The You Project

Hearing is the physiological process of detecting sound. It’s passive. If your ears work and sound waves reach them, you hear. Listening on the other hand, is the cognitive and psychological process of paying attention to, interpreting, understanding, evaluating, and responding to what you hear. It’s active and intentional. In this episode, Bobby, Tiff and myself talk about the science of being a good listener. I love this chat because it’s relevant and helpful for all of us, and a superpower for those of us wanting to excel in communication. Enjoy.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I loved this conversation with highly renowned American psychologist, Professor Barry Schwartz. I still have to pinch myself sometimes with the quality of guests that join me for a chat, brilliant people from all over the world. As per the title, we chatted about the gap between wisdom and intelligence - knowing things and how effectively we use that knowledge. We talk about the decisions that we make, big and small, and also the decisions that we don't make, that we could and should. We talk about all the places that echo chambers dominate and thrive in Religion, Science, social groups, politics, sport, etc. - and the impact those echo chambers can have on a life. This was much more of a free flowing conversation than anything resembling an interview, and I really enjoyed my time with the Prof.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Patrick’s back for another chat on TYP and as always, we had fun. This time we talk about the increasing number of people using AI to make themselves look younger, more muscular and in general, more aesthetically pleasing (in their mind anyway). We chat about people falling in love with AI, which of course - and not surprisingly - ended in a discussion around sex bots. Yuck. We spoke about the idea of transhumanism - people becoming a fusion of biology and technology - and the potential consequences of this pursuit. Scientists using wool as a material to heal bones, growing stem cells in space, LED lighting and cellular energy production, silence being eliminated from modern life, the advancement of humanoid robots being used in China for street management (whatever that means), Air New Zealand using humanoid robots as travel companions.. and lots more. Enjoy.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The title is an expression that came out of David Gillespie‘s mouth mid conversation. For him, an unretrievable faux pas and for me, near the very top of my all-time funny moments on a podcast. We covered quite a range of topics in this chat, but maybe the most interesting is David’s claim that the science does not support salt’s bad reputation. In fact, quite the opposite. Enjoy.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Of course I’m fascinated with communication, it’s literally my job. Becoming an effective, if not elite communicator, has been a lifelong goal. Clearly, I’m not there yet. In this fun conversation, Bobby and I share a few stories, unpack some of the science around effective communication and share our personal thoughts about what does and doesn’t work. Enjoy.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.