Blinkist Podcast - Interviews | Personal Development | Productivity | Business | Psychology

In this episode of Simplify, Caitlin talks to behavioral economist and bestselling author Dan Ariely about how environment influences our financial decision-making and why saving is so hard. We all like to buy stuff. Endless ads screaming “sale,” “discount," and “free” trick us into believing that we want things that we don’t actually need. In an age of credit cards, Paypal, Venmo, and Apple pay, it has become incredibly easy to spend our hard-earned sheckles and tough to save them. In this episode of Simplify, behavioral economist and cognitive psychologist Dan Ariely explains what’s behind our irrational behavior in financial decision making and teaches us how we can get better at managing our finances. Based on extensive research and numerous global studies, Dan shows what exactly matters in personal economics and offers ideas toward better ways to save. For more info, including links to everything we discussed in the episode, go to https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/simplify-finance-dan-ariely-get-wrong-money Let us know what you thought of the episode, or just give us some book recommendations on Twitter—we’d love to hear from you! Find Caitlin at @caitlinschiller and Ben at @bsto. Try Blinkist for free for 14 days by going to https://www.blinkist.com/en/nc/friends/ and typing in the code "broccoli" That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud [https://soundcloud.com/niceaux] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/niceaux].

Simplify kicks off Season 4 with words of wisdom from Cheryl Strayed, a bestselling author widely known for her advice column, Dear Sugar, and the memoir that spawned the blockbuster hit, Wild. In the first episode of Season 4, Caitlin talks with Cheryl Strayed about how tending to humanity’s toughest quandaries has become her calling, and the three central questions that keep us all up at night. Through years of listening deeply and sensitively to others’ experiences as well as her own, Strayed has unlocked what makes a good advice-giver and friend: sincerity, listening without judging, and connection. This—paired with her straight-shooting style—is why thousands of people have trusted Sugar with their deepest secrets. In all of her work, from memoir to advice to fiction, she teaches us all to listen deeply to our own inner voices for the truth we already know. Get comfortable and tune into this episode with Cheryl Strayed to ponder how to move on after a deep loss or a heartbreak and reflect on the three major questions people struggle with throughout their lives. Stick around after the interview for when Ben Schuman-Stoler joins Caitlin Schiller to talk about the main takeaways from the conversation with Cheryl Strayed and helps put together a book list for further reading on how to better communicate your needs and listen to your inner voice. For more info, including links to everything we discussed in the episode, go to https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/simplify-cheryl-strayed-life-questions-struggle/ Let us know what you thought of the episode, or just give us some book recommendations on Twitter—we’d love to hear from you! Find Caitlin at [https://twitter.com/caitlinschiller?lang=en] and Ben at [https://twitter.com/bsto]. Try Blinkist for free for 14 days by going to https://www.blinkist.com/en/nc/friends/ and typing in the code "sugar." That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud [https://soundcloud.com/niceaux] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/niceaux].

The sun's a-shining, the iced coffee's cold, and Simplify is back with season 4! Here's what's in store. Simplify season 4 launches on August 23rd with an episode featuring bestselling author, memoirist, and internet legend, Cheryl Strayed. This first episode is one of our favorites yet, but as you'll hear in the trailer, there's much more to come. If you want to say hi to Ben and Caitlin before the season really gets into swing, you can find them on Twitter: @bsto and @CaitlinSchiller. See you next week!

Do you feel bad about wasting time? Good news: you can stop beating yourself up! In the bonus episode, MIT professor and writer Alan Lightman shares the benefits of procrastination and how wasting time is essential to our productivity and creativity. Are you slavishly devoted to your to-do list, rushing around to fit every vacant area of time to a task? In this day and age, most of us are—and it's doing no favors to our creativity, our minds, and our very humanity. Something's got to give, and Alan Lightman has a plan. Or, rather, a lack of one. And that's perfect. In this episode of Simplify, the MIT professor, scientist and novelist offers an antidote to how we live today. He underscores the importance of wasting time, revealing how unstructured time with no goal, unplugged from the wired world, can actually make you a better version of yourself. Tune in to learn how procrastination sparks your creativity and makes you even more productive and how wasting time is essential for establishing a solid sense of self. Stick around after the interview for when Emily Phillips joins Caitlin Schiller to talk about the main takeaways from the conversation and the two compose a book list for further reading on making the most of your time in a fresh new way. For more info, including links to everything we discussed in the episode and a voucher to use Blinkist for free, go to https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/simplify-time-management-alan-lightman-wasting-time/ Let us know what you thought of the episode, or just come say hi on Twitter! Find Caitlin at @caitlinschiller, Emily at @phillips_em, and Ben at @bsto. Try Blinkist for free for 14 days by going to https://www.blinkist.com/en/nc/friends/ and typing in the code **relax**. That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud and Facebook.

