HTDE: Don't Get in the Fridge, with Jesse Eisenberg
Jan 1, 2025
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Kirsten Treynor, a honeybee biologist at the State Institute of Bee Research, shares fascinating insights into honeybee behavior, revealing how they manage their hive and cope with deceased members. The conversation also tackles the challenges of living in extreme darkness in Alaska, featuring an astrophysicist's coping strategies and unique rituals. Adding humor, the hosts dive into quirky communication habits and the playful intimacy of partners sharing food. It's a delightful blend of science, resilience, and light-hearted banter!
The discussion revealed that around 67 honeybees can collaboratively lift a house key, showcasing their unique teamwork limitations and social behaviors.
Jesse Eisenberg shared humorous insights on social anxiety, emphasizing self-love to help cope with over-explaining and the common struggle of social awkwardness.
Deep dives
The Bee Key Challenge
Determining how many bees would be needed to carry a house key sparked a lively discussion among friends, culminating in a scientific inquiry. A honeybee biologist revealed that it would take approximately 67 bees to coordinate the task, considering the weight of a typical key. This illustrates the limitations of honeybee cooperation, as they typically do not work together to move objects like keys. Instead, they demonstrate teamwork when removing deceased hive members to prevent disease, showcasing their complex social behaviors.
Coping with Social Anxiety
Jesse Eisenberg addressed social anxiety through humorous anecdotes, sharing his struggles with over-commenting and feeling guilty for past remarks. He suggested that self-love might help alleviate the need to over-explain or apologize excessively, diverging into a comedic reflection on his own experiences. The conversation highlights the commonality of social awkwardness and the internal battles people face when interacting. By framing these moments light-heartedly, Eisenberg encourages listeners to embrace imperfection in social situations.
Unique Winter Survival Tips
Living in extreme cold for extended periods can lead to creative coping strategies, as illustrated by an astrophysicist's experience in Antarctica. One such tradition, known as the 300 Club, involves people transitioning from a hot sauna to the freezing outdoors, creating a dramatic temperature change. Surprisingly, participants can endure a brief period outside without feeling cold, demonstrating the body's remarkable adaptability. This playful approach to harsh conditions emphasizes the psychological challenges of isolation and the importance of community among those enduring similarly extreme environments.
Ringing in 2025: Mike and Ian knock out a New Year's resolution with the help of filmmaker Jesse Eisenberg, and a listener calls in to settle a high-stakes bet on the sturdiness of honeybees. Also, the world's northernmost towns are in the middle of months-long darkness. To learn how to survive it, we call an astrophysicist who spent six months in complete Antarctic darkness.
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How To Do Everything is hosted by Mike Danforth and Ian Chillag. It is produced by Heena Srivastava. Technical direction from Lorna White.