Smart People Podcast

Renowned author Charles Duhigg discusses his new book on communication. Discover the three types of conversations for better connections. Learn about the power of effective communication and the art of storytelling in connecting with others.

Memory isn't just a passive recollection—it's a transformative force that subtly influences our world.Dr. Ranganath, a leading memory researcher, unveils the powerful influence memory has on our lives, from recalling faces and names to shaping learning, decision-making, and even trauma and healing. He reveals how our brains record the past, shaping our present and guiding our future.Join us as we explore practical applications of this knowledge, from daily tasks like finding keys to addressing memory challenges as we age. Dr. Ranganath also shows how leveraging our brain's ability to reinterpret past events can lead to healing trauma, shedding biases, and fostering self-awareness.Charan's book, Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters, is available now.To learn more about Charan, go to charanranganath.com.Support the Show - Become a Patron!Help us grow and become a Patron today: https://www.patreon.com/smartpeoplepodcastSponsors:Hims - Start your free online visit today at Hims.com/SMART.The Optimistic Outlook - Dive into The Optimistic Outlook and join a community of listeners who are enthusiastic about big, transformative ideas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bonnie Wan is a Partner and Head of Brand Strategy at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, one of Fast Company’s 2021 Most Innovative Companies In The World. As a career brand strategist she has been celebrated as an Ad Age Leading Woman for 2023 and 2022’s Chief Strategy Officer of the Year.We all have moments when we doubt the path we’re on. Is this the career for me? Am I in the right relationship? Is this as good as it gets? These questions can feel uncomfortable without a method for uncovering the answers. Enter The Life Brief, a simple yet effective playbook for navigating life’s decisions, crossroads, and curve-balls.Modeled after the creative brief, a tool used by the most innovative companies in the world to unlock clarity and unleash action, The Life Brief carves a path for living with intention and imagination. Designed by leading brand strategist Bonnie Wan, The Life Brief is a practice in three parts: The first phase, Get Messy, is a set of open-ended writing prompts that cut through limiting beliefs and false assumptions about what’s possible. The second phase, Get Clear, offers prompts for finding clarity around what you truly, deeply want. The third phase, Get Active, catapults you into the steps to making those desires a reality.Bonnie's book, The Life Brief: A Playbook for No-Regrets Living, is available now.To learn more about Bonnie, go to thelifebrief.com/bonnie.Support the Show - Become a Patron!Help us grow and become a Patron today: https://www.patreon.com/smartpeoplepodcastSponsors:Hims - Start your free online visit today at Hims.com/SMART.The Optimistic Outlook - Dive into The Optimistic Outlook and join a community of listeners who are enthusiastic about big, transformative ideas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Stephen Porges, founder of Polyvagal Theory, discusses the impact of feeling safe on well-being, social bonds, and self-regulation. He explores stress responses in mammals, social cues, and autonomic regulation. The conversation delves into creating safe protocols for calmness, understanding reflex responses in the body, and reactions to blood loss.

Paul Millerd is an author, consultant, and podcaster.In this episode we talk about what it’s like to find yourself in the wrong life, and then how to get into the real work of figuring out how to live. Our guest pieces together a set of ideas and principles that brought him from unfulfilled and burned out to his good life. Hopefully you can take some things away from this conversation to start living a more intentional, energizing, and passionate life for yourself.Paul's book, The Pathless Path: Imagining a New Story For Work and Life, is available now.To learn more about Paul, go to think-boundless.com.Support the Show - Become a Patron!Help us grow and become a Patron today: https://www.patreon.com/smartpeoplepodcastSponsors:Babbel - Get 55% off your Babbel subscription at Babbel.com/SPP. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Alex Tapscott, an entrepreneur and author focusing on the intersection of blockchain and AI, as he dives into transformative technologies. He discusses the evolution from Web 1 to Web 3, emphasizing the democratization of digital ownership. The conversation touches on individual freedom in the metaverse, the impact of decentralized transactions, and how blockchain and augmented reality are redefining digital art. Alex also highlights the creative industry's challenges and the inclusivity of the Web3 movement, urging everyone to engage with this digital frontier.

Dr. Mark Goulston is dying to tell you about what mortality is teaching him. He is a distinguished psychiatrist, a hostage negotiations trainer, and death and dying specialist who is facing his own mortality and the universe is telling him to share what he's learned from 50 years of listening. He says that if he knew these things decades earlier, it would have changed his life for the better. Now you can learn them to change your life for the better... and you don't need to be dying to learn them.Dr. Goulston's most recent book is Back After Burnout: Master your BURNOUT RECOVERY with the MASHPLAY™ framework.To learn more about Dr. Goulston, go to markgoulston.com.Support the Show - Become a Patron!Help us grow and become a Patron today: https://www.patreon.com/smartpeoplepodcastSponsors:Notion - Try Notion AI for free when you go to notion.com/smart.Rocket Money - Stop wasting money on things you don’t use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com/smart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s no secret that division, loneliness, and polarization are on the rise—to catastrophic impact on our personal lives. While we often think of curiosity as a personality trait, internationally-recognized curiosity expert Scott Shigeoka knows that it’s actually the most potent tool we have to bridge our differences and heal relationships: From political blow-ups to age divides at work; religious differences to languishing friendships; gun rights to gender rights. In this episode, Shigeoka blends cutting edge research on curiosity with wisdom from years of grassroots community work —as he takes listeners on a journey to understand the power of deep curiosity.Scott Shigeoka is an internationally recognized curiosity expert, speaker, and the author of SEEK: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World. He is known for translating research into strategies that promote positive well-being and connected relationships around the globe, including at the UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and through his groundbreaking courses at the University of Texas at Austin. Scott implements his curiosity practices in the public sector, Fortune 500 companies, Hollywood, media organizations, education institutions, and small businesses.Scott's book, Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World, is available now.To learn more about Scott, go to scottshigeoka.com.Support the Show - Become a Patron!Help us grow and become a Patron today: https://www.patreon.com/smartpeoplepodcastSponsors:Babbel - Get 55% off your Babbel subscription at Babbel.com/SPP.HelloFresh - Go to HelloFresh.com/smartpeoplefree and use code smartpeoplefree for FREE breakfast for life!ButcherBox - Sign up today at butcherbox.com/smart and use code smart to get free chicken wings for a year.Shopify - Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/spp. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why and how did America, in a catastrophically enormous failure, become the world leader in COVID deaths? In this Episode, veteran journalist Joe Nocera offers fresh and provocative answers. We discuss what really happened when governments ran out of PPE due to snarled supply chains and the shock to the financial system when the world's biggest economy stumbled. We also cover the effectiveness of wildly polarized approaches, with governors Andrew Cuomo of New York and Ron DeSantis of Florida taking infamous turns in the spotlight. And we uncover why thousands died in hollowed-out hospital systems and nursing homes run by private equity firms to “maximize shareholder value.”Joe's book, The Big Fail: What the Pandemic Revealed About Who America Protects and Who It Leaves Behind, is available now.To learn more about Joe, follow him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joenocera.Support the Show - Become a Patron!Help us grow and become a Patron today: https://www.patreon.com/smartpeoplepodcastSponsors:Notion - Try Notion AI for free when you go to Notion.com/smart!DraftKings - Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app NOW and use code SMART -- new customers can bet $5 on the NFL Thanksgiving action to score $150 instantly in bonus bets! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You may feel as if you don't control your emotional energy, that it's an inevitable consequence of the world around you and the forces bearing down on you. But that's not the case. To reach your full potential, you can learn to recognize and harness the energy in your brain.Dr. Julia DiGangi is an expert in the connection between our brains, our emotions, and our relationships. Her work shows people how to harness the power of the brain to lead more satisfying and emotionally intelligent lives. Her lab and clinical work have been conducted at Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, the University of Chicago, DePaul, and University of Illinois Chicago.Dr. DiGangi's book, Energy Rising: The Neuroscience of Leading with Emotional Power, is available now.To learn more about Dr. DiGangi , go to drjuliadigangi.com.Support the Show - Become a Patron!Help us grow and become a Patron today: https://www.patreon.com/smartpeoplepodcastSponsors:Babbel - Get 55% off your Babbel subscription at Babbel.com/SPP.HelloFresh - Go to HelloFresh.com/smartpeoplefree and use code smartpeoplefree for FREE breakfast for life! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices