Life in Elevation, with Maria E. Andreu (episode 10)

YA author Maria E. Andreu takes us through her process of imagining an island in the sky for her work-in-progress. We talk a bit about real adaptations living things have developed to live at elevation, but mostly we imagine our way through her excellent thought experiment. Bonus topics: Snowpiercer, yaks, and circus fashion! Then we pivot real hard to the ground and share our best road rage stories. 

This is what a yak looks like, apparently. (Image from HowStuffWorks.com.)

SHOW NOTES:

I don’t know if this is the exact article Maria read, but BBC.com’s The Reason Zoom Calls Drain Your Energy brings up the mental strain of having to be ‘on.’ From the article: 

“An added factor, says Shuffler, is that if we are physically on camera, we are very aware of being watched. ‘When you're on a video conference, you know everybody's looking at you; you are on stage, so there comes the social pressure and feeling like you need to perform. Being performative is nerve-wracking and more stressful.’ It’s also very hard for people not to look at their own face if they can see it on screen, or not to be conscious of how they behave in front of the camera.”

an aesthetic collage Maria created for her story

an early map Maria made of her sky island

Dad’s road rage links: 

The article about brains and shifting attention is on the Amen Clinics blog, called Road Rage, Where Does it Come From?

The article about threat and drive is called This Is What Road Rage Does to Your Body and can be found on Vice. 

Check out the website of Maria E. Andreu to learn more about her books: Love in English and The Secret Side of Empty.