Alan Alda wanted to get off the island quickly. Steven Strogatz explains how an 18th century British clergyman could have helped. In this short bonus episode, Steven helps Alan understand something that he’s wondered about for years. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid
Steven Strogatz possesses a special ability to see into the unseen. How does he do it? Steve is a world class mathematician, who sees through the window of math. But, lucky for us, he’s also a world class communicator. An award-winning professor, researcher, author, and creative thinker, Steve can help anyone (even Alan Alda) understand some of the unseen world of numbers. In this episode, Alan and Steven start from zero, not the number, but from a place of not knowing anything. He emerges from ...
How do we get beyond Right versus Left, "Us" versus "Them," and even "Me" versus "You"? Jonathan Haidt has a few theories about this all too-familiar tribalism and the seemingly endless culture wars of our time. As someone who studies morality and emotion, Jonathan has deep insight into the moral foundation of our politics and his research in moral psychology has revealed new ways for us to engage in more civil forms of politics, which can help make us all more cooperative and decent. In this co...
How do we actually learn to communicate? How is it different from how other animals learn it? Michael Tomasello explores what may be at the very heart of relating and communicating: shared attention. Alan Alda first met Michael when he interviewed him a few years ago in Leipzig, Germany. Michael was already doing experiments that studied the differences between how human children and chimps learn to communicate. He’s tracked the fascinating path humans take in learning to connect with one anothe...
Sarah Vowell is not short on facets. She’s writer, a historian, a satirist, a radio star and an actor. While he writing voice can be satirical, you might recognize her speaking voice as that of Violet in the Pixar animated series “The Incredibles.” She's a contributor to the public radio show This American Life, and has written seven New York Times ’ bestselling books on culture and American history — all from a number of strange and interesting angles. In this conversation, Alan Alda and Sarah ...
Sherry Turkle is an expert on both our cultural and personal well-being. She's a professor at MIT, an author, a licensed clinical psychologist, and someone who's deeply concerned about how people connect and communicate. In this conversation with Alan Alda, Sherry shares her concerns about mobile technology, social networks, AI, and robots. She explores our relationships with our devices and how our constant connectedness isn't always the best thing for us -- and what we can do to disconnect fro...
Stephen Fry loves words. But he does more than love them. He puts them together in ways that so delight readers, that a blog or a tweet by him can get hundreds of thousands of people hanging on his every keystroke. As an actor, he’s brought to life every kind of theatrical writing from sketch comedy to classics. He’s performed in everything from game shows to the British audiobook version of Harry Potter. And always with a rich intelligence and searching eye. In this conversation with Alan Alda,...
Her name is Ruth Westheimer, but we all know her as Dr. Ruth, the helpful lady who’s spoken to us for decades about sex. She's always direct, to the point, and bubbling with insight about ourselves and our partners. In this frank conversation with Alan Alda, Dr. Ruth talks about how to achieve a long lasting relationship in a short term world. She also talks candidly about her past experience as a sniper, and shares her thoughts on sex and relationships as we age. Support the show: https://www.p...
M*A*S*H is the most beloved and one of the most watched TV shows of all time. It set viewing records that have never been broken and is ranked as one of the top 25 shows of all time. In this exclusive podcast, actors from this legendary show gather together for an uproarious and totally candid conversation about how they learned to connect with one another to create their special brand of entertainment on the screen and lifelong friendships off-camera. Join Alan Alda (“Capt.Benjamin Franklin "Ha...
Sheila Nevins has explored the human condition in the thousand or so documentaries she produced for HBO. From more than 30 years of telling us stories about ourselves, to her experience as a woman in the workplace, Sheila has plenty to say about communicating. And she never holds back. In this delightful episode, Alan Alda talks with Sheila about her life, how she feels about aging, the #MeToo movement, sex, divorce, documentaries, storytelling, and just about everything else! This episode is sp...
