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The Curiosity Shop with Brené Brown and Adam Grant

The Curiosity Shop with Brené Brown and Adam Grant

By: Vox Media Podcast Network
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Summary
 Research professor Brené Brown and organizational psychologist Adam Grant are partnering on a new weekly podcast grounded in an unflinching commitment to learning and unlearning. At a time when public discourse rewards certainty over inquiry, The Curiosity Shop features two of the world's most sought-after experts on connection, change, and leadership making the case for slowing down, asking better questions, and embracing informed complexity over easy answers. Bringing together their left and right brain sensibilities — she’s a qualitative researcher; he’s a quantitative researcher — they explore some of the defining questions of our time, unpack the research reshaping how we live, lead, and love, and dive deep into the ideas, evidence, and cultural moments intriguing them the most. New episodes drop every Thursday. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.© 2024 Social Sciences
Episodes
  • The Four Kinds of Connections We Need

    The Four Kinds of Connections We Need
    Oct 8 2026
    In the final episode of The Curiosity Shop, Brené Brown and Adam Grant draw on Adam’s new book, Vibe (out October 13), to explore how recognizing the differences between associates, allies, pals, and companions can help us better understand our connections. They unpack the pressure we put on relationships, the importance of being clear about what we want from them, and why a great interaction doesn’t always need to become an ongoing relationship. They also explore the idea of being on the same wavelength and the concept of “sonder,” the recognition that we can never fully know another person’s inner world. Along the way, Brené and Adam reflect on their own relationship, what they’ve learned from working together, and how their connection has evolved throughout The Curiosity Shop. Vibe – Adam Grant, 2026, adamgrant.net Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World – Anne-Laure Le Cunff, 2025, Ness Labs How the Enneagram System Works – The Enneagram Institute, enneagraminstitute.com Give and Take – Adam Grant, 2013, adamgrant.net Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community – Vivek Murthy, 2023, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Social Connection Linked to Improved Health and Reduced Risk of Early Death – World Health Organization, 2025, World Health Organization US Trends in Social Isolation, Social Engagement, and Companionship—Nationally and by Age, Sex, Race/Ethnicity, Family Income, and Work Hours, 2003–2020 – Viji Diane Kannan, 2023, SSM – Population Health Talk, Trust, and Trade-Offs: How and Why Teens Use AI Companions – Common Sense Media, 2025, Common Sense Media What I Got Wrong About Connection – Adam Grant, 2026, Granted (Substack) How I Overcame the Fear of Public Speaking – Adam Grant, 2014, Psychology Today A Practical Guide to Building Taxonomies That Make Data Truly Useful to Your Organization – UserTesting, 2023, UserTesting Blog The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck, 1939, Penguin Random House Friends – David Crane, 1994, NBC (IMDb) Vibe Quiz – Adam Grant, adamgrant.net DTR – Dictionary.com, 2018, Dictionary.com Vulnerability Is the Birthplace of Innovation, Creativity and Change: Brené Brown at TED2012 – Helen Walters, 2012, TED Blog Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII – Aristotle, c. 350 BCE, The Internet Classics Archive (MIT) Friendship – Bennett Helm, 2021, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The Anatomy of Friendship – Robin Dunbar, 2018, Trends in Cognitive Sciences Let's Rumble – Brené Brown, 2019, brenebrown.com Similar Neural Responses Predict Friendship – Carolyn Parkinson, 2018, Nature Communications Single-Serving Friends (Fight Club) – Uploader unknown, YouTube Wharton Professor Adam Grant Knows How to Build Stronger Bonds at Work – Aman Kidwai, 2025, Newsweek Mistakenly Seeking Solitude – Nicholas Epley, 2014, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General Social Interactions and Well-Being: The Surprising Power of Weak Ties – Gillian Sandstrom, 2014, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin Learning to Talk to Strangers – Gillian Sandstrom, 2022, SPSP Character & Context blog The Power of High-Quality Connections – Jane Dutton, 2003, Positive Organizational Scholarship (Berrett-Koehler) Flow and Happiness – Joachim Krueger, 2015, Psychology Today Basking in Reflected Glory: Three (Football) Field Studies – Robert Cialdini, 1976, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Brené and Adam on What They Will Never Agree On – Brené Brown, 2026, The Curiosity Shop (YoutTube) Do Parasocial Relationships Fill a Loneliness Gap? – Heidi Godman, 2024, Harvard Health Publishing Sonder – John Koenig, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Beautiful New Words to Describe Obscure Emotions – John Koenig, 2016, TEDxBerkeley Atlas of the Heart – Brené Brown, 2021, brenebrown.com Sonder Playlist - The Best of Sonder – Revive Music, YouTube Awe, the Small Self, and Prosocial Behavior – Paul Piff, 2015, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology The Emotions You've Felt but Never Named with John Koenig – Adam Grant, 2025, ReThinking (Apple Podcasts) The Emotions You've Felt but Never Named with John Koenig (transcript) – Adam Grant, 2025, ReThinking (TED Audio Collective) Developmental Changes in the Relation between Youth Disclosure and Parenting Behavior: A Cohort-sequential Analysis – Sara Goldstein, 2023, Journal of Youth and Adolescence The Development of Children's Knowledge About Inner Speech – John Flavell, 1997, Child Development 9 Words for Types of Parenting – Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster Wordplay The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters – Priya Parker, 2018, Riverhead / Penguin Random House The Liking Gap in Conversations: Do People Like Us More Than We Think? – Erica Boothby, 2018, Psychological Science Can Conflict Actually Make Our ...
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Resisting Influence in an Over-Influenced World

    Resisting Influence in an Over-Influenced World
    Oct 1 2026
    Why are we so susceptible to persuasion? In this episode of The Curiosity Shop, Brené Brown and Adam Grant discuss a tip Brené picked up from Seventeen magazine in the ‘80s and end up exploring why we fall for misinformation and persuasive messaging. They examine how vulnerability makes us more receptive to fear-based messaging, how appeals to authority can sometimes stand in for real evidence, and why recognizing misinformation isn’t always enough to protect us from it. Brené and Adam also consider the role of belonging, including the ways our desire for connection, community, and shared identity can make certain ideas especially persuasive. Along the way, they develop a practical framework for resisting unwanted influence: recognize your vulnerability, build your persuasion literacy, and trace information back to its source. Vibe: The Secrets of Strong Connections in a Lonely World - Adam Grant, 2026, Viking MythBusters: Rinsing Your Hair In Cold Water - Into The Gloss, 2015 I Washed My Hair With Coca-Cola (and Other Teen-Magazine Beauty Experiments) - Seventeen Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die - Chip Heath & Dan Heath, 2007, Random House Free Resources, including 'Making Presentations That Stick' - Chip Heath & Dan Heath, HeathBrothers.com Jayne Modean - Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia Alzheimer's Association 24/7 Helpline, 800-272-3900 - Alzheimer's Association Dr. Cialdini's Biography - Influence at Work Dispelling the Illusion of Invulnerability: The Motivations and Mechanisms of Resistance to Persuasion - Stanford Center on Longevity, 2011 Resistance to Persuasion - Dolores Albarracín & A. Karan, 2022, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology Dr. Jessica Knurick - Jessica Knurick Jessica Knurick's Reaction Video - Jessica Knurick, Facebook A Public Health Expert Keeps Going Viral on Instagram for Delivering This Very Simple Message - Scott, 2025, Vox What's the Difference Between Physicians and Naturopaths? - American Medical Association, 2024 Appeal to Authority Fallacy: When Expertise Becomes a Logical Trap - Logically Fallacious, 2026 Evidence-Based Practice: Levels of Evidence - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Library Evidence-Based Management - Jeffrey Pfeffer & Robert Sutton, 2006, Harvard Business Review White House Moves to Take Control of NIH Scientific Grants - The New York Times, 2026, The Philadelphia Inquirer 'Warning: This Image Has Been Digitally Altered': The Effect of Disclaimer Labels Added to Fashion Magazine Shoots on Women's Body Dissatisfaction - Marika Tiggemann, Zoe Brown, Mia Zaccardo & Nicole Thomas, 2017, Body Image The Sleeper Effect in Persuasion: A Meta-Analytic Review - G. Tarcan Kumkale & Dolores Albarracín, 2004, Psychological Bulletin The Mirror-Neuron System - Giacomo Rizzolatti & Laila Craighero, 2004, Annual Review of Neuroscience Social Media Posts About Medical Tests With Potential for Overdiagnosis - Brooke Nickel and colleagues, 2025, JAMA Network Open We Analysed Almost 1,000 Social Media Posts About 5 Popular Medical Tests. Most Were Utterly Misleading - Nickel & Moynihan, 2025, The Conversation Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion - Robert Cialdini, 2021; first published 1984, Harper Business The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time - Maria Konnikova, 2016, Viking How to Know If You're Being Lied To - Khazan, 2016, The Atlantic Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments - Justin Kruger & David Dunning, 1999, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Recursive Self-Improvement and Agentic AI: Fear of the AI Singularity - HackerNoon, 2026 How Do AI Companies 'Fine-Tune' Policy? Examining Regulatory Capture in AI Governance - Kevin Wei, Carson Ezell, Nick Gabrieli & Chinmay Deshpande, 2024, AIES-24 Proceedings George J. Stigler, 'The Theory of Economic Regulation' - Christopher Carrigan & Cary Coglianese, 2015, Oxford Handbook of Classics in Public Policy and Administration The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories - Karen Douglas, Robbie Sutton & Aleksandra Cichocka, 2017, Current Directions in Psychological Science Powerful Pharma and Its Marginalized Alternatives? Effects of Individual Differences in Conspiracy Mentality on Attitudes Toward Medical Approaches - Pia Lamberty & Roland Imhoff, 2018, Social Psychology People with a Conspiracy Mindset Resist Childhood Vaccination, Study Shows - Annenberg Public Policy Center, 2023 COVID-19 Misinformation: Scientists Create a 'Psychological Vaccine' to Protect Against Fake News - van der Linden & Roozenbeek, 2021, The Conversation LinkedIn Post on Collective Vulnerability - Brené Brown, 2020, LinkedIn Brené on FFTs - Brené Brown, 2020, Unlocking Us The Group Polarization Phenomenon - David Myers & Helmut Lamm, 1976, Psychological Bulletin Group Polarization - EBSCO Research Starters Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone - Brené ...
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    49 mins
  • Why Grit Isn’t Always Enough with Angela Duckworth

    Why Grit Isn’t Always Enough with Angela Duckworth
    Sep 24 2026
    What if grit isn’t the whole story behind success? Psychologist and author Angela Duckworth joins Brené Brown and Adam Grant to talk about her new book, Situated, and how the situations around us influence our behavior, motivation, creativity, and success. They unpack situational awareness, the paradox of self-control, and why willpower can be an unreliable tool for change. Angela also shares practical ways to shape your environment, reduce friction around your goals, and decide whether to keep going versus change course. Together, they explore how becoming more intentional about our surroundings, relationships, and support systems is often more powerful than simply trying harder. Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best - Angela Duckworth, 2026, Scribner (author's book page) Situated Preface (excerpt) - Angela Duckworth, 2026, web excerpt with audiobook sample, angeladuckworth.com Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance - Angela Duckworth, 2016, Scribner Grit: Perseverance and Passion for Long-Term Goals - Angela Duckworth, Christopher Peterson, Michael Matthews & Dennis Kelly, 2007, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Too Much of a Good Thing: The Challenge and Opportunity of the Inverted U - Adam Grant & Barry Schwartz, 2011, Perspectives on Psychological Science Situational Strategies for Self-Control - Angela Duckworth, Tamar Szabó Gendler & James Gross, 2016, Perspectives on Psychological Science Beyond Willpower: Strategies for Reducing Failures of Self-Control - Angela Duckworth, Katherine Milkman & David Laibson, 2018, Psychological Science in the Public Interest Oxford Essential Quotations (George Bernard Shaw entry) - Susan Ratcliffe (ed.), 2018, reference-work entry, Oxford Reference / Oxford University Press Maxims for Revolutionists - George Bernard Shaw, 1903; Project Gutenberg edition 2008, public-domain e-text, Project Gutenberg Figure This: Deciding What's Figure, What's Ground - Adelson, 2002, Monitor on Psychology (American Psychological Association) LinkedIn post on situations - Angela Duckworth, 2025, social-media post, LinkedIn The Four Essential Elements of Successful Situations - Duckworth, 2026, book excerpt (online article), Knowledge at Wharton Strong Ground: The Lessons of Daring Leadership, the Tenacity of Paradox, and the Wisdom of the Human Spirit - Brené Brown, 2025, Random House Angela Duckworth on Her New Book, ‘Grit’ Controversy, and Parenting in a Digital Age - Fiorillo, 2026, Philadelphia Magazine Rethinking Rumination - Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Blair Wisco & Sonja Lyubomirsky, 2008, Perspectives on Psychological Science Self-Focused Attention and Negative Affect: A Meta-Analysis - Nilly Mor & Jennifer Winquist, 2002, Psychological Bulletin Situated Scorecard - Angela Duckworth, 2026, interactive self-assessment (web page), angeladuckworth.com Situated Scorecard Handout - Angela Duckworth, 2026, PDF handout, angeladuckworth.com Self-Control and SAT Outcomes: Evidence from Two National Field Studies - Chayce Baldwin, Kyla Haimovitz, Priya Shankar, Robert Gallop, David Yeager, James Gross & Angela Duckworth, 2022, PLOS ONE Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion - Robert Cialdini, 2021; first published 1984, Harper Business (author's organization site) As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7 - William Shakespeare, c. 1599, Folger Shakespeare Library More Than Resisting Temptation: Beneficial Habits Mediate the Relationship Between Self-Control and Positive Life Outcomes - Brian Galla & Angela Duckworth, 2015, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Wendy Wood – Publications - Wendy Wood, faculty web page, USC Dornsife Habits in Everyday Life: Thought, Emotion, and Action - Wendy Wood, Jeffrey Quinn & Deborah Kashy, 2002, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Asaf Mazar - Asaf Mazar, personal website Alistair Brownlee | The Greatest to Ever Do It - World Triathlon, 2024, video, YouTube The Paradox of a Pair of Clocks. The Magic of Chronos and Kairos or Why I Wear Two Watches! - Brené Brown, 2026, social-media post (from an AMA), LinkedIn / The Curiosity Shop Quote Origin: Between Stimulus and Response There Is a Space. In That Space Is Our Power To Choose Our Response - O'Toole, 2018, Quote Investigator The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment - Eckhart Tolle, 1997, Namaste Publishing / New World Library (author site) 32% of Americans Have a Tattoo, Including 22% Who Have More Than One - Schaeffer & Dinesh, 2023, short-read survey report, Pew Research Center Prepared Environment - Association Montessori Internationale, glossary entry, AMI glossary Understanding the Three-Year Cycle in Montessori - Maria Rodriguez, web article, The Montessori Foundation Piagetian Theory - American Psychological Association, dictionary entry, APA Dictionary of Psychology For the Fun of It: Harnessing Immediate Rewards to Increase Persistence in Long-Term Goals - Kaitlin Woolley & Ayelet Fishbach, 2016, Journal of Consumer ...
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    1 hr and 4 mins
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I have always loved Brene Brown and Adam Grant, although I don’t always agree. They make me think yet in different ways and appeal to different parts of my brain and personality. This combination of the two of them is wonderful. It’s the best of both worlds and a fascinating experiment and experience. The conversation is genuine, deep, funny and not always easy. It makes me think from different angles, at times supports thoughts/theories I have especially about work and sometimes causes me to pause and rethink. What a great podcast!

Best of both worlds

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I always enjoy how it feels as she is always in my team even when I might not be doing my best

Brene Doing her best thing teaching us how to do better on everything now focus on leading teams

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