Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us

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Nationally syndicated advice columnist Amy Alkon's podcast with the luminaries of behavioral science and psychotherapy.

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    • Aug 5, 2019 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 55m AVG DURATION
    • 305 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us

    The Low-Carb, High-Fat Slimdown with Dietary Researcher Dr. Jeff Volek

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 5, 2019 64:36


    Why low-carb, high-fat eating is the healthiest kind and how to go about itWelcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science. Dietary researcher Dr. Jeff Volek lays out the science behind why you should declare your independence from dietary carbohydrates -- sugar, flour, starchy vegetables like potatoes, apple juice -- that cause the insulin secretion that puts on fat. Not only that, he explains why eating enough fat -- the right kind of fat -- is essential to getting and staying healthy.Dr. Michael Eades calls Dr. Volek's book (co-authored with Dr. Stephen Phinney) "the best low-carb book in print."Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please buy my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence.

    Debunking Happiness Myths, with Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2019 62:33


    HumanLab -- The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science.Psychologist Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, who researchest happiness, explains that we are actually very poor predictors of what makes us happy or unhappy. Of course, it doesn’t help that we’ve been stuck with a lot of cultural myths about what things and situations should and shouldn’t.On this show, which focuses mainly on relationships, Dr. Lyubomirsky lays out the realities shown in the research and also give us simple, practical ways to be happier -- as well as practical thinking on how to assess when that’s just not possible and it’s time to get out. Dr. Lyubomirsky's book: The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn't; What Shouldn't Make You Happy, but Does.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sun from 7-7:30 pm PT and 10-10:30 pm ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support the show by buying my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence."

    Why Men Fight And Why We Like To Watch, with Dr. Jonathan Gottschall

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2019 34:40


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science. On this show, Dr. Jonathan Gottschall talks about his foray from bummed out adjunct English professor to the Mixed Marshall Arts world and his big cage fight -- along with the psychology driving violence and the fight rituals that actually contain it. His fascinating book we'll be discussing on the show: The Professor in the Cage: Why Men Fight and Why We Like to Watch. Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sun from 7-7:30 pm PT and 10-10:30 pm ET, here at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support the show by buying my "science-help" book on the PROCESS of living with confidence, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence."

    Low-Carb, High-Fat: Nina Teicholz on why you should eat butter, meat, and cheese

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 14, 2019 62:11


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science...and this week, a top investigative science journalist.Saturated fat is your friend. Really. It turns out everything we've been told about eating fat is wrong. On tonight's show, meticulous journalist Nina Teichholz will lay out the scientific errors, bias, and dangerous misrepresentations that have underpinned the dietary dogma of the past 60 years.She'll also lay out the findings of solid science -- why eating more dietary fat will lead us to better health and fitness. Join us as she discusses all of this and more from her terrific book, "The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat & Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet." Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Support my show and change your life by buying my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence."

    Dr. Alan Kazdin explains science-based ways to get your kids to behave -- without stress or arguing

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2019 60:53


    Amy Alkon's HumanLab -- The Science Between Us, featuring the luminaries of behavioral science.It turns out some of the ways parents think they'll get their kids to behave -- by berating, threatening, and punishing them -- are actually the least effective. My guest tonight, Yale University psychology professor, Dr. Alan E. Kazdin, who is also director of the Yale Parenting Center, has a parenting template that is not only effective at changing behavior in children, it does it by cutting out the screaming, yelling, and threatening.Dr. Kazdin has written a fantastic and highly practical book, “The Everyday Parenting Toolkit: The Kazdin Method for easy, step-by-step, lasting change for you and your child.” Join us for an incredibly effective, science-based rethink on how to parent kids into behaving the way you want -- with a minimum of stress and unhappiness for both you and your kids.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.My show's sponsor is Audible.com. Get a free audiobook download and support this show financially at no cost to you by signing up for a free 30-day trial at audibletrial.com/amya (It's $14.95 after 30 days, but you can cancel before then and have it cost you nothing.)Please support this show by buying my science-based and darkly funny book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence.

    The Myth Of The Lone Genius and The Power Of Partnership, with Joshua Wolf Shenk

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 23, 2019 62:56


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science.Joshua Wolf Shenk uses science, fascinating true stories of creative partnerships, and historical evidence to dispel the myth of the lone genius and show that creativity is not the work of an individual mind. It is, in fact, a social activity, and two people, working together, are truly "greater than the sum of their parts." Join us tonight to find out what it takes to be a creative partner -- and in turn, how to be far more than you can be alone.Shenk's book we'll be discussing is Powers Of Two: Finding the Essence of Innovation in Creative Pairs. Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-7:30 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Buy my highly practical "science-help" book on the practices of transforming to live with confidence, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence (St. Martin's Griffin, 2018). 

    The Science of Successful Negotiating, with Harvard's Dr. Michael Wheeler

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2019 64:43


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, with Amy Alkon interviewing the luminaries of behavioral science.There have been two major schools on negotiating -- Ury, Fisher and Patton's "win-win"/"relationships are everything" approach and Roger Cohen's "nail 'em to the wall" hardball approach. Harvard Business School professor Michael Wheeler finds that these rigid, one-size-fits-all strategies often clash with the real-world realities of negotiating. Drawing on his and his colleagues' research, he finds that the most successful negotiating techniques are born of an ability to adapt while negotiating, and use agility, creativity, and wise preparation. He'll advise us all on how to adapt (and do all the rest) in order to win in negotiation, the subject of his book we'll be discussing on the show, "The Art of Negotiation: How to Improvise Agreement in a Chaotic World."Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support this show by buying my new "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence."

