Purposeful Empathy with Anita Nowak

Watch this episode to learn what an Advocate of the Supreme Court of India has to say about moral technology & AI. Divya Dwivedi is an AI Ethics and Cyber Diplomacy Expert, Gender Equality Activist, and social entrepreneur. In this episode, she shares what inspired her fascinating academic journey (from engineering to MBA to law) and why she is passionate about the ethics of artificial intelli...

Watch this episode to learn why belonging and empathy are necessary to combat the epidemic of loneliness. Kim Samuel is an activist and educator who is driving a global movement for the #RightToBelong. In this episode, she discusses her debut book On Belonging: Finding Connection in an Age of Isolation  in which she argues that belonging is a human birthright. She also shares what she learned...

Watch this episode to hear a former marine explain why empathy is key to leadership. Thom Dennis is the founder & CEO of Serenity in Leadership, a culture change consulting firm based in the UK. In this episode, he describes why both masculine and feminine energy are needed for organizational success. He also calls for more feminine energy to heal our personal and collective traumas and change...

Watch this episode to learn how mindfulness can be harnessed to promote more self-compassion and empathy for others. Bassam Khoury is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational & Counselling Psychology at McGill University and head of the Mindfulness Research Lab. In this episode, as an engineer-turned-psychologist, he describes how mindfulness and compassion could help change the...

Watch this episode to hear a psychiatrist, author, and Buddhist practitioner discuss the benefits of and need for self-compassion. Dr. Ravi Chandra is a psychiatrist and founder of SF Love Dojo, an organization that promotes love (beyond eros) to improve society. In this episode, he discusses the significance of inter-generational trauma, and how we can leverage love to promote empathy in ourselve...

Watch this episode to hear a child psychologist discuss strategies for parents to manage children’s pain. Dr. Christine Chambers is a Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience and Paediatrics at Dalhousie University, whose work focuses on pain management in children. In this episode, she offers parents specific strategies to reduce pain when children are afraid of needles or getting immunized. 00:00 I...

Watch this episode to hear a veteran ER physician explore how the culture of medicine often hinders empathy in patient care. Dr. Brian Goldman is author of The Power of Kindness and The Power of Teamwork .  In this episode, he describes how we can promote empathy in healthcare and beyond. Through powerful personal stories, he shares why “toxic shame"  is kryptonite within his profession...

Watch this episode to learn about the neural mechanisms that underpin our natural capacity to empathize. Marco Iacoboni, MD, Ph. D. is a Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA who investigates brain systems and mechanisms for higher cognitive functions, in particular social cognition. He is also the author of Mirroring People: The New Science of How We Connect with Others. In t...

Watch this episode to learn about the importance of visual social cues in cognition and how face-masks impact our ability to connect with one another. Professor of Psychology, Jelena Ristic, is an expert in human attention and social cognition. In this episode, she discusses how opaque face masks (such as those typically worn throughout COVID-19) impacts our capacity to discern emotions. She also...

Watch this episode to hear a Psychology Today blogger discuss how we can become better friends and listeners using three kinds of empathy. Dr. Arthur J. Clark is a widely-published researcher in the mental health field and Professor Emeritus at St. Lawrence University. In this episode, he explains the difference between empathy and sympathy and the importance of empathy for cultivating human relat...

Watch this episode to hear a "Teacher of the Year"explain how art education promotes empathy and a sense of belonging in children. Jonathan Juravich is an elementary school teacher in Ohio who is passionate about developing self-awareness and empathy in his students through art and creativity. In this episode, he describes the use of a “mood meter” and discusses how small everyday acts of kindness...

Watch this episode to hear how "The Village" promotes love, belonging, and empathy through stories. Brenda Keesal is the Founder and Creative Director of The Village, a media platform that hosts gatherings for human connection through storytelling. In this episode, Brenda discusses her journey from filmmaking to social innovation, as well as the goal of "Hearts of Ukraine,” The Village's first soc...

Watch this episode to learn how to meet the fast-changing  needs of customers with empathy. Nadia “Luna" Therrien is an Empathy Culture Creator dedicated to helping organizations to deliver more empathic experiences to their customers. In this episode, she describes how empathy fosters human connections and unpacks her L.U.S.S.O method of empathy - using hotels as the primary case study. 00:0...

