Something You Should Know - SYSK Choice: How to Cook on the Grill Perfectly & The Importance of Asking Good Questions

Episode Date: May 30, 2020

Just like food, medications have expiration dates. But just how accurate are those dates? Is it better to take an expired medication or no medication at all? We’ll explore that as we begin this episode of the podcast. http://vitals.lifehacker.com/is-it-safe-to-take-expired-drugs-1769146595 When you cook on the grill, there are a lot of theories on how you should or shouldn’t do it. But a lot of those theories are wrong. To help you understand how to best use the outdoor grill to create the best flavor possible and cook food correctly is Chef Todd Mohr. Todd is a certified culinary educator and founder of WebCookingClasses.com. Listen and hear some great tips and techniques just in time for summer outdoor cooking season.  Are you good at asking questions? Former CNN reporter Frank Sesno, author of Ask More (http://amzn.to/2ncfmCZ) explains the power and rewards of being able to ask the right questions – and how to really listen to the answers. Do you ever get up and pace when you are thinking or trying to solve a problem? Many of us do it unconsciously. But does it actually help or is it just a way to burn off nervous energy? Discover what the science says about pacing and problem solving. http://mentalfloss.com/article/64404/why-do-we-pace-when-were-thinking This Week's Sponsors -Kong Box. Got to www.KongBox.com/something to make a $1 donation to help less fortunate dogs and your first Kong Box is free! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a listener to Something You Should Know, I can only assume that you are someone who likes to learn about new and interesting things and bring more knowledge to work for you in your everyday life. I mean, that's kind of what Something You Should Know was all about. And so I want to invite you to listen to another podcast called TED Talks Daily. Now, you know about TED Talks, right? Many of the guests on Something You Should Know have done TED Talks. Well, you see, TED Talks Daily is a podcast that brings you a new TED Talk every weekday in less than 15 minutes. Join host Elise Hu.

She goes beyond the headlines so you can hear about the big ideas shaping our future. Learn about things like sustainable fashion, embracing your entrepreneurial spirit, the future of robotics, and so much more. Like I said, if you like this podcast, Something You Should Know, I'm pretty sure you're going to like TED Talks Daily. And you get TED Talks Daily wherever you get your podcasts. Today on Something You Should Know, is it better to take an expired medicine or no medicine at all? Then a top chef offers some expert techniques for outdoor cooking and some common mistakes to avoid.

Another mistake people make is turning items over and over and over again. Only turn your item once. There is what we call a show side because that's what's going to be up on the plate and there's a no side that's going to be down on the plate. Also does it really help to pace around the room when you're trying to solve a problem? And how to use questions to get information and to get to know people better? Ask more questions at a time, cluster them together, drill down deeper, find out more, and in doing that, you learn more, you connect more profoundly with another person,

and you keep the focus on the other person rather than on you. All this today on Something You Should Know. People who listen to Something You Should Know are curious about the world, looking to hear new ideas and perspectives. So I want to tell you about a podcast that is full of new ideas and perspectives and one I've started listening to

called Intelligence Squared. It's the podcast where great minds meet. Listen in for some great talks on science, tech, politics, creativity, wellness, and a lot more. A couple of recent examples, Mustafa Suleiman, the CEO of Microsoft AI, discussing the future of technology. That's pretty cool. And writer, podcaster, and filmmaker John Ronson discussing the rise of conspiracies and culture wars. Intelligence Squared is the kind of podcast that gets you thinking a little more openly about the important conversations going on today. Being curious, you're probably just the type of person Intelligence Squared is meant for.

