In defiance of the laws of grammar and common sense, Marcus and Esme ask the question, “What is the difference between two things that are very similar to one another, except in the ways in which they are different?”

In Esme’s case, she explores the ways in which two activities (watercolor painting and landscape design) can share very similar goals (artistic and aesthetic enhancement) but trigger her hyperfocus differently.

In Marcus’ case, he describes how the act of realizing two different pieces of art or entertainment are thematically linked compels him to compare the two and determine which one is “better.” By way of example, Marcus pits multiple pieces of thematically similar content in head-to-head match-ups and declares a “winner” for each one. Who’s on the card? In round one, we have Bruce Springsteen’s Thunder Road vs. Bob Seger’s Night Moves. In round two, Hamlet vs. The Lion King. And finally, for the main event, it’s the various Game of Thrones tv series vs. The Last Kingdom series on Netflix. Who will win? You’ll have to listen to find out.

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Do you feel pressured to maintain a super positive attitude in the workplace? Are you sick of engagement surveys? Do you wish that the word “grit” was only used to describe the relative coarseness of sandpaper?  

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, you might have a bone to pick with a scientific discipline and research movement known as positive psychology. 

According to Psychology Today, “positive psychology is the study of optimal human functioning.” It’s also the brainchild of psychologist and former president of the American Psychological Association Martin Seligman. Seligman believed psychologists should do more to study and promote the factors that make life more meaningful instead of only focusing on the more ‘negative’ aspects of mental health and treatment (such as alleviation of suffering). 

That sounds okay, right? Well, it might have been; but then the movement's most passionate and industrious followers decided to turn their beloved science into a commodity. Research and education soon gave way to the development of plug-and-play solutions that could be sold to schools and corporations. As a result, what began as a scientific discipline about human flourishing became part of a corporate ideology that prizes efficiency above all else. Positive psychology became a tool employers could use to demand that employees put on a happy face, ignore structural problems, and manage their crippling anxiety and depression with breathwork during bathroom breaks. 

BUT! As Marcus and Esme discuss in this week’s episode, the tide appears to be turning on positive psychology. A new generation of psychologists and researchers have begun questioning the movement, its methodologies, and its motivations. Could this be, at long last, the end of this influential, disruptive, and (somewhat conveniently) business-friendly endeavor? 

That’s the question Marcus and Esme will try to answer in this two-part episode of Crazy Together. In part one, they identify the origins of positive psychology and discuss factors that encouraged its spread. They also explore how corporate America ultimately weaponized positive psychology in ways that served organizational efficiency over any concept of human well-being or flourishing.

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Sources for this episode include:

13 June 2024, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dont-forget-the-basil/202406/is-this-the-end-of-positive-psychology. 

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Has Esme been lying about an important biographical detail? 

Longtime listeners will know that Marcus and Esme both come from the same county in southeast Pennsylvania, but they grew up on “different sides of the tracks.” For her part, Esme grew up in a part of Delaware County she lovingly refers to as “Deep Delco,” and enjoys pointing out the many ways in which Marcus’ upbringing was far cushier than her own.

However, a recent article from a fancy travel site casts a shadow of doubt over Esme’s street cred. According to Islands.com, Upper Darby Township, PA, a town so close to Esme’s hometown that it actually surrounds it on all sides, is a tourist hot spot, and well worth the cost of adding a few days to your itinerary the next time you visit Philadelphia.

So, has Esme been lying to us this whole time? Probably not. Marcus and Esme make a few educated guesses about how this strange article came to be published. And, while they acknowledge that calling Upper Darby a tourist destination is a bit of a stretch, they refuse to take any shots at the township or its people. They even wax nostalgic about the old Tower Theater, a legendary live music venue located in the heart of Upper Darby that closed its doors in 2022 because Live Nation hates you, hates music, and hates the idea of you listening to your favorite music in a venue with less than 50,000 seats.

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Is it possible that the same mind-altering drugs you turned down in college because you hated jam bands (or the drugs you gladly accepted because that’s what college is for) could have tremendous potential as treatments for a whole host of mental health issues and challenges? 

As it turns out, yes, it is very possible.

In this episode, Marcus and Esme discuss psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT), a psychiatric treatment model that combines the use of controlled doses of psychedelic substances with professional psychotherapy. While neither of them has any practical, hands-on experience with the substances in question, they do read an awful lot about the interesting things other people do. In this case, they’ve read quite a bit about the exciting potential of PATs, the relative successes of PAT-related clinical trials, and the extent to which such treatments are available. As always, they are happy to share their findings with you, their beloved listeners.

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What happens when you mix epic poetry, big budget filmmaking, a huge marketing budget, and the very loud opinions of some of the internet’s dumbest trolls? You get The Odyssey, a 3-hour long action-adventure extravaganza from the reigning champion of summer blockbuster movies Christopher Nolan. 

