When was the last time someone was kind to you – or you did something kind for someone else? I’m sure you won’t have to think back far to find a few examples. And that’s because the world is a much kinder place than we might think.

Today’s guest, Claudia Hammond, is an award-winning broadcaster, author, and psychology lecturer at the University of Sussex. In her latest book, The Keys to Kindness, she’s on a mission to encourage us to look out for the acts of kindness that are all around us.

In this conversation, she shares the results of the world’s largest in-depth study on kindness, and highlights the wide range of mental and physical health benefits for both giver and receiver. We talk about what kindness and compassion really mean, and the huge range of ways we can make a difference. We discuss the fears and obstacles that prevent people from being kind, how to overcome them, and why we should practice more kindness in relationships, as well as in the workplace. Among many other topics, we also look at unkindness on social media, why empathy is a skill you can learn, and how being kind to others starts with being kind to yourself.

I sometimes think kindness has a PR problem. It’s something we see as a bit throwaway, undervaluing it at best, dismissing it as ‘soft’ at worst. But by bringing us the psychology and neuroscience on why kindness matters, Claudia provides a powerful call to action to notice and create more of it in daily life. I hope this conversation inspires you to rise to the challenge.

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