# STEMcast Episode 39 | “Curiosity is Edgework”: Channeling our Curiosity in Research with Profs. Dani Basset and Perry Zurn

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/stemcast-mcgill-igem-6511088/stemcast-episode-39-curiosity-is-edgework-channeling-our-curiosity-in-research-with-profs-dani-basset-and-perry-zurn.md
Podcast: [STEMcast - McGill iGEM](https://stenobird.com/podcast/stemcast-mcgill-igem-6511088)
Published: 2026-01-09T12:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://rss.com/podcasts/stemcast/2430756
Audio file: https://content.rss.com/episodes/14010/2430756/stemcast/2026_01_05_15_17_27_c5ac851b-85cb-48be-a263-da1adf07f5b9.mp3
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Duration seconds: 2797

## Resource

Welcome back to STEMCast: Beyond the Lab! In our most interdisciplinary episode to date, we invited Professors Perry Zurn (Department of Philosophy at the American University) and Dani Basset (Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania) to discuss their individual research careers and their most prominent topic of collaboration: curiosity. Join us as we learn everything from mathematical models of curiosity to social dilemmas that could benefit from them! In this episode, we cover: (01:38) Dani’s scientific curiosities (4:15) Perry’s scientific curiosities (7:24) How did you both start working together? (9:31) Defining curiosity: a type of edge work? (16:19) How does living in an information-dense age affect how we channel our curiosity? (18:49) Differences in collective curiosity and inequity in scientific research (24:00) Curiosity archetypes that will help us tackle ethical dilemmas (29:37) Mathematics of network modeling and its pitfalls (32:19) Fuzzy nodes and marbles (not) in the brain! (42:21) Questions that you guys are looking forward to working on in the future Further reading Read more about Prof. Dani Bassett Read more about Prof. Perry Zurn Book: Curious Minds: The Power of Connection Episode host and producer: Sabrina Du and Isabelle Guo Contact: igem@mcgill.ca

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## Transcript

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