Our daily habits are the key to reaching our long-term goals, argues writer James Clear. His bestselling book, "Atomic Habits," distills the most compelling research on how to break bad habits and form good ones. He talks with Maya about how our habits shape our identity—for better or worse—and how to design our habits

Psychologist Adam Grant stops by to talk with Maya about his new book "Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things." They talk about how to filter out unhelpful feedback, the benefits of imperfectionism, and why we need to give soft skills more respect.  If you enjoyed this episode, check out Adam’s first

Gretchen Rubin is an author and podcaster with a passion for helping people become happier. One of the biggest lessons she's learned in her decades-long study of the subject is that there's no one-size-fits-all hack to finding happiness. Gretchen talks with Maya about how important it is to tailor our approach based on

Hal Hershfield is a psychologist who studies the emotional connection we have to our “future selves." He talks with Maya about tactics we can use to strengthen this connection, and why it matters. If you enjoyed this episode, try this one from the archive: “The Science of Self-Compassion” For a behind-the-scenes look a

A brilliant violinist in her teens, her world came crashing down when an injury ended her career even as it was beginning. Remarkably, she turned that loss into a PhD in neuroscience, a stint in the White House and a popular podcast about others also navigating drastic changes in their lives.

Today we welcome Maya Shankar to the podcast. Maya is a cognitive scientist and the creator and host of the podcast, “A Slight Change of Plans”. It was awarded as the Best Show of 2021 by Apple and received an Ambie award from the Podcast Academy in 2022. Maya has a postdoctoral fellowship in cognitive neuroscience fro