"The dead don't get a vote, so the living write their lines for them, and the person writing the line is usually the same person who needs the money." - Ken Woodward

Mom handed me a plastic baggie with a ring and a note card. When she was twelve, her dying step-grandfather let her pick something from his shaving bag, and she chose his first wedding ring. Years later, a jeweler told her the ruby wasn’t real. Three weeks after Mom gave it to me, I gave it to my daughter.

This episode asks where I find value, and who gets to decide. I revisit my conversation with Rob Walker from episode 61 and his Significant Objects experiment, where invented stories turned thrift-store finds into collectibles.

Anil Seth’s work on perception helps me ask what changes when something isn’t what I believed, and what doesn’t.

Then I turn the questions on myself: my great-grandfather’s gold-tipped walking stick that I hold but don’t own, Jerry Colonna’s question about complicity, and what I’m willing to ask of the next generation.

This Curated Questions episode can be found on all major platforms and at CuratedQuestions.com.

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Keep questioning!

"If all you do is pay attention to what everyone else is paying attention to, then by definition you're not likely to innovate anything or create anything very original or different or surprising." - Rob Walker

Writer and cultural observer Rob Walker joins Ken to explore how questions and noticing reshape the way we move through the world. Rob traces his origin story back to discovering journalism at 18—a framework that gave a shy, introverted kid permission to ask questions on behalf of others.

They dig into his book and newsletter The Art of Noticing, talking about everyday noticing assignments, why “what am I missing?” is a powerful self-question, and how small acts of attention can mark time and make life more memorable.

Rob shares the story behind the Significant Objects project and why story—not price tag—creates real value in the objects we keep. From New Orleans as a “conversational city” to his teaching on point of view and manifestos, Rob reflects on questions as both agency and responsibility, in democracies, organizations, and personal life. Be sure to subscribe to Rob's Substack The Art of Noticing newsletter at https://robwalker.substack.com/

This Curated Questions episode can be found on all major platforms and at CuratedQuestions.com.

Keep questioning!