In this raw and uncut episode, Mark Manson imparts his wisdom on the art of not giving a fuck. According to Manson, the key to living a good life is “not giving a fuck about more; it’s giving a fuck about less, giving a fuck about only what is true and immediate and important”. In this interview, we learn about this unique art form, and all of the counterintuitive ways that giving less fucks in your life actually frees you up to get more of what you truly value. You’ll learn how the acceptance of one’s negative experience can itself be a positive experience, the benefits of suffering, the futility of searching for happiness, the ways that emotions are overrated, and how to distinguish between good values and unproductive values. You’ll also be inspired to learn that you are not as special as you think you are, and that you are wrong about everything. As if that wasn’t motivating enough, you’ll also learn to accept your mundane existence, and the inevitability of death. This was a fun, wise, and at times, rather profound, interview. Note: In the spirit of Mark’s message, this entire interview is uncensored and unedited, which means that Scott shows extreme vulnerability in a way that he hasn’t before in past episodes. Fuck it.

Best selling author and social psychologist Heidi Grant Halvorson discusses motivational styles and how we can ensure people understand who we truly are. It’s a particularly actionable episode, where the listener can learn strategies aimed at effective communication, habit formation and making better motivational decisions.

“Cognitive neuroscientist Kent Kiehl discusses his research and personal experience working with “those without conscience.” Scott and Kent demystify the historically fascinating illness as it relates to criminal activity, genius, evil, flourishing, the brain, gender and treatment."

Five time international bestselling author Robert Greene shares his thoughts on creativity, finding your calling, social intelligence and his latest book about what it means to be a ‘Master’ of your craft.

Today I’m really excited to have Kati Morton on the podcast. Morton is as an entrepreneur, YouTube creator, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist practicing in Santa Monica, CA. Morton has built a global mental health online community, and is author of the book “Are U OK?: A Guide to Caring for Your Mental Health.”

In this episode we discuss:

• What’s the difference between mental health and mental illness?
• Breaking down the stigma of mental illness
• What should you look for when looking for a therapist?
• What are some warning signs of a terrible therapist?
• What’s the best way to deal with a toxic co-worker?
• What's the link between vulnerable narcissism and borderline personality disorder?
• How do you know if you need mental help?
• What are some of the most validated forms of therapy available today?
• How do you break up with friends that you’ve outgrown?
• The importance of healthy assertiveness
• How a very small no can equate to a very large yes
• How can you get more mental help when you need it?

Today I’m really excited to have James and Suzann Pileggi Pawelski on the podcast. James is Professor of Practice and Director of Education in the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania where he cofounded the Master of Applied Positive Psychology Program with Martin Seligman. Suzie is a freelance writer, Psychology Today blogger, and well-being consultant specializing in the science of happiness and its effects on relationships and health. Together, James and Suzie are co-authors of the newly-released book “Happy Together: Using the Science of Positive Psychology to Build Love That Lasts”. They also give Romance and ResearchTM workshops together around the world.

In this episode we discuss:

• What people get wrong about relationships
• What the "relationship gym" is
• How to cultivate "Aristotelian love"
• The specific ways positive psychology can help you be happy with a partner
• The role of gratitude in relationships
• How to sustain passion in a relationship

Psychologist Dr. Todd Kashdan shares some unconventional research on how we can harness “negative” psychological characteristics to live whole, successful and fulfilling lives. Topics include the dark triad, emotional experimentation, mindfulness, education, evolution and what it means to live well.

The narcissists of the world will be happy to hear that they make for an extraordinarily interesting psychological discussion! On this episode we speak with an expert in the field, Dr. W. Keith Campbell, who has spent more than a decade studying narcissism and its effects on relationships. This interview is an in-depth look at the character trait as it relates to (takes a deep breath): dating, social media, reality TV, age, leadership, politics, diagnosis, grandiosity and more. We cover the different forms of narcissism, why narcissists have such a powerful affect on us, and how we can learn to spot the narcissists in our life. It’s a fun and fascinating topic – enjoy!

Dr. Elaine Aron is one of the world’s foremost experts on the highly sensitive person. She ought to be – she was its first researcher! In this episode, we cover this fascinating concept as it relates to a broad swath of psychological concepts like self-esteem, gender, love, leadership, personality, genetics and more. Roughly 20% of the population can be classified as highly sensitive, so all of us likely know someone (or are someone) with this trait. Also, Scott performs a statistical analysis live on air – it’s a first and a lot of fun!

Modern day philosopher Alain de Botton has become world renown for his ability to provide compelling real world answers to some of life’s biggest questions. For this episode of The Psychology Podcast, we cover the philosophy and science of a range of topics, including what it means to have a “normal” relationship, the origins of the desire for religion, the pervasive lack of systematic thinking about happiness, how the illusion of perfection creates problems, existential crises and much more. We get a bit cheeky with a high brow discussion of the human condition. Fair warning that this episode does include some discussion of sex and pornography as they relate to well-being.

