How can recognizing, understanding, and managing our emotions contribute to our happiness, success, and well-being?

Emotions play a big role in our lives. Yet, for most of us, they're viewed as something to ignore or overcome. For these reasons, we often have little experience identifying our feelings. We say we're stressed out, when what we may actually be feeling is frustration, anger, or even disappointment.

While the distinction between stress and frustration may seem slight, it's actually enormous. Marc Brackett, author of the book, Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help Our Kids, Ourselves, and Our Society Thrive, explains: "Imagine how many of us...don't really have clarity about what we're feeling, and feel uncomfortable talking about those feelings, don't know how to regulate them. It's a disaster really. It's why so many people are unhappy."

Marc shares a tool to help us more accurately identify our emotions, so that we can work with them more effectively. This tool is part of a framework he's developed to help us live fuller and happier lives. He shares that his bigger goal for this work is to "create an emotion revolution," in order to "ensure that everyone has permission to feel."

Marc is the Founding Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a professor in the Child Study Center at Yale University. He's published over a hundred scholarly articles on the role of emotions and emotional intelligence in learning, decision making, and performance, and he consults regularly with organizations like Facebook, Microsoft, and Google.

The Host

You can learn more about Curious Minds Host and Creator, Gayle Allen, and Producer and Editor, Rob Mancabelli, here. 

Episode Links

@marcbrackett

marcbrackett.com

RULER

Mood Meter

Emotional Agility by Susan David

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In a world where empathy is in decline, how can we learn to care more?

If you sense we're less empathetic today than decades past, you're right. Studies show there's been a 48 percent decline in empathy between 1979 and 2009. Though human beings are wired to care about each other, we need the right conditions for those feelings to grow.

Jamil Zaki, author of the book, The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World, argues that a shift to online interactions and urban living has made relationships more "narrow, transactional, and anonymous." He explains that in this kind of environment, it's "really not great soil for empathy to grow."

But there is hope. Jamil's research reveals that empathy is a skill we can develop through training and that this training can leave us feeling not only more empathetic, but also kinder. Dedicated practice can also change the brain. Jamil shares that it can grow "parts of the brain...associated with the experience of empathy."

Jamil Zaki is Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and Director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic.

The Host

You can learn more about Curious Minds' Host and Creator, Gayle Allen, and Producer and Editor, Rob Mancabelli, by clicking here.

Episode Links

@zakijam

The Influential Mind by Tali Sharot

Carol Dweck

Tania Singer

London taxi drivers and brain science

Gordon Allport

Contact hypothesis

Emile Bruneau

Nicholas Epley

When Cops Choose Empathy by Jamil Zaki

Jason A. Okonofua

Elizabeth Levy Paluck

Jeremy Bailenson

Eve Ekman

Kari Leibowitz

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What if the very tech that connects us is taking away our need to interact?

Technology connects us to more people than ever before. Yet, as Adam Waytz, author of the book, The Power of Human: How Our Shared Humanity Can Help Us Create a Better World, points out, the data shows we're interacting with one another a whole lot less.

We can turn to our apps for restaurant recommendations and our social media platforms for insights into our friends' lives. And we can do all this without ever having to directly communicate with anyone. Adam believes this lack of human interaction is taking its toll. He contends that, "...people are becoming less engaged with each other, which then manifests in things like income inequality, political polarization...treating people as more members of a market economy...versus members of a community."

To counter these tendencies, he believes we need to bring more meaning to work. In particular, he recommends, "Getting people to think about the way their work impacts other people..." Doing so helps people "...feel like their work matters and ultimately make[s] them feel more human, even as we see automation creeping around us." 

Adam is an Associate Professor of Management and Organizations and a social psychologist at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. 

The Host

You can learn more about Curious Minds' Host and Creator, Gayle Allen, and Producer, Rob Mancabelli, by clicking here.

Episode Links

adamwaytz.com

What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limit of Markets by Michael J. Sandel

Social Empathy: The Art of Understanding Others by Elizabeth Segal

Mistakenly Seeking Solitude by Nicholas Epley and Juliana Schroeder

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If you enjoy the podcast, there are three simple ways you can support our work. First, subscribe so you'll never miss an episode. Second, tell a friend or family member. You'll always have someone to talk to about the interview. Third, rate and review the podcast wherever you subscribe. You'll be helping listeners find their next podcast.

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How would our decision-making change if we shifted focus from the present to the future?

Instant gratification comes easily to us. But when we delay tackling long-term problems associated with things like, health, climate, or society, we cheat our future selves. Bina Venkataraman, author of the book, The Optimist's Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age, argues that it doesn't have to be this way.

