews with Tan France, Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, and Antoni Porowski—and guest appearances from Queer Eye’s stellar production team. You can follow the Fab Five on Instagram @tanfrance, @bobby, @karamo, and @antoni. Keep up with all things Queer Eye on Instagram @queereye. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grab your Ugg boots and mini skirts and give three cheers for each of Carly Patterson's Olympic medals because this week on Getting Curious, 2004 is back in style. As billions of Brood X cicadas start to emerge across the eastern United States after 17 years, we’re re-releasing our episode from last summer with Dr. Jessica Ware, all about these trending insects. Dr. Ware is a curator of Odonata and non-Holometabolous insect orders at the American Museum of Natural History, New York and a professor at the Richard Gilder Graduate School. You can follow Dr. Ware (and her amazing cicada coverage!) on Twitter @JessicaLWareLab and Instagram @jessicaleeware42. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s no secret that we rely on technology in our daily lives. So it shouldn’t be a secret how that technology works, who is developing it, and just how biased it can be. This week on Getting Curious, returning guest Meredith Broussard joins Jonathan to discuss how data rights are civil rights—and how we can all get involved in efforts to defend them. Data journalist Meredith Broussard is an associate professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University, research director at the NYU Alliance for Public Interest Technology, and the author of “Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World.” Meredith is featured in the documentary Coded Bias, directed by Shalini Kantayya, now available to stream on Netflix. You can follow Meredith on Twitter and Instagram @merbroussard, and keep up with her work at meredithbroussard.com. For more information on Coded Bias, head over to CodedBias.com and follow @codedbias on Instagram and Twitter. Make sure to visit the film’s Take Action page, where you can find more information on resources and groups like the Algorithmic Justice League. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week’s episode of Getting Curious isn’t a snack, it’s a whole meal. Culinary creator, writer, and video host Sohla El-Waylly joins Jonathan to discuss cooking basics, ancient recipes, and their shared affinity for a certain discontinued Taco Bell classic. Sohla El-Waylly can currently be seen starring in The HISTORY® Channel’s online series Ancient Recipes with Sohla. Sohla is also currently one of the first-ever Resident Experts for Food52 with Off Script with Sohla, her curated monthly online column and video series. She is also a contributor to The New York Times Cooking vertical. You can keep up with Sohla’s work on Instagram @sohlae and at www.hellosohla.com. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Getting Curious, things are looking up: to Canada! Professor Jeffers Lennox joins Jonathan to discuss early Canadian history, including British, French, and Indigenous relations in northeastern North America; Canada’s role in the American Revolution; Canada’s confederation story; and what the deal actually was with Benedict Arnold. Jeffers Lennox is an associate professor of History at Wesleyan University. His current book project is North of America: British Provinces, the Revolution, and Creating the United States (under contract, Yale University Press). You can follow Jeffers on Twitter @jefferslennox, and keep up with his work at www.jefferslennox.com. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Getting Curious, Jonathan sits down with the creators and cast of Netflix’s new animated musical movie Arlo The Alligator Boy. Joining the discussion is director and writer Ryan Crego; supervising producer Blake Lemons; Mary Lambert, who plays Bertie; Michael J. Woodard, who plays Arlo—and Jonathan, who plays Furlecia! Listen in to learn all about the writing, casting, voiceover, and animation process. You can follow Ryan on Instagram @creegsmamation; Blake @blahlemons; Michael @MichaelJWoodard; and Mary @MaryLambertSing. For more on Arlo The Alligator Boy, and the upcoming Netflix series I ♥ Arlo, follow @NetflixFamily on Instagram. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Getting Curious, multidisciplinary visual artist Lanecia Rouse joins Jonathan to discuss how creative expression can help us make sense of our lives. Lanecia shares how she sources materials—like magazines, bricks, and strings—for her works; how she contends with questions of religion, grief, and joy in her art; and how she became a full-time artist. Lanecia is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in Houston, TX and the owner and creator of LAR Art Studio. Her portfolio includes a range of abstract painting, photography, teaching, writing, speaking, and collaborative creative community engagement projects nationally and abroad. You can follow Lanecia on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @larartstudio and keep up with her work at www.laneciarousetinsley.com. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week’s Getting Curious is going to the dogs—and the cats and the cows and the crocodiles! Philosopher and writer Eva Meijer joins Jonathan for a conversation about how non-human animals communicate, why humans have often underestimated other species’ capacity for language, and what we can do to build more sustainable, respectful relationships with other species. Among Eva’s books is Animal Languages, recently translated into English by Laura Watkinson and published by MIT University Press. Follow Eva on Facebook and Twitter @meijereva, and on her website www.evameijer.nl. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Getting Curious, we’re wishing Jonathan many happy returns with an extra special birthday edition of the show. Diana Rose joins Jonathan to discuss astrology, tarot, and other healing practices—complete with Jonathan’s first ever natal chart reading! Diana Rose is an astrologer, tarot reader, & writer based in Los Angeles. Her practice aims to guide others towards cultivating a more compassionate and re-enchanted relationship with themselves & the world around them. Diana is on Instagram @ddamascenaa, on Twitter @ddamascenaa, and on Patreon @ddamascenaa. She’ll be presenting two talks at the Northwest Astrological Conference in May, so make sure to check her out there. She’s also writing the guidebook for the Rosebud Tarot; you can keep up with that project on Instagram @rosebudtarot. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Getting Curious, Professor Beronda Montgomery joins Jonathan to discuss plant behavior, adaptation, and communication—plus, the question on everyone’s minds: will Jonathan’s lantana plants survive the winter?! Beronda L. Montgomery is MSU Foundation Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Microbiology & Molecular Genetics at Michigan State University. A Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Microbiology, she was named one of Cell’s 100 Inspiring Black Scientists in America. Professor Montgomery’s new book Lessons From Plants, published by Harvard University Press, will be released on April 6 and is available for pre-order now. You can keep up with #LessonsFromPlants on Twitter @PlantLessons. Professor Montgomery is on Twitter @BerondaM and Instagram @beronda_m. Harvard University Press is on Twitter at @Harvard_Press and @HarvardUPLondon. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spring is on its way, the sun is shining, and we want to make sure you’re prepared to bask in the warm weather—even with your masks on! This week on Getting Curious, we’re re-releasing an episode from July 2019 on sun protection with Dr. Emily Newsom. Listen back as Jonathan and Dr. Newsom discuss the science behind sunscreen, tips for managing sun exposure, and more. Dr. Emily Newsom is a board certified dermatologist and assistant professor of dermatology at UCLA Medical Center. You can follow Dr. Newsom on Instagram @derm_chat. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Getting Curious, we’re traveling back to Early China with Professor Jue Guo. She and Jonathan discuss dynasties, empires, early instances of written language, and so much more. And because curiosity can’t always be contained to 40 minutes—okay, more like an hour and fifteen minutes—we’re planning a follow-up episode with Professor Guo. Make sure to jot down your questions about Early China as you listen, and keep an eye out on our social media accounts for a chance to have them featured in part two! Jue Guo is an Assistant Professor at Barnard College in New York City. She is a social and cultural historian of Early China (terminus ante quem ca. 3rd century CE), with a geographical focus on southern China. For more information on her work, check out www.barnard.academia.edu/JueGuo. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We read your Instagram comments. We saw your clamoring for more information on the stunning painting behind Jonathan’s couch—and the artist behind the work. This week, we’re satisfying your curiosity (and ours!) with a conversation between Jonathan and the abstract expressionist painter and writer A’Driane Nieves. A’Driane shares how she developed her art practice, why she’s partial to acrylic paints and massive canvases, what she sees as a more equitable art world, and so much more. A’Driane Nieves is an interdisciplinary abstract artist, speaker, writer, and the founder of the Tessera Arts Collective and Abstractions Magazine. On Instagram, you can follow A’Driane @adrianenieves_art; Tessera Arts Collective @tesseraartscollective; and Abstractions Magazine @abstractionsmag. For more of A’Driane’s work, make sure to check out www.addyeb.com. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We love going off script for Getting Curious, but we’re staying on it with this week’s guest: the Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated writer, director, actress, and author Emerald Fennell. She and Jonathan discuss her latest project and directorial feature film debut PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, her role as Camilla Parker Bowles on THE CROWN, and so much more. PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, nominated for three Golden Globe awards, is a comedy thriller that centers on a woman, played by Carey Mulligan, who is traumatized by an event in her past and sets out for revenge. There are a few spoilers in the first segment of this episode, but we’ll give you a heads up before each one. And the film, released by Focus Features, is available on demand, so if you want to see it before listening to the episode, we’ll see you back here in 1 hour and 54 minutes. Finally, because this film addresses sexual assault, we want to be clear that we’ll be discussing this topic and, more generally, representations of trauma in popular culture, during this part of the episode. You can follow Emerald on Twitter @EmeraldFennell. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Put on your finest loungewear and raise your favorite coffee mug because this week’s episode of Getting Curious is an EVENT! After six years of incredible work, NASA’s Perseverance rover is now exploring Mars, and Jonathan spoke with Christina Hernandez, an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, all about the mission just before landing day. Listen in to learn more about the Red Planet, the Perseverance mission, and Christina’s advice for the next generation of NASA innovators. Keep up with rover coverage on Twitter @NASAPersevere and Instagram @NASA, and with Christina’s amazing career on Twitter @estrellasycafe. For Spanish-language coverage, make sure to check out @NASA_es on Twitter and Instagram. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Getting Curious, we’re celebrating 200 episodes and five years of the show with a look back at some of our favorite segments on empowerment, advocacy, and exploration. We’re so grateful to all of our listeners and guests for taking this journey with us, and we’ll be back next week with an all new episode that’s truly out of this world! Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Getting Curious, we’re learning about three women who shaped the movement for civil rights in the United States—Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin—but whose stories have too often been footnotes in books about their famous sons. The writer and scholar Anna Malaika Tubbs joins Jonathan to discuss her new group biography The Three Mothers, her work studying Black motherhood as a Gates scholar and Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at Cambridge University, and her approach to public projects like Stockton, California’s Status of Women Report. Follow Anna on Twitter @annas_tea_ and on Instagram @annastea_honesty. Make sure to check out The Three Mothers, published by Flatiron Books, on sale now. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Check out all new Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In December 2020, the UK High Court determined that trans, non-binary, and gender diverse young people in the UK must have legal approval before they can start puberty blockers—even if these young people, their families, and their doctors advocate for treatment. This week on Getting Curious, Lui Asquith joins Jonathan to break down what hormone blockers are, why this case is so significant, and how it fits into a broader discussion about trans rights in the UK and beyond. Lui Asquith (pronouns they/them) is Director of Legal, Policy and Operations at Mermaids. Lui is a qualified lawyer, with a background in LGBTI activism. They moved to Mermaids over two years ago to focus on improving the lives of trans, non-binary and gender diverse young people on the front line. Founded in 1995, Mermaids is a UK-wide charity working to support thousands of transgender, non-binary and gender diverse children, young people, and their families. Lui is on Twitter @luiasquith. Mermaids is on Instagram @mermaidsgender, Twitter @Mermaids_Gender, and Facebook @MermaidsGender. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Check out all new Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices