Shankar Vedantam, host of 'Hidden Brain', and Dr. Vivek Murthy discuss purpose and connection. They explore encouraging young people to dream, finding freshness in daily life, and differentiating goals from purpose. They share personal stories of coming to America and the power of having a sense of purpose. The conversation touches on bolstering America's purpose, the enormous possibilities the country offers, and the importance of remembering and reinforcing ideals in noisy moments.

Shankar Vedantam, creator of 'Hidden Brain,' discusses how our hidden brain affects connections. They explore social anxieties, kindness, and the impact of expressing gratitude. Dr. Murthy shares insights on warmth and kindness, bridging the gap between values and actions. The conversation emphasizes overcoming fears of connection and the power of acts of kindness.

Author and writer Rebecca Solnit discusses the power of hope in uncertain times with Dr. Vivek Murthy. They explore how disasters unite communities, why some disasters bring people closer, and ways to address despair about climate change. Solnit emphasizes the active nature of hope and the role of storytelling in shaping society. They also touch on the impact of social media on loneliness and the importance of personal connections in a digital world.

What lessons does life’s uncertainties offer? Kate Bowler’s stage IV cancer diagnosis ushered her into a world of fear and pain. Living in 60-day increments, her future held no promises. Angry about losing the life she had created, the love of family, friends, and her faith community helped Kate forge a new type of strength—learning to lean on others. This conversation between the nation’s doctor and Kate Bowler illuminates how we find truth and beauty within the uncertainties of life. (05:07)    How did Kate Bowler’s cancer diagnosis at age 35 affect her life?  (09:32)    Where did Kate Bowler navigate the uncertainty of her illness?  (12:02)    How did Kate Bowler re-define strength?  (14:26)    How did Kate Bowler’s community support her during her most acute phase of illness?  (17:23)    How can other families build a village for their children?  (20:27)    How has Kate Bowler’s health precarity changed how she thinks about life?  (25:56)    How can we encourage our kids to strive in a healthy way?  (29:38)    What is the message of Kate Bowler’s most recent book?  (31:37)    When Kate Bowler was ill, how did others seem to expect her to fix her life?  (34:43)    How did Kate Bowler’s experience with cancer impact her faith?  (39:15)    When is the last time Kate Bowler laughed uncontrollably?  (40:49)    Kate Bowler closes with a blessing.   We’d love to hear from you! Send us a note at housecalls@hhs.gov with your feedback & ideas. For more episodes, visit www.surgeongeneral.gov/housecalls.  Kate Bowler, Writer & Professor  Instagram: @katecbowler  X: @katecbowler  Facebook: @katecbowler    About Kate Bowler  Kate Bowler, Ph.D. is a 4x New York Times bestselling author, award-winning podcast host, and professor at Duke University. She studies the cultural stories we tell ourselves about success, suffering, and whether (or not) we’re capable of change. She wrote the first and only history of the American prosperity gospel—the belief that God wants to give you health, wealth, and happiness—before being unexpectedly diagnosed with stage IV cancer at age 35. While she was in treatment and not expected to survive, she wrote two New York Times bestselling memoirs, Everything Happens for a Reason (and Other Lies I’ve Loved) and No Cure For Being Human (and Other Truths I Need to Hear). After years of being told she was incurable, she was declared cancer-free. But she was forever changed by what she discovered: life is so beautiful and life is so hard. For everyone.  Kate is determined to create a gentler world for everyone who wants to admit that they are not “living their best life.” She hosts the Everything Happens podcast where, in warm, insightful, often funny conversations, she talks with people like Malcolm Gladwell, Tig Notaro, and Archbishop Justin Welby about what they’ve learned in difficult times. Author of seven books including Good Enough, The Lives We Actually Have, and her latest, Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day!, she lives in Durham, North Carolina, with her family and continues to teach do-gooders at Duke Divinity School. 

In this special Q&A episode, the Surgeon General sits down with his long-time medical school mentor, Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, to talk about their journeys to becoming healers. Dr. Remen is the creator of a medical training course called “The Healer’s Art,” which Dr. Murthy took as a medical student.  As a follow-up to their House Calls episode “Can We All Be Healers?”, the pair decided to reunite and field questions from medical students and other healthcare trainees, including: How do you stay compassionate in the tough environment of the healthcare system? How do you get through career disappointments? And how can we lean our relationships to help us?  Tune in for wisdom and stories from two of our country’s most compassionate healers.  (04:08)    What hardships did Dr. Remen face on her road to becoming a physician healer?  (07:57)    On dealing with Dr. Remen’s heartbreak of not matching for a residency  (10:46)    How did Dr. Remen stay true to her humanity during the taxing time of medical training?  (14:52)    Where does Dr. Remen turn when she feels burned out?  (17:05)    How does Dr. Remen cope with the reality that doctors can’t always heal?  (20:04)    How can the act of healing heal the healer?  (27:54)    How does Dr. Remen find hope in difficult times?  (34:08)    How do cats and social connection help Dr. Remen?  (38:32)    What advice does Dr. Remen offer doctors?  We’d love to hear from you! Send us a note at housecalls@hhs.gov with your feedback & ideas. For more episodes, visit www.surgeongeneral.gov/housecalls.      Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, Physician & Teacher Facebook: @rachelnaomiremen    About Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen Rachel Naomi Remen, MD is Clinical Professor Emeritus of Family and Community Medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine and Professor of Family Medicine at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in Ohio. In 1991, she founded the Remen Institute for the Study of Health and Illness (RISHI) a national training institute for physicians, nurses, medical students, nursing students, veterinarians and other health professionals who wish to practice a health care of compassion, meaning, service and community. She is an internationally recognized medical educator whose innovative discovery model course in professionalism, resiliency and relationship-centered care for medical students, The Healer’s Art, is taught at more than 90 American medical schools and schools in seven countries abroad. Her bestselling books “Kitchen Table Wisdom” and “My Grandfather’s Blessings” have been published in 23 languages and have millions of copies in print.     In recognition of her contribution to medicine and medical education, she has received numerous awards including three honorary degrees, the prestigious Bravewell Award as one of the earliest pioneers of Integrative Medicine and Relationship Centered Care. In 2013, she was voted the Gold-Headed Cane award by UCSF School of Medicine for excellence in embodying and teaching the qualities and values of the true physician. Dr. Remen has a 70-year personal history of chronic illness, and her work is a potent blend of the perspectives and wisdom of physician and patient. 

Rabbi Sharon Brous and Dr. Vivek Murthy discuss the power of showing up for each other and sitting with one's pain. They explore vulnerability, asking for help, and finding light in challenging times. The podcast emphasizes the strength in human connection and the importance of supporting one another, especially in times of despair.

Do you have times when you miss your loved ones and just want to feel more connected?   Maybe a friend or family member is sick and you can’t connect in person. Maybe you’re traveling or are away for school. I know I have these moments. And when I do, I have a meditation I turn to, one that helps me feel loved and more connected. It only takes a few minutes, but it has the power to change my day. In this special episode of House Calls, I share it with you.  Any feedback or ideas? Share them with us at housecalls@hhs.gov.  For more episodes, visit www.surgeongeneral.gov/housecalls. 

Can spirituality enhance our mental health? That is the question that psychologist and researcher Dr. Lisa Miller has pursued through her career. During her clinical internship after graduate school, she observed how while some of her patients had symptoms of major depression that required medication, other patients carried a sadness that carried life’s big questions: What is the purpose of life? Is there a larger meaning to existence? Decades later, Lisa has found that each of us has an “awakened brain,” neural circuitry that enables a human’s natural capacity for spiritual awareness. In this conversation, Lisa and the Surgeon General delve into the science that explains spirituality’s protective effects on mental health. They also discuss the universal human need for an inner life that connects us to something greater than ourselves, and offer a few meditation practices to support the awakened brain.  (02:00)    Introductory Guided Meditation  (08:43)    What is spiritual health?  (15:04)    How does Dr. Lisa Miller define spirituality?  (18:18)    Why does spirituality protect our mental health?  (20:55)    What are some practices to build spiritual health?  (24:40)    What is the awakened brain?  (26:56)    Are there particular stages of life when spiritual seeking spikes?  (30:03)    What is an Awakened Campus?  (32:44)    Why don’t college campuses focus more on spiritual well-being?  (34:26)    How Dr. Miller’s spiritual crisis as a young person become her life’s work.  (45:55)    What are the core elements of spirituality?  (53:12)    Where has Dr. Miller found the support for spiritual exploration?  (59:58)    How can parents build a spiritual foundation with their children?  We’d love to hear from you! Send us a note at housecalls@hhs.gov with your feedback & ideas. For more episodes, visit www.surgeongeneral.gov/housecalls.      Dr. Lisa Miller, Psychologist Instagram: @dr.lisamiller    About Dr. Lisa Miller Lisa Miller, Ph.D., is the New York Times bestselling author of “The Spiritual Child” and “The Awakened Mind: The New Science of Spirituality and our Quest for the Inspired Life.” She is a professor in the Clinical Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is the Founder and Director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, the first Ivy League graduate program and research institute in spirituality and psychology, and has held over a decade of joint appointments in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical School. Her innovative research has been published in more than one hundred peer-reviewed articles in leading journals, including Cerebral Cortex, The American Journal of Psychiatry, and the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.  Dr. Miller is Editor of the Oxford University Press Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality, Founding Co-Editor-in-Chief of the APA journal Spirituality in Clinical Practice, an elected Fellow of The American Psychological Association (APA) and the two-time President of the APA Society for Psychology and Spirituality. A graduate of Yale University and University of Pennsylvania, where she earned her doctorate under the founder of positive psychology, Martin Seligman, she has served as Principal Investigator on multiple grant funded research studies. Dr. Miller speaks and consults around The Awakened Brain and The Spiritual Child for the US Military, businesses (including tech, finance, HR and sales), personal development, faith based organizations, schools and universities, and for mental health and wellness initiatives.

Do you wish it felt easier to make connections with others? In this episode, recorded live from the Barclays Center in NY, the Surgeon General and Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and composer Jon Batiste share their experiences with reaching out to others. Even with complete strangers or in brand new situations, their approaches have countered loneliness and paved the way for new relationships. Jon opens up about his student days in New York, when he struggled to find his footing in a new place far from home in New Orleans, to how he views and manages the fame that is now part of his life. As both men share their experiences with loneliness, they focus on the mental health of young people and some of the challenges this generation is experiencing. The conversation also speaks to the unique power of music to inspire and unite people. As Jon notes, just the simple sound of notes being played is an experience we can all share. Jon Batiste warms up and closes this conversation with beautiful performances that make you want to be along for the ride.  (07:58)    Adjusting to life in New York as a student at Julliard (10:54)    Creatively making creating connections in NY (12:59)    How did Jon Batiste develop confidence with strangers he could carry on stage? (19:24)    How has fame impacted his life? (22:59)    How does he stay connected with friends and family? (29:11)    Why does who we spend our time with matter so much? (30:52)    How can music bring people together? (34:51)    Have you ever experienced a musical “love riot?” (38:56)    How does Jon Batiste manage technology in his life? (43:56)    What are some simple ways we can connect with others? (48:39)    What are some steps we can take toward collective reconnection? (53:15)    Jon Batiste’s closing song We’d love to hear from you! Send us a note at housecalls@hhs.gov with your feedback & ideas. For more episodes, visit www.surgeongeneral.gov/housecalls.    Jon Batiste, Singer & Songwriter Twitter: @JonBatiste  Instagram: @jonbatiste  Facebook: @JonBatisteMusic    About Jon Batiste Jon Batiste is a five-time Grammy Award-winning and Academy Award-winning singer, songwriter and composer.  Batiste is the subject of Matthew Heineman’s moving documentary "American Symphony,” which debuted with Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground in November 2023. The documentary follows Jon in early 2022, when he finds himself celebrated with 11 Grammy nominations, including album of the year. Amid that triumph, Jon is immersed in his most ambitious challenge yet: composing an original symphony for a performance at the storied Carnegie Hall. However, this extraordinary trajectory is upended when Jon’s life partner, NYT bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning journalist Suleika Jaouad, learns that her long-dormant cancer has returned. Jon’s latest studio album, “World Music Radio” draws inspiration from his mission to create community and expand culture with the power of music. The album received widespread critical acclaim for its universal message and genre-defying sound, hailed by the Associated Press as “a mesmerizing way to dial into Batiste’s eclectic and wide musicality.”  His 2021 studio album, “We Are,” was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards across seven different categories, a first in Grammy history. He went on to win five Grammy Awards that evening, including the coveted “Album of the Year.” Batiste composed and performed music for the Disney/Pixar film "Soul,” for which he won an Academy Award for Best Original Score alongside Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. He is the second Black composer in history to win an Academy Award for composition. “Soul” also earned Batiste a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a NAACP Image Award and a Critic’s Choice Award.  From 2015-2022, Batiste served as the bandleader and musical director of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Born and raised in New Orleans, Batiste received both a B.A. and M.F.A. at the world-renowned Juilliard School in NYC.

Do you know someone who is struggling with loneliness? Do you ever feel the definition of success you’ve been sold your whole life isn’t right?    These are some of the questions the Surgeon General and our guest, actor Matthew McConaughey, posed recently to an auditorium full of students at the University of Texas at Austin. In response, almost every hand in the young audience went up.   In this conversation, Matthew McConaughey also draws from his own life lessons. Especially in high school and college, he lived through periods of deep loneliness and learned how to find connection he needed. As his Hollywood career took off, it was time with his family and kids that put his career – and the primary importance of connection – into perspective. The Surgeon General spotlights the truth of McConaughey’s narrative – that it’s relationships with loved ones that sustain us and make our lives good, not the notions of material success our society so often seems to value.  In this conversation, we explore the power of social connection and what success really means.  We’d love to hear from you! Send us a note at housecalls@hhs.gov with your feedback & ideas. For more episodes, visit www.surgeongeneral.gov/housecalls.      Matthew McConaughey, Actor & Philanthropist  Twitter: @McConaughey  Instagram: @officiallymcconaughey  Facebook: @MatthewMcConaughey    About Matthew McConaughey  Texas native Matthew McConaughey is one of Hollywood’s most sought-after leading men. A chance meeting in Austin with casting director and producer Don Phillips led him to director Richard Linklater, who launched the actor’s career in the cult classic “Dazed and Confused.” Since then, he has won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Ron Woodruff in "Dallas Buyers Club", appeared in over 40 feature films that have grossed over $1 billion; and has become an author, producer, and philanthropist with his just keep livin Foundation – all the while sticking to his Texas roots and “jk livin” philosophy. He is co owner of The Austin FC Soccer Club, and a professor at the University of Texas in Austin. In 2020, McConaughey released his first book, Greenlights which became an instant New York Times #1 best seller and has sold over three million copies worldwide. His second book, a children’ book titled Just Because debuted in September 2023 and was an instant NYT #1 best seller. In October 2023, Matthew and his wife Camila launched their own tequila brand, Pantalones, the first joint venture for the couple. He currently resides in Austin, Texas with his wife Camila and their three kids.