Merve Emre, an Associate Professor of English at Oxford and a contributor to The New Yorker, dives deep into the controversial concept of emotional intelligence. She argues that it’s often misused in corporate environments to exploit workers. The discussion reveals the surprising origins of emotional intelligence and its evolution into a tool for corporate control. Emre examines the interplay between emotional labor and gender, challenging listeners to rethink their assumptions about emotions at work and shedding light on the dynamics of authenticity and leadership.