Watch this episode to hear a leadership coach explain why a speak-up culture is needed in high-performance workplaces. Stephen “Shed” Shedletzky is author of Speak-Up Culture: When Leaders Truly Listen, People Step up (forthcoming).In this episode, he discusses what he learned working with Simon Sinek for many years and unpacks what he means by  "speak-up culture,  a term he coined to de...

Watch this episode to learn how "social empathy" can be used to catalyze positive social change. Dr. Elizabeth Segal is a Professor in the School of Social Work at Arizona State University and the author of Social Empathy: The Art of Understanding Others . In this episode, she discusses how social empathy can inform good public policy, how power can diminish a leader’s capacity to empathize, and h...

Watch this episode to hear an emergency room physician make the case that we should expand our understanding of healing. Dr. Anoop Kumar is an ER physician, author, and speaker, who advocates for a global ecosystem of healing. In this episode, he explains how the mind-body relationship impacts our capacity to heal and why is calling for a health revolution. 00:00 Introduction 00:23 About Dr. Anoop...

Watch this episode to hear Dr. Judith Orloff describe how affirmations can change our lives and improve our capacity to empathize. Dr. Judith Orloff is a psychiatrist and the New York Times best-selling author of The Empath’s Survival Guide . She specialises in treating highly sensitive, empathic people in her private practice. In this episode, she delves into her latest book Affirmations for Empa...

Watch this episode to hear a Stanford Professor Emeritus explain why empathy is necessary to save humanity. Paul R. Ehrlich is the Bing Professor Emeritus of Population Studies at Stanford, where he taught for over half a century. He is an expert in evolution, ecology, and human biology and the author of The Population Bomb, considered one of the most influential books of the 20th Century. In this...

Watch this episode to learn how empathy is a practice  that is available to everyone, not just the tender-hearted. Karen Faith is the founder and CEO of Others Unlimited, an empathy training organisation for research, collaboration, and citizenship. In this episode, she explains how her research as an ethnographer has led her to develop a practice she calls “unconditional welcome.” 00:00 Intr...

Watch this episode to hear how one man’s trauma was converted into a tool that sparks empathic conversations. Michael Tennant is the Founder and CEO of Curiosity Lab. In this episode, he shares how he uncovered his true calling after suffering major losses in his life and is now committed to using empathy to help foster mental health. He describes how the card games created by Curiosity Lab are be...

Watch this episode to hear a passionate progressive political activist make the case for listening to "both sides." Joan Blades is the co-founder of LivingRoomConversations.org , an open-sourced effort to build respectful connections across ideological, cultural, and party lines while embracing our core shared values. In this episode, she explains why she felt compelled to launch this latest start...

Watch this episode to learn how to practice “empathic discipline” with kids. Dr. Davin Tan is a New Zealand based psychologist and founder of the Huddle Wisdom Podcast, a series that aims to help people optimize their mental health through the power of empathy. In this episode, he unpacks the concept of “empathy jamming” and why it’s an important feature of his clinical practice. He also shares so...

Watch this episode to challenge your beliefs about finding your purpose. Nihal Ahmed is the Founder of Limitless Institute, a social enterprise that uses workshops, games, and apps to help people lead healthier, happier, and more impactful lives. In this episode, he describes his journey from engineering to social innovation, why we should “collect biases,” and why empathy fuels purpose. 00:00 Int...

Watch this episode to hear a TBI survivor share an incredible story of recovery. Chandra Groves suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) after a head-on collision. In this episode, she describes how her life was transformed for years after the accident, her long road to recovery, and her new understanding of disabilities. She also shares a message of hope, empathy, and advocacy for driving without...

Watch this episode to learn why affordable housing is a human rights issue that deserves our urgent attention.   Isabel Engels is a Director at Auxilium Property Management, an organization in the UK that provides high-quality and sustainable social housing. In this episode, she describes how building a dozen homes in a Brazilian favela changed her life. She also explains why the global housi...