It will come as no surprise to my regular listeners that I love exploring the bond between pets and people. My life has been vastly improved by pets and I’ve seen the same effect of pets on countless people. Recently, I watched a deeply engrossing Netflix original documentary called The Mind of a Cat. When I watched it (and went nuts for it like a teenager at a rock concert) I knew I needed to contact one of my favorite stars of the movie, Dr. Kristyn Vitale. Kristyn is a professor at Unity College in Animal Health and Behavior. She is a frequent contributor to major media outlets like National Geographic and the New York Times, and she’s a prolific researcher. And the findings of her research suggest that cat behavior is far more complex than we may have ever imagined. If you have you ever wondered what is going on in the mind of your cat, or how to best connect with your feline friend, these and many other compelling questions will be answered. So, listen in as Kristyn and I discuss the mind of a cat.

Have you ever been given incredibly good advice, but didn’t follow it? I’m guessing that, for most of us, the answer is a big yes! It may have been because we weren’t ready to implement that advice. It may have also been because the advice came from someone else. The fact is, we listen to ourselves more than we listen to others. With that in mind, how can someone from the outside be most helpful? One of the best answers is an approach called Motivational Interviewing. Motivational Interviewing has long informed how I work. And it is, indeed, an honor to host the co-creator of this scientifically validated approach to counseling. Dr. Stephen Rollnick is a giant in the field of psychology. Along with his colleague, Dr. Bill Miller, he co-created Motivational Interviewing, and it has gained international acclaim for its effectiveness in helping people change undesired behaviors. As you’ll hear, it’s a bit like a Jedi mind trick for the good: by listening deeply to a person, learning their agenda, the helper can assist in figuring out what is true for the other person, and the person ends up being guided by their own truth. As you’ll also hear, it’s not just for counselors. It can be done by parents with their children, and managers with people who report to them. In fact, my previous guest from episode #126, African American musician Darryl Davis, who helped over 200 men out of the KKK, uses a similar communication style.  So, listen in as Steve and I talk about Motivational Interviewing and how it can help you help people get in touch with their best agendas and find their true north. Book link: https://amzn.to/3P9FRrE This is an affiliate link. It will provide me with a small commission on purchases made through it and help the podcast (but it won’t affect the price you pay).

Well, dear listeners, Thanksgiving is upon us, and what better topic to dive into, than gratitude! Not so long ago, gratitude was kind of considered a “woo-woo” topic but, these days, hard, science and brain imaging shows otherwise. We now have hard evidence that it is good for our minds, our bodies, our moods, and its effects can boost the moods of significant people in our lives (whether or not they are practicing these skills!). So, listen into this short episode on a skill that can yield big results in your life. It is my hope that you will find a way to instill a gratitude practice on the regular that goes beyond the Thanksgiving holiday. And, as always, I am so grateful to you for listening, and will do my best to continue to provide useful content. Happy Thanksgiving!

Many of us grew up with the idea that we’ve got to spend a lot of time improving on our areas of weakness. While that may be true, and certainly important at times, research indicates that we can get an even greater return on our investment of energy when we improve in areas where we are already strong. Yet, have you ever noticed it’s easier to get from absolute beginner to 80% mastery than it is to get from 94% to 97%? That first 80% is way easier than the last 3%! What does it take to excel? What are the obstacles that frequently get in the way? And how do we transcend those obstacles to get to our very best during our lifetimes? Fortunately, I know just the guy to ask! Elliot Roe is a world-renowned performance coach and hypnotherapist who has devoted over 14,000 hours to helping people perform at the top of their games. He has worked with superstars who are at the very top of their game internationally: professional athletes, professional card players, giants in business, and other people searching for excellence in the areas that matter to them. He will reveal secrets about what it takes to get to the best of your abilities. So, listen in as Elliot and I discuss the secrets and tiny tweaks that can get you from 94% to 97%.

Among the most painful of human experiences is feeling rejected. In fact, the brain can't tell the difference between social rejection and physical pain: MRI images show that rejection hits the same parts of our brains that physical pain hits. The fact is, we are social animals, and we feel the impact of social interactions quite deeply. And for those who are stigmatized, ostracized, shunned, or rejected by society, the pain can be chronic, intense, and may have profound effects. And stigma transcends the person who’s stigmatized; even family or others who in any way connected with the stigmatized person are often stigmatized. This is an important issue, and I am so glad to welcome back my highly esteemed colleague and previous SuperPsyched guest, Dr Stephen Henshaw. Many of you remember him from the episode on ADHD and girls. Steve is also the author of a profound a memoir called Another Kind of Madness in which Steve shares the story of his family and his father’s struggle and stigmatization as he dealt with mental illness. Steve is a UC Berkeley & UC San Francisco School of Medicine Distinguished Professor of Psychology, and he was recently inducted into the American Academy of the Arts and Sciences. So, please listen in as Steve and I unpack the phenomenon of stigma and how we can best deal with it. Book Link: https://amzn.to/3P9FRrE This is an affiliate link. It will provide me with a small commission on purchases made through it and help the podcast (but it won’t affect the price you pay).