Coming Tuesday, February 5th! M*A*S*H will be back for a one-time, exclusive episode with all your familiar friends -- join Alan Alda, Loretta Swit, Jamie Farr, Mike Farrell, and Gary Burghoff for an intimate and candid conversation about their personal experiences of being part of one of the most beloved TV shows of all time; and the lessons they learned about how to connect, communicate, and to relate with one another in the process. Subscribe or listen for free at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Go...
Senator Bill Bradley has an amazing life. He was a Gold medal Olympian, a Rhodes Scholar, a legendary star with the Knicks for 10 years, a United Sates Senator for 12 years. He ran for the Democratic party’s Presidential nomination, and to top it off, he’s the host of the long-running SiriusXM Satellite Radio program – “American Voices.” In this episode, Alan Alda speaks with Sen. Bradley about leading a life of curiosity, learning and service. His stories are fun and he has a lot to say about o...
Christian Picciolini is the author of “White American Youth: My Descent Into America’s Most Violent Hate Movement – And How I Got Out.” His story helps the rest of us understand what leads an ordinary person take on a life of hate and violence. He knows because he was once a leading organizer for the Neo-Nazi movement. In this emotionally riveting conversation, Alan Alda and Christian talk frankly about the underlying issues of hate and anger and how we can help people leave their hate behind an...
Should you shut down your social media accounts right now? Jaron Lanier thinks so, and he knows the tech world. He helped build the Internet and was one of the creators of virtual reality. But now, he believes something has gone very wrong with our new digital world. In this episode, Jaron joins Alan Alda to discuss social media addiction, the crisis at Facebook, how our behavior is being subtly manipulated, and how the means of communication that we hoped would bring us closer together - is doi...
Rachael Ray knows how to relate over food. When she cooks, she's always thinking about her audience and how to communicate a message through the medium of food. Her energy and talent have led her to create a billion dollar lifestyle empire, built around the concept of fun, healthy, and joyous experiences with food. In this episode of Clear+Vivid, Rachael Ray and Alan Alda cook up some pasta together and enjoy a lively conversation around the dinner table! This special holiday episode is sponsore...
W. Kamau Bell, the host of CNN's "United Shades of America,” describes his show as giving people a “microphone” and “public square to tell their version of the story.” Putting it plainly, he's said his greatest gift as a communicator is in knowing, “... how to shut the f*ck up and let people talk.” Kamau is a gifted stand up comedian who delivers his comedy through a socio-political lens. In this episode of Clear+Vivid, Alan Alda asks W. Kamau Bell about his approach to comedy and how it's possi...
The most important time in your life can be those few minutes when you're in the doctors office - this is a critical time for you to tell your story and for your doctor to listen. 80% of correct diagnoses are made when doctors get the whole history from their patients. And the more empathic the communication, the better the diagnosis. In this last episode of our 3-part series, we speak with Dr. Susmita Pati and Dr. Laura Lindenfeld at the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook...
Dr. Karl VanDevender is one of the most empathic doctors you'll ever meet. In fact, he's one of the most empathic people that Alan Alda has ever met! Dr. VanDevender has been practicing medicine for forty years and in that time he has learned some interesting ways to connect with his patients, resulting in surprisingly positive results. Dr. VanDevender has a lot to teach us about the doctor-patient relationship, and how it can lead to better health. Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda is devoting a speci...
Relating and communicating in the doctor’s office can sometimes be a matter of life or death. Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda is devoting a special series of three shows to doctor-patient relations and how better understanding can be achieved through empathy and deeper listening. First up is Dr. Helen Riess whose research has shown that not only is empathy important to the doctor-patient relationship, but that, when it’s lacking, empathy can be taught. Join us for this episode with Dr. Riess, followe...
Marc Maron is a legend in both the stand-up community and also as a podcaster. His WTF Podcast broke new ground in the interview genre when he welcomed President Obama onto his show and helped to truly define the independent podcast movement. But Marc’s rise to the top has been an arduous personal journey. As a comedian and performer he’s dealt with anxiety and other issues that have haunted him over the years. He talks with Alan Alda about his personal life and how podcasting helped him to open...