Mining related research from the fields of biology, psychology, and economics, Bina shares steps we can take to make wiser decisions. For example, she invites us to look more closely at the kinds of data we're gathering. She explains, "So often we're measuring a lot of immediate results...And that's true whether you look at our sensors that track the steps we take, small fluctuations in temperature or the stock market, or test scores for kids in school." Yet, she argues that this kind of data is "not always a great proxy of what we actually want to accomplish in the long run."

Instead, she explains that it's when we telescope out that we see what's at stake. But only if we make it a habit to do so. And though it's a habit that's hard to master, Bina believes we have a choice. She shares, "we're actually not cursed to this recklessness...Is it going to be easy in every case? No. Can we do it right away? No. But the book is really a roadmap for how we do that as a society. And I think it's cause for a king of optimism, an engaged optimism." Ultimately, she exults, "we have the power to do things differently."

Bina Venkataraman is the incoming editorial page editor at The Boston Globe. She worked as a journalist for The New York Times and served as senior advisor for climate change innovation in the Obama White House.

The Host

You can learn more about Curious Minds Host and Creator, Gayle Allen, and Producer, Rob Mancabelli, by clicking here.

Episode Links

@binajv

Mental time travel

Hal Hershfield

Thomas Suddendorf

Farsighted: How We Make the Decisions that Matter the Most by Steven Johnson

Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University

Aging booth app

Elke Weber

Dear Tomorrow with Jill Kubit and Trisha Shrum

Vijay Mahajan

Walter Mischel

Implementation intention or if-then and Peter Gollwitzer

Ronnie Bardah

Eagle Capital Management

Pre-mortem

Social discount rate

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If you enjoy the podcast, there are three simple things you can do to support our work: (1) subscribe so you'll never miss an episode; (2) tell a friend or family member - you'll always have someone to talk to about the interview; and rate and review the podcast on iTunes or wherever you subscribe - you'll be helping listeners find their next podcast.

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How does work change when we have five generations in the workplace at once?

For the first time in history, there are five different generations working alongside one another in the workplace. In some organizations, that makes for a potential 60-year age difference among employees and, for that reason alone, it makes sense that there might be generational divides and misunderstandings.

Lindsey Pollak, author of the book, The Remix: How to Lead and Succeed in the Multigenerational Workplace, is quick to point out that being born to a particular generation doesn't necessarily mean we'll feel the way we're depicted. In fact, she argues, "It doesn't guarantee that you will behave that way or that will be your personal preference." Yet she argues that the likelihood is high they'll hold similar perspectives because of the era in which they entered the workforce: "[there] will be common understandings."

Lindsey challenges us to rethink millennial stereotypes and reflexive views of older workers. For example, she talks about how leaders can reframe knee-jerk reactions to millennials' career aspirations, in order to respond more effectively. They can ask, "What are you eager for? Maybe it's leadership skills which I can help you get elsewhere without the next job. Maybe it's more learning and I can help you engage in training and development."

Lindsey has served as an official ambassador for LinkedIn, a Millennial workplace expert for The Hartford, and as chair of Cosmopolitan's Millennial Advisory Board. Lindsey is also author of the books, Getting from College to Career: Your Essential Guide to Succeeding in the Real World and Becoming the Boss: New Rules for the Next Generation of Leaders.

The Host

Head here to learn more about Curious Minds Host and Creator, Gayle Allen, and Producer, Rob Mancabelli.

Episode Links

@lindseypollak

Wisdom at Work: The Making of a Modern Elder by Chip Conley

The 100-Year Life by Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott

Neil Howe and William Strauss -- Generational Theory

Lindsey Pollak TEDx Talk: It's about Time We Stop Shaming Millennials

Project Oxygen: re:Work

User Manuals and Workplace Teams and How to Create a Personal User Manual

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If you enjoy the podcast, there are three simple ways you can support our work. First, subscribe. You'll never miss an episode. Second, tell a friend or family member. You'll always have someone to talk to about the interview. Third, rate and review the podcast wherever you listen. You'll be helping listeners find their next podcast.

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What does artificial intelligence mean for the future of machine consciousness and the human mind?

Every week, artificial intelligence is playing a bigger role in the products that we use. Think of Siri, Alexa, Netflix and Spotify. But are we seriously considering what the future holds when it comes to the role AI will play in our lives?

Susan Schneider, author of the book, Artificial You: AI and the Future of Your Mind, asks the questions that companies often don’t. Among those discussed in this interview are: Could AIs become conscious? and, What does it really mean for humans to merge with AIs using brain implants or other devices? In this interview, she shares her concerns: “If you enhance your brain in radical ways would you still be you, or would you basically be changing yourself in such incredibly radical ways that you are no longer the same person you were before?”

