10 Seconds To Air

What does it take to compete at the highest level of a sport where success and failure are measured every single week? In this episode, Alita Guillen sits down with former world No. 18 professional tennis player Alison Riske-Amritraj to talk about the mental side of elite competition, the sacrifices required to reach the top, and the lessons she's carried from professional tennis into motherhood a...

What does it really take to keep going after fear, failure, and setbacks? In this episode, Alita Guillen sits down with professional climber and mountaineer Emily Harrington to talk about risk, resilience, and the mindset behind some of the world’s most extreme climbs. Emily shares what it was like attempting to free climb Yosemite’s El Capitan in under 24 hours, the terrifying fall that nearly en...

What’s the point of the work you do every day? In this episode of 10 Seconds to Air, Alita Guillen sits down with bestselling author Tom Rath to challenge one of the most common ideas about career and fulfillment. Tom argues that passion is overrated, and that real meaning comes from something deeper: purpose. Drawing from decades of research and his own life experience, Tom explains why focusing...

What does it take to push far beyond your comfort zone? In this episode of 10 Seconds to Air, host Alita Guillen sits down with adventurer Monet Izabeth, who became the first American woman to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole. Over 57 days, Monet skied 700 miles across Antarctica, hauling all of her supplies through extreme cold, whiteouts, and complete isolation. Monet shares how she tr...

Choosing what to eat sounds simple, but as this conversation reveals, it’s anything but. Food choices are shaped by powerful industries, global supply chains, government policy, and marketing systems that rarely prioritize human or planetary health. In this episode, Alita Guillen sits down with Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at NYU and one of the world’s lea...

Teenagers today are growing up surrounded by social media, constant connectivity, and rapidly evolving technology. But what happens when schools push back in order to help students reconnect with each other? In this episode Alita Guillen sits down with Jennifer Ciccarelli, Head of School at Marlborough School in Los Angeles, to discuss the impact of being one of the first schools in the country to...

Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept. It is here, embedded in our daily lives, shaping how we search, write, create, and make decisions. But what exactly is AI? How does it work? And how should we be using it — especially in schools, workplaces, and our own personal lives? In this episode of 10 Seconds to Air, host Alita Guillen sits down with education and technology strategi...

What does it really mean to live a life worth living? And in a world that rewards achievement, speed, and measurable success, how do we make space for deeper questions about purpose, values, and what truly matters? In this episode, host Alita Guillen sits down with Dr. Matthew Croasmun, theologian, professor at Yale University, and coauthor of the New York Times bestselling book Life Worth Living:...

What makes communication land—on the page, on screen, or in conversation? And why do some voices cut through the noise while others get ignored? In this episode, Alita Guillen sits down with writer, storyteller, and cultural commentator Shea Serrano for a candid conversation about voice, clarity, and connecting with an audience. Shea reflects on how he developed his unmistakable style, why honesty...

Why do smart people fall for bad information? Why does bullshit spread faster than truth? And what can we really do to protect ourselves from misinformation in a chaotic media landscape? Alita Guillen sits down with Dr. Gordon Pennycook, Associate Professor of Psychology at Cornell University and a leading researcher on human reasoning, intuition, misinformation, and what he famously calls “The Sc...

Persuasion shapes every part of our daily lives, from convincing a boss to give us a raise to deciding which products we buy or which beliefs we hold true. But how do we recognize when we are being persuaded or deceived? In this episode, host Alita Guillen sits down with Dr. Timothy R. Levine, Professor and Chair of Communication at the University of Oklahoma and author of Duped: Truth-Default The...

What does it take to create lasting change in leadership and culture? In this episode, Alita Guillen sits down with Katie McCormick Lelyveld, CEO of MELD and associate at the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard University. A longtime advisor to transformative leaders, Katie is redefining what it means to lead with empathy, clarity, and purpose. Together, they explore how MELD empower...

What happens to our minds and bodies when we can’t stop scrolling? In this episode, Alita Guillen sits down with Dr. Alison Holman, Professor of Nursing and Psychological Science at UC Irvine, to explore the hidden costs of doomscrolling and constant exposure to distressing media. Dr. Holman’s groundbreaking research reveals how the images we see online, especially violent or graphic ones, can tri...