    Sex therapist Dr. Brandy Engler on men's and women's unspoken erotic desires

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 9, 2019 63:21


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science. What do men want? In bed and out? What do women want? How does this all tie together? (And who’s getting tied up?)These are just a few of the questions I’ll be asking and sex therapist Dr. Brandy Engler will be answering on tonight’s show. Dr. Engler is unique in that she opened a sex therapy practice for women -- expecting to slowly get some clients -- and quickly amassed a full list of clients: all men. Engler and New York Times best-selling biographer David Rensin have published a fascinating book about her sessions and her insights, The Men On My Couch: True Stories of Sex, Love, and Psychotherapy. This is your chance to go inside her sessions -- to see into the erotic minds of men. And not pervos or deviants, but regular guys. Men we all know.  Beyond the men, we will also see into the minds of the women having sex with these men -- or refusing to -- and find out why, and what it takes to balance love and eroticism in a relationship.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support this show -- and get some highly practical science-based advice -- by buying my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence."

    How To Live Happily Single, with Dr. Eric Klinenberg

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2019 61:36


    Amy Alkon's HumanLab -- The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science.On tonight's show, noted sociologist Dr. Eric Klinenberg discusses why remaining unmarried and living alone have increasing appeal and what the problems of living solo tend to be -- and how we might solve them.We'll touch both on living solo as a younger person (whether romantically single or "living apart together" with a partner), and how we can live alone as we age.Dr. Klineberg's book is Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday from 7-8 pm Pacific and 10-11 pm Eastern, here at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.And please support the show by buying my science-based book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence. (St. Martin's Griffin, 2018.)"Unf*ckology" was serialized in the Feb. 2018 Psychology Today. It's one of Quillette's 10 book picks for 2018 along with Steven Pinker's. And it's an ELLE 2018 book pick: "Practical and hilarious." 

    Mark Sanborn: Fred 2.0—how to live, work, and be extraordinary

    Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2019 31:04


    HumanLab: The Science Between Us, with Amy Alkon interviewing the luminaries of behavioral science.Unlike the guests on almost all of my shows, my guest tonight is actually not a scientist -- he's business consultant, public speaker, and best-selling author Mark Sanborn.But this is the second time I've made an exception and had him on the show, because his thinking is so extraordinary, inspiring, and helpful.To bring up that word again -- "extraordinary" -- being extraordinary means being a stand-out person in your work, friendships, and relationships. We tend to think being that is either something you're born with or you're not. But Sanborn will show you tonight that this isn't the case.He'll explain why "extraordinary" is something you can choose to be, and explain how to recalibrate your thinking so you can achieve and maintain that. As for why to do this, his book we'll be discussing — "Fred 2.0: New ideas on how to keep delivering extraordinary results"  — and this show should make very clear that living "extraordinary" is living and working fulfilled in a way that living ordinary just can't meet.Join me and my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Support my show by buying my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence." It lays out the PROCESS of how you can transform to live with confidence, plus countless tips for habit change, productivity, and more.

    Dr. Kermyt Anderson on the dad effect - how fatherhood transforms men & children

    Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2019 31:04


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science.On this show, anthropologist Dr. Kermyt Anderson will lay out what the research says about fathers, stepfathers, grandparents, and how children are transformed by and transform the men who care for them. Dr. Anderson’s book we’ll be discussing tonight is Fatherhood: Evolution and Human Paternal Behavior. It was co-authored with fellow anthropologist Peter B. Gray. Also check out Anderson and Gray’s blog at Psychology Today, “The Evolving Father.” Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sun from 7-7:30 pm PT and 10-10:30 pm ET, here at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.And please support the show by buying my science-based, funny book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence."  

    Evolutionary Rationality: Dr. Vladas Griskevicius on how we make wiser choices

    Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2019 63:34


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, interviewing the luminaries of behavioral science.Decisions that we make that seem stupid can actually make a lot of evolutionary sense, meaning that they would have made sense in the ancestral world; they just don’t make sense in the world in which we now live.Unfortunately, we can’t just tell our genes, “Hey, it’s 2013! There are no hungry tigers roaming the streets of Baltimore and, by the way, my girlfriend’s on The Pill.” But, my guest tonight, evolutionary psychologist, psychologist and marketing professor Dr. Vladas Griskevicius, is going to give us the background to make wiser choices by helping us understand the ways we can be primed to act against our modern interests. His fascinating book, co-authored with Dr. Douglas Kenrick, is “The Rational Animal: How Evolution Made Us Smarter Than We Think.” Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Order my science-based book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence. (Jan 23, 2018, St. Martin's Griffin.) 