Check out Intelligence Squared wherever you get your podcasts. Something you should know. Fascinating intel. The world's top experts and practical advice you can use in your life. Today, Something You Should Know with Mike Carruthers. Hi, welcome to Something You Should Know. Well, now that summer is unofficially here, and the weather is warmer, and people are starting to go out more, one thing we're doing at our house more and more is cook on the grill outside, and it's something everybody can do, which is why I think you're going to enjoy the conversation in just a few moments with Chef Todd Moore. You're going to learn things about outdoor grilling that you never knew. My early memories of outdoor cooking are my father. My father was one of those people who

never cooked in the kitchen. I mean, never cooked in the kitchen. But when it was time to fire up the grill, all of a sudden he became a chef. And the way he used to start the grill, this is my vivid memory. He used to stack the charcoal in the grill, douse it with gasoline. Yes, gasoline. And then he'd make everybody stand back like we had to be practically be in the neighbor's yards. And then he'd stand about five feet from the grill and start tossing lit matches at it, hoping that one of those matches was still lit when it hit the grill, when it hit the coals, which it was, and then this big, big explosion would happen, and on with the grilling we would go. This is, however, not a practice we recommend here at the Something You Should Know podcast, but that is my memory of starting a grill.

Not a practice I do today. First up today, let's talk about the drugs in your house, over-the-counter drugs, prescription drugs. Let's say you have a cold and you're stuck in bed and the only cold medicine you have expired two years ago. So should you still take it? Well, maybe. Drug expiration dates are not the same as the ones on food. Pills don't go bad, they just become less effective. The active ingredient can break

down slowly over time. However, a report published in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology found that 88% of tested drug lots were good for at least a year past the expiration date, with an average extension of five years, and some even lasted longer. The problem is, it's hard to know which drugs last and which ones don't. For example, the drug in an EpiPen goes bad very quickly after the expiration date. Still, if you were to have a sudden allergic reaction, any EpiPen is better than none. Birth control pills are another one that becomes less effective quickly after the expiration date. And a less effective birth control pill isn't very helpful

at all. But if your Tylenol is a little less effective, well, that's no big deal. So, in general, you never chance it with a life-saving drug. You keep those current, but the other ones, over-the-counter ones, it may be okay. And that is something you should know. So, let's talk about outdoor cooking. You know, when you think about it, cooking outdoors with a hot grill is actually a lot more difficult than cooking on a stove in the kitchen. I mean, the fire is very hot and difficult to control. You've got different things that need to cook at different temperatures and for different times, all cooking on the same grill. You've got to coordinate all that, and it's not easy. Still, who doesn't love to cook outdoors?

So I wanted to bring you some really good advice, and this guy knows more about outdoor cooking, well, he knows more about cooking than an awful lot of people, but today he's going to be talking about cooking outside. He is Chef Todd Moore. He's a certified culinary educator and founder of webcookingclasses.com. Welcome, Chef Todd. So when you go to someone else's house and they have a barbecue and they're cooking outdoors, what are the things you see people do wrong or struggle with?

I think the problems that a lot of people experience is a lot of guessing and gashing in outdoor cooking. Everyone believes that they can grill, and they guess and they gash at their food, but yet not everyone believes that they can saute. So when you say guess and gash, you mean, you know, like cut it open and look and see if it's still pink kind of thing? Exactly. One of the questions I get most often at web cooking classes is how do I tell when my steak is done? And there are these preposterous things about touching the steak and then touching the palm of your hand or touching your chin.

These are highly unquantifiable. The only way to quantify whether your steak is done or not is with a thermometer. Get an instant read digital thermometer. Then you can know exactly when your steak is done or not is with a thermometer. Get an instant read digital thermometer. Then you can know exactly when your steak is done. Well, that makes too much sense, I think. Well, you know, it's funny because some people have that bed and they have a sleep number. You know, the sleep number bed. Well, I have a steak number. My steak number is 135 degrees.

I can quantify that with a thermometer. I don't have to guess at it. I don't have to gash it open and then try and glue it back together. And as a matter of fact, when you cook with a thermometer, then you're able to cook some hamburgers to rare, some to medium, some to well. You can quantify exactly when it's done cooking instead of guessing at it. Great, great. So give me some more advice like that that'll make my life easier. Well, a lot of times people choose the wrong item to grill. And the important thing about grilling is it's the most intense direct heat that a home cook has. You have to grill something, choose an item that's already tender.

You're not going to be able to grill a large roast. You can't grill a whole turkey. You have to grill something that's already tender because the intense process won't tenderize anything during grilling. So knowing that, what do we do with that knowledge? Well, I mean, really, grilling comes down to the fact that it's a cooking procedure. Every cooking procedure is a cooking procedure. The problem with the way that cooking is taught most of the time is it's taught by the recipe. It's taught about the list of ingredients rather than what you should do to them. It tells you what you should cook, not how you should cook it. So I've broken grilling down into a 10-step procedure like every other cooking procedure should have.

And if you can repeat these steps, then it really doesn't matter what you grill because the procedure is there. So in addition to choosing the right item to grill, using marinades correctly is very important because again, it won't tenderize. Grilling won't tenderize. It won't add flavor, but a marinade will do that as well. Another mistake people make is that you must always grill on high. Get that grill really hot first so that we can caramelize sugars and get those nice grill marks. A lot of people also forget to coat their item in fat first. This helps prevent sticking and it gives you a nice plate appeal. Another mistake people make is turning items over and over and over again. Only turn your item once. There is what we call a show side, because that's what's going to be up on the plate, and there's a no side. That's going to be down on the plate.

Spend the most time on the show side. That's the side that you cook first. And after a few minutes, you look up under and you sneak a peek. Turn that item 90 degrees, get those nice cross hatch marks, but always cook the first side as long as you can, at least 75% on the first side and up to 25% on the other. This way you can witness the differences. And of course, like I've said, use your thermometer to tell when it's done. And the last one that separates professionals from amateurs, we call it bump and run in the professional kitchen. You don't take a steak off the grill and immediately put it on the plate because that's when you get that bloody pool. The idea is to leave it on a towel first, let it rest, and then plate it. 10 steps to grilling. Controlling the fire is always

the big problem. It's either too hot or it's going out or it's out or, you know, then what do you do? So what's the best way to control that? Well, assuming you have a charcoal grill instead of a gas grill, but I mean, but controlling the fire is a big problem. You've hit on something that is the definition of cooking. The definition of cooking is really imparting heat to food. And the key to cooking is how you control that heat. So when grilling, if you have a charcoal grill, it's as simple as how close or far that the grilled item is from the coals. You raise or

lower it to change that heat. On a gas grill, yes, you can lower or increase the heat. But I'll tell you the difference, the thing that most people don't understand about grilling is there's more than one way to grill. And there are two types of heat. There's conductive heat and convective heat. Conductive heat is direct. Convective heat is indirect. So if you have a very thick hamburger, the mistake most people make is blazing away at that thick hamburger. And of course it'll be charred on the bottom but raw in the middle. One of my best tips is use indirect heat for grilling. So maybe you grill mark that hamburger at first,

and then move it to a side of the grill where you've turned the gas off, or you've pushed the coals all the way to one side, lower the lid, and now in essence you've created an outdoor oven. So mark it really well with that direct heat, finish it with indirect heat. It'll look great, be moist, and be cooked all the way through. This great outdoor cooking advice is coming to you from Chef Todd Moore. He's a certified culinary educator and founder of webcookingclasses.com. Hi, I'm Jennifer, a founder of the Go Kid Go Network.

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So, Chef Todd, I'm wondering if there are things that you cook on the grill that I don't cook on the grill because I would never think to cook on the grill that might be really good if I cooked them on the grill. You know, I'm sure, and this gets back to the how to grill rather than what to grill, because if you spend a lot of time looking for recipes, the recipe will tell you how to grill rather than what to grill, because if you spend a lot of time looking for recipes, the recipe will tell you what to grill. But yet, if you know how to grill, you can go to the farmer's market and pick up absolutely anything. And I think the thing most people skip in grilling, because they think about protein products, they think about beef and chicken and