“The happiest person is the person doing good stuff for good reasons.” 

— Kennon Sheldon

Dr. Kennon Sheldon is a psychologist at the University of Missouri who studies motivation, goals, and well-being, from both a self-determination theory and a positive psychology perspective. He has authored or co-authored multiple books, including “Optimal human being: An integrated multi-level perspective”. Dr. Sheldon has been cited more than 30,000 times, and in 2010, he was named one of the 20 most cited social psychologists.

In this wide-ranging episode we discuss:

• How Ken went from aspiring musician to leading research on goals
• Whether the pursuit of happiness is worth it
• Is happiness in your genes?
• The link between goals and happiness
• The what and why of motivated goal pursuit
• The basic needs of self-determination theory
• Deprivation vs. growth needs
• Self-concordance theory
• The link between values and happiness
• How much can we use science as a guide to values?
• Are there some ways of being more conducive to happiness than others?
• How to get in touch with your OVP (organismic valuing process)
• Marrying positive psychology and humanistic psychology
• The relationship between personal goals and personal projects
• How to know when to change your goals
• The good life: well-being or well-doing?

Dr. Elaine Aron is one of the world’s foremost experts on the highly sensitive person. She ought to be – she was its first researcher! In this episode, we cover this fascinating concept as it relates to a broad swath of psychological concepts like self-esteem, gender, love, leadership, personality, genetics and more. Roughly 20% of the population can be classified as highly sensitive, so all of us likely know someone (or are someone) with this trait. Also, Scott performs a statistical analysis live on air – it’s a first and a lot of fun!

It’s great to have Dr. Robert Leahy on the podcast today. Dr. Leahy completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School under the direction of Dr. Aaron Beck, the founder of cognitive therapy. Dr. Leahy is the past president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, past president of the International Association of Cognitive Psychotherapy, past president of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, director of the American Institute for Cognitive Therapy (NYC), and a clinical professor of psychology in psychiatry at Weill-Cornell University Medical School.

Dr. Leahy has received the Aaron T. Beck award for outstanding contributions in cognitive therapy, and he is author and editor of 25 books, including The Worry Cure, which received critical praise from the New York Times and has been selected by Self Magazine as one of the top eight self-help books of all time. His latest book is The Jealousy Cure: Learn to Trust, Overcome Possessiveness, and Save Your Relationship.

Topics:

• Why Dr. Lahey wrote The Anxiety Cure
• The new science of jealousy
• How jealousy differs from envy
• Why jealousy evolved
• What is the downside of intense jealousy?
• Why we don’t want to get rid of jealousy
• Are men and women equally jealous?
• The relationship between attachment style and jealousy
• What if there really is a reason to be jealous?
• What are some practical techniques that people can use to cope with their jealousy?
• The importance of normalizing jealousy

We are especially grateful (and giddy) to be sharing this episode with our listeners! Brene Brown's work really gels with our core interests here on The Psychology Podcast, and the resulting conversation contains some enthusiastic and empirically informed banter that is sure to inform and delight. We geek out over some counter-intuitive findings, like how incredibly compassionate people have a tendency to set the most boundaries and say "no." We discuss the power of being vulnerable and how the data suggests that it is one of the best predictors of courage. We chat about how trying to be cool is the enemy of truly being cool, how we can enrich future generation’s learning with wholehearted living, and how ignoring our creativity defies our essential nature. It’s ~45 minutes of two experts in the field sharing data, and themselves, and it’s one of our favorite episodes yet. 

We’re making a real effort to improve the show for our listeners and would hugely appreciate 15 seconds of your time filling out this short survey: http://survey.libsyn.com/psychologypodcast (Email is not required).

“There can be no autonomy without the autonomy to choose, without coercion or constraint, or in spite of it, who our lovers will be.” — Wednesday Martin

Today we have Wednesday Martin on the podcast. Dr. Martin has worked as a writer and social researcher in New York City for more than two decades. The author of Stepmonster and the instant New York Times bestseller Primates of Park Avenue, she writes for the online edition of Psychology Today and her work has appeared in The New York Times and Time.com. Dr. Martin’s latest book is called “Untrue: Why Nearly Everything We Believe About Women, Lust, and Infidelity Is Wrong and How the New Science Can Set Us Free.”

