Queued for Thought - Conversations on Loneliness, Healing and Connecting, Part 1

[: 00:00:00

This is another little side project that I'm doing because as a Renaissance Person, I love learning. I love exploring new things. I love thinking about things from many different perspectives and thinking outside the box. And as such, I am an avid listener to podcasts, and I wanna share some of the really thought provoking stuff that has come up for me as I've listened to podcasts.

I wanna first tell you really quickly about what my policy is when it comes to listening to podcasts. I curate my queue manually. I may follow a bunch of shows, but I don't have it automatically added into my queue. Instead, every once in a while I go through, I look at the different podcasts that I'm a follower for. And I will just pick episodes and put them into the queue with a rule. I almost never listen to two episodes of the same podcast back to back.

Why not? Isn't that how some people do it? They listen to like the entire thing in one night? I just don't do that. And the reason why is because I like to hear different people, different organizations, industries, disciplines, all talking about either the same subject or similar subjects.

And then I get to play that connecting the dots thing that we do on my podcast, which is what's the unifying theme? What are elements we can pull from one group's conversation and apply it to another group's problem, and a third group learns from that and tries a new version of it. And so I love to do that.

I love to listen and connect these dots between these conversations that are happening in different places. So every time I have a Queued for Thought, what it's gonna be is three, maybe four different podcasts that I've listened to, oftentimes back to back. And serendipitously they ended up talking about the same thing.

I think it's just because subconsciously I'm interested or thinking a lot about a particular topic. I see something in the podcast title or in the short description that interests me, and I'm like, oh, I'll throw it in the list. And then, hey, boom! The next podcast is talking about the exact same thing from a totally different angle though.

So I'm gonna send you those. I'll have a very quick intro where I just tell you a little bit about these podcasts. Then I'll let you listen to all of them. And then the final thing in this curated podcast list is going to be me coming back and giving just a few thoughts that I had.

So we're starting off and I'm serving up for you a three course meal. Two courses actually do come from the same podcast series. It's a series where multiple people are interviewed. So I feel like that's okay.

[: 00:02:38

[00:02:38] Sara Kobilka: So the first episode that we're gonna listen to that is in this list is from A Bit of Optimism with Simon Sinek. And this episode is called Revisited: We Cannot Heal Alone in the Loneliness Epidemic, with Rabbi Sharon Brous. So, this is actually a replay of one of Simon's favorite episodes. And I'm gonna read you what it says in the show notes.

Grief can paralyze us. Most of us aren't given a manual about how to comfort someone grieving or how to ask for help with our own pain. That's why I wanted to revisit one of my favorite conversations with Rabbi Sharon Brous. I talked to her about being present to someone else's pain and what it means to heal together in the loneliness epidemic. Considered one of the most influential rabbis in the U.S., she founded her own congregation and has led multiple White House faith events. In her book, The Amen Effect, Sharon explores how grief and heartbreak can be gateways to truly seeing each other.

I talk a lot about the loneliness epidemic myself. I think that it is hugely impactful in my own life and in the lives of so many of the people that I see around me. And this was kind of a starting point for thinking about comforting people who are having a difficult time. I listened to this in the midst of all of the horrific things happening in Minnesota, which is where much of my family is, where many of my friends are located. Things happening with ICE agents and people being kidnapped and injured and damaged. So, it really was thinking about how do I support these people in my own life who I know are having such a hard time with that.

[: 00:04:15

[00:04:15] Sara Kobilka: Serendipitously, the next podcast that came up in my own queue is from Inquiring Minds, which is hosted by Indre Viskontas. The episode title was, Revealing the Secrets of Super Communicators with Charles Duhigg. Here's what the show notes say.

In this intriguing episode, Indre chats with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and renowned author of The Power of Habit and Smarter, Better, Faster. Charles Duhigg discussed his latest book, Super Communicators. Their conversation delves into the crucial role of effective communication in building meaningful relationships and enhancing quality of life.

Duhigg shares insights from the Harvard Study of Adult Development, emphasizing the importance of close relationships for happiness and health, as well as categorizes conversations into practical, emotional, and social types, explaining how understanding these can improve communication skills. Exploring further into the contents of Duhigg's book, they talk about the neuroscience behind communication and strategies for navigating difficult conversations.

This episode is packed with practical advice and prize winning insights and ideas. For anyone who wants to learn how to improve their communication skills, build deeper relationships, and have more meaningful interactions with the people around them.

And this is talking about conversations, which obviously is part of what you have to do if you are going to overcome an epidemic of loneliness. And also if you have to deal with what is going on right now, which is a very shattered society, broken into many different groups who are in conflict with one another.

[: 00:05:49

[00:05:49] Sara Kobilka: Finally, we're going back to Simon and listening to another Bit of Optimism. Title of this episode is Peace is A Process with Negotiation Expert William Ury.

Show notes say, peace is a process, not an outcome. It's a process that must begin with understanding the other side. Few on this planet have as much experience making peace as William Ury. William spent decades as a peace negotiator, resolving the world's most intractable conflicts. From avoiding nuclear catastrophe in the Cold War to mediating ethnic tension and civil wars. Considered one of the world's preeminent negotiation experts, he's written several books on the subject, including the bestselling, Getting to Yes. His latest book is titled Possible. I sat down with William to discuss the possibility of peace in an increasingly conflicted world. He shares some great stories with me from his career and what he's learned about the right way to influence others.

And so, talk about peace and the need for healing, that is something that Minnesota is in dire need of. And I think the country and a lot of people in the world are in need of. So I'll circle back with a few thoughts after you've had a chance to listen to all three episodes. But for now, enjoy a little bit of Queued for Thought.