Curiosity Daily Podcast: Small Talk Is Important, and Remote Workers Aren’t Getting Enough
Learn about why small talk is important for coworkers during the workday; why gossip is actually pretty good for you; and how some frogs survive the winter by literally becoming “frogcicles.”
January 25, 2021
Episode Show Notes:
Small talk during the workday is crucial, and remote workers may not be getting enough of it by Kelsey Donk
- Psychology research shows “water cooler talk” can have big benefits. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-12/uoc--prs120120.php
- Guydish, A. J., D’Arcey, J. T., & Fox Tree, J. E. (2020). Reciprocity in Conversation. Language and Speech https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0023830920972742
Gossip Gets A Bad Rap, But It's Actually Pretty Good For You by Ashley Hamer
- Brondino, N., Fusar-Poli, L., & Politi, P. (2017). Something to talk about: Gossip increases oxytocin levels in a near real-life situation. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 77, 218–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.12.014
- Gossiping Is Good for You, Study Confirms. (2017). Vice.com. https://www.vice.com/en/article/paebgg/gossiping-is-good-for-you-study-confirms
- Beck, J. (2014, November 6). Have You Heard? Gossip Is Actually Good and Useful. The Atlantic; theatlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/11/have-you-heard-gossip-is-actually-good-and-useful/382430/
- Dunbar, R. I. M. (2004). Gossip in Evolutionary Perspective. Review of General Psychology, 8(2), 100–110. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.8.2.100
- Martinescu, E., Janssen, O., & Nijstad, B. A. (2014). Tell Me the Gossip. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40(12), 1668–1680. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167214554916
For some frogs, surviving the winter means becoming a “frogcicle” by Cameron Duke
- In Alaska, wood frogs freeze for seven months, thaw and hop away. (2014, July 24). Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-alaskan-frozen-frogs-20140723-story.html
- Layne, J., & Lee, R. (1995). Adaptations of frogs to survive freezing. Climate Research, 5, 53–59. https://doi.org/10.3354/cr005053
- Live Science Staff. (2012, September 26). Can Frogs Survive Being Frozen? Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/32175-can-frogs-survive-being-frozen.html
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