Raising children is multifaceted. The goal for many of us is to raise resilient well-adjusted children who contribute to society in a meaningful way and to have a good adult relationship with them. But there are ups and downs and challenges from infancy to adulthood. How we as parents navigate those times impacts our child’s ability to bounce back from a setback and the relationship we have with t...

What if equality at home could change everything from our health to our happiness? In this episode, Alita Guillen sits down with Eve Rodsky, Harvard-trained lawyer, New York Times bestselling author, and creator of Fair Play, the system reimagining how couples divide domestic labor. Eve shares how one “blueberries breakdown” became a turning point that inspired her to treat the home like our most...

What if the secret to better health isn’t just in medicine, but in connection and kindness? In this episode, Alita Guillen sits down with Dr. Kelli Harding: psychiatrist, Columbia University professor, and author of The Rabbit Effect: Live Longer, Happier, and Healthier with the Groundbreaking Science of Kindness. Together, they explore how compassion, connection, and everyday relationships direct...

At 15 years old, Marcus Bullock was sentenced to eight years in a maximum-security prison. What could have been the end of his story became the beginning of something transformative. Thanks to his mother’s relentless love—sending him daily letters and photos—Marcus not only survived but found purpose. Today, he’s the founder and CEO of Flickshop, a tech company connecting incarcerated people with...

Talking about race, identity, or politics used to be a step toward progress. Lately, it can feel like a landmine. How do we navigate that shift without staying silent—or getting canceled? In this episode, Alita Guillen sits down with Sara Blanchard: TEDx speaker, life coach, co-author of Dear White Women: Let's Get (Un)comfortable Talking About Racism, and co-host of the podcast What Do You Mean B...

From academic achievement to workplace roadblocks—why do women lose ground after graduation? McKinsey’s Kweilin Ellingrud joins Alita Guillen to break down the data and offer actionable strategies for women navigating their careers. From the broken rung to experience capital, bold moves to bias, this episode tackles the real challenges—and the opportunities—that define a woman’s path at work. Kwei...

Have you ever said yes when you meant no? Whether it’s nodding along with a doctor’s recommendation, going along with your boss, or staying silent in a meeting—most of us are guilty of complying when our gut says to speak up. In this episode, organizational psychologist and Cornell professor Dr. Sunita Sah breaks down the powerful psychological forces behind why we comply—and how we can learn to d...

The quality of our life depends on our state of mind. We could be on a beach and feel unhappy or be stuck in traffic and be content and joyous. The difference is our state of mind. In this podcast, Yale Professor and Author Emma Seppala shares the research and secrets to stop the destructive self-talk and reclaim our resilience and power. Free The Mind Documentary Sattva Lifehttps://www.emmaseppal...

She’s back! WWE’s in-ring announcer Lilian Garcia is a force of energy. She’s been using her voice for more than 2 decades in the world of wrestling, and is the first woman to be the ring announcer in all of combat sports. In this podcast, she talks about the ups and downs in and out of the ring, and shares her mindset that keeps her going. Now, back with the WWE, she’s slated to be the ring annou...

We are constantly moving in and out of interactions, but are they quality connections? In this podcast, Communication Professor Andy Merolla, University of California Santa Barbara and Communications Professor Jeffrey A. Hall, University of Kansas discuss why the quality of our everyday communication has a direct correlation to our health. In their new book Social Biome: How Everyday Communication...

Stop following the rules and be weird, ruthless, and bossy. That’s the message from Jenny Wood, a former Google executive who approached a stranger on a train because she thought he was handsome. That man later became her husband. This former executive says too many people are being held back because they are afraid to be bossy, shameless, and weird. In this podcast and in her book, Wild Courage,...

Jim Murphy wrote Inner Excellence a book about performance and living your best life. The book was published 15 years ago; However, it has recently become a NYT best seller and reached a record number of sales on Amazon. This all came after NFL’s Wide Receiver AJ Brown was spotted reading Inner Excellence on the sidelines during a game in January and then again during the Superbowl. Brown went on...