
EP. 56: YOUR BRAIN ON GRIEF: MARY-FRANCIS O’CONNOR ON LEARNING FROM LOSS
For profound loss, we often say we are heartbroken, but it is more accurate to say we are brain broken given the primacy of the role our brains play in how we feel about loss. Mary-Francis is a professor of Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Arizona and is the Director of the Grief, Loss, and Social Stress Lab, where she and her colleagues are creating new frameworks for understanding grief and the grieving process.

Ep.55: EXPERIMENTS; A.J. JACOBS ON LESSONS FROM RADICAL LIFESTYLE CHANGES
A.J. Jacobs is the king of self-experimentation and participatory journalism. He is an author, journalist, lecturer, and human guinea pig; the results of which have led to some extreme field experiments like living the rules of the Old Testament for a year, thanking over a thousand people who served him coffee, reading the Encyclopedia Britannica to acquire knowledge about everything, and …

EP. 54: LIFE IS SHORT, TO-DO LISTS ARE LONG: OLIVER BURKEMAN ON TIME MANAGEMENT FOR MORTALS
Oliver Burkeman is a British journalist and author. He writes and publishes a twice-monthly newsletter called “The Imperfectionist.” His most recent book is “Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals,” which is also the topic of the podcast.

EP. 53: THE POWER OF FRIENDS: ROBIN DUNBAR ON OUR MOST IMPORTANT NUMBER
Robin Dunbar is an eminent anthropologist and evolutionary psychologist famous for “Dunbar’s Number”. He is the head of the Social and Evolutionary Neuroscience Research Group in the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford. Robin is also the author of Friends — Understanding the Power of Our Most Important Relationships. Robin’s research involves …

EP. 52: THE GREAT RESIGNATION: ASHLEY STAHL ON CAREER DESIGN AND HOW TO GET UNSTUCK
The great resignation is all over the media of late; it’s an economic trend born of the COVID pandemic in which employees (In the U.S. for our purposes) are voluntarily leaving jobs in huge numbers—starting around the end of 2020, ramping in 2021 and increasing now in 2022.

EP. 51: THINKING TRAPS: DR. STEVEN HAYES ON DEPRESSION AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FLEXIBILITY
This podcast is about the power of dealing with negative thoughts and emotions more obliquely. It’s a central shift from focusing on what you think and feel to how you relate to what you think and feel. My guest is Steven Hayes PhD…

EP.50: A Short History Of Vaccines. Dr. Paul Offit On Skepticism, Risk, and Medical Innovation
My guest is Dr. Paul Offit, a world renowned expert and medical pioneer in the field of immunology and virology. This is my remedial course on one of the greatest medical achievements of modern civilization.

EP. 49: TAPPING A HIGHER SELF: LOCH KELLY ON EFFORTLESS MINDFULNESS
Your mind shapes every experience you have and trying to be happy by exerting more control over external forces is futile. You need to spend time on ordering your inner world. This podcast is about doing just that.
My guest is Loch Kelly. Loch is an author, meditation teacher, psychotherapist….

EP: 48: THE IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS: NICHOLAS CHRISTAKIS ON WHAT WENT WRONG, WHAT’S GOING RIGHT, AND OUR POSSIBLE FUTURE
This podcast is part biography of our current pandemic, and part admonishment on how to live through one.
Nicholas Christakis is a physician and social scientist at Yale University who conducts research in network science, biosocial science, and behavior genetics.

EP: 47: CHATTER: ETHAN KROSS ON UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING THE VOICE IN OUR HEAD
On this podcast, I delve into what cognitive science is learning about the conversations we have with ourselves – and how to manage them.
My guest is Ethan Kross, Ph.D. An award-winning professor and the author of the just-published book, Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It. Ethan says…

EP.46: HIGH ON LIFE: TOMMY CHONG ON PRISON, POT AND KARMA
Tommy Chong is a grammy award-winning comedian and is legendary for his invaluable contribution to American counter-culture as part of the iconic comedy duo Cheech & Chong. During their reign, the twosome recorded six gold comedy albums.
In 2003 a fully armed SWAT team raided the comedian’s home, culminating with Tommy being sentenced to 9 months in federal prison.

EP. 45: SURVIVING SURVIVAL: LAURENCE GONZALES ON TRAUMA AND NEW NORMALS
This podcast is an exploration into the mental processes that enable survivors to cope with extreme post-traumatic stress that sets in after an almost fatal event.
Take, for example, Debbie Kiley. Debbie’s sailboat went down during a hurricane, and she floated in deep ocean for five days watching three of her friends die before rescue. But rescue was not the end of the story;

Ep. 44: FREEDOM FROM RESULTS : MASSIMO PIGLIUCCI ON REDEFINING SUCCESS
On this episode, my focus is on finding peace of mind amidst persistent uncertainty. So many things that are directly affecting our lives are out of our direct control – and it can be maddening.
Massimo Pigliucci is the author or editor of 14 books, including the bestselling “How to Be A Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life.” The key to much of our neurosis is not understanding what’s in our control and what’s not. Crazy making is treating outcomes as objects.

EP. 43: MAKING BETTER DECISIONS: ANNIE DUKE ON CREATING YOUR OWN CRYSTAL BALL.
What do you do when you’re faced with a big decision? Annie Duke is an expert on decision fitness and is the author of “How To Decide, Simple Tools For Making Better Choices”, which is the topic of the show. We talk about her tools and heuristics to make quality decisions and how to create your own crystal ball.

EP. 42: HOW TO FEEL GREAT: DR. DAVID BURNS ON WHAT NEGATIVE EMOTIONS ARE TRYING TO TELL US
Dr. David Burns is one of the pioneers in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and largely responsible for its widespread adoption in psychotherapy today. Dr. Burns says that our negative moods do not result from what’s wrong with us, but rather — what’s right with us. And paradoxically, when you listen and “hear” what your negative thoughts and feelings are trying to say, you won’t need them anymore, and recovery follows. The goal, according to Dr. Burns, is not just complete elimination of negative feelings, but the development of joy and enlightenment.