I LOVE Podcasts
The podcasts I listen to are sometimes about coaching and sometimes about leadership... but often they are just about being human (noting that you need to be a good human to be a great leader). Occasionally I find 'podcast gold' and now I have a place to share that gold!
This is one of my favourite podcasts of 2024! Michael Guilding, Psychotherapist and trainer, helps us to understand our [very human] biological fear response and how it can hold us back in life. There is SO MUCH valuable information in this 53 minute episode that I can’t even begin to describe it for you… you just need to listen.
“Fear has evolved as a set of powerful physical reactions for surviving predators. In modern life we face very different threats, but the same ancient, automatic fear responses are triggered. And that doesn’t end well. It has a huge impact on our physical and mental health, our behaviour, our capacity to think clearly and our ability to relate to each other.”
Podcast: Big Ideas, ABC
This two part series explores introversion and extroversion. The benefits and downsides of each, how these traits impact our mental health and whether we change, if we want to.
Podcast: ABC All in the Mind
Episodes:
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/allinthemind/introversion-extroversion-personality/102784310
Podcast: ABC All in the Mind
Episode: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/allinthemind/anxiety—and-the-worry-bully/12939678
Robert Waldinger directs the longest study of adult life ever done, the Harvard Study of Adult Development, that has tracked the lives of the same families for 85 years – that’s the LONGEST LONGDITUDINAL STUDY EVER DONE! It’s a study of happiness.
The Study reveals important findings about the power of human connection to affect not only our happiness, but also our health, our longevity, and even our productivity at work.
We also hear the findings about how social media impacts happiness. You may not be surprised to learn that “passively scrolling social media” can be detrimental to our level of happiness (and mental health) – this is often when we scroll passively, comparing our inside to someone else’s outside. But if we actively connect with others through social media, it can make us feel better.
I first came accross this study when it was 75 years old – if you’re interested, you can read my blog post – and if you listen to the TED Talk from 2015, you will hear that good relationships – not wealth or fame – are what keep us happier and healthier. “It’s not just the number of friends you have, and it’s not whether or not you’re in a committed relationship,” says Waldinger. “It’s the quality of your close relationships that matters.”
Conversations is one of my absolute favourite podcasts.
Podcast: ABC Conversations
Episode: Robert Waldinger’s good life
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/conversations/happiness-harvard-study-robert-waldinger-rpt/10302297AB
Dr Edith Eger is a Holocaust Survivor. Aged 93 at the time this podcast was recorded. There is so much wisdom in this conversation it’s hard to even begin to highlight what the big take-aways were for me, but one of them was “before you say anything, ask yourself: is it kind? is it important? is it necessary? Edith also encourages us to be compassionate listeners: this means we don’t just listen, we hear the other person.
It’s worth noting that I was listening to another podcast when I found this podcast (I often go down these rabbit-holes). The original podcast was also worth a listen – it’s called How to Fail With Elizabeth Day (recommended to me by a fellow coach).
Podcast: https://drchatterjee.com/blog/category/podcast/
Episode: #144 Auschwitz Survivor Dr Edith Eger on How to Discover Your Inner Power
All in the Mind is one of my absolute favourite podcasts. This is a fascinating interview with Chris Hadnagy, a Social Engineer whose job involves breaking into banks… by trying to find weaknesses in systems, security, and people. In the podcast we learn a little about Chris’ toolbox of psychology and social engineering techniques.
Podcast: ABC All in the Mind
Episode: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/allinthemind/social-engineering-and-the-psychology-of-influence/13473954
In this interview with author Katherine May – creator of New York Times bestselling books ‘Wintering’ and ‘Enchantment’ – she describes burnout as the psychological and physical exhaustion that happens when you repeatedly ignore your own needs.
In the interview, they explore the idea of “busy-ness” and how we don’t pay attention to the ordinary signs of tiredness/unhappiness/exhaustion, or the early signals of feeling anxious. They also discuss how people (especially women) might find time to replenish and rest day-to-day (without the assocated guilt).
Podcast: Mid
