Why, from an evolutionary perspective, is it so terrifying for many of us to contemplate challenging our own tribe? How comfortable would you be hopping on social media and questioning the deeply held convictions of your closest friends and colleagues? Even if you don’t want to be public about it, are there ways to have more empathy for somebody whose views are different from yours? Robert Wright believes the future of civilization hinges on our ability to get better at this. Robert Wright is th...
Jan 12, 2022•55 min•Ep. 411
Jessica Nordell is a science and culture journalist who has written for the Atlantic and the New York Times. She earned a B.A. in physics from Harvard and an M.F.A. in poetry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her new book is called The End of Bias, A Beginning: The Science and Practice of Overcoming Unconscious Bias. This episode explores: why humans evolved to have biases; what happens physiologically when biases are challenged; why some of the most popular personal and institutional st...
Jan 10, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 410
The final episode of our New Year’s Getting Unstuck Series features Emily and Amelia Nagoski. Our goal with this episode, as it has been with all the episodes throughout the series, is to arm you with new ways of thinking about where you might be stuck in your life and to give you new tools for getting unstuck. Emily Nagoski has a PhD in Health Behavior and is the author of the hit book Come As You Are: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life . Her twin sister, Amelia Nagosk...
Jan 05, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 409
This is the third episode of our Getting Unstuck Series and we’re kicking off the new year with a giant in the meditation world. Tara Brach holds a PhD in clinical psychology and has been practicing and teaching meditation around the world for more than four decades. She is the founder of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington and the author of numerous books. She’s here today to talk about her newest, which is called Trusting the Gold: Uncovering Your Natural Goodness , and features ill...
Jan 03, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 408
It’s the second episode of our Getting Unstuck Series. In this episode, Buddhist teacher and TPH fan favorite Matthew Hepburn offers a Buddhist lens on getting unstuck across many facets of our lives: from our relationship with technology to the difficulty we sometimes experience when asking for help. Matthew Hepburn is a graduate of the IMS/Spirit Rock four-year teacher training program and the host of the Twenty Percent Happier Podcast . In this episode, Matthew will explain why joining a medi...
Dec 29, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 407
This is the first episode of our Getting Unstuck Series. This episode, featuring social worker and NYT bestselling author Nedra Tawwab has some incredibly practical advice for various forms of stuckness, and it basically comes down to one word: boundaries. Nedra is a social worker and the New York Times bestselling author of Set Boundaries, Find Peace , which became so popular this past year that she has now followed up with an accompanying workbook . In the book, Nedra lays out a whole taxonomy...
Dec 27, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 406
With the approach of the new year (and perhaps New Year’s resolutions) we’ve decided to replay a very popular episode, featuring one of the most prominent proselytizers for self-love, Karamo from Queer Eye. Karamo was the first openly gay black man on reality TV when he appeared on MTV's The Real World Philadelphia back in 2004. When he left TV and found out he was a dad, he got custody of his son, adopted his son's half-brother and worked for a decade as a social worker before returning to the ...
Dec 22, 2021•38 min
We’re almost at that time of year where we contemplate making New Year’s resolutions. So we decided to rerun an episode about the blazingly obvious fact that creating healthy habits can be infernally difficult. But why? And what are the best strategies for getting around this? Katy Milkman has spent nearly two decades researching these questions. She's a behavioral scientist and professor at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She hosts a podcast called Choiceology and has writ...
Dec 20, 2021•1 hr 9 min
In this episode, Robert Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett discuss the recent book they co-authored, The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again . Robert Putnam is perhaps best-known for his seminal book Bowling Alone , about the increasing atomization and isolation of American society. He is the Malkin Research Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University. Shaylyn Romney Garrett is a writer and social entrepreneur who holds a BA in History from Harvard. Co...
Dec 15, 2021•52 min•Ep. 405
If you want to make change in a world filled with all sorts of horrors and obstacles, does it help or hurt to stay cheerful while you go about your business? Robert Thurman argues passionately in favor of cheerfulness, although he will admit to still being miserable in his own way. This is an expansive conversation that covers everything from: what is nirvana to the Buddhist Four Noble Truths to why the Buddha was a scientist. Robert Thurman is a legend. As a young Harvard student, he got into a...