pork and shrimp, but vegetables. So many vegetables have a really nice texture to them that can take the grill on really well. Slices of squash, slices of a marinated eggplant or zucchini, portobello mushrooms do really, really well. People expect the grilled item to be a burger or a steak when really just about anything could be grilled. And what most people skip are the vegetables. Okay, so clearly you know what you're talking about. You sound like you know what you're talking about. So what's your recipe for how do you cook the perfect burger? Well, the perfect burger,

cooking the perfect burger has to do, again, with controlling that heat. And I've seen a lot of mistakes that people have, you know, nicely thick burgers. Well, first of all, portioning is very important. If you're just randomly making balls of meat and then squishing them onto the grill, well, one of them could be three ounces, the other could be five ounces, two different sized items, obviously cooked differently. So making sure all your burgers are the exact same size by weight will help you come out with the perfect burger. But the real key to this is, again, using the difference between conductive and convective heat. Cook that thing under the direct heat first to get those beautiful grill marks and that nice caramelization of sugars. But at some point, this rocket ship

intense heat is going to be too much for the outside and not enough for the inside. So you wind up with a black burger on the bottom that's raw in the middle. Now is the time to move it off the direct heat, close the lid of the grill, let it cook in a convective process, and of course use your thermometer to tell when it's at a precise done temperature to your liking. When do you use tongs versus a spatula? I would say it's a matter of preference, but, you know, it brings up a point where most people struggle with on the grill also, and that's having things stick to the grill. I mean, especially if you're trying to grill something like a delicate piece of fish. People complain

to me about that all the time. I get emails from all over the world, how do I get things to stop sticking? Well, that's one of the most important things is to, number one, get that grill very hot to begin with. Because if you put an item on the grill and let the grill heat up with the item, it will grab onto those grill grates and only a spatula will scrape it up off the grill at that point, leaving half of it on the grill. Tongues are probably best used when you are controlling the heat well because when you place that to a hot grill and you get that immediate reaction, you won't get an item that sticks. You'll get an item that you're able to just pick up with the tongs.

And I prefer using tongs because they don't pierce the item, they don't scrape the item, but if you're cooking correctly and it's not sticking, I'd say a good pair of long tongs are one of the best investments you can make. You said something about coating things in fat so they don't stick. Anytime you're cooking, fat is a liaison for the heat. Whether you're cooking inside or outside, in the saute, when you add butter or olive oil to the pan, it's meant to conduct the heat from the pan to the food. And a lot of people skip this step in grilling.

Brushing your grilled item with a little bit of olive oil or even a flavored nut oil or something along those lines, that helps conduct the heat, gives you a better plate appeal, gives you a better eye appeal, and also helps it to keep from sticking from the grill. Now, the key here is that you put the fat on the item, not the grill. I've seen too many people spraying pan spray or trying to brush olive oil on a 500 degree grill. That stuff burns instantly and is gone. Add it to the product. Don't brush it on the grill. Well, I think a lot of people make that mistake. In fact, I think somebody's recommended it that you spray the spray on the grill first because that'll keep things from sticking.

Well, sure. And if I sprayed it on a hot sidewalk, you know, it would evaporate quickly also. That heat is too intense to be able to put anything on it like that. Those pan sprays, they burn off immediately. Any kind of olive oil smokes. And of course, when you reach the smoke point of an oil, you're imparting bad flavors. So put this fat on the item. Don't put it on the grill. What about butter? Ever used butter?

Because of the intense heat of the grill, butter has such a low smoke point. Butter burns so quickly that it's really not advisable to use heat of the grill, butter has such a low smoke point. Butter burns so quickly that it's really not advisable to use it on the grill. Now, clarified butter is a different story because butter is made up of three ingredients. Butter is fat, milk solids, and water. And it's the milk solids that burn at such a low temperature. So if you know how to clarify butter, kind of making lobster butter type thing, that brings strictly the oils of the butter out. It raises the smoke temperature of it. And clarified butter can be used. Whole butter should not because it burns so quickly.

