Smart People Podcast

This week we are talking with one of the most prolific authors in decades, Charles Duhigg. You may know him from his NYT Bestselling Books, “The Power of Habit,” and “Better Faster Stronger.” His books have sold more than 5 million copies worldwide! In our episode this week, we are talking about his new book, Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection.

Communication is a superpower and the best communicators understand that whenever we speak, we’re actually participating in one of three conversations: practical (What’s this really about?), emotional (How do we feel?), and social (Who are we?). If you don’t know what kind of conversation you’re having, you’re unlikely to connect. These are the things you need to do to become….a supercommunicator.

Charles' book, Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection, is available now.

To learn more about Charles, go to charlesduhigg.com.

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Memory isn't just a passive recollection—it's a transformative force that subtly influences our world.

Dr. Ranganath, a leading memory researcher, unveils the powerful influence memory has on our lives, from recalling faces and names to shaping learning, decision-making, and even trauma and healing. He reveals how our brains record the past, shaping our present and guiding our future.

Join us as we explore practical applications of this knowledge, from daily tasks like finding keys to addressing memory challenges as we age. Dr. Ranganath also shows how leveraging our brain's ability to reinterpret past events can lead to healing trauma, shedding biases, and fostering self-awareness.

Charan's book, Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters, is available now.

To learn more about Charan, go to charanranganath.com.

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Bonnie Wan is a Partner and Head of Brand Strategy at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, one of Fast Company’s 2021 Most Innovative Companies In The World. As a career brand strategist she has been celebrated as an Ad Age Leading Woman for 2023 and 2022’s Chief Strategy Officer of the Year.

We all have moments when we doubt the path we’re on. Is this the career for me? Am I in the right relationship? Is this as good as it gets? These questions can feel uncomfortable without a method for uncovering the answers. Enter The Life Brief, a simple yet effective playbook for navigating life’s decisions, crossroads, and curve-balls.

Modeled after the creative brief, a tool used by the most innovative companies in the world to unlock clarity and unleash action, The Life Brief carves a path for living with intention and imagination. Designed by leading brand strategist Bonnie Wan, The Life Brief is a practice in three parts: The first phase, Get Messy, is a set of open-ended writing prompts that cut through limiting beliefs and false assumptions about what’s possible. The second phase, Get Clear, offers prompts for finding clarity around what you truly, deeply want. The third phase, Get Active, catapults you into the steps to making those desires a reality.

Bonnie's book, The Life Brief: A Playbook for No-Regrets Living, is available now.

To learn more about Bonnie, go to thelifebrief.com/bonnie.

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Stephen W. Porges, Ph.D. is Distinguished University Scientist at Indiana University where he is the founding director of the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium. He is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, and Professor Emeritus at both the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Maryland.

Since Stephen Porges first proposed the Polyvagal Theory in 1994, its basic idea―that the level of safety we feel impacts our health and happiness―has radically shifted how researchers and clinicians approach trauma interventions and therapeutic interactions. Yet despite its wide acceptance, most of the information on the topic has been obscured behind clinical texts and scientific jargon. In this episode we talk with the founder of Polyvagal Theory, Dr. Stephen Porges, to better understand how to master our autonomic nervous system for health and happiness.

Dr. Porges' book, Our Polyvagal World: How Safety and Trauma Change Us, is available now.

To learn more about Dr. Porges, go to stephenporges.com.

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Paul Millerd is an author, consultant, and podcaster.

In this episode we talk about what it’s like to find yourself in the wrong life, and then how to get into the real work of figuring out how to live. Our guest pieces together a set of ideas and principles that brought him from unfulfilled and burned out to his good life. Hopefully you can take some things away from this conversation to start living a more intentional, energizing, and passionate life for yourself.

Paul's book, The Pathless Path: Imagining a New Story For Work and Life, is available now.

To learn more about Paul, go to think-boundless.com.

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Alex is an entrepreneur, business author, and seasoned capital markets professional focused on the impact of emerging technologies, such as blockchain and cryptocurrencies, on business, government, and society.

An essential introduction and guide to navigating the next Internet revolution—everything from the metaverse and NFTs to DAOs, decentralized finance, and self-sovereign identity—from the co-author of the international bestseller Blockchain Revolution.

Alex's most recent book is Web3: Charting the Internet's Next Economic and Cultural Frontier.

To learn more about Alex, go to alextapscott.com.

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Dr. Mark Goulston is dying to tell you about what mortality is teaching him. He is a distinguished psychiatrist, a hostage negotiations trainer, and death and dying specialist who is facing his own mortality and the universe is telling him to share what he's learned from 50 years of listening. He says that if he knew these things decades earlier, it would have changed his life for the better. Now you can learn them to change your life for the better... and you don't need to be dying to learn them.

Dr. Goulston's most recent book is Back After Burnout: Master your BURNOUT RECOVERY with the MASHPLAY™ framework.

To learn more about Dr. Goulston, go to markgoulston.com.

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It’s no secret that division, loneliness, and polarization are on the rise—to catastrophic impact on our personal lives. While we often think of curiosity as a personality trait, internationally-recognized curiosity expert Scott Shigeoka knows that it’s actually the most potent tool we have to bridge our differences and heal relationships: From political blow-ups to age divides at work; religious differences to languishing friendships; gun rights to gender rights. In this episode, Shigeoka blends cutting edge research on curiosity with wisdom from years of grassroots community work —as he takes listeners on a journey to understand the power of deep curiosity.

Scott Shigeoka is an internationally recognized curiosity expert, speaker, and the author of SEEK: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World. He is known for translating research into strategies that promote positive well-being and connected relationships around the globe, including at the UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and through his groundbreaking courses at the University of Texas at Austin. Scott implements his curiosity practices in the public sector, Fortune 500 companies, Hollywood, media organizations, education institutions, and small businesses.

Scott's book, Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World, is available now.

To learn more about Scott, go to scottshigeoka.com.

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Why and how did America, in a catastrophically enormous failure, become the world leader in COVID deaths? In this Episode, veteran journalist Joe Nocera offers fresh and provocative answers. We discuss what really happened when governments ran out of PPE due to snarled supply chains and the shock to the financial system when the world's biggest economy stumbled. We also cover the effectiveness of wildly polarized approaches, with governors Andrew Cuomo of New York and Ron DeSantis of Florida taking infamous turns in the spotlight. And we uncover why thousands died in hollowed-out hospital systems and nursing homes run by private equity firms to “maximize shareholder value.”

Joe's book, The Big Fail: What the Pandemic Revealed About Who America Protects and Who It Leaves Behind, is available now.

To learn more about Joe, follow him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joenocera.

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You may feel as if you don't control your emotional energy, that it's an inevitable consequence of the world around you and the forces bearing down on you. But that's not the case. To reach your full potential, you can learn to recognize and harness the energy in your brain.

Dr. Julia DiGangi is an expert in the connection between our brains, our emotions, and our relationships. Her work shows people how to harness the power of the brain to lead more satisfying and emotionally intelligent lives. Her lab and clinical work have been conducted at Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, the University of Chicago, DePaul, and University of Illinois Chicago.

Dr. DiGangi's book, Energy Rising: The Neuroscience of Leading with Emotional Power, is available now.

To learn more about Dr. DiGangi , go to drjuliadigangi.com.

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