    Flirt Science: Amy Alkon & Dr. Jennifer Verdolin on how to flirt like a master

    Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2019 31:45


    HumanLab: The Science Between Us, with Amy Alkon and Dr. Jennifer Verdolin.Science-based advice columnist and author Amy Alkon and animal behaviorist and author Dr. Jennifer Verdolin lay out science news you can use to solve your relationship problems or just improve your relationships and have a better life. Join us tonight for an enlightening show on flirting. It turns out that flirting is anything but frivolous. In fact, understanding the science of flirting and mastering the most powerful techniques is the way to both get love in your life and have it stick around. Tune in to find out all the moves you'll need.  And don’t forget to buy our science-based and amusing books -- support our show while entertaining yourself and learning a thing or two to improve your life. Amy’s new science-based (and darkly funny) book on the process of living with confidence is "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence," and Jennifer’s science-based safari through the world of animal sex and "dating" is "Wild Connection: What Animal Courtship and Mating Tell Us about Human Relationships."Listen to this show every Sun, 7-8 pm PT, 10-11 pm ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

    Low-carb pioneers Dr. Michael Eades & Dr. Mary Dan Eades

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2019 69:07


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, interviewing the luminaries of behavioral science.Low-carb pioneers Dr. Michael Eades and Dr. Mary Dan Eades are my guests this week. Since the 1980s, they have been behind evidence-based ways to eat, and have helped thousands and thousands of people drop pounds without starving themselves. They have long understood that it is carbohydrates -- sugar, flour, starchy vegetables like potatoes, apple juice -- that cause the insulin secretion that puts on fat.  On the show, we'll talk about how to maintain a way of eating, and debunk a lot of widely held myths about diet -- myths many doctors still cling to. Buy their books at Amazon at this link.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sun, 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Please support the show by buying my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence."

    Science-Based Parenting Techniques, With Dr. Alan Kazdin

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 21, 2019 60:53


    Amy Alkon's HumanLab -- The Science Between Us, featuring the luminaries of behavioral science.It turns out some of the ways parents think they’ll get their kids to behave -- by berating, threatening, and punishing them -- are actually the least effective. My guest tonight, Yale University psychology professor, Dr. Alan E. Kazdin, who is also director of the Yale Parenting Center, has a parenting template that is not only effective at changing behavior in children, it does it by cutting out the screaming, yelling, and threatening.Dr. Kazdin has written a fantastic and highly practical book, “The Everyday Parenting Toolkit: The Kazdin Method for easy, step-by-step, lasting change for you and your child.” Join us for an incredibly effective, science-based rethink on how to parent kids into behaving the way you want -- with a minimum of stress and unhappiness for both you and your kids.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.My show's sponsor is Audible.com. Get a free audiobook download and support this show financially at no cost to you by signing up for a free 30-day trial at audibletrial.com/amya (It's $14.95 after 30 days, but you can cancel before then and have it cost you nothing.)Please support this show by buying my new science-based and darkly funny book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence.

    The Science of Self-Motivation with Dr. Edward Deci

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 14, 2019 60:31


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science.Many people seem to think that the most effective motivation comes from outside of us, that motivating is something one person does to or for another. The studies done by my guest tonight, psychologist Dr. Edward L. Deci, find that self-motivation, not external motivation, is at the heart of creativity, responsibility, healthy behavior, and lasting change.This is essential to understand whether we are trying to motivate ourselves or looking to encourage others to successfully motivate themselves.On tonight's show, Dr. Deci will tell us what research shows about we go wrong in our thinking on motivation and how we can become more self-motivated -- and thus happier and more successful in every aspect of our lives.Dr. Deci's book we'll be discussing tonight is "Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self-Motivation." Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday (at our new half-hour time), 7-7:30 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support my show (and increase your confidence and become more productive) by buying my new "science-help" book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence.

    The Neuroscience Of How Touch Drives Emotions & Behavior, with Dr. David Linden

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 7, 2019 31:33


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science.On this show, neuroscientist David Linden takes us on a journey from our fingertips to our funparts and explains how huge an influence touch is in every aspect of our lives. He'll lay out, for example, how touch can improve your success in business and how vital touch is to a child's development and well being and about how much touch a child needs.We'll be discussing his book, Touch: The Science of Heart, Hand, and Mind.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday (at our new half-hour time), 7-7:30 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support my show (and increase your confidence and become more productive) by buying my new "science-help" book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence.

    The Upside Of "Dark Side" Emotions with Dr. Todd Kashdan

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 31, 2019 63:44


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science. This is a show on how the negative can be positive -- on how we actually need the emotions that make us uncomfortable. They make us whole, balancing the "positive" emotions. Dr. Todd Kashdan will lay out the science on how anger, anxiety, and other "negative" feelings can actually be motivating, illuminating, and helpful -- giving us our best shot at success and fulfillment.Dr. Kashdan's myth-busting book he'll be discussing, co-authored with Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener, is “The Upside of Your Dark Side: Why Being Your Whole Self--Not Just Your ‘Good’ Self--Drives Success and Fullfillment.”Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-7:30 p.m. PT, 10-10:30 p.m. ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support my show (and increase your confidence and become more productive) by buying my new "science-help" book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence.

    Ethical Polyamory with Therapist Dossie Easton

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2019 60:09


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science and psychotherapy.Dossie Easton is co-author of a terrific book, "The Ethical Slut," that I've been recommending for years to people who ask me about sexually open relationships -- whether they can handle one, how to handle them, all the questions they have.This promises to be a fascinating and eye-opening show, and one not to be missed even if you aren't personally interested in having more than one sex partner. Dossie will get into myths about ways we view love and sex, and smarter, healthier ways of thinking that are illuminating for all.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Support my show and change your life by buying my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence."

