Podcast Recap and Book Recommendations

2022 was a great year for me and The Brainy Business. And, being this is a “best of” episode…here are some of my “best” moments from the year. I traveled to Amsterdam to speak at the fantastic IIEX Europe conference (thank you Greenbook!) and launched my second book, What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, with an in-person event and book signing.

I was honored to be a runner-up in three categories of the Habit Weekly Awards this year and was an honoree on Greenbooks Future List, as well as the ESOMAR Insights250 list. Amazing! I continued teaching and added a class in advanced concepts of behavioral economics to the certificate program, which I’m really proud of and students have really enjoyed. We started testing out a second episode per week.

I also got to meet and connect with some amazing people – 46 of them came on the show as guests in 2022 – that meant reading really great books and papers and learning about what is going on in the field, which is one of my favorite aspects of the work I do. I’m so lucky and honored for this life and love every minute of it and am so excited for the books and episodes coming in 2023!

BUT before we get fully moving forward into the future, we have to look back and celebrate the best of 2022.

• [00:45] 2022 was a great year for me and The Brainy Business. And, being this is a “best of” episode…here are some of my “best” moments and memories from the year.
• [03:33] I also got to meet and connect with some amazing people – 46 of them came on the show as guests in 2022.
• [06:36] Thank you all for listening, subscribing, sharing, connecting on social media, and reaching out to let me know your wins and the behavioral economics concepts you have applied in your own businesses.
• [07:44] In 2022, the show had more than a quarter of a million downloads from 170 countries. Thank you!
• [08:29] TOP DOWNLOADS BY COUNTRY - US, UK, Canada, Australia, which have remained in the top 4 pretty much since the podcast started. India is fifth, followed by Germany… and then we get into some new territory! South Africa has moved up to being 7th in the world in 2022.  We then have Spain in the number 8 spot followed by Mexico, and for the first time in the top 10 we have Taiwan!
• [10:08] TOP 10 STATES - Virginia, Massachusetts, Georgia, then Florida is 7, and Ohio holding out the # 6 spot again this year. Washington is in our number 5 spot with New York in number 4 and then Illinois with the third most downloads in 2022! Once again, we continue to have Texas at 2, and California still with the top most downloads of 2022.
• [12:37] With 249 episodes of content to choose from, we get our top 10 of the year, starting with episode 196 and my interview with Priscilla McKinney of Little Bird Marketing.
• [14:32] If you are interested in human behavior and having better content that really resonates with people, you are going to love this next one, episode 201 – Creating Content People Can’t Help But Engage With, featuring Katelyn Bourgoin, is next on our list.
• [17:43] We are to number eight, which is episode 192 – AI, Blockchain, Machine Learning, with Manuj Aggarwal. The intersection of human behavior and technology – specifically with AI and Machine Learning, has been a big topic of conversation in the past couple of years.
• [18:51] That brings us to the 7th most downloaded episode of the year, 190 – The Voltage Effect with John List.
• [21:06] Next on our list, is 187 – Motivation and Incentives at Work, with Kurt Nelson.
• [22:28] If you have ever taken or considered creating an online course, you must listen to episode 193 – How to Make Online Courses People Enjoy, with Chris Rawlinson of 42Courses.
• [23:57] Now, moving on to the fourth most downloaded episode of the year, 197 – You Have More Influence Than You Think, with Vanessa Bohns.
• [25:22] Yale professor Zoe Chance was on in episode 189 sharing about her fantastic book, Influence Is Your Superpower and that episode is the third most downloaded of the year.
• [26:52] That brings us to the second most downloaded episode of 2022. Our only non-interview in the top 10! This was episode 198 – The Dunning Kruger Effect.
• [27:24] Essentially, the Dunning Kruger effect looks at the interesting relationship of confidence and competence, and how when we know very little about something (low competence) we have ridiculously high confidence but once we get a little more competence and we start to see all that we don’t know…confidence tanks, and it is a slow build back up to build it back as we learn.
• [30:06] We’ve made it to the most downloaded episode of the year. Are you ready? It is…186 – Get It Done, with Ayelet Fishbach!
• [32:11] Considering this episode is coming out right around the time of “Quitter’s Day” which is when most people will have given up their resolutions, it seems like a good time to refresh your motivation by listening to this great episode with Ayelet.
• [34:08] There is a link to all the books featured on the show this past year right here in the show notes.
• [36:26] I can’t wait to see what 2023 has in store. Right now…I’m most excited about speaking at SXSW which is coming up in Austin in March.

Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. 

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• Check out and get your copies of Melina’s Books. 

Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode:

• Get It Done, by Ayelet Fishbach
• Influence Is Your Superpower, by Zoe Chance
• You Have More Influence Than You Think, by Vanessa Bohns
• The Voltage Effect, by John List
• What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer

Top Recommended Next Episode: Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation with Ayelet Fishbach (ep 186)

Already Heard That One? Try These: 

• Dunning-Kruger Effect (ep 198)
• The Cobra Effect (ep 220)
• Influence Is Your Superpower with Yale’s Dr. Zoe Chance (ep 189)
• You Have More Influence Than You Think, Vanessa Bohns (ep 197)
• How To Make Online Courses People Enjoy (And Complete) with Chris Rawlinson of 42 Courses (ep 193)
• Motivation and Incentives at Work with Kurt Nelson (ep 187)
• The Voltage Effect with John List (ep 190)
• AI, Blockchain, Machine Learning, & Behavioral Economics with Manuj Aggarwal (ep 192)
• Creating Content People Can’t Help But Engage With featuring Katelyn Bourgoin (ep 201)
• Anthropology, Market Research & Behavioral Economics with Priscilla McKinney (ep 196)
• Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away, with Annie Duke (ep 227)
• Using Motivation and Happiness Science to Make 2023 Your Best Year Ever (ep 249)
• Best of The Brainy Business in 2021 (ep 184)
• The Best of The Brainy Business in 2020 (ep 133)
• The Best Content from the Brainy Business in 2019 (ep 82)

Other Important Links: 

• Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter 
• Best of 2021 Blog Post
• Best of 2020 Blog Post
• Best of 2019 Blog Post