Well, you know, I can hear in your voice that you have a real passion for this, for cooking and grilling, and so many other people just hate cooking. So what is it about this that you find so enjoyable? The great thing about cooking and the great thing about grilling is that it's so social. Most people, when they have a backyard barbecue, they invite other people or they bring family around it. And there's nothing more embarrassing than serving horribly grilled items to people that you've invited over. I understand why people overcook things on the grill, because it's way more embarrassing to serve something pink in the middle than it is to serve something rubbery and overcooked. So they just keep cooking, just keep cooking, just keep cooking.

Grilling is just a great skill to have, but it is a skill. It is something that people have to be able to repeat a step-by-step process. That way it's consistent, and they come out with consistently great items all the time. It's not a mystery. It shouldn't be the great male myth. It shouldn't be acceptable to burn something outside but not burn it inside. It's a great skill to have, and it brings people toward you, and you have an enjoyable meal with friends. It's always interested me how many men will never set foot in the kitchen to cook

but have no problem cooking. My dad was like that. He would take charge of outside cooking, but he never cooked much in the kitchen. Well, that's why I say it's the great male myth. And as a certified culinary educator, I've taught hundreds of people. I teach thousands of people all over the world. And I'll tell you that cooking inside is much easier than cooking outside. The fact that men think that they're grill masters because they're men, but somehow sauté is left for Julia Child

is really kind of silly. Grilling is the most intense heat that you have. It's the most difficult to control that heat. But yet inside in a saute pan, it's a lot easier to control the heat. So if these men were smart, they would say I'm better on the saute than the grill because the grill is actually harder. Well, this is really informative. I've always thought of myself as a pretty decent outdoor cook, especially on a charcoal grill, because I haven't had gas grills a lot, but now I

do since we moved, and it is different. Charcoal and gas, or cooking on them is pretty different, but you've given me and everyone else a lot of really good ideas and tips to be better outdoor cooks this summer. Chef Todd Moore has been my guest. Todd is a certified culinary educator, and he is founder of webcookingclasses.com. And if you don't remember that link and you want to check out all the great things he does on his website, you will find that link in the show notes. Do you love Disney? Then you are going to love our hit podcast, Disney Countdown. I'm Megan, the Magical Millennial.

And I'm the Dapper Danielle. On every episode of our fun and family-friendly show, we count down our top 10 lists of all things Disney. There is nothing we don't cover. We are famous for rabbit holes, Disney-themed games, and fun facts you didn't know you needed, but you definitely need in your life. So if you're looking for a healthy dose of Disney magic, check out Disney Countdown wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey everyone, join me, Megan Rinks. And me, Melissa Demonts for Don't Blame Me, But Am I Wrong? Each week we deliver four fun-filled shows. In Don't Blame Me, we tackle our listeners' dilemmas with hilariously honest advice. Then we have But Am I Wrong, which is for the listeners that didn't take our advice. Plus, we share our hot takes on current events. Then tune in to see you next Tuesday for our listener poll results from But Am I Wrong. And finally, wrap up your week with Fisting Friday, where we catch up and talk all things pop culture. Listen to Don't Blame Me, But Am I Wrong on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,

or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Do you think you ask good questions? It turns out that the questions you ask and how you ask them can do great things. No one knows better about this than Frank Sesno. For years, you saw Frank as a reporter on CNN, and he is now a professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University, and his new book is called Ask More, The Power of Questions to Open Doors, Uncover Solutions, and Spark Change. Welcome, Frank. And so explain,

first of all, why you think it's so important that people know how to ask good questions. We live in a culture of assertion where everybody's got an opinion. We live in a real-time, 24-7 culture where you turn something on and there's an instant answer, where everybody's asserting something or another. We live in a time of quick hit search engine responses. How many Americans are there? And you can Google that and get an answer. By asking more, what I'm saying is ask more questions at a time, cluster them together. Drill down deeper. Find out more. Come back and challenge or probe. And in doing that, you learn more. You connect more profoundly with another person. You unquirk more creativity in a conversation.