Dec 13, 2021•40 min•Ep. 404
It’s hard to be a human. No matter how good things are for you, being alive is still hard; whatever your life circumstances are, we’re all subject to impermanence and entropy. This episode dives into a five-part Buddhist list for being stronger in the face of whatever life throws at you. And the person who will be walking us through this list has an enormous amount of standing to talk about strength. Sister Dang Nghiem, who goes by Sister D, is a nun in the Plum Village tradition and a disciple ...
Dec 08, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 403
This episode explores how to make the infernally difficult challenge of habit formation a little easier, with guest Richard H. Thaler, who won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2017 for his pioneering work in the fields of behavioral economics and finance. Thaler is the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, where he also serves as the director of the Center for Decision Research. He i...
Dec 06, 2021•40 min•Ep. 402
This episode is the second in our two-part Anti-Diet Series, and features guest Christy Harrison . Christy is an anti-diet registered dietitian and nutritionist, a certified intuitive eating counselor, and a certified eating disorders specialist who has struggled with disordered eating herself. She has come out the other side and written a book called Anti-Diet , and in this episode, she discusses how to transform your relationship with food and your body. This conversation explores Christy’s pe...
Dec 01, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 401
Our guest for our 400th episode is actor and activist Jameela Jamil, who you may have seen on such shows as The Good Place , The Misery Index , and Legendary . Outside of her acting career, Jameela is known for launching a movement and platform called I Weigh . She's also the host of the I Weigh podcast , where she talks to everybody from Reese Witherspoon to Vivek Murthy, the US Surgeon General, to Gloria Steinem. This episode explores: how to develop what Jameela calls mental self-defense; how...
Nov 29, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 400
It is a common desire to get out of our heads, to escape the internal noise, the chatter, the Sturm und Drang , the sound and fury, etc. You hear about it in pop songs and poetry, this urge to be blown away, to transcend. But how do you actually do it? Willa Blythe Baker can help answer this question and is a font of practical advice. She is the Founder and Spiritual Director of Natural Dharma Fellowship in Boston, MA and its retreat center Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in Springfield, NH. She was ...
Nov 24, 2021•50 min•Ep. 399
Is there a good kind of suffering? Paul Bloom says, yes -- there is a kind of suffering that you choose. This voluntary suffering can reduce anxiety and make your life more meaningful. This episode explores that idea, along with: why we are hardwired to worry about bad things (and why that’s ok); the difference between chosen and unchosen suffering; post-traumatic growth and why it’s not always true that what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger; benign masochism and the blurring of pleasure and...
Nov 22, 2021•58 min•Ep. 398
Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett is at the forefront of understanding human emotions: what they are, why humans evolved to have them, how they’re different from feelings, and what science says about how to manage them. She is a University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University, with appointments at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. She’s written several books, including How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain and Seven and a Half Lessons Abo...
Nov 17, 2021•1 hr 8 min
Dr. David DeSteno has embarked on a project he calls “religio-prospecting.” In other words, he has been looking at the scientific evidence that many ancient religious traditions can confer all sorts of benefits, whether you’re a believer or not. He points out that many secular people practice mindfulness, even if they’re not Buddhists. His question is - what’s the next mindfulness? David DeSteno is a professor of psychology at Northeastern University , where he directs the Social Emotions Group ...
Nov 15, 2021•55 min•Ep. 397
Work can be one of the most difficult places to apply meditative concepts such as mindfulness, patience, and kindness. But work can also be an amazing testing ground for your attempts at meditation and other forms of self-improvement. Unlike many meditation teachers, Matthew Hepburn has spent a lot of time in the professional world. He has worked at Apple and in the service industry. He’s also a long time leader at the Ten Percent Happier company and is the host of the new Twenty Percent Happier...
Nov 10, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 396
It’s been a problem ever since the dawn of humankind: how do we deal with jerks? What do you say to them? And how do you not make everything worse? And what if the jerk is you? We’re going to get into this and other issues in this episode with a meditation teacher named Dawn Mauricio. This is the fourth episode in our five-part Work Life Series, and it is time to bring in some dharma. It turns out the Buddha had a not-insignificant amount of wisdom to offer that is directly applicable to both ou...