    Low-Carb, High-Fat: Nina Teicholz on why you should eat butter, meat, and cheese

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 17, 2019 62:11


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science...and this week, a top investigative science journalist.Saturated fat is your friend. Really. It turns out everything we've been told about eating fat is wrong. On tonight's show, meticulous journalist Nina Teichholz will lay out the scientific errors, bias, and dangerous misrepresentations that have underpinned the dietary dogma of the past 60 years.She'll also lay out the findings of solid science -- why eating more dietary fat will lead us to better health and fitness. Join us as she discusses all of this and more from her terrific book, "The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat & Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet." Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Support my show and change your life by buying my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence."

    "Mindful Anger" with Dr. Andrea Brandt

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2019 59:59


    Amy Alkon's HumanLab -- The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science and therapy.Whether you're an anger venter or an anger withholder (or something in between), this is a show for you. My guest tonight, therapist Dr. Andrea Brandt, writes that “our culture has a built-in phobia of negative emotions,” which isolates us from each other and has myriad unhealthy and counterproductive effects on us personally.Her goal -- in her book, Mindful Anger: a pathway to emotional freedom, and on this show -- is not to help you get rid of your anger but to help you understand and handle it in healthy and constructive ways. You should, in turn, find that this leads to cascading positive effects in every arena of your life. Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Support my show and improve yourself with a copy of my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence." 

    Dr. Sam Sommers on the science of context -- for living, loving, working smarter

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2019 62:24


    Welcome to HumanLab: The Science Between Us, with Amy Alkon interviewing the luminaries of behavioral science.Context is everything, Tufts psychology professor Dr. Sam Sommers explains. What we believe, how we behave, and even how we see ourselves shifts more than we understand, depending on the situation we find ourselves in at a particular moment.For example, contrary to popular belief, context (like whether we're standing in a crowd), and not moral character, will often determine whether people will reach out and help someone in need.On tonight's show, Dr. Sommers will lay out how understsanding the surprisingly powerful impact of context can help us combat our biases in seeing and decision-making -- in turn helping us be more effective at work, with our families, in our friendships and relationships, and out in the world.Sam's book: Situations Matter: Understanding How Context Transforms Your WorldJoin me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support the show by buying my new "science-help" book on the PROCESS of living with confidence, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence."

    The science on the benefits of giving with Wharton's Dr. Adam Grant

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 24, 2019 67:38


    Welcome to HumanLab: The Science Between Us, with Amy Alkon interviewing the luminaries of behavioral science.Wharton organizational psychologist Dr. Adam Grant talks about his terrific book, "Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success," (now in paperback) which draws from research to explain what makes giving both powerful and dangerous to people's achieving their goals.Paradoxically, it's often those who give without looking for anything in return -- who just want to do good, open the playing field to good people -- who ultimately get the most in return. But, Grant warns, there are caveats to this -- and he lays them out in the book and we'll discuss them as well as giving's many nuances and benefits on the show. Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support the show by buying my new "science-help" book on the PROCESS of living with confidence, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence." 

    Debunking Happiness Myths, with Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 17, 2019 62:33


    HumanLab -- The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science.Psychologist Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, who researchest happiness, explains that we are actually very poor predictors of what makes us happy or unhappy. Of course, it doesn’t help that we’ve been stuck with a lot of cultural myths about what things and situations should and shouldn’t.On this show, which focuses mainly on relationships, Dr. Lyubomirsky lays out the realities shown in the research and also give us simple, practical ways to be happier -- as well as practical thinking on how to assess when that’s just not possible and it’s time to get out. Dr. Lyubomirsky's book: The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn't; What Shouldn't Make You Happy, but Does.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sun from 7-7:30 pm PT and 10-10:30 pm ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support the show by buying my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence."

    Sexual confidence for women, with Dr. Beth Montemurro

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 10, 2019 63:37


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science.Tonight’s show is about women and sexual power -- why some women feel like passive participants in their sex lives and why and how other women are able to feel comfortable in their sexual skin.My guest is Penn State researcher Dr. Beth Montemurro, and her book we’re discussing is Deserving Desire: Women’s Stories of Sexual Evolution.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support this show by buying my new science-based and darkly funny book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence.

    Getting The Girl -- The Ev Psych Approach, with Dr. Geoffrey Miller

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 3, 2019 34:37


    HumanLab -- The Science Between Us: Amy Alkon interviews the luminaries of behavioral science on how their research can help us have the lives we want.On this show is evolutionary psychologist Dr. Geoffrey Miller, who lays out the realities from science of what women really want and how even a regular guy can measure up (as opposed to trying to scam a woman into bed). His new book he'll be discussing on the show, co-authored with Tucker Max, is "Mate: Become the Man Women Want."Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sun from 7-7:30 pm PT and 10-10:30 pm ET, here at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support this show by buying my new science-based and funny book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence.

    The science-based exercise that requires only 15 minutes a week, with Fred Hahn

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 27, 2019 61:29


    It's Amy Alkon's HumanLab -- The Science Between Us.On this show, exercise trainer and rehab expert Fred Hahn explains why slow-speed strength training, for just a few minutes a week, will make you healthier than that fitness fanatic who spends hours and hours in the gym. (He lays out fascinating and solid evidence throughout the show.)Fred is co-author, with Dr. Michael Eades and Dr. Mary Dan Eades, whom I greatly respect, of The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution: The Slow-Motion Exercise That Will Change Your Body In 30 Minutes A Week.He will debunk all the myths most of us hold about exercise and fitness, and leave you with a plan for exercise that will make you fitter and healthier, and will only eat 12-15 minutes of your week. This is a not-to-be-missed show. This method of exercise has improved my health and my life and I'm hoping you'll follow my lead.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, from 7-8 pm Pacific and 10-11 pm Eastern, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkonPlease support this show by buying my new science-based and darkly funny book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence.

    Mating Intelligence -- with Dr. Glenn Geher and Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 20, 2019 60:05


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science and the therapy world. You can actually improve your mating intelligence -- and your ability to meet, date, and have sex and relationships with partners you want. My guests tonight are evolutionary psychologists Dr. Glenn Geher and Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, discussing their book Mating Intelligence Unleashed: The Role of the Mind in Sex, Dating, and Love. It’s based on a vast body of research, and the book, like tonight’s show, will tell you, for example:•What the research shows men and women really want (which is sometimes different from what they think they want). •How a "nice guy" can make himself more appealing to women.•The physical traits of a guy who probably shouldn't waste his time trying to get casual sex. Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support this show by buying my science-based and darkly funny book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence. 

    The Science of Winning and Losing with Ashley Merryman

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 13, 2019 61:55


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science and the therapy world. Competition can be seen as ugly and divisive but it’s actually an essential element in driving us to do and be our best. My guest tonight, New York Times best-selling science writer Ashley Merryman, will lay out the science of winning and losing, including how we can figure out the kind of competitor we are (to help ourselves avoid choking), the differences between how men and women compete, and ways to rejigger our thinking so we use competition in ways that serve us instead of defeating us.Her excellent book, co-authored with Po Bronson, that we’ll be discussing tonight, is “Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing.” Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support this show by buying my new science-based and darkly funny book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence.

    Mark Sanborn: Fred 2.0—how to live, work, & be extraordinary

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 6, 2019 60:11


    HumanLab: The Science Between Us, with Amy Alkon interviewing the luminaries of behavioral science.Unlike the guests on almost all of my shows, my guest tonight is actually not a scientist -- he's business consultant, public speaker, and best-selling author Mark Sanborn.But this is the second time I've made an exception and had him on the show, because his thinking is so extraordinary, inspiring, and helpful.To bring up that word again -- "extraordinary" -- being extraordinary means being a stand-out person in your work, friendships, and relationships. We tend to think being that is either something you're born with or you're not. But Sanborn will show you tonight that this isn't the case.He'll explain why "extraordinary" is something you can choose to be, and explain how to recalibrate your thinking so you can achieve and maintain that. As for why to do this, his book we'll be discussing — "Fred 2.0: New ideas on how to keep delivering extraordinary results"  — and this show should make very clear that living "extraordinary" is living and working fulfilled in a way that living ordinary just can't meet.Join me and my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Support my show by buying my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence." It lays out the PROCESS of how you can transform to live with confidence, plus countless tips for habit change, productivity, and more.

    Attachment Science: How To Find And Keep Love with Dr. Amir Levine

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 30, 2018 62:13


    HumanLab: The Science Between Us, with Amy Alkon interviewing the luminaries of behavioral science.This show will help you use the new field of adult attachment science to find love -- or to keep and even vastly improve the relationship you have.My guest is neuroscientist Dr. Amir Levine, co-author with psychologist Rachel S.F. Heller, of Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find -- and Keep -- Love.If you’re seeking a partner, by recognizing which of the three attachment styles you fit into, you can help yourself avoid all the usual troubles you get into while dating.If you're in a relationship, by recognizing which form of attachment you exhibit and which your partner does, you can stop battling each other, behave more lovingly to each other, and better meet each other’s needs.The partner who longs for more closeness can recognize their need and stop always acting so demanding of a partner who needs a little more distance to feel comfortable. At the same time, they can come to understand that their partner loves them, and that it's largely their style of attachment that makes them harangue the other person for closeness, which can help them pull back a little.In turn, the person who's more distant can recognize their style but come around in small and regular ways that reassure their more intimacy-seeking partner.Join me and my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Support my show by buying my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence." 

    Depression: An Evolutionary Understanding, by Dr. Jonathan Rottenberg

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 23, 2018 61:52


    Amy Alkon's HumanLab -- The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science.We have a depression epidemic in this country, now affecting more than 15% of the population, and it’s striking people at younger and younger ages. It seems clear that our current modes of understanding and treating depression just aren’t working.My guest tonight, psychologist Dr. Jonathan Rottenberg, draws on research to show why we are failing to help depression sufferers and turns to our evolutionary roots to offer a nuanced understanding of why we get depressed, explaining why our modern environment’s mismatch with our evolved psychology can drag us depression. All of this leads to insights on how we might help depression sufferers get better, or, at the very least, not lead them to feel defective and broken because they are depressed. His inspiring and scientifically rigorous book we’ll be discussing tonight is The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic. Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sun from 7-7:30 pm PT and 10-10:30 pm ET, here at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Support my show by buying my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence." It lays out the PROCESS of how you can transform to live with confidence, plus countless tips for habit change, productivity, and more.