Susan believes we should be asking these kinds of questions now, before these technologies become mainstream. She argues that if we don’t, important aspects of human life may be decided by people who design first and ask questions later. She says, “Think of Anthony Hopkins’ character in Westworld. In a way he’s a consciousness engineer. He made decisions, together with other characters, to create or not create sentient beings.”

Susan Schneider is a philosopher and cognitive scientist. Currently, she’s the NASA Chair at the Library of Congress and the Director of the AI, Mind and Society Group at the University of Connecticut. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, The Financial Times, Scientific American, and Smithsonian. Her books include The Language of Thought, The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness, and Science Fiction and Philosophy.

The Host

Head here to learn more about Curious Minds Host and Creator, Gayle Allen, and Producer, Rob Mancabelli.

Episode Links

@DrSueSchneider

Singularity

Transhumanism

Ray Kurzweil

Philosophical zombie

John Searle

Chinese Room thought experiment

NASA, Astrobiology and Paul Davies, Seth Shostak, and Steven Dick

A Human's Guide to Machine Intelligence by Karthik Hosanagar

Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom

Derek Parfit

The Postbiological Universe by Dr. Steven Dick, NASA

The Mind is the Software of the Brain by Ned Block

Merging with AI Would Be Suicide for the Human Mind by Susan Schneider, FT

Simple Ways to Support the Podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, there are three simple ways you can support our work. First, subscribe. You'll never miss an episode. Second, tell a friend or family member. You'll always have someone to talk to about the interview. Third, rate and review the podcast wherever you listen. You'll be helping listeners find their next podcast.

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Is there a certain type of leader whose management approach gets more from their teams?

Gartner, a research and advisory firm, recently conducted a study of thousands of managers and employees. They wanted to find out if there were certain types of management practices that had the greatest impact on employee growth and development. In this interview, Sari Wilde, co-author of the book, The Connector Manager: Why Some Leaders Built Exceptional Talent – and Others Don’t, shares their findings.

Sari explains that what the researchers learned surprised them: not only did one management type have an outsize impact, but it was also a type they never would have predicted. They named it the Connector Manager. According to Sari, this type of leader not only provides targeted feedback and coaching, but also readily “connects employees to others, either within the team, or across the organization, who might be better suited to provide the right kind of coaching and development.”

Sari also shares key characteristics of Connector Managers, as well as some of the tools they use in their work. For example, she describes one tool managers can use to assess employee motivation. It’s one Sari found so insightful that she used it with her team. Today, it frames how they do their work: “[The team’s] top five motivators were things like growth, achievement, transparency, inclusion, so that has changed the way that I communicate, the way I run my team meetings.”

Sari is a Managing Vice President at Gartner where she leads global teams focused on creating research and products to improve outcomes. She’s been studying organizations for more than 15 years, advising executives at hundreds of Fortune 500 companies on their leadership and talent management practices.

The Host

You can learn more about Curious Minds Host and Creator, Gayle Allen, and Producer, Rob Mancabelli, by visiting @CuriousGayle and www.gayleallen.net.

Episode Links

The Fearless Organization by Amy Edmondson

Sari Levine Wilde

Simple Ways to Support the Podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, there are three simple ways you can support our work. First, subscribe so you’ll never miss an episode. Second, tell a friend or family member. You’ll always have someone to talk to about the interview. Third, rate and review the podcast wherever you subscribe. You’ll be helping listeners find their next podcast.

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Does college have a greater impact on the lives we lead than we ever imagined?

Is college still a tool for upward mobility or is the system engineered to advance the wealthy? Paul Tough, author of the book, The Years that Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us, answers this question and more. For example, he explains differences in how many rich and poor students choose their colleges and how those choices impact lifetime earnings. He also discusses how financial aid really works: “College wants us to think that financial aid is this very linear process where colleges decide who they want to admit, and then they give them the aid that they need and it’s a very straightforward process….But that’s not true.”

Though he discusses how the system of higher education is broken, he also offers insights on how to fix it. He explains that a hundred years ago, the U.S. government saw how technological advances made it necessary for young people to have a high school education to compete for jobs. They tackled that problem by creating a system of free, public high schools. Paul sees parallels today: “Clearly a high school degree is not enough to compete in the current labor marketplace….Kids need more education. But we have not … pulled together to say well we’re going to solve that problem. Instead we’re saying to these young people, you’re on your own.”

Paul is a contributing writer to New York Times Magazine where he’s written extensively about parenting, education, poverty, and politics. His writing has also appeared in the New Yorker, the Atlantic, Esquire, and on the op-ed page of the New York Times. Paul’s previous books include: Helping Children Succeed: What Works and Why, and How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character.

The Host

You can learn more about Curious Minds Host and Creator, Gayle Allen, and Producer, Rob Mancabelli, by visiting @CuriousGayle and www.gayleallen.net.

