Kelly welcomes Scott Barry Kaufman back to the podcast to talk about his new book “Rise Above: Overcome a Victim Mindset, Empower Yourself, and Realize Your Full Potential.” 

“We’re living in a time when we identify so strongly with our victimhood that our potential has taken a back seat to our pain.” 

“There’s big money in trauma right now.”

“The thing is, when we’re rigid, we become fragile.” 

Kelly connects with Raffi Grinberg, a business leader, author, and educator based in Washington, DC. When teaching at Boston College, Raffi created a popular class called “Adulting 101.” He’s turned the teachings from that class into the book, “How to Be a Grownup.” 

“Many newly minted adults are more educated than ever, yet more lost than ever.” 

“Knowledge is pointless unless you know what you want.” 

“The most useful skill for any career is empathy.” 

Kelly talks to former Gap executive Abby Davison, who has co-written a book with legendary Stanford University Professor Myra Strober called, “Money and Love: An Intelligent Roadmap for Life’s Biggest Decision”

“Talking about money often ranks high on the list of least favorite conversations.” 

“Productive fighting is better for a relationship than poor communication.” 

“We can’t make good decisions about our lives without looking at the whole picture.” 

Kelly connects with CEO Wes Adams and Professor Tamara Myles about their new book, “Meaningful Work: How to Ignite Passion and Performance in Every Employee.” 

“Trust at work – like in improv – is the oil that keeps the gears turning smoothly.” 

“Storytelling can be a powerful tool to create belonging.” 

“Micromanagement is a meaning killer.” 

Kelly gets courageous with former Google executive Jenny Wood to talk about her new book, “Wild Courage: Go After What You Want and Get It.” 

“Wild courage will change your life.” 

“Serendipity isn’t found; it’s made.” 

“Success mindset precedes success.” 

Kelly talks with Dr. Sandy Jo MacArthur and Dr. Luanne Pannell from the University of Chicago Crime Lab and Second City’s Tyler Dean Kempf about the work we’re doing together bringing improvisation into the Policing Leadership Academy. 

“Cops are dropped into a scene and they have to improv every single thing they do in the field.”

“This is what the police have to do every day. We just don’t call it improv.”

“Communication is everything.”

Kelly connects with The Atlantic journalist Olga Khazan whose new book, “Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change,” follows her as she attempts to change her own personality including taking improv classes in order to boost her extroversion. 

“Improv taught me I can rely on others to supply their side of the interaction.”

“Behaving against our natures doesn’t bother us as much as we fear it might.” 

“In improv, as in life, sometimes it helps to just make a choice, weird though it might be.” 

Kelly welcomes Martha Jones back to the podcast. She is the Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor and professor of history at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. We spoke to her last about her book “Vanguard.” Her new book is called “The Trouble of Color: An American Family Memoir.” 

“So much of the historical record was written with silence.” 

“I discovered my faith in the capacity of words to help me know myself and the people who made me.”

“This book is a dialogue with my family. It is also a dialogue with those who write about the past in which my family made its way.” 

Kelly connects with Dannagal Goldthwaite Young, a professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Delaware. Her research interests include political media effects, public opinion, political satire and the psychology of political humor. Her books include Irony and Outrage and Wrong. She’s also an improviser. 

“First rule of comedy: know your audience.” 

“We – all of us – are wrong about lots of things.” 

“Confident humility is a corrective lens.” 

Kelly talks to University of Michigan Professor Ethan Kross about his new book: “Shift: Managing Your Emotions – So They Don’t Manage You.”

“Emotions aren’t good or bad; they are just information.” 

“There are things you can control and things you can’t. Emotions are both.” 

“The effect music has on our emotions feels like magic.”