    How Touch Drives Emotions and Behavior, with neuroscientist Dr. David Linden

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2018 31:33


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science.On this show, neuroscientist David Linden takes us on a journey from our fingertips to our funparts and explains how huge an influence touch is in every aspect of our lives. He'll lay out, for example, how touch can improve your success in business and how vital touch is to a child's development and well being and about how much touch a child needs.We'll be discussing his book, Touch: The Science of Heart, Hand, and Mind.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday (at our new half-hour time), 7-7:30 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Support my show by buying my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence." It lays out the PROCESS of how you can transform to live with confidence, plus countless tips for habit change, productivity, and more.

    Hidden influences driving our thoughts, beliefs, and actions, with Dr Adam Alter

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2018 61:24


    Amy Alkon's HumanLab --The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science. We aren’t the independent thinkers we like to believe ourselves to be.Psychologist and researcher Dr. Adam Alter shows in his fascinating book, Drunk Tank Pink, that a host of forces -- internal, social, and environmental -- drive our thinking and beliefs, and in turn, our actions.On tonight’s show, he’ll lay out the ways we are influenced, sometimes causing substantial changes in our behavior that make the difference between success and failure in our endeavors. Knowing these influences is the best way to avoid being swept away by them, so don’t miss this show.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Support my show by buying my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence." It lays out the PROCESS of how you can transform to live with confidence, plus countless tips for habit change, productivity, and more.

    Sex, what's "normal," and the sexual deviant in all of us, with Dr. Jesse Bering

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 2, 2018 61:20


    HumanLab -- The Science Between Us: Amy Alkon interviews the luminaries of behavioral science.Dr. Jesse Bering’s book, “Perv,” is subtitled “The Sexual Deviant in All of Us.” This is a book about weird sex but it’s also a book about all of the ways that even “normal” people fall along the spectrum of “perversions.”  Tonight’s show, like Bering’s book, will be a fascinating inside look into how our specific sexual desires seem to be shaped in childhood, how sexually not “normal” some of the most seemingly normal people are, and how human psychology leads us to find others’ sex practices upsetting and creepy instead of just different from our own.As Bering writes, “Humans aren’t the only sex deviants in the animal kingdom. But we are the only ones to stigmatize each other as disgusting perverts.”Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Support my show by buying my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence." It lays out the PROCESS of how you can transform to live with confidence, plus countless tips for habit change, productivity, and more. 

    Your child can be more than his test scores, with Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 25, 2018 60:29


    Welcome to HumanLab: The Science Between Us, with Amy Alkon interviewing the luminaries of behavioral science.Cognitive psychologist Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman lays out why intelligence tests currently used are far too limiting in determining a student’s true potential. Kaufman is a rigorous researcher whose work I know and respect, but his new book, UNGIFTED: Intelligence Redefined, offers much more than science. It offers inspiration in Kaufman’s own story as a “late listener” (due to a spate of ear infections) who was put into learning disabled classes. And then, in 9th grade, through sheer determination, pushed his way into a gifted kids’ class -- ultimately going on to Yale, getting a Ph.D., then going on to become a young professor at NYU.On this show, we’ll discuss the limitations of current testing and a host of other things that matter in whether a child succeeds and how Scott thinks we would better assess talent, creativity, and “the many paths to greatness.”Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sun, 7-8 p.m. Pacific, 10-11 p.m. Eastern, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support this show by buying my new science-based and darkly funny book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence.

    Stop Self-Deception: Dr. Carol Tavris on how belief we're right leads us astray

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2018 63:47


    Welcome to HumanLab: The Science Between Us, with Amy Alkon interviewing the luminaries of behavioral science.My guest is social psychologist Dr. Carol Tavris, on how to admit mistakes instead of continuing to make them. She talks about common ways we make errors in reasoning and judgment that mess up our lives, and how to avoid them.Her terrific book, co-authored with Dr. Elliot Aronson, is one of my favorites: Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts.Join me and my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support this show by buying my new science-based and darkly funny book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence.

    Intuition--The Science How It Can Lead Us Astray, with Dr. Christopher Chabris

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2018 64:10


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science.We like to believe our decisions are rationally driven and make sense. But constantly, our perception and decision-making are clouded by illusions we aren't even aware we have. Some of these include illusions of accuracy in our attention, memory, confidence, and knowledge. These illusions can lead us to make costly - and even deadly - errors.The good news is, by understanding what these illusions are and how we fall prey to them, we can avoid doing it (or do it far less), make more rationally-based decisions, and live smarter overall.To help us do that, my guest tonight, psychologist and researcher Dr. Christopher Chabris is half of the team (with psychologist and researcher Dan Simons) who did the famous and hilarious "invisible gorilla experiment." It's also the title of their fascinating book, "The Invisible Gorilla: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us."Tonight, we'll be discussing this experiment and others, why we're so convinced we're perceiving situations correctly when we're doing anything but, and how we can stop and live like the rational animals we believe we are.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday (at our new half-hour time), 7-7:30 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support the show by buying my "science-help" book on the PROCESS of transforming to live with confidence, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence."