In this episode of Simplify, Caitlin talks to Janice Kaplan, bestselling author, TV producer, and magazine editor about how luck happens and how you can create it. Does luck just feel like something you either have or you don’t? Does it feel like chance? Or, do you think you have some, not all of it good? Well, Janice Kaplan and Barnaby Marsh might make you rethink your idea of what luck really is. With the help of research, pioneering studies, and interviews with “lucky’ successful people, they discovered that luck is actually very much under our control. That’s right. You can set yourself (and your kids) up for being luckier in everyday life. Hear Janice Kaplan reveal some simple techniques to help you generate luck and share stories of successful and famous people who took failure as a lucky opportunity to turn fortune to their favor. Tune in to discover the best way to get lucky in love and learn how to raise lucky children. You’ll also discover which people will help you get lucky, and why this isn’t one you can pin on your mom. Stick around after the interview for when Ben Schuman-Stoler joins Caitlin Schiller to talk about the main takeaways from the conversation with Janice Kaplan and helps put together a book list for further reading on generating luck in health and in love, at work and at home. For more info, including links to everything we discussed in the episode and a voucher to use Blinkist for free, go to [https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/simplify-luck-janice-kaplan-says-luck-isnt-magic] Let us know what you thought of the episode, or just give us some book recommendations on Twitter—we’d love to hear from you! Find Caitlin at [@caitlinschiller][2] and Ben at [@bsto][3]. Try Blinkist for free for 14 days by going to https://www.blinkist.com/en/nc/friends/ and typing in the code **luck**. That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on [https://soundcloud.com/niceaux] and [https://www.facebook.com/niceaux].

Author and psychologist, Christopher Ryan, talks with Caitlin about the prehistoric origins of human sexuality and how they influence our modern sexual behavior. Ever wondered whether humans are meant to be monogamous, or when we started to look at our sexual partners as private property? The authors of the extraordinary book on sexual evolution *Sex at Dawn,* Cacilda Jethá and Christopher Ryan, study our primate legacy and explain how it shaped human sexual behavior. In this episode, Ryan talks about the purpose of sexual relations in matriarchal and male-dominated societies, why what we believe about our primate origins is doing us more harm than good as a species, and how to reposition your own beliefs about what is and isn't a sexual taboo. Stick around after the interview for when Ben Schuman-Stoler joins Caitlin Schiller to talk about the main takeaways from the conversation with Christopher Ryan and helps put together a book list for further reading on sexual evolution, bodies, and biology. For more info, including links to everything we discussed in the episode and a voucher to use Blinkist for free, go to https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/simplify-human-sexuality-christopher-ryan-embrace-fantasies/ Let us know what you thought of the episode, or just give us some book recommendations on Twitter—we’d love to hear from you! Find Caitlin at @caitlinschiller and Ben at @bsto. Try Blinkist for free for 14 days by going to https://www.blinkist.com/en/nc/friends/ and typing in the code **bonobo**. That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/niceaux) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/niceaux).

In this episode of Simplify, Caitlin talks to women’s sexual health expert, Dr. Lori Brotto, about how to elicit sexual desire and use your mind for better sex. While mindfulness can feel like a relatively new phenomenon in western societies — Jon Kabat-Zinn popularized it in the US in the 1970s — it has, in fact, been helping people feel connected to their lives for centuries. Dr. Lori Brotto experimented with the practice as treatment for women with sexual concerns and found that mindfulness can have positive effects on desire, response and connection — and the effects seem to be lasting. A lot of what we ‘know’ about sex as a society is based on outdated research and cultural assumptions. Listen to Dr. Lori Brotto talk about her new book, *Better Sex Through Mindfulness* and explain some of our many misconceptions about sex, and introduce ways we can use mindfulness practices to feel more connected to ourselves — and to our partners — during sexual encounters. By the end of this episode, you’ll learn concrete practices you can use to really tune into sex and make it better – regardless of your age or gender – and discover that pleasure is always there for you, if you can be there for it. Stick around after the interview for when Ben Schuman-Stoler joins Caitlin Schiller to talk about the main takeaways from the conversation with Dr. Lori Brotto and to compose a sexy book list on mindfulness, positive psychology, improving sex life and relationships. For more info, including links to everything we discussed in the episode and a voucher to use Blinkist for free, go to https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/simplify-desire-lori-brotto-make-love-mindfully Let us know what you thought of the episode, or just give us some book recommendations on Twitter—we’d love to hear from you! Find Caitlin at @caitlinschiller and Ben at @bsto. That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/niceaux) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/niceaux).