And you keep the focus on the other person rather than on you. And I think that makes us better people, better communicators, better professionals, better partners, better citizens. Because that's your experience, or because there's some research to show that? I mean, where is this coming from? Both. It certainly is my experience, and it certainly is my experience in Washington and media that we need to be a questioning culture. That's what journalism is supposed to be all about, and where media go off the rails is when they stop asking and they just start arguing. It's where our politics go off the rails,

where we have instant and easy answers to what are really very complicated issues and questions. And what I'm saying is engage that complexity and understand what you get out of it, and that you can be a more successful person, professional, leader through questions. It's also built on research, research about brainstorming, for example, that McKinsey did. And when they look at what it takes to get people to think in a creative way, it's the situation and the questions that get posed that force people out of their comfort zones and out of where they normally operate, that enables them, gives them license to do that. It is what good therapists do. A good therapist asks an unending series of questions. It's what good science does. It certainly is built on the scientific method. The scientific method starts with a question, leads to a hypothesis, and then you try to prove your hypothesis wrong through the questions that you address. And this is what I'm trying to share

in each of my chapters that looks at a different type of questioning that we can each of us use in our own lives in a variety of settings to learn from the best. So give me a couple of those types of questions to illustrate. Okay. Well, in creative questioning, which I think is very important, we create what I like to call imagined reality. So let's say you're bringing your business together and you want to say, I want to be the number one radio show in America in five years or five days, whatever you want. And you say, if we're going to be the number one, we're the number one radio show in five years, what are we doing? Where are we being heard? You actually can take a future tense moment and turn it into a present tense question. What that invites people to do is leapfrog all the obstacles

that would be in your way whether it's a you're a school and you want to be the number one rated school or anything else where people are going to say well we don't have money for this or we have to build new buildings or whatever just imagine it first so that's one example another example that i would give in in terms of sort of thinking out out loud and outside the box is uh strategic questioning this is questioning that's looking way down the line over the horizon swinging for the fence is aspirational when we went to the moon we posed the question why not go to the moon actually that was a question that john f kennedy

posed even as he posed his challenge why do i go to the moon and the answer is because it is it is hard and not easy and not easy We do these things that are hard. And it prompts people to join a conversation. When you ask a question as opposed to issue a command, you invite somebody to join in their answer. They may not agree with you. They may not even say what you want to hear. But you engage them. You give them authorship.

And so those are some. I could go on about other examples and other categories of questions, but in all cases, what you are doing is you are joining someone into the conversation, drawing them into what they think or can do to make something happen. I'll give you another example. There's a mission questions, what I call mission questions. You want to build a new wing on your hospital, and you're leading the fundraising drive. You want to rally your workers in your business to really understand what the mission is so they can deliver it incomparably well. Pose the question, what do we care about? What should we do?

What can each of us do? And you drive people to respond and to think, rather than merely issuing orders, okay, you do this, you do that, can you write it, will you write a check, it becomes a very different kind of conversation. When do you shut up? When do you stop asking and start listening and say, okay, well, now we've got what we need, let's move? Well, I'm very glad you asked that question.

Thank you. Because listening is the flip side to the questioning coin. I think we should change the term Q&A to Q&L. We're listening deprived in our culture today. And the best interviewers in radio or television, the best researchers, the best leaders are the best listeners. And so don't be afraid of silence. That's part of listening. You listen very closely to the words that someone is using to figure out what the next question may be. You build off of sentiments that they express to explore that. There's a chapter in my book on empathetic questioning, questioning that draws people out, questioning that helps,

in the case of a therapist, connect with a patient. In the case of an interviewer that gets to what another radio interviewer, Terry Groves from Public Radio, calls getting to the essence of a person. That requires very deep listening and listening for specific things, openings and emotion and fear and revelation and introspection, and then knowing how to respond to that. When I was doing the book, I had for my chapter on science, I interviewed Tony Fauci, who's at the National Institutes of Health

and has worked very hard on a number of very big infectious diseases, SARS, Ebola, and it was early in the HIV AIDS research. And when I posed a question to him, he grew very, very emotional and I just listened to where he was going, and I let the silence happen. And he just opened up.

He exploded in a profound way. And so the listening matters a lot. But at what point is, we've got enough questions out on the table now, now we need to stop asking questions, or do you ever stop asking questions? Well, you do. There's a chapter in the book on what I call diagnostic questions. I believe and I think we should all recognize is the ground floor of questioning. All right, what's wrong here? Your kid comes home sick, your elbow hurts, your car is sputtering, your business is failing.

You've got to figure out what's going on. And there is a whole discipline and series of questions. And we can really draw from the medical profession and what they do and to diagnose a problem and apply that elsewhere in life. And I try to explain that. But at some point, you have to stop because you have to make a decision or the patient's going to die or your business is going to run out of money. And so that notion of having that sense of where you gather up until what point and then you have to become decisive. But I believe, and in my experience, my research, you never stop asking questions completely.

Yes, you make a decision. Yes, you move forward. But even as you move forward, you're going to have to adjust. You want to know how you're doing. How are we measuring? Are we meeting our goals? Are we having success? If we're not having success, why? Where is that coming from? And that kind of process, whether it's an overt, openly asked question or just a thought process, is critical

to being successful. Do you think that people, well, you must think that people don't necessarily do this naturally and that it needs to be a little bit more deliberate? Yes, I think that's right, because I think that for a variety of reasons, we're all like Sisyphus a little bit here, pushing the boulder up the hill here. A lot of things are working against us. There is so much information happening now. There is so much data coming at us so fast, texts and all got to figure out ways still to slow down and to think and to ask. And that's really where I'm coming down on some of this, saying that there are compelling reasons to do this that go beyond just our own instincts in society that make this more critical.

And certainly in our politics and our political lives, asking more, asserting less might serve us really well. So, Frank, yes, questions are great, but some people just seem to be more inquisitive and curious than others, and other people, you know, it's not their nature to probe and question and ask. That's right, and I think that we have to be mindful of that. And as I say, when I was as I say, when my kids were young and they would come home and we'd sit down at dinnertime and I'd ask them, what'd you do today? And who'd you hang out with? And what'd you read? And dad, can you stop playing reporter now, please? And you need to be respectful of that. But I do believe that we all operate in a spectrum

of everything in life. We're not all natural artists, but we all have a spectrum of art that we could train ourselves up to or get a little bit better. We're not all opera singers, but we could probably sing a little better if we had the right kind of training. No, I couldn't possibly. Well, better. I'm not saying you're going to get, you know, the big three-year contract. But in any case, I do think we can be better

questioners with thought. We teach public speaking. We teach debate, or we have debate clubs in school and high school and elsewhere. But we don't teach how to ask. We don't teach what to listen for. And with some effort, not much, it can become a transformational experience. I'll give you an example. I have a neighbor whose wife was very ill with cancer. She was dying of cancer basically at the time. And he's a taciturn guy. He's not a questioner himself, and he's not somebody who just pours out his heart and soul.

But I knew what was going on, and I saw him at a neighborhood barbecue, and I said, hey, how are you doing? He said, well, it's kind of tough these days. I said, well, how's your wife? Well, she's not doing so great, da-da-da-da-da. And then I just said, how's your head? And he just said, wow, thank you for asking, and opened up in ways I'd never heard him opening up.

Well, it was three questions. It wasn't that much, but I was making a conscious effort to just sort of see how he was doing that went beyond, how you doing? If all I'd asked was the one, how you doing, I would have gotten that rote response. It's pretty tough, but we're hanging in there. So we're not all natural questioners, but some of this is done pretty easily. Well, that example of your neighbor illustrates a point, too, that asking questions isn't just about getting information. And we've all had those people in our lives who talk to us and ask us questions and make us feel

brilliant, make us feel better about ourselves. And to me, I think that's just as important as information gathering. So much of this is in the art of the ask, in the expression and the words and the tone of voice. But questions done in a certain way convey to the other person that I'm with you or I care about you or how can I help you? They say, I'm here for you. They say, what jazzes you? What excites you in life? What's a little spooky? And that's very useful in thinking about how we communicate with our children or our parents or our partners or our siblings and our colleagues at work. It's amazing what a simple ask will do. I have talked to people who are incredibly effective in their work, who work for me, but who are so effective in their work,

