Unlocking Us with Brené Brown

I talk with Justina Blakeney, designer, artist, and New York Times bestselling author, about how we can create spaces to tell our stories. We talk about how color, pattern, plants, and windy paths can be personalized to help express our individuality and how connecting with both our unique roots and adventures allows us to not only look at objects and space differently but also see ourselves and o...

I’m talking to Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Bruce Perry about their new book, What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing. We define trauma and talk about why big and small traumas activate our stress-response systems and create emotional, physical, and social consequences and how we can find the path to healing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoi...

This week’s episode features two audio essays from You Are Your Best Thing, an anthology on the Black lived experience of vulnerability and shame resilience, led by my friend Tarana Burke, an organizer, writer, activist, and the founder of the ‘me too.’ Movement. It starts with an introduction from Tarana and me, followed by an essay from Jason Reynolds, award-winning and #1 New York Times bestsel...

I have a tough, loving conversation about dementia and Alzheimer’s with Jason Karlawish, physician, researcher, professor, clinician, and author of The Problem of Alzheimer’s: How Science, Culture, and Politics Turned a Rare Disease into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It. This heartbreakingly common diagnosis creates multiple patients — both the diagnosed and the caregivers. We talk about the d...

Get ready for a delicious conversation. I am talking to Samin Nosrat, author, cook, teacher, podcaster, and the force of nature behind the revolutionary cookbook Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat and its Netflix documentary. We connect on her work and the struggles and realities of creating connections in a period of great disconnection. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brandi Carlile is a singer, songwriter, performer, producer, activist, and author of a new memoir, Broken Horses. We talk about everything from the politics of middle school lunch tables, to the pursuit of complicated faith, to the tyranny of fitted sheets. This is a conversation between two people, meeting for the first time, and yet, somehow, it feels like we’ve been friends forever. Learn more...

Hanif Abdurraqib is a beautiful person and an incredible writer, poet, essayist, and cultural critic. His new book, A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance, took my breath away. Hanif’s ability to straddle the tension of grief and gratitude, beauty and horror, mourning and jubilation is where the miracle and the genius happen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcast...

Unlocking Us is here to Dare to Lead on inclusivity. Aiko Bethea is a friend, colleague, and diversity, equity, and inclusion expert. We discuss empathy, accountability, and the power of listening and believing (including a very real role play). We also dissect the differences between transactional leadership and transformational leadership and why courage is a prerequisite to lasting, meaningful...

This week, Unlocking Us is going to Dare to Lead! Olympian, activist, and author Abby Wambach and I connect on the new rules of leadership. Her book, WOLFPACK, I kid you not, is on my top five must-read leadership books. I buy this book for everyone. It’s leadership gold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I’m talking to Dr. Angus Fletcher, professor and author of Wonderworks: The 25 Most Powerful Inventions in the History of Literature, about the science behind the great writings of authors across time — from Greek tragedies to Maya Angelou to Tina Fey. We look at how the technology of literature can nurture democracy, power personal growth, and improve our mental health and well-being. Weaving tog...

In this episode, I talk to Dr. Yaba Blay about her new book, One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race. It’s an honest and raw conversation about identity, grief, transformation, history, colorism, and taking responsibility for change. I continue to reflect on this quote from Dr. Blay: “Identity is nuanced. It’s complicated. I think it’s hard to define. Sometimes I think it’s dangerous to define, depend...

I’m talking to clinical psychologist and author Dr. Edith Eger about her books, The Choice and The Gift. Dr. Eger is a Holocaust survivor who has dedicated her career to helping us understand trauma, anger, resilience, and the power of choosing how we see ourselves and how we resist the labels that people put on us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, I’m talking with Jennifer Rudolph Walsh and Ashley C. Ford about their work, their lives, and the new anthology Hungry Hearts, a collection of intimate stories and essays on courage, desire, and belonging. I just love talking to the storytellers and magic-makers! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A conversation with two unforgettable creators: Debbie Millman and Roxane Gay. Debbie is a designer, an author, an educator, and the host of the award-winning podcast Design Matters, and Roxane is a writer, an editor, a cultural critic, and the co-host of the podcast Hear to Slay. Roxane and Debbie are newlyweds, and we talk about their love story, creativity, and the power of a dinner party. Thei...

Drs. Julie and John Gottman have taken more than 40 years of breakthrough research and written or co-written more than 40 books on marital stability, divorce prediction, and how science can help people have successful, loving relationships. We talk about the toll the pandemic has taken on couples, their work in the context of current events, and practical shifts that can help us take care of each...

Emmanuel Acho is a creator, host, and producer of Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man, a web series about racism to drive open and uncomfortable dialogue. His book with the same name is a thoughtful manifesto, a mandate, and a playbook that’s both generous and full of love. We get personal, and we talk about what these important questions mean in the context of history and for culture tod...

In this episode, I talk with philanthropist and global advocate for women and girls, Melinda French Gates. We talk about empathy, the power of story, and her book, The Moment of Lift — a clear and powerful call to action for gender equity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this “On My Mind” episode, we talk about shame and accountability. We discussed this a bit last summer, but I’m going deeper today in light of the insurrection at the US Capitol and the resulting calls to unity without accountability. Dehumanization is the most significant driver of insurrection, and it always starts with language. We are all responsible for recognizing it, stopping it, and hol...

It’s a podcasters’ roundtable! Tim Ferriss, Dax Shepard, and I talk about everything from preparing for podcasts, parenting, and Ping-Pong to addiction, trauma, and the long, winding road to healing and wholeness. It’s fun and hard and messy. Everything you’d expect from three people who consider curiosity a way of life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I talk with President Barack Obama about his life, his work, and his new book, A Promised Land. We dive into the power of leaning into uncertainty and why the rare skill of holding the tension of opposites makes us better leaders, partners, and parents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this “On My Mind” episode, we revisit FFTs and talk about tired brains and new strategies for recovering from too many hard first times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Eagleman is a neuroscientist, New York Times bestselling author, TED speaker, and Guggenheim Fellow, and in this episode, we talk all about the brain and how it works. It’s mysterious, malleable, constantly changing, and up for new challenges. We dig deeper into the research in his book Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain on the power of being uncomfortable and trying new...

Priya Parker is a master facilitator, strategic adviser, and the author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters. We dig into what it means to come together, why connection requires intention, and the often-invisible structures inside our most meaningful gatherings. Priya even helps me deconstruct my wedding and why, decades later, people still tell me how different and fun it was!...

This episode is proof that dreams do come true! I get to talk to Dolly Parton about love, empathy, and the power of truth-telling. We talk about everything from her new book, Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics, and songwriting to the challenges of leading organizations and Burt Reynolds. It’s amazing to me how Dolly’s songwriting and storytelling seem to be driven by a deep calling to tur...

I talk with writer, storyteller, and joy advocate Gabby Rivera, the first Latina to write for Marvel Comics. Gabby penned the solo series America about America Chavez, a portal-punching queer Latina powerhouse. We also talk about her debut novel, Juliet Takes a Breath; how important it is to see ourselves in stories about the hero’s journey; and how joy is a form of resistance. Learn more about yo...