In this episode of Simplify, neuroscientist Dr. Daniel Levitin unlocks the secret functions of the human brain and explains how to keep your mind healthy. A lot of the things that we’ve learned about how our minds work are simply not true. Did you know that a small part of your brain can fall asleep while the other parts are awake and working? And we can't trust our memories, either: it turns out that much of what ends up getting stored in memory, especially what people remember about themselves and their past, is a distortion. But it's not all bad news! Listen as Dr. Daniel Levitin of The Organized Mind sheds light on what we've long misunderstood about our brains and makes recommendations on how to keep your mind healthy with “cellular housekeeping." Stick around after the interview for when Ben Schuman-Stoler joins Caitlin Schiller to talk about the key ideas in this episode and recommend some great reads on the various functions of the all-mighty mind. For more info, including links to everything we discussed in the episode and a voucher to use Blinkist for free, go to https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/simplify-thinking-daniel-levitin-how-to-organize-your-mind Let us know what you thought of the episode, or just give us some book recommendations on Twitter—we’d love to hear from you! Find Caitlin at @caitlinschiller and Ben at @bsto. That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/niceaux) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/niceaux).

In this episode of Simplify, sex educator Emily Nagoski tells Caitlin about ways to improve sexual well-being and sustain a strong sexual connections. As a sex educator, Emily Nagoski sees her main purpose as “teaching people to live with confidence and joy inside their bodies.” Step one? Understanding what’s actually going on in there! In this episode, Nagoski employs colorful analogies to illustrate the ways in which our minds and bodies react to stressful situations (spoiler alert: you'll have to use your imagination and become a gazelle) and to describe our physical responses to sexually relevant information (enter: car metaphor). If you’ve been anxious about sex, are struggling to connect to a long-term partner, or just want to understand yourself better, this episode offers lots of calm, informed, empathetic advice on how you can find your way. Stick around after the interview for when Ben Schuman-Stoler joins Caitlin Schiller to talk about the big ideas in this episode and help make a sexy book list for your nightstand. For more info, including links to everything we discussed in the episode and a voucher to use Blinkist for free, go to https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/simplify-sex-emily-nagoski-pleasure-measure-great-sex-life Let us know what you thought of the episode, or just give us some book recommendations on Twitter—we’d love to hear from you! Find Caitlin at @caitlinschiller and Ben at @bsto. That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/niceaux) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/niceaux).

Got goals and dreams? Charles Duhigg's methods will help you reach 'em. Hear the writer of The Power of Habit & Smarter, Faster, Better on why self-belief is the key to real change and to find out which productivity tips he's teaching his kids. Pultizer-prize-winning, bestselling author and NYT writer Charles Duhigg has cracked the code to what makes the world’s most productive people so effective—and how you can use those techniques for yourself. Listen in to hear why self-belief is the key to real, lasting change and find out which productivity tips Duhigg’s teaching his kids. Plus, hear the smart, slightly dirty productivity trick he pulled on Caitlin. If you want to break an old habit or be your most innovative, creative self, then this episode is for you! After the interview, Ben Schuman-Stoler joins Caitlin to go deeper into the ideas and books covered in this episode. Also, they make a booklist to help you keep becoming more productive. For more info, including links to everything we discussed in the episode and a voucher to use Blinkist for free, go to https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/ simplify-productivity-charles-duhigg-says-thinking-killer-app/ Let us know what you thought of the episode, or just give us some book recommendations on Twitter—we’d love to hear from you! Find Caitlin at @caitlinschiller and Ben at @bsto. That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/niceaux) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/niceaux).