{"id":6922,"date":"2026-06-22T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/biwiki\/?p=6922"},"modified":"2026-06-17T18:36:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T01:36:58","slug":"behavioral-scientists-summer-book-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/biwiki\/2026\/06\/22\/behavioral-scientists-summer-book-club\/","title":{"rendered":"Behavioral Scientist&#8217;s Summer Book Club"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>from the folks at Behavioral Scientist:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each summer, we read a novel and explore its themes through conversations with leading thinkers at the intersection of science and culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This summer, we\u2019ll read <em>Flights <\/em>by Polish author Olga Tokarczuk, the recipient of the 2018 Nobel Prize in literature.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Flights <\/em>is an enigma of a novel\u2014part memoir, part short story collection, part ethnography of travel\u2014that explores the human impulse toward movement; the perpetual tension between exploring somewhere new or staying put.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cClearly I did not inherit whatever gene it is that makes it so when you linger in a place you start to put down roots,\u201d Tokarczuk\u2019s ephemeral narrator tells us in the opening pages. \u201cMy energy derives from movement\u2014from the shuddering of buses, the rumble of planes, trains\u2019 and ferries\u2019 rocking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Flights<\/em> is often billed as a book about travel, and Tokarczuk delights with original and memorable observations about the experience of being on the move\u2014including the people you encounter and the places you encounter them. But calling <em>Flights<\/em> a novel about travel obscures the force with which Tokarczuk asks: <em>What are you running from? What are you running toward?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At times playful and surprising, at others morbid and mysterious, <em>Flights<\/em> offers us a chance to explore our own journeys. And as we travel, through space and time, in our minds, and over the course of our lives, what do our experiences and memories amount to? Do they form a meaningful whole? Or are they simply fragments; the fruits of entropy and fate rather than free will?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We hope you\u2019ll read <em>Flights <\/em>with us this summer to explore these questions and others. New this year, the Book Club will include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A five-part podcast exploring themes from the book with guest experts\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Collaborative memory map of the places and travels that have changed us<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Live and asynchronous group discussions\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Special feature articles<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A final, celebratory online event<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The book club will begin the week of July 6 and run through August, culminating with an online event in early September.<\/strong> There are both asynchronous and live participation opportunities, so you can tailor the book club to your summer schedule. (For a full overview of how things will work this summer, <a href=\"https:\/\/bookclub.behavioralscientist.org\/how-it-works\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><u>head here<\/u><\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Learn more at <a href=\"https:\/\/behavioralscientist.org\/announcing-our-summer-book-club-and-podcast\/\">https:\/\/behavioralscientist.org\/announcing-our-summer-book-club-and-podcast\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Join the Behavioral Scientist for a summer read of Olga Tokarczuk&#8217;s &#8220;Flights&#8221;, including fun extras like themed podcasts, group discussions, and more [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28042,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"templates\/template-full-width.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/biwiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/biwiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/biwiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/biwiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/biwiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6922"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/biwiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6924,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/biwiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6922\/revisions\/6924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/biwiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/biwiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/biwiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}