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Episode 097: Using My Ambition and Bottom-Up Processing for Birding! The Big Year (2011) with Marc Klippenstine
Join Alex and returning guest host Dr. Marc Klippenstine for a personalized discussion on birding, bird-watching, and psychology: The Big Year (2011). The film stars comedy powerhouses Jack Black, Steve Martin, and Owen Wilson, as three men who love birding so much, they all attempt the Audubon Society’s “Big Year”. Birding is a hobby that relies on bottom-up and top-down processing, cooperation, friendship, and a little bit of intrinsic motivation! But what happens when ambition gets in the way of personal relationships? This question and more are discussed in a wonderful chat about the portrayal of birding in this film from a birder himself!…
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Episode 096: Glasgow Senses Falling Down, Falling Down — Perfect Sense (2011) with T.R. Brooks
Join Alex and guest host Dr. T.R. Brooks as they discuss the intriguing and horrifying implications of a series of pandemics that rob people of their beloved senses in Perfect Sense (2011). The independent sleeper stars Ewan MacGregor, a chef, and Eva Green, an epidemiologist, who embark on a love story in the midst of these catastrophic events. While the doctors and scientists are trying to figure out a pattern to these illnesses that lead to mass sense loss, the chefs and the artists of the world try to cope and adapt. What would you do if all you could do was adapt to a sense that may never return?…
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Episode 074: Virgil Picked Up His Hammer and Saw, and Hated it — At First Sight (1999) with KatieAnn Skogsberg
Join Alex and guest host Dr. KatieAnn Skogsberg as they discuss the fascinating story inspired by a true one, about a man who regains his sight after being blind for decades, in At First Sight (1999)! The story follows Val Kilmer’s Virgil Adamson, as he receives cataract surgery and begins to “see”, exploring a whole new world of visual sensations, all for a woman he met massaging, played by Mira Sorvino. The story mirrors the real life struggles of Shirley Jennings, a blind man who underwent a similar surgery and told his story to Dr. Oliver Sacks. It’s an interesting romantic tale, chock full of really great sensation and perception concepts!…