Interview with Arko Olesk: "Playing with science and memory"

A valued research journalist, Arko Olesk (33) has become a quiz champion, both at pairs and in team championships. He has not only compiled questions for quizzes, such as the Jeopardy programme, but also for the World and European quiz championships. At Tallinn University he manages the Centre for Research and Innovation in Communication and is a doctoral student of research communication.

When I met Arko on the campus, I asked him what “quiz” means for him and how he found his way into the world of quizzes alongside his interest in nature. Arko has a lively imagination: behind our tea cups we are soon contemplating how to preserve our home planet and whether it would it be better to live on Mars in the future.

The whole of Estonia knows you as a quiz player. How have you achieved that?

My father, who was a quiz player himself, took me with him to competitions from time to time. We started to play together when I was 14. Experiences you get at that age take root for life and significantly contribute to the development of a person. By starting at the right time I acquired a good basis.

Did you have a very good factual memory as a child?

Sometimes I dropped a fact and others were surprised that I knew something like that. I have a good memory and I have always loved to read a lot.

Is quiz playing a sport for you?

Yes, undoubtedly. It is a competition: people train in order to be the best and by competing, get sorted out. But for most people it is a hobby. I don´t exercise my memory in a disciplined way every day and I don´t have big ambitions to become the champion of Estonia. However, facts do accumulate so why not make use of that?

How do you train for quiz playing?

You have to read a lot. Study different subjects. For example, focus on Latin American painting and find out who the most well known artists are and what their most important works are. Write the facts down and then revise them later. A hobby quiz player reads from here and there, but if you don´t revise, then you can´t always remember the answer. I read consciously, but I don´t always repeat. My training is primarily compilation of questions.

Some people call you a genius.

Some people have said that, but I don´t like it. I am rather in favour of the 10,000-hour theory of the Canadian journalist Malcolm Gladwell. He says that if you want to become really good at something, you must dedicate at least 10,000 hours to it. So, in fact many things that we consider talent or genius have been achieved through dedication and hard work. Inherent abilities are always beneficial, but these can be developed and strengthened by constant focus and attention.

How does one choose the topics to be studied?

They are mainly based on personal interests. There are things that I follow by habit, such as everyday newspapers: what takes place in Estonia and the world? I am especially interested in things happening in the research world.

In Tallinn University you deal with media topics. How did that develop?

I have a bachelor´s degree in journalism from the University of Tartu. It is difficult to get journalism out of your system. I am still active in the field and I work as a research editor in Postimees. A desire to render meaning to the world, especially when I write about the natural sciences, is a great hobby of mine. In media articles I can perhaps explain the world in a wider context than researchers can in their scientific journals and the topics reach a wider audience. In the future, I will probably become more of a researcher, but for now, as a first year doctoral student, I don´t as yet consider myself a scientist.

What is the topic of your doctoral thesis?

In a general sense, “research communication in Estonia”. The plan is to do some more significant research work and see how Estonian journalism has reflected this. As a result of this research, I could get some interesting results on how journalism and the public render meaning to science and what the factors are that influence the understanding of science. Ideally, science offers answers, although this is not the case in the public image. In the autumn, for the first time, I delivered a course on research communication, which was a very interesting experience for me.

“If you want to become really good at something, you must dedicate at least 10,000 hours to it.”

You study and work at Tallinn University. Isn´t this a conflict of roles: being a student and a teacher at the same time?

I think being a journalist and a researcher at the same time is a bigger conflict of roles. The situation becomes a bit schizophrenic at times when I have to study cases in my doctoral work that I myself have reflected on as a journalist. At the moment there is no other option than to switch into another role and try to objectively observe what I have done, and also to reveal my own subconscious use of words and underlying opinions.

Will we live on Mars one of these days?

That wouldn´t be very rational. It is more reasonable, efficient and cheaper to take care so that we can continue living on Earth and be able to continue to live decent lives. Mars has always been a utopian dream. We are more likely to move to one of the moons of Jupiter or Saturn. For example, the Jupiter´s moon Europa contains more water than Earth, although it is hidden under the surface.

You have always been interested in natural sciences. Do you consider yourself an “eco-person”?

I am not a hard-core eco-person. I don´t chase organic food or wear clothes made of hemp. So there is room for development, but there are things that we all should do. For example, sorting garbage.

“It is more reasonable, efficient and cheaper to take care so that we can continue living on Earth and be able to continue to live decent lives. Mars has always been a utopian dream.”

Colleague Tiina Hiob: "Still waters run deep"

As long as Arko continues to be deeply engaged in watery environmental topics (the health of the Baltic Sea and environmental awareness of its water use), then it is appropriate to characterize him with the saying “still waters run deep”. Arko is a balanced man of few words, but bold and down-to-earth at the same time. As a person he is warm-hearted and reliable.

Arko´s knowledge inspires awe, but he doesn´t boast – boasting is simply not his thing. But you don’t want to mess with facts when he is around, because then lies have really short legs. Nevertheless, even then Arko explains the topic in a warm and pleasant manner. He is also ready to take care of tedious tasks, and it seems that inevitability is not a strange concept to him. Racing with him is a pleasure!

Interesting facts:

Arko likes classical and rock music. Just before the interview, he attended the concert of an English alternative rock artist Anna Calvi in Helsinki.
Berlin and London are the cities near to his heart (the latter being mainly due to a year of study that he spent there). In Estonia he cherishes his parents´ home in Paduvere, Jõgevamaa.
The file in which he records the facts that he plans to ask in quiz programmes contains 24 pages.
He belongs to the board of International Quizzing Association (IQA) and is a member and information manager of the Estonian Quizzing Association.

The three last facts that Arko wrote down in his notebook:

An Italian term fumetti is used for comics where there are photos instead of pictures.
In 1884, American writer Helen Hunt Jackson, published a popular novel which she hoped would draw attention to the problem of discrimination against native people (Indians) in the same way as “Uncle Tom´s cabin” drew attention to slavery. The title of the novel was “Ramona”.
On 23 January 1961, an opposition movement hijacked a luxurious Portuguese cruise ship, the Santa Maria. The hijacking is also known by the code name Operation Dulcinea and the aim was a rebellion against the Portuguese government.

Extracts from CV:

2008-2009 Imperial College London, master´s degree in research communication (MSc)
2011, first prize in the Estonian research popularization competition in the category “Popularization of research and technology through printed word” for being editor in chief of the journal, Tarkade Klubi
Since 2011, a research editor at Postimees AS
2012-2013 host-editor of Radio 2 programme “Chapter and Verse”
In 2013, the 2nd-prize winner in the Estonian research popularization competition, in the category “Popularization of research and technology through audio visual and electronic media” (jointly with Madis Aesma and Helen Sürje).
Since 2014 host-editor of Kuku radio programme “Falling Apple”

(Interview by Kadri Eisenschmidt)