In this episode we discuss:

• How Wednesday tries to make the sex research “delicious and fun”
• How female infidelity is mired in so much misunderstanding
• How Millenial women are more sexually adventurous compared to Millennial men
• What’s the consensual non-monogamy movement?
• How we evolved to be “cooperative breeders”
• What is “female flexuality”?
• Why we need to stop pathologizing those who embrace non-monogamy
• How women are driving the polyamory movement
• The good reasons why monogamy is hard and the other options that exist
• How your attachment style and sociosexuality are linked to consensual non-monogamy
• Disagreeable women and sociosexuality
• Rethinking sex differences in the drive for sexual novelty
• Pornography viewing differences between men and women
• Common triggers of violence in relationships
• Rethinking the motivations underlying sex differences in cheating
• How better science can help us all have hotter sex

James Clear studies successful people across a wide range of disciplines to uncover the habits and routines that make them the best at what they do. In this episode, we speak with James about his behavioral psychology background to uncover practical advice on how to flourish. The conversation is light and pleasant, while the content is deep and immediately useful for people looking to live better through science. Topics include habit formation, identity crafting, self-quantification and personal well-being. Enjoy and tell us what you think in the iTunes comments section!

Today we have one of the world's most preeminent attachment scientists, Dr. R. Chris Fraley, on the podcast! Fraley is a Professor at the University of Illinois's Department of Psychology and received the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Award in 2007 for Early Career Contribution to Psychology in the area of Individual Differences. In this episode of The Psychology Podcast, we take a deep dive into a few of Chris' many interesting research areas: attachment processes in close relationships, personality dynamics, and development.

Some of the questions we explore are: How are attachment styles measured? How does research on attachment styles differ between children and adults? What are the implications of individual differences in adult attachment styles? How does this relate to internal working models theory? How does all of that relate to one's own motivational account? What are the roles of nature vs. nurture in the development of attachment styles?

Vanessa Van Edwards is a self-described “recovering boring and awkward person,” whose latest book, Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People, provides simple ways to decode people and level-up your relationships and networking abilities. It’s an especially practical episode, which features a handful of actionable strategies to be more effective in the social realm. We discuss research surrounding charisma, eye contact, hand gestures, relaxing one’s voice, and conquering social anxiety! To learn more about Vanessa, visit her website scienceofpeople.com.

Check out the #1 one recipe and fresh ingredient delivery service Blue Apron – get your first three meals free, with free shipping by signing up through blueapron.com/tpp

“Whether you think you’re better than everybody or worse than everybody, you’re still assuming that you are different than everybody.” — Mark Manson

Today it’s great to have Mark Manson on the podcast. His blog, markmanson.net, attracts more than two million readers per month. Mark is the New York Times and international bestselling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck (with over 6 million in sales in the US alone) and his latest book is called Everything is Fucked: A Book About Hope.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why we are a culture in need of hope
• The paradox of progress
• How self-control is an illusion
• How to learn to communicate to yourself effectively
• “Emo Newton’s” laws of emotion
• Mark’s definition of growth
• How to start your own religion
• The paradox of hope
• How hope can be incredibly destructive if we’re not careful
• Kant’s Formula of Humanity
• How to grow up
• Political extremism and maturity
• The difference between #fakefreedom and real freedom
• Why we are bad algorithms and why we shouldn’t fear artificial intelligence so much
• What Mark dares to hope for

I’m really excited to have Ayishat Akanbi on the podcast today. Ayishat is a writer and fashion stylist based in London. Personal reflection has guided her approach of reminding us of our commonalities instead of our differences. Not just for social awareness but also self-awareness, Ayishat resists the black and white thinking that can lead to divisive socio-political discourse and is comfortable “in the grey”.  From identity to cancel culture, race, integrity, wokeness, the nature of group think and more, she is determined to not let her work fall victim to the dogmatic script that discourages rationality and rewards reactivity. 

Today it’s great to have Dr. Richard Haier on the podcast. Dr. Haier is Professor Emeritus in the School of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. His research investigates structural and functional neuroanatomy of intelligence using neuroimaging.

He created an eighteen lecture video course, The Intelligent Brain and author of the Neuroscience of Intelligence. He is co-editor of The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence and Cognitive Neuroscience. He is editor in chief of Intelligence, a scientific journal. 

Today it’s great to have the political psychologist Lilianna Mason on the podcast. Dr. Mason is associate professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park, and author of Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity (University of Chicago Press).Dr. Mason received her PhD in Political Psychology from Stony Brook University and her BA in Politics from Princeton University. Her research on partisan identity, partisan bias, social sorting, and American social polarization has been published in journals such as American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Public Opinion Quarterly, and Political Behavior, and featured in media outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, and National Public Radio. 

Today it’s great to have Geoffrey Miller on the podcast. Geoffrey Miller is the author of Virtue Signaling (2019), Spent (2009), and The Mating Mind (2001), the co-author of Mate/What Women Want (2015), and the co-editor of Mating Intelligence (2007). He has a B.A. from Columbia and a Ph.D. from Stanford. He's a tenured evolutionary psychology professor at the University of New Mexico; and has also worked at the University of Sussex, the Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research, University College London, London School of Economics, U.C.L.A., and NYU Stern Business School.