    The Anti-Male Trend: Dr. Helen Smith on stopping the fashionable male-bashing

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 4, 2018 64:18


    Welcome to HumanLab: The Science Between Us, with Amy Alkon interviewing the luminaries of therapy and behavioral science.This is not just a show for and about men but a show for anyone who cares about equal rights and fairness for all.Tonight's guest is psychologist Dr. Helen Smith talking about how, in America, it's become permissible -- and even fashionable -- to be anti-male and what men can (and must) do to start changing this. What men have been doing is going on strike -- dropping out of college, leaving the workforce, and avoiding marriage and fatherhood in droves. There are countless articles sneering at the man who is more man-child than grownup, but Smith, in her book, Men on Strike: Why Men Are Boycotting Marriage, Fatherhood, and the American Dream - and Why It Matters, contends that men aren't dropping out because they're stuck in arrested development; they are responding rationally to the lack of incentive they see in becoming fathers, husbands, and providers. On this show, Smith will lay out the problems -- including shocking discrimination against men such as rampant paternity fraud, condoned and even encouraged by the government -- and what she sees as steps toward solutions, for men in general and for the individual man. Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sun, 7-8 p.m. Pacific, 10-11 p.m. Eastern, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.And please support the show by buying my science-based book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence. (St. Martin's Griffin, 2018.)

    How To Live Happily Single, with Dr. Eric Klinenberg

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2018 61:36


    Amy Alkon's HumanLab -- The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science.On tonight's show, noted sociologist Dr. Eric Klinenberg discusses why remaining unmarried and living alone have increasing appeal and what the problems of living solo tend to be -- and how we might solve them.We'll touch both on living solo as a younger person (whether romantically single or "living apart together" with a partner), and how we can live alone as we age.Dr. Klineberg's book is Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday from 7-8 pm Pacific and 10-11 pm Eastern, here at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.And please support the show by buying my science-based book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence. (St. Martin's Griffin, 2018.)"Unf*ckology" was serialized in the Feb. 2018 Psychology Today. It's one of Quillette's 10 book picks for 2018 along with Steven Pinker's. And it's an ELLE 2018 book pick: "Practical and hilarious." 

    Risk Intelligence: Dr. Dylan Evans on using science for better decision-making

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2018 63:10


    Amy Alkon's HumanLab -- The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science.Dr. Dylan Evans will be talking about risk intelligence and how you can increase your ability to make wise decisions. Wise decisions are fact-based decisions instead of the superstition- and ignorance-based ones that are often the defaults ones our brain pushes us toward. It’s especially important to be factual about your own level of ignorance surrounding an area you need to make a decision about and factor that in. Evans' very smart book we'll be discussing is RISK INTELLIGENCE: How to live with uncertainty. Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.And please support the show by buying my science-based book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence. (St. Martin's Griffin, 2018.)"Unf*ckology" was serialized in the Feb. 2018 Psychology Today. It's one of Quillette's 10 book picks for 2018 along with Steven Pinker's. And it's an ELLE 2018 book pick: "Practical and hilarious." 

    Addiction Recovery Science: Dr. Stanton Peele on why values matter

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 14, 2018 62:55


    Amy Alkon's HumanLab -- The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science.Dr. Stanton Peele points out that most people recover from addictions on their own -- without AA or rehab, and what makes the difference is values, not biology.On tonight’s show, he’ll debunk many of the myths in addiction treatment -- especially the notion that addiction is a “disease” people are powerless to overcome. That defeatest message is especially counterproductive to overcoming addiction, and it’s been supported with bad science and hearsay. Join us tonight to hear what solid science says about how addiction or bad habits can be overcome -- to the point where people are not just going cold-turkey off some substance or behavior till their next relapse, but where they develop meaningful ways of coping that no longer have them turning to their old crutch.Peele’s book we’ll be discussing is Recover! Stop Thinking Like an Addict and Reclaim Your Life with The PERFECT Program. Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Buy my highly practical "science-help" book on the practices of transforming to live with confidence, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence (St. Martin's Griffin, 2018). 

    The Myth Of The Lone Genius and The Power Of Partnership, with Joshua Wolf Shenk

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2018 62:56


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science.Joshua Wolf Shenk uses science, fascinating true stories of creative partnerships, and historical evidence to dispel the myth of the lone genius and show that creativity is not the work of an individual mind. It is, in fact, a social activity, and two people, working together, are truly "greater than the sum of their parts." Join us tonight to find out what it takes to be a creative partner -- and in turn, how to be far more than you can be alone.Shenk's book we'll be discussing is Powers Of Two: Finding the Essence of Innovation in Creative Pairs. Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-7:30 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Buy my highly practical "science-help" book on the practices of transforming to live with confidence, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence (St. Martin's Griffin, 2018). 

    Charisma: How we all can acquire it, with Olivia Fox Cabane

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2018 61:00


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, interviewing the luminaries of behavioral science.My guest is Fortune 500 executive coach and charisma expert Olivia Fox Cabane.Cabane lays out, per research on leadership, why the personal magnetism we call charisma isn’t something people are just born with but something we can all acquire and perfect with knowledge and practice. Even people who aren’t extraverts.Her book we're discussing is The Charisma Myth: How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism. Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Order my "science-help" book on the practice of living with confidence, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence (St. Martin's Griffin, 2018). 