The universe has wonders that can stun us — if only someone could be clear and vivid in explaining them to us. Neil deGrasse Tyson does just that, which has put him among the most recognized science communicators of the 21st Century. He’s not only an astrophysicist, an author, and the head of the world-renowned Hayden Planetarium, he’s also funny. In this episode Alan and Neil explore some surprising techniques for making hard stuff clear, including how a particular football play can explain the...
Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with young on-set Parkinson's Disease in 1991. He threw himself into his work and fell into moments of depression and alcohol abuse. But, in 1998, when he went public with his story, he changed the way the world looked at Parkinson's Disease and has now raised nearly a billion dollars in research through the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which he founded. And he inspired many other people with the disease to not let it stop them -- including Alan Alda. Alan was diagnose...
Go behind the scenes with the Clear+Vivid team! Alan Alda sits down with his friend and long time producer, Graham Chedd, to talk about podcasting, their years together on Scientific American Frontiers, and their enduring friendship. Alan and Graham are joined by Associate Producer, Sarah Chase, who is also the voice of the ads and helps Alan run his company, Alda Communication Training (ACT). Our "Tech Guru," Allison Coston also joins in and tells us about her 6 years in the U.S. Navy. The team...
While Alan Alda is on vacation, he's invited his friend Katie Couric to take over the pod with some of her favorite episodes! Alan's producers interviewed Katie about this episode and Katie talks about the shared experience that she and Sheryl Sandberg have in common. After her husband died suddenly from a cardiac arrhythmia, Facebook's COO Sheryl Sandberg (Lean In) thought she would never experience true joy again. Sheryl speaks about her book, Option B, that delves into how she proved herself ...
Alan is on vacation (literally). So, he asked his friend Katie Couric if she'd lend him a couple of episodes of her podcast. Alan sent in his producers to interview Katie about her podcast. In this episode Katie and her co-host Brian Goldsmith welcome Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Bryan could have gone anywhere—he chose to move to Alabama to help confront racial disparities and reform the criminal justice system. On the pod, they discu...
Season 2 of Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda starts on November 13th! Listen to the official trailer to meet some of Alan's next guests -- you're not going to want to miss the spectacular bonus episodes in the works! New episodes are available every Tuesday. Subscribe and listen for free on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you like to enjoy podcasts. For more details and to subscribe to Alan's newsletter, please visit AlanAlda.com. These episodes are made possible thanks to the generous support o...
Chris Voss is a former FBI hostage negotiator who has used communication to save lives. Alan Alda interviews Chris about his experiences and they discuss intense situations where empathy has been successfully used as a tool to guard against the unthinkable. Alan also has a few tricks up his own sleeve as he lures Chris into a role play situation to see how well he does under pressure. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid...
How do you talk to a member of a deadly gang? How do you help someone leave that life, and why did they join it in the first place? The answers are surprising. And they throw light on how to communicate with anyone. In this episode of Clear+Vivid Alan Alda has a lively and eye-opening conversation with Father Greg Boyle who tells how his Homeboys Industries in Los Angeles has been a lifeline to thousands of young people escaping the deadly culture of gang life. And how he answers violence with t...
Isabella Rossellini is a legendary actress, iconic model, filmmaker, writer, and now - if that's not enough - she's working on her master's degree in Animal Behavior. In this wildly fun conversation, Alan Alda talks with Isabella about how how animals communicate with one another and with us. And how Isabella communicates with us about the sometimes bizarre sex lives of animals — in her popular video series called "Green Porno." Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid...
Is a work of art complete if no one experiences it? Nobel Prize winner Eric Kandel talks with Alan Alda about the vital role of the audience when we communicate through art and story And his prize-winning discoveries on memory come alive in his own memorable stories. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid
