The Armen Show

“In this raw coming-of-age memoir, in the vein of The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, The Other Wes Moore, and Someone Has Led This Child to Believe, Rob Henderson vividly recounts growing up in foster care, enlisting in the US Air Force, attending elite universities, and pioneering the concept of “luxury beliefs”—ideas and opinions that confer status on the upper class while inflicting costs on the less fortunate.Rob Henderson was born to a drug-addicted mother and a father he never met, ultimately shuttling between ten different foster homes in California. When he was adopted into a loving family, he hoped that life would finally be stable and safe. Divorce, tragedy, poverty, and violence marked his adolescent and teen years, propelling Henderson to join the military upon completing high school.An unflinching portrait of shattered families, desperation, and determination, Troubled recounts Henderson’s expectation-defying young life and juxtaposes his story with those of his friends who wound up incarcerated or killed. He retreads the steps and missteps he took to escape the drama and disorder of his youth. As he navigates the peaks and valleys of social class, Henderson finds that he remains on the outside looking in. His greatest achievements—a military career, an undergraduate education from Yale, a PhD from Cambridge—feel like hollow measures of success. He argues that stability at home is more important than external accomplishments, and he illustrates the ways the most privileged among us benefit from a set of social standards that actively harm the most vulnerable.”

Cecilie Traberg is a Psychology PhD Candidate at University of Cambridge in the Social Decision-Making Lab and a Storytelling Fellow at University Arts London studying how social influence, identity and interaction impacts our judgements, beliefs and behaviors. She currently focuses on how these social processes influence misinformation susceptibility and how we can increase resistance to persuasion. Her research is supported by the Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholarship and the Economic and Social Research Council. She uses a combination of methods (experimental, RCTs, behavioral games and interventions) and is particularly interested in methods that allow for measuring real social interaction between people in real time. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at Princeton University in the Collectives in Cognition Lab and will subsequently be a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Business School with Prof. Amit Goldenberg. She is also a mum of two boys, Theodore and Atlas, who were born during her PhD and a violinist in a symphony orchestra.

Welcome attorney Karin Lang back to the show on episode 417, bringing back the in-person discussion after a year of her travels from 2022 to 2023. On this talk, we spoke about the countries that she explored in South America, some elements of dating and relationships that are impactful, her legal work defending victims of childhood sexual assault, and current and past happenings in the Middle East of worldwide importance. In her travels in South America, Karin experienced a variety of life, as she went through 11 countries in the recent trip. Going through these lands involved meeting a variety of people, having plans go out of order or change very rapidly, reaching difficulty to make things work or get places smoothly, and learning more of the local language along the way. We talk about some of the growth qualities that come from such a travel, and how she is different before and after the fact. We also spoke on some important elements of how a relationship can flourish, including a description of Karin’s parents’ story, which gives a good example of growing together from early on in life. This was followed up with discussion on her legal work, and then a discussion on recent happenings in the Middle East.

Imagination is commonly thought to be the special province of youth—the natural companion of free play and the unrestrained vistas of childhood. Then come the deadening routines and stifling regimentation of the adult world, dulling our imaginative powers. In fact, Andrew Shtulman argues, the opposite is true. Imagination is not something we inherit at birth, nor does it diminish with age. Instead, imagination grows as we do, through education and reflection. The science of cognitive development shows that young children are wired to be imitators. When confronted with novel challenges, they struggle to think outside the box, and their creativity is rigidly constrained by what they deem probable, typical, or normal. Of course, children love to “play pretend,” but they are far more likely to simulate real life than to invent fantasy worlds of their own. And they generally prefer the mundane and the tried-and-true to the fanciful or the whimsical. Children’s imaginations are not yet fully formed because they necessarily lack knowledge, and it is precisely knowledge of what is real that provides a foundation for contemplating what might be possible. The more we know, the farther our imaginations can roam. As Learning to Imagine demonstrates, the key to expanding the imagination is not forgetting what you know but learning something new. By building upon the examples of creative minds across diverse fields, from mathematics to religion, we can consciously develop our capacities for innovation and imagination at any age. Andrew Shtulman is an associate professor of psychology and cognitive science at Occidental, where he directs the Thinking Lab. His work has been featured in Scientific American, CBS News, and the New Yorker. He lives in Pasadena, California.

Therapist Dr. Martha Sweezy discusses internal family systems therapy, shame vs. guilt, and tangible well-being changes. Her experience in mental health challenges and trauma. Insights on shame, guilt, and cultural influences. Family environment impact on personality development. Therapy as a space for emotional healing, validation, and exploring all aspects of the psyche. Career guidance, personal growth, and gratitude for impactful conversations.

On episode 414, my guest University of Delaware Professor Dannagal Young, author of “Wrong”, joins myself and co-host Rebecca Faith Lawson. “In Wrong: How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive Our Appetite for Misinformation, expert in media and politics Dannagal Goldthwaite Young offers a comprehensive model that illustrates how political leaders and media organizations capitalize on our social and cultural identities to separate, enrage, and—ultimately—mobilize us. Through a process of identity distillation encouraged by public officials, journalists, political and social media, Americans’ political identities—how we think of ourselves as members of our political team—drive our belief in and demand for misinformation. It turns out that if being wrong allows us to comprehend the world, have control over it, or connect with our community, all in ways that serve our political team, then we don’t want to be right. Over the past 40 years, lawmakers in America’s two major political parties have become more extreme in their positions on ideological issues. Voters from the two parties have become increasingly distinct and hostile to one another along the lines of race, religion, geography, and culture. In the process, these political identities have transformed into a useful but reductive label tied to what we look like, who we worship, where we live, and what we believe. Young offers a road map out of this chaotic morass, including demand-side solutions that reduce the bifurcation of American society and increase our information ecosystem’s accountability to empirical facts. By understanding the dynamics that encourage identity distillation, Wrong explains how to reverse this dangerous trend and strengthen American democracy in the process.” Dannagal G. Young (Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, 2007) is a Professor of Communication and Political Science at the University of Delaware where she studies the content, audience, and effects of nontraditional political information. She has published over sixty academic articles and book chapters on the content, psychology, and effects of political information, satire, and misinformation.

Optimization is the driving principle of our modern world. We now can manufacture, transport, and organize things more cheaply and faster than ever. Optimized models underlie everything from airline schedules to dating site matches. We strive for efficiency in our daily lives, obsessed with productivity and optimal performance. How did a mathematical concept take on such outsize cultural shape? And what is lost when efficiency is gained? Optimal Illusions traces the fascinating history of optimization from its roots in America’s founding principles to its modern manifestations, found in colorful stories of oil tycoons, wildlife ecologists, Silicon Valley technologists, lifestyle gurus, sugar beet farmers, and poker players. Optimization is now deeply embedded in the technologies and assumptions that have come to comprise not only our material reality but what we make of it. Coco Krumme’s work in mathematical modeling has made her acutely aware of optimization’s overreach. Streamlined systems are less resilient and more at risk of failure. They limit our options and narrow our perspectives. The malaise of living in an optimized society can feel profoundly inhumane. Optimal Illusions exposes the sizable bargains we have made in the name of optimization and asks us to consider what comes next. Coco Krumme is an applied mathematician and writer. After completing a doctorate at MIT and working in academia and tech, Krumme founded Leeward Co, a consultancy that helps research teams with computational science and strategy (aka data science) in agriculture, climate science, logistics, materials and biosciences.

Here are the 8 things I cover in this episode, from my experience through running the show: You can build momentum that can then propel you You’re not going to mesh with everyone, but you can share and learn with everyone You get smoother at something you do a lot Speaking with people and having a record of it is a special thing Depth develops through the timespan of a discussion People want to also know you as you come to know them Consistency keeps all the steps of a process fresh in your mind You can reach more people than you can imagine with the right mindset

The long history of China’s relationship between stability, diversity, and prosperity, and how its current leadership threatens this delicate balance Chinese society has been shaped by the interplay of the EAST—exams, autocracy, stability, and technology—from ancient times through the present. Beginning with the Sui dynasty’s introduction of the civil service exam, known as Keju, in 587 CE—and continuing through the personnel management system used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)—Chinese autocracies have developed exceptional tools for homogenizing ideas, norms, and practices. But this uniformity came with a huge downside: stifled creativity. Yasheng Huang shows how China transitioned from dynamism to extreme stagnation after the Keju was instituted. China’s most prosperous periods, such as during the Tang dynasty (618–907) and under the reformist CCP, occurred when its emphasis on scale (the size of bureaucracy) was balanced with scope (diversity of ideas). Considering China’s remarkable success over the past half-century, Huang sees signs of danger in the political and economic reversals under Xi Jinping. The CCP has again vaulted conformity above new ideas, reverting to the Keju model that eventually led to technological decline. It is a lesson from China’s own history, Huang argues, that Chinese leaders would be wise to take seriously.

Jessica Carew Kraft, journalist and author of “Why We Need To Be Wild: One Woman’s Quest For Ancient Human Answers To 21st Century Problems”, joins myself, Armen Shirvanian, and co-host Rebecca Faith Lawson on episode 410 of the show, where we discuss her book, rewilding, reconnecting with nature, how we survived in the past, and more. “Jessica Carew Kraft, an urban wife and mom of two, was firmly rooted in the modern world, complete with a high-powered career in tech and the sneaking suspicion that her lifestyle was preventing her and her family from truly thriving. Determined to find a better way, Jessica quit her job and set out to learn about “rewilding” from people who reject the comforts and convenience of civilization by using ancient tools and skills to survive. Along the way, she learned how to turn sticks into fire, stones into axes, and bones into tools for harvesting wild food―and found an entire community walking the path back from our technology-focused, anxiety-ridden way of life to a simpler, more human experience. Weaving deep research and reportage with her own personal journey, Jessica tells the remarkable story of the potential benefits rewilding has for us and our planet, and questions what it truly means to be a human in today’s world. For readers of A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century and Hunt, Gather, Parent, Why We Need to Be Wild is a thought-provoking, unforgettable narrative that illuminates how we survived in the past, how we live now, and how each of us can choose to thrive in the years ahead.” Jessica Carew Kraft is an independent journalist trained in cultural anthropology, with degrees from the University of London, Yale University and Swarthmore College. Why We Need To Be Wild on Sourcebooks: https://read.sourcebooks.com/non-fiction/9781728276595-why-we-need-to-be-wild-hc.html