    Evolutionary Rationality: Dr. Vladas Griskevicius on how we make wiser choices

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2018 63:33


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, interviewing the luminaries of behavioral science.Decisions that we make that seem stupid can actually make a lot of evolutionary sense, meaning that they would have made sense in the ancestral world; they just don’t make sense in the world in which we now live.Unfortunately, we can’t just tell our genes, “Hey, it’s 2013! There are no hungry tigers roaming the streets of Baltimore and, by the way, my girlfriend’s on The Pill.” But, my guest tonight, evolutionary psychologist, psychologist and marketing professor Dr. Vladas Griskevicius, is going to give us the background to make wiser choices by helping us understand the ways we can be primed to act against our modern interests. His fascinating book, co-authored with Dr. Douglas Kenrick, is “The Rational Animal: How Evolution Made Us Smarter Than We Think.” Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Order my science-based book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence. (Jan 23, 2018, St. Martin's Griffin.) 

    Low-carb pioneers Dr. Michael Eades & Dr. Mary Dan Eades

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 16, 2018 69:07


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, interviewing the luminaries of behavioral science.Low-carb pioneers Dr. Michael Eades and Dr. Mary Dan Eades are my guests this week. Since the 1980s, they have been behind evidence-based ways to eat, and have helped thousands and thousands of people drop pounds without starving themselves. They have long understood that it is carbohydrates -- sugar, flour, starchy vegetables like potatoes, apple juice -- that cause the insulin secretion that puts on fat.  On the show, we'll talk about how to maintain a way of eating, and debunk a lot of widely held myths about diet -- myths many doctors still cling to. Buy their books at Amazon at this link.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sun, 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Please support the show by buying my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence." 

    The Evolutionary Psychology Of Revenge, with Dr. David Barash

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2018 59:36


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science.Evolutionary psychologist Dr. David P. Barash has taken on the fascinating subject of revenge: why we seem to need it, the different kinds, and how we might avoid leaping to clobber those who do bad things to us.His book, Payback: Why We Retaliate, Redirect Aggression, And Take Revenge, is co-authored with psychiatrist Dr. Judith Eve Lipton.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sun, 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Please support the show by buying my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence."

    Dr. Temple Grandin: The autistic brain and its insights for all of us

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2018 62:57


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science.My guest is the inspiring Dr. Temple Grandin, bestselling author, autism activist, and consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior, discussing her fascinating new book, The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across The Spectrum.This isn't just a show for people who have friends or children with autism or autism spectrum disorders but a show that offers compelling thinking on how to see intelligence, creativity, and differences between brains, and how to help people use their brains in optimal ways. Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sun, 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Please support the show by buying my "science-help" book, "Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence." 

    The Evolutionary Truth About Cats & Dogs (& Human Families): Dr Catherine Salmon

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 26, 2018 33:58


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science. Relationships with family -- and the pets that are part of our families -- are important to our emotional health and can play a significant role in our social success.Tonight, evolutionary psychologist Dr. Catherine Salmon will lay out some fascinating information about our evolved psychology within our families, including -- among other things -- how rivalry isn’t just a sibling thing but a parent-child thing and how and why we create family relationships with people we aren’t related to -- as well as with our pets. The book we'll be discussing is one Salmon co-edited with fellow evolutionary psychologist Todd Shackelford, "The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Family Psychology." (Salmon and Shackelford also wrote a number of chapters, along with others they commissioned from some of the other top researchers in evolutionary psychology and anthropology.)Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday (at our new half-hour time), 7-7:30 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support this show by ordering my new book, the science-based and funny Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence. 

    Science-based goal setting and achievement with Harvard's Dr. Francesca Gino

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 19, 2018 62:22


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, interviewing the luminaries of behavioral science.Adorably, we humans see ourselves as rational animals. Research shows us to be anything but.We are swayed in ways we wouldn’t expect in both our decision-making and how well we stick to our plans. The good news is, the research also shows that our going off track happens in predictable ways. My guest tonight, Harvard Business School professor, Dr. Francesca Gino, will both lay out the forces that sidetrack us as we’re trying to accomplish our goals and offer guidelines that we can use to keep ourselves on track. Dr. Gino will be discussing her recently-published book, Sidetracked: Why Our Decisions Get Derailed, and How We Can Stick to the Plan. Join us tonight and have your eyes opened about the psychological, social, and environmental stumbling blocks that keep us from getting where we want to go.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support this show by buying my new science-based and funny book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence.

    Assertiveness: The science on how & why to be assertive, with Dr. Randy Paterson

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 12, 2018 60:17


    Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, interviewing the luminaries of behavioral science.Assertiveness isn't about "building a good disguise," Dr. Randy Paterson explains. "It's about the courage to take the disguise off." It's "about being THERE."Paterson, a clinical psychologist, is the author of the excellent book I've recommended in my column, "The Assertiveness Workbook: How To Express Your Ideas and Stand Up for Yourself at Work and in Relationships," and that's exactly what he and I will be laying out on tonight's show.Paterson takes a very rational, behavioral approach and gives extremely practical tips for how to change, and this show should help even already-assertive people notice and shore up areas where they could do better.Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.Please support this show by buying my new science-based and funny book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence.

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