NPR’s Joy generator
The emerging science of emotions shows that small regular doses of delight can make a real difference in shifting your mood.
I worked with a small team to revisit NPR’s science reporting on what makes us feel good and reimagine how to present those ideas in immersive and interactive ways. A generator allowed readers to be surprised with each new idea.
I pitched the original concept and contributed filming, photography, writing and production on the interactive. But projects like these always take a team. Production happened during some of the darkest days of the pandemic and working on this project was a respite from terrible news and isolation. The project was the recipient of an Edward R. Murrow award for innovation in 2022.
Scroll below for a preview or experience the full interactive here.
In a section on the calming benefits of listening to nature sounds, we created a sound mixer using audio clips recorded from national parks.
People who like ASMR describe getting “brain tingles” when they listen to certain sounds. We created a series of videos in this chapter to let readers see if they experience the effervescent feeling.
In “Find Your Flow”, we explained the benefits of making art, and ended with a section where readers could try it out for themselves.
On the science behind making poetry, we collected public domain literature and gave readers the opportunity to try making blackout poetry.