they don't take the time just a moment to stop by and say, hey, how was your weekend? And that dynamic with a colleague can be very powerful in building bonds that can be drawn upon later, you know, when you as an enterprise are trying to do something. A lot of it is in the voice tone and the body language and how you're relayed and the eye contact. People read you way beyond your words. So you can ask the same question in different ways. How you doing? How you doing? And it comes out completely differently. But when you ask people interesting questions that draw them out, yes, it says, I'm here for you, but there's nothing more mundane than

hearing, I'm here for you. But to hear it in a question that says the same thing, I think, is so much more powerful. It's very powerful. And it invites that conversation to it in a question that says the same thing, I think, is so much more powerful. It's very powerful. And it invites that conversation to go in a variety of different directions because, as I point out, in a lot of questioning, you will start with an open-ended question, a very big, broad question. How are you doing? And so often how a doctor will start, how are you today? And they will see whether you're going to start talking about your knee or your elbow. And that listening then says, well, let's talk about your knee some more. How does it hurt? And how often does it hurt? And when do you notice it? And on a scale of one to 10, how much does it

hurt? And it's those series of questions that comes from both how the question is posed and listening and following the person who's offering the answer that leads to discovery, diagnosing a problem that can lead toward a conversation about setting goals and horizons that can drive a group in a very creative direction. And that's really what this is all about, is connecting with people through the questions and inviting them to take you there. And I'm now done asking you my questions, which I hope were good questions. Frank Sesno has been my guest. Frank is the author of the book Ask More, The Power of Questions

to Open Doors, Uncover Solutions, and Spark Change. You can get a link to his book on Amazon on the show notes page for this episode of the podcast. Thanks for your time, Frank. I appreciate yours. Thank you so much, and good luck with everything. When you have a problem to figure out, it's not uncommon to, for some of us anyway, to get up and

walk around while you think. Is it just nervousness, or does it really help? Well, maybe both. Two researchers from Stanford University have written several papers that confirm that walking, or pacing, does boost creativity compared to people sitting down. And many people say that they do their best thinking while they're walking. Research also suggests that where and how we walk

can influence our problem-solving skills. Want better math scores? A recent study shows that we're better at adding numbers together when we're moving up a flight of stairs and better at subtracting numbers when we're walking downstairs. The same goes for left or right motions. Our addition skills are better if we're turning right and our subtraction skills are better when we turn left.

Pacing isn't thoroughly understood. It may be a subconscious way of coping with anxiety. Repetitive behavior can help us manage our stress levels when we feel lost or out of control, or it could be that the brain just loves repetition and patterns, and therefore retracing one's steps may be a way of creating a pattern to please the brain. But it does seem clear that moving is a good way to keep the ideas flowing. And that is something you should know. And that's the podcast today. If you would like to reach me with a question or a comment, or for any reason at all, my email address is mike at somethingyoushouldknow.net. I do my best to answer all the emails I get, and I thank you for listening today to Something You

Should Know. Welcome to the small town of Chinook, where faith runs deep and secrets run deeper. In this new thriller, religion and crime collide when a gruesome murder rocks the isolated Montana community. Everyone is quick to point their fingers at a drug-addicted teenager, but local deputy Ruth Vogel isn't convinced. She suspects connections to a powerful religious group. Enter federal agent V.B. Loro, who has been investigating a local church

for possible criminal activity. The pair form an unlikely partnership to catch the killer, unearthing secrets that leave Ruth torn between her duty to the law, her religious convictions, and her very own family. But something more sinister than murder is afoot, and someone is watching Ruth.

Chinook. Starring Kelly Marie Tran and Sanaa Lathan. Listen to Chinook wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Jennifer, a co-founder of the Go Kid Go Network. At Go Kid Go, putting kids first is at the heart of every show

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