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How Did Kelly McGonigal Sneak Compassion Into Her TED Talk? · Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Kelly McGonigal (on joy)

Kelly McGonigal (Joy Is a Risk Worth Taking, The Joy of Movement, The Upside of Stress) is a psychologist, bestselling author, and dance instructor. Kelly joins Armchair Expert to discuss growing up with a mirror twin in New Jersey, navigating childhood with unexplained chronic pain, and finding freedom at Boston University. Kelly and Dax talk about…

People

Notes

What Pandemic Simulation Did Kelly McGonigal Join? at 8:02

Kelly McGonigal remembers joining her identical twin for a respiratory pandemic simulation she places around 2008. Full answer
What Is a Mirror Twin? at 9:30

Kelly McGonigal says she and her sister are mirror twins. Full answer
Why Did Kelly McGonigal Study Psychology? at 16:04

Kelly McGonigal studied psychology because she has always been curious about what it is like to be another person. She got her PhD in psychology at Stanford. Full answer
How Did Newspaper Ads Recruit People for a Psychopath Study? at 17:16

Kelly McGonigal says an undergraduate psychopathy study recruited people with newspaper ads, not by asking who was a psychopath. Full answer
How Did Kelly McGonigal Sneak Compassion Into Her TED Talk? at 18:37

Kelly McGonigal sneaked compassion into her TED Talk after the organizers told her they were already covered on compassion. Full answer
How Does Breathing Through the Heart Sync Two Brains? at 24:14

Kelly McGonigal says breathing through the heart puts awareness in the chest and can drop a person into a state where two people's hearts start beating in a… Full answer
Why Doesn't Joy Require a Happy Life? at 28:36

Kelly McGonigal says joy does not require a happy life. Full answer
How Did Childhood Pain Change Kelly McGonigal's View of Joy? at 29:48

Kelly McGonigal says joy does not depend on holding onto success, reaching a specific goal, or curing an illness. Full answer
Why Do People Fear the Pleasure in Joy? at 32:31

Kelly McGonigal says people fear the pleasure in joy because they confuse pleasure that can get them into trouble with the pleasure built into joy itself. Full answer
Why Do People Fear Admitting They Are Happy? at 38:18

Kelly McGonigal says people fear admitting they are happy because they believe the universe will punish them. Full answer
What Is the Difference Between Happiness and Joy? at 44:51

Kelly McGonigal separates happiness from joy by scope and timing. Happiness is a global assessment of whether life is going well. Full answer
Why Do Moments With Strangers Challenge Cynicism? at 50:57

Kelly McGonigal says a moment of connection with a stranger challenges cynicism, because it lets a person sense the good in themselves. Full answer
How Does Joy Compare With Stress? at 59:29

Kelly McGonigal calls joy one of the most biologically consequential emotions a person can have, in the same category as stress. Full answer
What Did 100,000 Uplifting Moments Reveal? at 1:05:45

Kelly McGonigal read almost all of 100,000 uplifting moments crowdsourced by Megagon Labs, and the largest category was affection, at 34,200. Full answer
What Is Collective Joy? at 1:16:44

Kelly McGonigal says collective joy is people feeling something positive together and showing it in a way that pulls everybody into a sense of being bigger… Full answer
Why Is Disneyland a Place to Study Joy? at 1:20:22

Kelly McGonigal says you cannot study joy without going to Disneyland. Full answer
How Do Venture Capitalists Bet on Companies? at 1:43:26

Dax Shepard says venture capitalists follow a specific bet. Full answer
What Does Dax Shepard Love About Amanda Seyfried? at 2:02:12

Dax Shepard is obsessed with Amanda Seyfried in the documentary and loves her for calling it like she sees it, with no bullshit. Full answer
Can You Lie to Yourself? at 2:11:29

Dax Shepard does not believe you can lie to yourself. You can lie to other people, and you can be in denial, but you know the truth. Full answer

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