He researches evolutionary psychology, sexuality, consumer behavior, behavior genetics, intelligence, personality, creativity, humor, and mental disorders. He's has over 110 academic publications, and has given over 200 invited talks in 16 countries. His research has been featured in Nature, Science, Time, Wired, New Scientist, The Economist,The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Psychology Today, on NPR and BBC radio, and on CNN, PBS, Discovery Channel, Learning Channel, National Geographic Channel, BBC, and Channel 4.

Time Stamps

[0:35] Dr. Miller’s background and his book, The Mating Mind

[2:53] Understanding Signaling Theory

[6:10] Connecting Signaling Theory to sexual selection

[10:41] Common misconceptions about Signaling Theory

[12:41] Functions and social benefits of signaling

[14:01] Creativity as signals

[15:39] Dr. Miller shares about cognitive emotions

[17:42] How social media helps intellectual curiosity

[20:34] Connection between social rewards and sexual selection

[23:06] How self-esteem tracks perception of social value

[27:56] How Machiavellianism and sociopathy create a “trap” of finding followers

[29:30] “Pick up artists” and their life hacks on courtship and dating

[33:06] Effective influencing and courtship vs. Machiavellianism

[35:18] Human beings as “ideological animals”

[39:06] How individual differences create beliefs, ideologies, and values

[43:07] Distinguishing cheap talk and virtue signaling

[47:07] Differences between empathy and effective altruism

[49:29] Cognitive biases and utilitarian thinking

[54:09] Effective altruism vs. psychopathy

[57:03] Discrimination of neurodivergent people

[1:02:45] Impact of gifted people on society moving forward

[1:04:49] Dr. Miller on teaching a course on polyamory and open sexuality

[1:07:11] Pair bonding and monogamy in human evolution

[1:11:49] How monogamous and polyamorous people can learn from each other

[1:12:43] So what is polyamory?

[1:14:30] Dr. Miller on writing a new book about ethical polyamory

[1:16:20] Existential and extraterrestrial threats from an effective altruist perspective

Today it’s great to have Dr. Martin Seligman on the podcast. Dr. Seligman is Director of the Penn Positive Psychology Center, the Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology in the Penn Department of Psychology, and Director of the Penn Master of Applied Positive Psychology Program. Commonly known as the founder of positive psychology, Dr. Seligman is a leading authority in the fields of positive psychology, resilience, learned helplessness, depression, optimism, and pessimism. He is also a recognized authority on interventions that prevent depression, and that build strengths and well-being. He has written more than 250 scholarly publications and 20 books, including Flourish, Authentic Happiness, Learned Optimism, Character Strengths and Virtues (which was co-authored with Chris Peterson), and his autobiography The Hope Circuit: A Psychologist’s Journey from Helplessness to Optimism. For detailed show notes and more information, please visit thepsychologypodcast.com 

Today it’s great to have the social psychologist Wendy Wood on the podcast. Wendy is Provost Professor of Psychology and Business at the University of Southern California. She has written for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, and her work has been featured in The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, Time magazine, and USA Today, and on NPR. She lectures widely and recently launched the website Good Habits Bad Habits to convey scientific insight on habit to the general public. Her latest book is called Good Habits, Bad habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick.

Time Stamps

[0:37] Wendy Wood’s background

[2:07] Understanding habits

[3:05] Common misconceptions regarding habits

[3:57] Integrating habits with conscious decision

[6:25] Defining a bad habit

[8:21] How good habits bring out the best version of a person

[13:02] "Habit stacking" and friction

[16:57] Qualities of a self-controlled person

[18:58] Wendy shares about ego depletion

[20:23] “White knuckling” through temptation as a counterproductive quality

[24:16] Habit system working like codes

[25:57] On how long it takes to change habits

[30:47] Changing habits using friction

[35:51] Habit vs. addiction

[37:08] Uber’s surge pricing as an example of friction

[38:51] How humans and animals learn and form habits

[40:14] The difference between a habit and a personality trait

[42:31] Gender differences in social behavior

[46:01] The impact of culture on gender differences

Call to Action

What are the habits that make you successful in life? Please share your experiences with us in the comments section down below and make sure to subscribe for more content.

“Strong, trusting relationships among people who are striving to be the best versions of themselves create something powerful.”

Today it’s great to have Coach Pete Carroll on the podcast. One of only three coaches to win a Super Bowl and college football national championship, Pete Carroll is in his 11th season as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. With his unique “Always Compete” philosophy and relationship-based approach, Carroll has a combined 46 years of highly decorated NFL and collegiate coaching experience. 

Carroll is also widely known for his off-field impact — through community initiatives that aim to reduce youth and gang violence; his leadership with the WE organization that focuses on youth empowerment; Compete to Create, the high-performance mindset platform he co-founded; the Performance Science Institute at USC that he co-created to educate and inspire college students; and his New York Times best-selling “Win Forever” book.

In this episode we cover:

• How players are handling a virtual off-season
• Some of Coach Carroll’s goals for the virtual off-season
• How players are coping with the Coronavirus
• Coach Carroll’s definition of “competition”
• The importance of striving to be your best
• What it means to be your best on the sports field
• How coaches are teachers
• When recruiting new players, what are some of the most important characteristics?
• What Coach Carroll was like as a child
• How determination can be more important than talent
• The mission of Compete to Create
• The importance of a culture of love
• What authenticity looks like in a sports context
• Coach Carroll’s belief in the importance of self-belief and self-talk
• The difference between extreme self-belief and narcissism
• How to cultivate creativity among players
• The relationship between expertise and creativity
• Michael Jordan’s greatness
• The distinction between personal philosophy and vision
• The early seeds of vision among those who achieve greatness
• The seeds of greatness that exist all around us
• Without purpose and meaning there is no winning
• How has humanistic psychology influenced Coach Carroll’s personal philosophy
• Why to treat every day as though it’s the Super Bowl
• The role of fun in sports
• Finding what’s most important to you
• Coach Carroll’s pep talk to people who have so much fear right now with the Coronavirus
• What is Coach Carroll’s vision of humans in 5 years if they practice the psychological skills that his practices with his players

Today it’s great to have the cultural psychologist Michele Gelfand on the podcast. Dr. Gelfand is a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. Gelfand uses field, experimental, computational, and neuroscience methods to understand the evolution of culture– as well as its multilevel consequences for human groups. In addition to publishing numerous articles in many prestigious scientific outlets, she is the author of Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire the World.

In this episode we discuss:

• What are social norms?
• The difference between tight and loose cultures
• The advantages vs. disadvantages of tight vs. loose cultures
• Why did tight vs. loose cultures evolve in the first place?
• How chronic threat produces a tight culture
• Real vs. perceived (imagined) threats
• How cross-cultural psychology is expanding 
• The interdisciplinary expansion of the study of social norms
• How organizations can be tight vs. loose
• Why the ambidexterity of an organizational culture matters
• Why people welcomed ISIS in some contexts
• How to anticipate radical shifts in culture around the world in ways that can be predictable
• How people differ in terms of what is perceived a threat
• The potential for meaningful conversation across the political divide
• The importance of persevering in science
• How understanding differing cultural codes can help us navigate and negotiate them
• How can modifying a nation’s norms address protracted social problems?
• Why Michele is so excited to be in the field now more than ever
• How these contexts can breed negative behaviors
• Why we need to exert more control to achieve the Goldilocks principle
• Why we need to be mindful of social norms
• Why Michele is hopeful that we can recalibrate social norms that facilitate greater cooperation among cultures

“A little self-care goes a long way. Honoring your sensitivities is an act of self-love.”

Today it’s so great to have Dr. Judith Orloff on the podcast. Dr. Orloff is the New York Times best-selling author of The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People. Her new book Thriving as an Empath, along with its companion The Empath’s Empowerment Journal, offers daily self-care tools for sensitive people  Dr. Orloff is a psychiatrist, an empath, and is on the UCLA Psychiatric Clinical Faculty. She synthesizes the pearls of traditional medicine with cutting edge knowledge of intuition, energy, and spirituality. Dr. Orloff also specializes in treating empaths and highly sensitive people in her private practice. Dr. Orloff’s work has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, Oprah Magazine, the New York Times and USA Today. Dr. Orloff has also spoken at Google-LA and has a TEDX talk.

• The gift of being different
• How empaths are “emotional sponges”
• How empaths can be misdiagnosed
• The importance of being aware of the “phases of nature” and the “cycles of light”
• Treasure your sensitivity
• Identify the signs of being overwhelmed with stimulation
• You are allowed to have peace
• The new paradigm of being a man
• The sacredness of commitment
• Why the past doesn’t control you
• The importance of setting boundaries
• The joy of not overthinking
• How to hold space for someone without having to fix them
• Getting in touch with the “magical part of your being”
• Being willing to feel loss in order to move on
• Go where the light is
• How to shield yourself from toxic people
• How to stop caring about other people’s opinions of us

Today it’s great to have David Yaden on the podcast. Dr. Yaden is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Johns Hopkins Medicine. His research focus is on the psychology, neuroscience, and pharmacology of transformative and self-transcendent experiences. He is currently focusing on the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. His scientific and scholarly work has been covered by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, and NPR.

In this episode we discuss:

• The applicability of self-transcendent experiences to the current moment
• The definition of self-transcendent experiences
• Andrew Newberg’s pioneering work on the neuroscience of self-transcendent experiences
• Abraham Maslow’s role in the history of the scientific investigation of self-transcendent experiences
• The “everyperson’s spiritual experience”
• The two main components of awe
• The main characteristics of awe
• Awe vs. flow
• The role of technology in triggering self-transcendent experiences
• The triggers of self-transcendent experiences
• The limitations of interventions to induce self-transcendent experiences
• How we can seek out little moments of awe, gratitude, and mindfulness
• How psilocybin can induce very intense self-transcendent experiences
• The potential for psychedelic therapy sessions
• The neuroscience underlying the therapeutic benefit of psychedelics
• How psychedelic experiences can impact our connection with close others
• David’s personal self-transendent experience
• Davis’ interest in studying intense interventions
• David’s study of the philosophy of psychology

On this episode of The Psychology Podcast, physicist Sean Carroll chats with Scott Barry Kaufman, host of The Psychology Podcast, about his new book Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization, which is out today!

In this episode we discuss:

• Why studying humans is more complicated than studying the universe
• The importance of having humility as a psychologist
• How Scott’s new book Transcend builds on the work of Abraham Maslow
• How Maslow never actually drew a pyramid
• What Maslow actually meant by his “Hierarchy of Needs”
• The dialectical between security and growth
• Scott’s new metaphor for the hierarchy of needs
• How humans can be greater than the sum of their parts
• Scott’s revised integrated hierarchy of needs
• Why attachment styles are continuums, not types
• Why the need for belonging is not the same as the need for intimacy
• The effects of loneliness on our physical health
• The latest science of introversion
• Healthy self-esteem vs. narcissism
• The “growing tip”
• Psychological entropy
• The need for exploration and information seeking
• The more cosmic aspect of love, or “B-Love”
• The need for purpose
• Why self-actualization is not achievement
• The form of purpose that can lead to transcendence
• Why nothing is absolutely good or bad

Today it’s great to have Dr. Seth Gillihan on the podcast. Dr. Gillihan is a licensed psychologist who has written and lectured nationally and internationally on cognitive behavioral therapy and the role of the brain in psychiatric conditions. His books include The CBT Deck, A Mindful Year: 365 Ways to Find Connection and the Sacred in Everyday Life (co-authored with Dr. Aria Campbell-Danesh), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Made Simple,and Retrain Your Brain: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in 7 Weeks. Dr. Gillihan also blogs for Psychology Today and hosts the weekly Think Act Be podcast, which features a wide range of conversations about living more fully. He has a clinical practice in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, providing treatment to adults with insomnia, OCD, anxiety, depression, and related conditions.

Find Seth on the web at sethgillihan.com. See Seth’s CBT Deck here. See the Think Act Be online school where Seth offers courses in mindfulness-centered CBT for anxiety, stress, and worry here: https://think-act-be.teachable.com/.

In this episode we discuss:

• How Seth got into therapy 
• The second wave of CBT
• The behavioral activation approach
• Mindful CBT 
• Seth’s “Think Act Be” approach
• The importance of core beliefs
• The cheap form of self-love
• “Cycling the Puck”
• The importance of returning to the true center of ourselves
• The curious paradox of acceptance
• What is our deepest self?
• What is consciousness?
• Why waking up isn’t a once and for all experience
• How we can be kinder to ourselves

“Life has to win every day, death only has to win once.” — Roy Baumeister

Today it’s great to have Roy Baumeister on the podcast. Dr. Baumeister is currently professor of psychology at the University of Queensland and is among the most prolific and most frequently cited psychologists in the world, with over 650 publications. His 40 books include the New York Times bestseller Willpower. His research covers self and identity, self-regulation, interpersonal rejection and the need to belong, sexuality and gender, aggression, self-esteem, meaning, consciousness, free will, and self-presentation. In 2013 he received the William James award for lifetime achievement in psychological science (the Association for Psychological Science’s highest honor), and his latest book, co-authored with John Tierney, is called “The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It”.

In this episode we discuss:

• How the human brain has a tendency to focus on the bad
• Why bad is processed more thoroughly than good
• The latest research on ego depletion 
• Roy’s take on the replication crisis
• Why falsely accused people have trouble repairing their reputation
• Why the bad gets so much more publicity than the good
• Early career researchers and the lack of incentive for exporation
• Why we are wired for bad
• The importance of the Pollyanna principle
• Roy’s words of wisdom for those with anxiety over the Coronavirus
• “The rule of 4”
• Why are hell fearing religions more popular than those preaching a benevolent message?
• Gordon Allport’s distinction between mature and immature religion
• The riskiness of drawing too much on the self
• Roy’s thoughts on the best route to the good life
• Ways we can see the bigger picture
• The “negative Golden Rule”
• How to get on the “low-bad diet”

Today it’s great to have Max Lugavere on the podcast. Max is a filmmaker, health and science journalist and the author of the New York Times best-selling book Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life, which is now published in 8 languages around the globe. He is also the host of the #1 iTunes health podcast The Genius Life. Lugavere appears regularly on the Dr. Oz Show, the Rachael Ray Show, and The Doctors. He has contributed to Medscape, Vice, Fast Company, CNN, and the Daily Beast, has been featured on NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, and in The Wall Street Journal. He is a sought-after speaker and has given talks at South by Southwest, TEDx, the New York Academy of Sciences, the Biohacker Summit in Stockholm, Sweden, and many others. Max is excited to release his sophomore book, The Genius Life: Heal Your Mind, Strengthen Your Body, and Become Extraordinary, a lifestyle guide to living happily and healthily with proven, research-based lifestyle tactics.

• What is “nutritional psychiatry”?
• The importance of preserving protein in your body
• How longevity and nutrition is a continually evolving science
• Environmental toxins that we are exposed to on a daily basis
• The influence of the environment on emotional instability
• The “three Ps” of detoxification
• The importance of consuming a “nutrient dense diet”
• The importance of sweating regularly 
• The potential of house plants to purify the air
• The dangers of tap water
• The dangers of consuming processed foods
• The importance of whole foods
• How to make your gym sessions more efficient
• How exercise is a form of medicine
• How the right tools in your toolkit can alleviate depression and anxiety
• The importance of taking a whole body approach

Today it’s a real honor to have Carol Dweck on the podcast. Dr. Dweck is a leading researcher in the field of motivation and is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford. Her research examines the role of mindsets in personal achievement and organizational effectiveness. 

Dr. Dweck has also held professorships at Columbia and Harvard Universities, has lectured to education, business, and sports groups around the world, has addressed the United Nations, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences, and has won 12 lifetime achievement awards for her research. Her best-selling book Mindset has been widely influential and has been translated into over 25 languages. 

In this episode we discuss:

• Carol’s earliest research on “incremental” vs. “entity” beliefs
• Carol’s dream of “bottling” the mindsets that lead people to persevere
• The limitations of Carol’s earlier studies 
• The two big developments in studying growth mindset
• Growth mindset exercises
• The “Big Mama” of growth mindset studies
• The underwhelming effect size of educational interventions
• How lower-achieving students benefit more from growth mindset interventions
• The conditions under which growth mindset interventions don’t work
• The role of teacher mindset on teaching effectiveness
• The relationship between growth mindset and other outcomes in life
• How growth mindset doesn’t invalidate the existence of giftedness
• Why every child should be challenged
• Why we shouldn’t cut out gifted and talented programs
• How praising gifted students for effort can backfire
• The relationship between mindsets and IQ
• How having a fixed mindset can sometimes lead to increased performance
• Cross-cultural differences in mindsets
• Criticism that growth mindset claims have been overblown
• Carol Dweck’s dream of improving the sustainability of growth mindset interventions (Dweck’s “next big Mount Everest”)
• Why mindset is not a “miracle maker”
• What Carol Dweck is most excited about in terms of future directions

“There are very few people who have nothing of any value to say.” — Coleman Hughes

Today it’s great to have Coleman Hughes on the podcast. Coleman is an undergraduate philosophy major at Columbia University and a columnist for Quillette magazine. His writing has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, City Journal, and the Spectator.

In this episode we discuss:

• Coleman’s initial plan in life to become a trombonist
• Coleman’s early childhood education
• Coleman’s transformation of his thinking about race
• Coleman’s nuanced thoughts on intersectionality
• Why we set up a norm against racial stereotyping
• Is reverse-racism legitimate?
• How the main message of the civil rights movement is often ignored today
• Coleman’s humanistic perspective on race
• Coleman’s criticism of the woke mindset
• What makes sense about the woke mindset
• Looking at things from the perspective of police officers
• Understanding the causes of the underrepresentation of African Americans in gifted education programs
• The moral imperative to enhance cognitive development of people in the bottom of society 
• How racial categories can mislead us
• How people underrate the value of local programs and community to solve problems of racism
• Why policy shouldn’t look at racial disparities
• The important distinction between culture and race
• Why focusing on racial disparities (assuming that racial disparities are a proxy for well-being) is a mistake
• Coleman’s vision for the good society

Today it’s really great to have Nir Eyal on the podcast. Nir is formerly a Lecturer in Marketing at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and also taught at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. His first book, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, was an international bestseller. His current book, Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life, reveals the Achilles’ heel of distraction and provides a guidebook for getting the best of technology without letting it get the best of us. Nir blogs at: NirAndFar.com

In this episode we discuss:

• The one superpower that Nir would want
• The root cause of distraction
• What really motivates us
• How distraction starts from within
• How time management is pain management
• What is the role of boredom in distractibility?
• How to raise indistractible kids
• How to remove the external trigger of kids
• The critical question that people should ask
• How can you prevent distraction with pacts?
• How we can use precommitments to keep ourselves focused
• How people overuse of the word “addiction”
• The stigmatization of ADHD
• Treating a kid’s use of technology the same way we think of a swimming pool
• How children are “hypocrisy detection devices”
• The importance of setting a good example for children
• Self-determination theory and the rise of cell phone use
• Can too much concentration, and too little daydreaming, be a bad thing?

