SuperPsyched with Dr. Adam Dorsay

On any given day, we’ve got tons of information coming at us—and much of it is negative—so we can easily feel overwhelmed. And when we are overwhelmed, we can become numb making it difficult to keep our hearts open to family, friends, and life in general. Some of us may even believe that keeping our hearts open is a bad idea. Yet, when our hearts are closed, we can lose so much of the richness of life. How can we keep our hearts open so that we can experience life fully while being mindful of how to protect ourselves? Here to answer that question is a person I have considered a teacher for many years. Dr. Leonard Felder is a psychologist in private practice in Los Angeles and the author of several excellent books including his most recent, Keeping Your Heart Open: How to Overcome the Things That Make Us Numb, Cynical, or Burned Out. Len is a great teacher and a very seasoned psychologist. His books have sold over 1,000,000 copies and he has been a frequent guest on major media outlets including the Oprah Winfrey show. So, listen in as Len and I have an openhearted and lively conversation about keeping our hearts open. Book link: https://amzn.to/43XcMUu 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).

What is it about the beautiful smell of barbecue smoke? I adore it and I am not alone. It seems to hit a deep, primal nerve within us. Its allure may summon our inner cave dweller. Or it may remind us of camping, holidays, cookouts, or other positive memories. For my guest, Adrian Miller (www.adrianmiller.com), it also taps into roots of his African American heritage. And I am so excited to have him on my podcast. Adrian is a legitimate Renaissance man. After graduating Stanford, he got his law degree from Georgetown, became a special assistant to President Bill Clinton, became a certified barbecue competition judge, won a James Beard-award for his scholarship as an author of one of his several books, and, as a deeply spiritual man, he serves on the Colorado Council of Churches. I was particularly interested in his latest book, Black Smoke, which Kirkus Reviews describes as an “essential reader for history buffs and barbecue lovers alike.” So, join Adrian and me as he reveals the psychological, historical, cultural, and technical aspects of barbecue. Book link: https://amzn.to/43ZB146 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).

You know that feeling when someone really gets you? And I'm sure you also know the vastly different experience of not feeling understood or being with someone who appears tone deaf to who you are. Empathy is a big part of the difference, and it matters. Empathy is fundamental, learnable, and it is one of the skills that defines us as people. And yet, empathy is a commonly misunderstood skill. I am so happy to have an empathy expert to provide clarity and show us how to grow it and to explain how it will improve our lives. My guest, Maria Ross, is a brand strategist, TEDx speaker, and an author who has written a must-read book called The Empathy Edge. Simply put, her book shines a light the importance of empathy in our personal lives and in the workplace. Indeed, this one trait can be the difference maker for whether a relationship or company succeeds or fails. Business luminaries love her book and one sums up the lion’s share of accolades by saying it’s “a must-read for every manager and executive.” I agree wholeheartedly and would add it’s a must-read for every person, regardless of their work. Book link: https://amzn.to/43Fd3vk 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).

With the Tokyo Olympics on people’s minds, I thought it would be good to have at least one episode focused on Japan, a country I love.  I had the incredible pleasure of living there for nearly three years. It was a place of endless fascination for me. It was also a place where I could learn more deeply about psychology itself because it was so culturally different from my home in the United States. It allowed me to question phenomena I took for granted and, doing so, it gave me greater insight into this experience of being human. One of my great teachers—at least through his writing—was my guest on this episode, Robert Whiting (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Whiting). Bob has written several books on Japanese baseball that describe Japanese culture by how the game is approached in Japan. His books have been read regularly in academic institutions, governmental institutions, and at least two sitting US presidents have read his books to better understand their important ally.  The San Francisco Chronicle described one of these books as not only one of the best baseball books ever but “one of the best-written sports books ever.” I agree. And while I have read many books about Japan, his most recent, Tokyo Junkie, is one of the best books on Japan I've read. It chronicles his fascinating 60-year relationship with the city of Tokyo, as it grew from a post-war city to its present state of an international economic hub. He also shares stories about his relationships with famous wrestlers, baseball players, politicians, and even members of Tokyo’s crime syndicate. So, listen in as Bob and I talk about living as an ex-pat in Tokyo as well as how one can understand Japan far better by understanding how it approaches baseball. Book link: https://amzn.to/3X7WbLx 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).

I was recently on vacation and reading a psychology magazine. Yeah, I am such a psychology geek that I enjoy reading about it even when I’m relaxing by a pool! An article that captured my attention was one on how to apologize well. I kept thinking about it long after I finished the article, so I looked up the article’s author, Dr. Molly Howes, and found she has written a great book on apologies. As soon as I got home, I read her book and contacted her for the interview that you’ll hear in a few minutes. In the book, Dr. Howes describes the four steps on delivering a good apology. It's such a crucial topic. Whether at work or at home, it’s our relationships that truly matter. And the ability to apologize is a skill all of us will inevitably need. So, knowing how to apologize can make the difference between a great relationship and a lost relationship. My guest, Dr. Molly Howes, is a Harvard-trained clinical psychologist who has written the ultimate guide with clear examples of how and how not to apologize in her book, A Good Apology. The book has been hailed by the press and luminaries in psychology like Dr. Edward Hallowell who describes it as “The definitive book on how to make an apology that actually matters,” and Dr. Chris Germer, who echoes my own thoughts by saying, “I hope the whole world reads this book.” So, join Molly and me as we engage in a lively and informative conversation about the essential skill of apologizing. Book link: https://amzn.to/3qLnb7a 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).

I just upgraded my MacBook to iOS 11.5.  I’m told it will deal with bugs that the last upgrade couldn’t. Meanwhile, my brain and the brains in all of us haven’t really had an upgrade for about 35,000 years. Despite all the incredible strengths of this version of our brains, there are plenty of bugs including issues with memory, biases, and other shortcomings.  But what’s exciting is if we are aware of those bugs, we can make far better use of what we have. To walk us through this insight, I called on my friend, Dr. Matthew Prull.  Matt is a cognitive psychologist and a professor at Whitman College. His extensive research on how our brains work—and how they don’t—is widely published.  You will appreciate Matt’s ability to convey complex information in a very understandable and user-friendly manner. And a funny side note: Matt and I were in the same high school garage band, Café of Regret! He was an incredible guitarist, and we touch on the fact that, long after I had left the band, they kept going and even once opened for A Flock of Seagulls!  He describes that event using certain cognitive psychological terms that will help you better understand your brain.  He also describes a fascinating finding called the Reminiscence Bump that explains why the music of our teens may have a stronger emotional hit than other music. So, listen in as Matt and I have an entertaining and information-packed discussion to help you with your very own Brain Owner’s Manual!

Hello, Dear Listeners! It is summer 2021 and I am taking a bit of a break from releasing new episodes but here is a brief update on the podcast including some exciting news: SuperPsyched has been nominated as a finalist for a 2021 Sharecare Award! Listen in for more info and expect a new and regular batch of episodes coming in the forthcoming weeks!

I love it when I meet someone who positively changes my view of the world. One of those people is the guest on this episode, Blake Leeper. Blake was born without legs. And he would go on to play sports of all kinds—baseball, basketball, and he would ultimately become one of the world’s fastest runners. How fast? So fast that several of Blake’s 400-meter runs have been among the fastest ever recorded! Blake has experienced adversity of all types including those far beyond the physical. And he consistently responds to adversity with wisdom, determination, clarity, and positivity. Blake shines brilliantly as a role model of how a person can respond to life’s challenges. So, listen in, as Blake explains what he means when he says, “My Adversity is My Advantage.”

For many of us, a peculiar aspect of being human is the erroneous belief that we are exempt from certain rules of life. One of those rules is aging.  So here’s my confession about how I thought I was exempt: it took me forever to accept the fact that I needed reading glasses.  Somehow, I believed my eyes were meant to remain the eyes of a teenager and every time I’d ask to borrow some readers, my wife would lovingly remind me to embrace reality and carry glasses. My guest, Dr. Jerrold Shapiro (https://jerroldleeshapiro.com/), is a psychologist, author, and professor of psychology at Santa Clara University. He has written extensively about existential psychology, fatherhood, group therapy, and couples therapy. He has been interviewed on multiple media outlets including the Oprah Winfrey Show.  And without a question, Jerry is one of the most beloved professors I have ever known and with good reason: he is supremely knowledgeable and relates his knowledge with massive doses of levity, relatability, and kindness as you will hear in this interview. His latest book, Finding Meaning, Facing Fears, explores how to feel empowered around aging and has been described as “a must-read for everyone beyond the age of 45.” So, listen in as Jerry and I talk about finding meaning as we age.

I’m guessing that, like me, you have a Netflix account. And, like me, you may have wondered, how does it know what I will like? With more than 200 million households and over half a billion viewers in 190 countries, Netflix has become an international phenomenon. Part of the company's success has been its ability to advise us on what we will like by suggesting titles. And in this interview, you’ll hear that the company scraps traditional marketing and demographic information when making its predictions of what we will like. Instead, the company uses sophisticated, objective measures to determine what it will suggest and it doesn’t factor our age, gender or other typically-used data when rendering its recommendations. And someone who knows how Netflix does what it does is the company’s Vice President of Product, Todd Yellin. Todd has played a significant role in Netflix’s success for the past 15 years and was part of the team that created the original algorithms to predict how we will rate a title we haven’t ever seen. Todd is one of the most compelling people I have known. In addition to being an executive, Todd is a great storyteller and filmmaker.  As a cinephile and TV geek who is fascinated by how people make decisions, I found talking with Todd and getting to know how Netflix operates to be a total delight. So, listen in as Todd and I talk about how Netflix helps us decide.