Nov 08, 2021•57 min•Ep. 395
It turns out you can call up Laurie Santos and ask about any conundrum and she will respond with a veritable treasure trove of scientifically-grounded relatable wisdom. In this episode, we ask the question: how do you hit the reset button at work? This question can apply to a variety of contexts - maybe you’re leaving a job, looking for a job, starting a new job, or trying to do your current job more mindfully. Dr. Laurie Santos is a professor of psychology at Yale University and the host of the...
Nov 05, 2021•55 min•Ep. 394
One of the hardest things to do in any relationship is give feedback. It’s always dicey. You don’t want to be too aggressive. You don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. But you also don’t want to be too indirect. That’s where radical candor comes in. This term comes from Kim Scott, who is the bestselling author of Radical Candor and Just Work . She has coached executives at Dropbox and Twitter, and has led teams at Google. In this conversation she’ll not only talk about how to speak with radical ...
Nov 03, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 393
This episode officially marks the launch of the Work Life Series, a brand-new, five-part series that’s all about how to live better lives at work. In each episode, we’ll be hosting meditation teachers, thought leaders, and top-of-their-field scientists to explore how to better connect with coworkers, boost our on-the-job resilience, and bring mindfulness to our work. And to help you put into action what you learn here on the show, you can join our free Work Life Challenge: a new meditation chall...
Nov 01, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 392
The advice to “think like an entrepreneur” can, from a certain angle, come off as the kind of rote, tech-bro guidance you’d get from a millennial lifehacker. But Reid Hoffman makes a good case that all of us, whether entrepreneurs or not, can benefit from having what he calls an “entrepreneurial mindset.” He says this mindset is a trainable skill, and he believes that capitalism and compassion (two words you don’t often hear together) are compatible. Reid Hoffman is the co-founder of LinkedIn, a...
Oct 27, 2021•52 min•Ep. 391
We all know that change is inevitable and impermanence is non-negotiable. But somehow it can feel surprising, maybe even wrong, when we personally hit turbulence. The Buddha had a lot to say about this, and so does our guest. Kaira Jewel Lingo has come back to the show to talk about her new book, We Were Made for These Times: Ten Lessons on Moving Through Change, Loss, and Disruption . This episode explores a few of those strategies including: waking up to what’s happening right now; trusting th...
Oct 25, 2021•51 min•Ep. 390
Friendship was important to the Buddha. In fact, there’s a whole passage in the Buddhist scriptures, or suttas , about friendship, with seven strategies for friendship, some of which we will discuss in this episode, with Kate Johnson. Kate has been meditating for over twenty years and is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s four-year teacher training program. She is the author of a new book that has drawn praise from people like Lama Rod Owens, Jack Kornfield, and Ruth King. The book is called Radical Fr...
Oct 20, 2021•47 min•Ep. 389
Distraction is one of the top complaints of meditators -- and of pretty much every human being, in this era that has been dubbed the “info blitzkrieg.” In this episode, we’ll hear from Dr. Amishi Jha, who has spent years studying the impact of meditation on people who work in high stress professions and has collaborated with the military, first responders, and elite athletes. Her new book is about how to, in her words, focus without all the struggle, take back your attention from the pull of dis...
Oct 18, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 388
In this special episode we’re going to do some mindful eavesdropping. You’re going to get a chance to listen in on a process that rarely, if ever, gets aired publicly. You’re going to hear real students talking to a real meditation teacher about real life issues -- issues in their meditation practice, and issues related to applying meditation to your everyday life. The meditation teacher for this episode is Matthew Hepburn. Matthew has spent the last decade teaching meditation in schools, prison...
Oct 13, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 387
Very few of us relish chaos and disruption, but they are facts of life, given the nonnegotiable nature of change. In this episode with Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, we’re going to talk about how to tune into the value of disruption, and learn how to sit with the chaos. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel is an ordained Zen priest, holds a Ph.D., and worked for decades as a social science researcher and development director for non-profit organizations. She is also a prolific author. In this conversation we’ll explor...
Oct 11, 2021•52 min•Ep. 386
We talk a lot on this show about social connection, but in this episode we’re going to get super granular on how to actually do relationships better. Carole Robin and David Bradford taught the most popular elective course at the Stanford Graduate School of Business for a combined total of 75 years. Officially, the name of the course is Interpersonal Dynamics, but everybody calls it “Touchy-Feely.” Together they have written the new book, Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, F...
Oct 06, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 385
