On this encore episode, we explore the world of color — from how we perceive it, to our efforts to describe and differentiate its many shades. We talk with a lexicographer about efforts to standardize synthetic colors, and how we describe them, and investigate how we know that the colors we see are the same as the ones everyone else sees.
The Pulse host Maiken Scott adds some pops of color to her all-black wardrobe with help from
Jill Rafter, a color consultant with House of Colour, who breaks down seasonal palettes and how to choose your ideal hues based on your skin’s undertones.
We talk with lexicographer
Kory Stamper about her deep dive into the origins of ultra-specific color definitions, and the fascinating history of how major global changes, ranging from industrialization to international warfare, led to a government effort to standardize not just the production of synthetic colors, but also how we talk about them. Stamper’s new book is “
True Color: The Strange and Spectacular Quest to Define Color – from Azure to Zinc Pink.”
How do we know that the colors we see are the same as the colors other people see? Pulse reporter Liz Tung talks with
University of Pennsylvania researcher David Brainardabout the science of how we perceive color, what we know — and don’t know — about our shared perceptions, and the philosophical questions this raises about the nature of subjective experience.
Pulse producer Nichole Currie talks with Cricket Matthews, who experiences grapheme-colors synesthesia, a unique neurological trait in which letters, numbers, and words trigger specific colors in your mind.