Marcus and Esme, who only get to the theater once or twice a year (not including times they take their daughter to watch more kid-friendly fare), decided to step into the zeitgeist and see if the film everybody is talking about is worth all the hype.

Were they blown away? Did the movie meet all of their expectations? Did Nolan breathe new life into a 3,000-year-old text? What is their verdict?

“It’s fine.”

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This episode is dedicated to anyone who has submitted a job application through Workday. Marcus and Esme want you to know they see you. All 100,000 or 500,000 or several million of you (it’s difficult to say exactly how many people have used the platform, but it’s safe to say it’s a lot).  

Workday, Inc is currently at the center of a federal class action suit. Plaintiffs allege that its AI-driven hiring software is discriminating against job applicants based on protected characteristics such as race, age, and disability. The lawsuit could redefine how courts treat algorithmic hiring, potentially holding tech vendors and employers accountable for bias built into AI systems.

Naturally, since the platform is allegedly targeting people with “mental disabilities” (among others), Marcus and Esme think it’s a really important story to share with their listeners. As such, they walk through the lawsuit to the best of their abilities (for educational and entertainment purposes!) and describe how “proxy indicators” and personality tests are allegedly being used to filter out protected groups without explicitly asking for a candidate's age or medical history.

Speaking of personality tests . . . Marcus and Esme inform and/or remind their listeners that they actually discussed the use of these assessments in job hiring platforms in Episodes 31 and 32 (a.k.a. Business Horoscopes: Parts I and II). They invite their audience to go back to those episodes for a deeper dive into the failings of personality tests to accurately predict job performance among applicants.

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Marcus and Esme continue to persevere in the face of unanticipated audio issues that may or may not be supernatural in nature. Anyone who knows of a good AV tech /Exorcist is encouraged to reach out to the show with their contact information.

Marcus and Esme share some highlights of a recent trip to the Poconos, where they learned about the history of the Civilian Conservation Corps, a government work relief program created by FDR during the Great Depression. The CCC, which was organizationally modeled after the US Army, created work opportunities for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25. Given the current state of the US economy and the young men floundering within it, Marcus proposes reinstating the CCC, and imagines the type of strong, direct, and surprisingly progressive drill sergeants needed to lead the young men of today.

Esme then shares the perils of engaging in hyperfocus activities while unmedicated and unhydrated. 

Esme closes the episode with a brave admission about how she has been feeling lately and what she intends to do about it. Marcus is, as always, proud of her.

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What if neurodivergence isn’t some sort of genetic glitch? What if our facility with hyperfocus, pattern recognition, and rapid threat detection are actually vital survival advantages that have enabled the evolution of all people? What if, against all odds, we are the linchpin of human survival? 

In this week’s episode, Marcus and Esme discuss a fairly new hypothesis about the evolution of neurodivergent conditions. The evolutionary case for neurodivergence theorizes that conditions like ADHD, autism, and dyslexia are not genetic "mistakes". Instead, they represent natural variations in human cognition that played a vital role in enabling ancestral human groups to adapt and thrive.

Marcus and Esme also explore how this evolutionary reframing supports one of their favorite theories. Specifically, that the high rates of depression and anxiety among neurodivergent people are not the result of “disordered brains,” but the inevitable outcome of living in a modern world that was not built with us in mind. 

Victory laps and suggestions for creating a better world for neurodivergent people abound in this very special episode.

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Why do neurodivergent and neurotypical people often think and behave differently from one another, and why do they struggle to see things from each other’s perspective? While there are a variety of reasons that might explain these differences, Marcus and Esme explore one that they think is particularly impactful: thinking styles. In this special, vacation week edition, Marcus and Esme revisit the topics of bottom-up and top-down thinking. In doing so, they ask the audience to help them figure out: 

1) Do Marcus and Esme hate jigsaw puzzles, or are they just mildly annoyed by the imperfect use of jigsaw puzzle assembly as a metaphor for bottom-up thinking?

2) What  is tiger derangement syndrome, and how does it reflect society’s attitudes towards and assumptions about bottom-up thinking?

3) How does Boeing’s recent difficulties keeping some of their planes from plummeting to earth represent a worst-case scenario for the outcomes of enforced top-down thinking?

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She’s back! Esme and Marcus continue the discussion about the Power of Novelty (episode 122) as they recall some of the lessons they learned on a trip to Paris. Later, Esme shares a recommendation for a book series about a group of witches, vampires, and demons who make a solemn pact to keep their existence hidden from regular people and each other. But can any pact really stop a couple of attractive academics (and secret supernatural beings) from falling in love? 

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