There's a great quote from James Joyce: “Mr. Smith lived a short distance from his body.” As you'll hear in this interview, we have evolved over the centuries to distance ourselves from our bodies. That makes us very different from the other animals who reside on this planet. In so doing, we have become estranged from a lot of data that could serve us: when we are tired, we might not listen and engage in a difficult conversation instead of taking a nap and put and important relationship at risk. When we are hungry, we might not listen, and fill our bodies with something fast, easy, but in no way nourishing. Or we might forgo eating entirely and, while “hangry,” make a bad decision. Or, how many times have we neglected our bodies when they've needed to move and instead, sat through a meeting or power through an email only to give less than our best selves? Animals don't tend to do that. Instead, they tend to listen to the cues of their body and respond to those cues. What can we learn from our animal neighbors to help us be more human? Fortunately, I know just the person to ask! Beth Anstandig is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice in Northern California. She’s also the author of a tremendous book called The Human Herd. I loved this book and Kirkus Reviews said it’s a book that can, “improve readers’ emotional health and leadership skills” and that it’s a “thought-provoking look at ways of dealing with the stresses of life.” So, listen in as Beth and I talk about leveraging intelligence from our animal side. Book Link: https://amzn.to/3P9FRrE

Regardless of who you are or where you live, one thing all 7+ billion of us on earth have in common is the restriction of time. None of us has more than 168 hours a week. And yet, how we use that time can be the difference maker in the quality of our lives. Do we ever take time to reflect and ask ourselves, “How am I allocating my time?” Or, “Might there be a better way of doing some of my daily tasks?” My guest, Nick Sonnenberg (www.comeupforair.com), is a former Wall Street-based high-frequency algorithmic trader. He has a master’s in financial engineering from UC Berkeley and he is the CEO and co-founder of Leverage (www.getleverage.com), a company that helps businesses maximize their time and efficiency so that they can focus on what matters to them. He is also the co-author have a great book of called, Idea to Execution as well as the author of an upcoming book called, Come Up for Air, releasing in February 2023. We talk about time management and tools that help us in business and our personal lives so that we can all focus on what matters to us. We also touch on the importance of properly taking a break and looking at time in a non-linear fashion—and you’ll soon understand just what he means by that! So, listen in, as Nick and I geek out to tools and ideas for managing time. Book Links: https://amzn.to/3N0wO9H and https://amzn.to/3J94qkA This is an affiliate link. It will provide me with a small commission on purchases made through it and help the podcast (but it won’t affect the price you pay).

The Beastie Boys made a huge splash nearly 36 years ago with their breakthrough album, Licensed to Ill. It was a moment in time that served as something of a dividing point in music history; they showed the world what could be done with drive, creativity, levity, and a skilled DJ. At the time, they were wild, loud, rude, and obnoxious. Had I been told that one day I would think of the trio as an empathic and philosophically profound crew of men, I would have laughed. But not now. Recently I watched the Apple TV special, Beastie Boys Story, directed by the great Spike Jonze. It was so good, I watched it three times! I have taken notice of, truly, how deep their thinking has been, and how they have evolved as musicians and people. There are at least three virtues that these men rock in life at least as hard as they rock their music: authenticity, flexibility, and interpersonal intelligence. And they serve as teachers, demonstrating how to step more fully into those virtues. Listen in to this short solo to hear more!

We literally cannot survive without food. And yet, until 1996, Food Studies as an academic discipline wasn’t even a thing until my guest, Dr. Marion Nestle (https://www.foodpolitics.com/), founded the department and program at New York University where she remains professor emerita. Dr. Nestle has been a pioneer in studying nutrition, public health, and she has been a courageous advocate for human rights as they relate to Food. In fact, she is widely considered one of the nation’s most important authorities when it comes to food and food politics. She has published dozens of important articles relating to food and health research and 12 books, including her latest, a memoir, called Slow Cooked. I loved the book as did legendary food expert, Alice Waters, who describes Marion, whose Ph.D. is in molecular biology, as “one of the nation's shrewdest thinkers.” In addition to her world-class science acumen, she’s also a pure delight as a person! So, join me as Dr. Nestle—yes, like the verb “nestle” and not like the food company—and I talk about a life in food studies and food politics. Book Link: https://amzn.to/3Nqrzl9 This is an affiliate link. It will provide me with a small commission on purchases made through it and help the podcast (but it won’t affect the price you pay).

Many of us can make our friends and family laugh. But as comedian Billy Eichner recently noted, it is really hard to make a group of strangers laugh. And that is the task of every working comedian. They get up on stage in a strange city in a strange venue with strangers in the audience. Sometimes they hit. Sometimes they bomb. But regardless of the result, the successful ones get back up and do it again to face an uncertain reality at each performance. Comedians need to read the room, have incredible control over their bodies and minds, and rely on so many variables to do their work. Even the same material at the same club on two different nights can have a different effect. I’m in perpetual awe and so grateful to comedians for what they give us. Perhaps the greatest gift of comedians is that they give people joy, laughter, and a temporary reprieve from day-to-day struggles and pressures One of the greatest bringers of joy and laughter I have come across, in some time is my guest, Raj Sharma (https://www.therajsharma.com/). Raj is a veteran comedian who has been described by veteran SNL legend, Daryl Hammond, as “The freshest voice in comedy.” Raj has performed all over the world and in virtually every state in the US. As you will hear, he is a fascinating and incredibly fun person. We get into his personal story as well as how he attends to his craft. So, listen in as Raj and I geek out to making strangers laugh.