Everything is Arbitrary

Written by: Erin Stewart
  • Summary

  • 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.
    2019 Everything is Arbitrary
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Episodes
  • Weddings
    Jun 16 2020

    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=organic
    • https://www.insider.com/why-are-wedding-dresses-white-2017-4
    • https://www.racked.com/2017/6/5/15726356/white-wedding-dress-history-ambivalence
    • https://theweek.com/articles/528746/origins-marriage
    • https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/10/why-do-people-have-engagement-photo-shoots/572755/
    • https://www.brides.com/story/the-gloomy-history-behind-honeymoons
    • https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-37373425
    • https://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.html
    • https://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.htm
    • https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-ideas/10-wedding-ceremony-rituals-and-the-history-behind-them
    • https://www.marthastewartweddings.com/628170/friends-and-family-mad-elopement
    • https://phys.org/news/2016-01-gay-couples-pressure-conform-relationship.html
    • https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/booming/how-should-gay-couples-fend-off-pressure-to-marry.html
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    46 mins
  • Colour
    May 26 2020

    Music from Danosongs

    This 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 Color
    • Phillip Ball’s Bright Earth
    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light#/media/File:Light_dispersion_conceptual_waves.gif
    • https://xkcd.com/273/
    • http://brainden.com/color-illusions.htm
    • https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/apr/29/what-vocabularies-tell-us-about-culture?CMP=fb_gu
    • https://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/are-black-and-white-colors
    • https://www.pantone.com/color-intelligence/color-education/color-iq-test
    • https://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-107972
    • https://www.thecut.com/2018/02/my-life-as-a-woman-with-colorblindness.html
    • https://medium.com/@terossjr/indigos-indignity-16cd7ad1f54a
    • https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/gems-of-colour-pigments-of-the-%E2%80%98colourmen%E2%80%99
    • https://slate.com/technology/2017/04/heres-why-people-saw-the-dress-differently.html
    • https://www.jstor.org/stable/20203637
    • http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/intro/medieval.html
    • https://www.the-scientist.com/foundations/newtons-color-theory-ca-1665-31931
    • https://medium.com/a-history-of-color/the-debate-over-indigo-671a0154525a
    • https://jezebel.com/the-history-of-pink-for-girls-blue-for-boys-5790638
    • https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/when-did-girls-start-wearing-pink-1370097/
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0beqeccEEFI
    • http://ebdjournal.com/blog/health/mythbusting-colour-therapy
    • https://neilpatel.com/blog/gender-and-color/
    • https://theconversation.com/can-pink-really-pacify-102696
    • https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140827-how-the-colour-red-warps-the-mind
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    37 mins
  • Purebred dogs
    Mar 10 2020

    Music via Danosongs.

    Sources:

    • https://www.sciencealert.com/fruits-vegetables-before-domestication-photos-genetically-modified-food-natural
    • https://www.businessinsider.com.au/what-farm-animals-looked-like-before-breeding-2016-2?r=US&IR=T#/#turkeys-1
    • https://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-7394
    • https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/services/public/breed/standard.aspx?id=1003
    • https://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=facpubs
    • https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/different-dog-breeds-same-species/
    • https://ticau.com/pages/history/history.pdf
    • https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/15/pedigree-dogs-breeding-crufts-german-shepherd-best-in-breed
    • https://www.rspca.org.au/campaigns/puppy-farms
    • https://www.rspcavic.org/buying-a-puppy-from-a-pet-shop
    • https://www.mic.com/p/is-buying-a-dog-from-a-breeder-really-that-bad-the-answer-isnt-as-clear-cut-as-you-think-17296618
    • https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/magazine/is-it-ok-to-get-a-dog-from-a-breeder-not-a-shelter.html
    • Also, the 2008 BBC documentary, Pedigree Dogs Exposed, and its 2012 followup, Pedigree Dogs Exposed: Three Years On.
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    52 mins

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