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EPISODE · Jul 31, 2025 · 26 MIN

Building Time Bridges: Improvisation

from The Provisional · host Margit Schild

“We have to improvise”—a phrase we often hear when something doesn’t go as planned, when a part is missing, when systems fail. It’s a word that surfaces often, especially in times of crisis. Now, even though most of us have an intuitive sense of what improvisation is, but: What exactly is it, what is improvisation? It’s not an easy question to answer. But one thing is certain: time plays a crucial role. Sources used: Mascolo, G., (30. März 2023). Die Kunst des Überlebens. Süddeutsche Zeitung, S. 3 Voss, M. et al. (2022). Katastrophenbewältigung als sozialer Prozess: Vom Ideal- zum Realverständnis von Risiko-, Krisen- und Katastrophenmanagement. Notfallvorsorge 1/2022, Walhalla u. Praetoria Verlag. Thirteen Lives, 2022, Film by Ron Howard Tham Luang cave rescue: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tham_Luang_cave_rescue Musik: blackSnow by airtone (c) copyright 2021 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/63513 Sound of a hospital operating room: OR1.m4a by pschu -- https://freesound.org/s/624700/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jul 31, 2025

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In Apollo 13, the crew's motto became: “We are improvising a new mission.” In the film Cast Away, survival depended entirely on improvisation—until the protagonist gradually developed routines and skills through repetition: hunting, fishing, making fire. “We have to improvise”—a phrase we often hear when something doesn’t go as planned, when a part is missing, when systems fail. It’s a word that surfaces often, especially in times of crisis. Now, even though most of us have an intuitive sense of what improvisation is, but: What exactly is it, what is improvisation? It’s not an easy question to answer. But one thing is certain: time plays a crucial role.

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Building Time Bridges: Improvisation

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