Today we’re excited to have Lori Gottlieb on the podcast. Gottlieb is a psychotherapist and New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, which is being adapted as a television series with Eva Longoria. In addition to her clinical practice, she writes The Atlantic’s weekly “Dear Therapist” advice column and is the co-host of iHeart’s upcoming “Dear Therapists” podcast, produced by Katie Couric. She is also a TED speaker, a ​member of the Advisory Council for Bring Change to Mind, and advisor to the Aspen Institute. She is a sought-after expert in media such as The Today Show, Good Morning America, The CBS Early Show, CNN, and NPR’s “Fresh Air.” Learn more at LoriGottlieb.com or by following her @LoriGottlieb1 on Twitter.

In this episode we discuss:

• The fundamental themes of human existence
• Irvin Yalom’s influence on Lori Gottlieb
• Why we feel isolated in our experiences
• The loneliness crisis on college campuses
• How the internet helps us numb
• How to know when social media has become an addiction
• Why happiness as a goal is a disaster
• SBK analyzes Lori Gottlieb
• Why we are often scared to do things that excite us
• Why there is no “hierarchy of pain”
• The hierarchy of pain and the social justice movement
• Why is it so hard for us to change when we know what to do?
• Why we don’t let ourselves be happy
• The importance of self-compassion
• The most important factor in the success of therapy
• What makes for a boring patient?
• Why feelings sometimes don’t care about facts
• Common myths of therapy
• “Part of us wants something and there’s another part of us that goes against the thing we want”
• Why “our feelings need air”
• How numbness is a state of being overwhelmed by too many feelings
• The importance of seeing your own agency and the choices you have

“The only normal people are the people you don’t know very well.” — Jonathan Mooney

Today we have Jonathan Mooney on the podcast. Jonathan is a dyslexic writer and speaker who did not learn to read until 12 years old. He faced a number of low expectations growing up— was told he would flip burgers, be a high school drop out and end up in jail. Needless to say these prophecies didn’t come to pass. Today, he speaks across the nation about neurological and physical diversity, inspiring those who live with differences and advocating for change. Mooney’s work has been featured in outlets such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, HBO, NPR, and ABC News, and his books include The Short Bus, Learning Outside the Lines, and most recently, Normal Sucks: How to Live, Learn, and Thrive Outside the Lines. 

In this episode we discuss:

• What is normal?
• How the creation of special ed was originally an act of inclusion
• The unintended complications of creating a special education program
• Jonathan’s story growing up in special ed
• The twice-exceptional (2e) movement
• How giftedness comes with a “complicated brew” of assets and challenges
• The importance of recognizing the 2e within ourselves and sharing that with the world
• The importance of not hiding the things that make us different, but celebrating those things
• How Jonathan once took on many personas to hide his differences
• How the average got conflated with the impossible ideal in society
• The value judgement that is placed on IQ from a cultural perspective
• Going from “How smart are you?” to “How are you smart”?
• Jonathan feeling deficient because he was different
• How Jonathan went on a journey driving a school bus across the United States and listened to people with atypical brains and bodies
• The value of human fallibility
• The Eye to Eye mentoring program
• How the private sector corporate diversity policies can make difference by including atypical brains and bodies as part of diversity initiatives

Today it's great to have Paul Bloom on the podcast. Dr. Bloom is the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Yale University. His research explores how children and adults understand the physical and social world, with special focus on morality, religion, fiction, and art. He is past-president of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology, and co-editor of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, one of the major journals in the field. Dr. Bloom is also author or editor of seven books, including Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion 

In this wide-ranging and provocative episode we discuss:

• Paul's graduate research with Steven Pinker
• Is language the result of biological evolution or cultural evolution?
• What "hardwired" really means
• Why innate mechanisms require environmental input
• The necessity of bias
• Some potential downsides of empathy
• The case for rational compassion 
• Cognitive empathy vs. affective empathy 
• Did Hitler have the capacity for empathy? 
• The joy of suffering 
• Why do we choose to suffer?
• The fundamental human need for exploration
• The human need to overcome challenges
• Would some people be content watching Netflix and smoking pot all day?
• The relationship between income and happiness 
• The importance of spending money well
• The psychology of expectation and pleasure
• If someone offer you more money, should you take it?
• Relief vs. pleasure
• Does enjoying something depend on how much we think we will enjoy something?
• Art and authenticity 
• Art and value judgements
• Would Tarzan believe in God?
• Are babies basically good?
• Why religion is so pervasive
• Are babies moral?
• How a powerful moral sense is responsible for an extraordinary amount of evil in the world
• Is moral grandstanding always bad?
• Why not everything is virtue signaling