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.
On the science behind making poetry, we collected public domain literature and gave readers the opportunity to try making blackout poetry.
In “Find Your Flow”, we explained the benefits of making art, and ended with a section where readers could try it out for themselves.
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.