Every single day, we’re confronted with more information than we could possibly verify. So how do we ever know we’re right? And what do we do when we find out we’re wrong?

This week on Everyday Better, professor Alex Edmans shares why you’re probably less open-minded than you think—and what you can do about it. As a researcher, Alex loves data. But after witnessing firsthand our tendency to cherry-pick the data we want to be true, he began searching for a better way to find truth in an era of information overload.

In this conversation, Alex breaks down our most common mental biases and shares the steps you can take to confront them. He also explains why challenging our beliefs is the key to living a freer, more self-led life.

Get Alex’s book May Contain Lies: How Stories, Statistics, and Studies Exploit Our Biases – And What We Can Do About It here.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also love this one: Demystifying Wellness Trends with Medical Journalist Dr. Trisha Pasricha

Follow Leah Smart and Alex Edmans on LinkedIn.

Most of us avoid thinking about death until it hits close to home – but what if facing it head-on could actually help you live more peacefully and joyfully? 

This week, Leah sits down with Julie McFadden, better known as Hospice Nurse Julie. After working as an ICU nurse for many years, Julie transitioned to hospice care, where she now helps patients and families navigate the end of life with honesty, compassion and even a little humor. In their conversation, Julie reflects on her personal philosophy: that contemplating death daily has helped her live with more intention and contentment. She also breaks down the biology of how we die and explains end-of-life phenomena.

Whether you’ve faced loss yourself or want to live more fully today, this episode will shift the way you think about life, death and everything that happens in between.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also love this one: How a Career in Hospice Care Made Nurse Hadley “Death Positive”

Do you ever wish you had more time for what matters most to you?

Today, Leah shares a simple time management exercise designed to bring more clarity and joy to your schedule. Developed by researcher Cassie Holmes — a fan-favorite guest on the show — this technique, known as Time Crafting, helps you understand how you’re really spending your time and how to build your calendar around what energizes you.

Using her own schedule as a guide, Leah walks through the Time Crafting method step-by-step. She shares which activities left her feeling fulfilled, which ones drained her energy and what changed after just one week of mindfully tracking her time.

If you’ve ever reached the end of a packed day and wondered where your time went — or questioned if you spent it on what truly matters — this exercise is for you.

Listen to Leah’s full conversation with Cassie Holmes here.

Download Cassie’s templates for Time Crafting here.

“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” We’ve all heard it, maybe even lived by it. But what if turning your passion into a career is doing more harm than good? 

In this episode, sociologist Erin Cech challenges our cultural obsession with finding fulfillment at work. Drawing from her book “The Trouble with Passion”, Erin explains how the “passion principle” can exacerbate societal inequalities as well as burnout. She also shares practical questions to ask yourself about the relationship you want to have with paid work, and offers ways to find meaning in a variety of places.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also love this one: Redefine Your Relationship to Work with Former Top Magazine Editor Jennifer Romolini

Morra Aarons-Mele, host of the podcast "The Anxious Achiever," long understood her challenges at work as byproducts of anxiety and depression. She had a hard time working for other people and often found herself saying the wrong thing in meetings. But a recent discovery changed everything: Morra learned she’s neurodivergent. That realization helped her reframe not only her struggles, but also her strengths, and paved the way towards a more authentic, empowered way of working.

In this week's episode of Everyday Better, Morra shares how embracing her neurodivergence helps her tap into her full potential. She and Leah discuss what neurodivergence encompasses, the hidden power of introversion and how our workplaces need to evolve to support a broader range of minds. Morra also explains why difference isn’t a liability but a competitive advantage, and how to leverage your own unique strengths to show up stronger at work. 

If you liked this episode, check out Morra’s podcast “The Anxious Achiever” here.

Listen to my conversation with Dr. Barry Kudrowitz on why play and humor belong at work here.

Leah is back from maternity leave! In her first episode back, she and her producers talk about her birth story, the tools she used to manage anxiety during pregnancy and how she’s learning to let go of control and live in the moment.

After nearly a decade in remission, bestselling author, speaker and cancer survivor Suleika Jaouad learned that her leukemia had returned. Confronted with profound uncertainty about her future, she turned to journaling as both a creative practice and means of survival. And through writing, Suleika discovered a powerful shift in perspective: to live each day as if it were her first, not her last.

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Suleika joins guest host Jessi Hempel to share insights from her latest book “The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life.” She reflects on what illness taught her about productivity, identity and success, and how creativity can help anyone metabolize grief, reclaim joy and reimagine what’s possible in uncertain times. 
If you liked this episode, you’ll also love this one: No Regrets Living: Designing Your Life Brief With Brand Strategist Bonnie Wan

For years, Dr. Russell Kennedy tried everything to treat his crippling anxiety – therapy, medication – nothing worked. It wasn’t until he stopped searching in his head and started looking to his body that everything changed. Today, Russell helps others heal by targeting what he calls “background alarm,” a residue of unresolved childhood trauma stored in the body.

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Leah sits down with Russell to explore why traditional treatments for anxiety often fall short, and what it really takes to heal from the inside out. Russell shares the somatic tools and mindset shifts that have helped him and his patients regulate their nervous systems, reconnect with their inner child and break free from the anxiety loop. He also explains why healing starts not with fixing your thoughts but by feeling what’s been buried in your body all along.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also love this one: Why We Panic: The Evolutionary Roots of Anxiety and How to Copy Today

This week, Leah shares her story of living with and learning to manage her anxiety.

Additional Resources:

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, Everyday Better is spotlighting some of the most common, yet least understood, mental health challenges.

This week, ABC News’ Chief National Correspondent Matt Gutman joins Leah to share his personal journey with anxiety and panic attacks – struggles he hid for nearly two decades, even while reporting live on national television. But in 2020, after a career-altering on-air mistake, Matt was forced to confront his panic head-on, or walk away from the job he loved.

In his book “No Time to Panic,” Matt explores the science behind anxiety and panic attacks. He explains why humans have panic attacks and how evolution has made anxiety a surprisingly adaptive trait. He also shares the practical tools and mindset shifts that helped him regain control, from breathwork and mindfulness to self-compassion and daily gratitude rituals. 

Get Matt’s book No Time to Panic here.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also love this one: Conquer Everyday Anxiety with Dr. Wendy Suzuki