Episode Links

@paultough

Raj Chetty and article about him: The Economist Who Would Fix the American Dream

Caroline Hoxby and articles on her work: The College Board Tried a Simple, Cheap, Research-Backed Way to Push Low-Income Kids into Better Colleges. It Didn’t Work and The Nudges That Didn’t Work

Anthony A. Jack and his book: The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges are Failing Disadvantaged Students

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez

David Laude and his interventions to support college students at the University of Texas

The High School Movement in the U.S.

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If you enjoy the podcast, there are three simple ways you can support our work. First, subscribe so you’ll never miss an episode. Second, tell a friend or family member. You’ll always have someone to talk to about the interview. Third, rate and review the podcast wherever you subscribe. You’ll be helping listeners find their next podcast.

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What if advice we get to “follow your passion” is more complicated that it seems?

Steve Magness is co-author with Brad Stulberg of the book, The Passion Paradox: A Guide to Going All In, Finding Success, and Discovering the Benefits of an Unbalanced Life. Steve coaches some of the world’s top distance runners and has propelled numerous athletes to Olympic trials, world championship teams, and the Olympics. He has been a featured expert in Runner’s World and the New York Times.

When faced with the choice of what to do with our lives, we’re often told, “follow your passion.” Steve believes this advice can be overwhelming, incomplete, and, ultimately, defeating. That’s why he and Brad decided to study the topic. They wanted to demystify it. Along the way, they learned that passion not only fuels big accomplishments, but it can also be problematic. They share that, “passion and addiction are close cousins.”

In this interview, Steve shares ways to develop our passion and insights on how failure can play a role in our search. He also gives tips on how to sustain our passion for the long haul by doing things like focusing on what we can control, rather than what our competitors are doing. He contends, “We can’t control what other people do and where that bar is. But what we can control is making the comparison point a previous version of yourself.”

The Host

You can learn more about Curious Minds Host and Creator, Gayle Allen, and Producer, Rob Mancabelli, by visiting @CuriousGayle and www.gayleallen.net

Episode Links

@stevemagness and https://www.scienceofrunning.com/

@BStulberg and https://www.bradstulberg.com/

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein

Instead of “Finding Your Passion,” Try Developing It, Stanford Scholars Say

Les Passions de l’Ame: On Obsessive and Harmonious Passion

Shalane Flanagan

Obey the 24-Hour Rule

Simple Ways to Support the Podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, there are three simple ways you can support our work. First, subscribe so you’ll never miss an episode. Second, tell a friend or family member. You’ll always have someone to talk to about the interview. Third, rate and review the podcast wherever you subscribe. You’ll be helping listeners find their next podcast.

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What if our IQ scores reveal far less about intelligence and reasoning than we think?

We often assume that people with high IQ scores are more intelligent. We may even believe they’re able to think more critically and make wiser decisions. But is that true?

In this interview, David Robson, author of the book, The Intelligence Trap: Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes, reveals that people with high IQ scores can actually be more prone to mental mistakes and that they don’t necessarily make wise decisions. He compares their intelligence to a car with a fast engine and tremendous power that, without “…a GPS, and good steering and reliable brakes…could actually be quite dangerous. It can drive you in the wrong direction. It can drive you off a cliff. It could just drive you around in circles.”

David explains the origins and limitations of IQ testing, particularly how it overlooks other forms of intelligence, like creative, practical, and cultural intelligence. He also shares the evolutionary dynamics that explain poor decision making, as well as the advantages of measuring people’s ability to engage in wise reasoning: “The wise reasoning scores were actually very good at predicting how happy [people] were, how likely they were to suffer from depression, whether they were satisfied with the people around them – you know all of these really important things in their life.”

David is an award-winning science journalist who specializes in psychology, neuroscience, and medicine. He was a features editor at New Scientist and is currently a senior journalist at BBC Future. His writing has also appeared in The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The Atlantic.

The Host

You can learn more about Curious Minds Host and Creator, Gayle Allen, and Producer, Rob Mancabelli, by visiting @CuriousGayle and www.gayleallen.net.

Episode Links

@d_a_robson

davidrobson.me

Kary Mullis

Lewis Terman

Flynn effect

Robert Sternberg

Cultural Intelligence and Soon Ang

Keith Stanovich and dysrationalia

Daniel Kahneman

Dan Kahan

Curse of knowledge

Farsighted by Steven Johnson

Igor Grossmann and wise reasoning

Philip E.Tetlock and superforecasting

Silvia Mamede

Adam Galinsky

Richard Feynman

Simple Ways to Support the Podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, there are three simple ways you can support our work. First, subscribe so you’ll never miss an episode. Second, tell a friend or family member. You’ll always have someone to talk to about the interview. Third, rate and review the podcast wherever you subscribe. You’ll be helping listeners find their next podcast.

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