Armchair Expert episode 838

Alison Wood Brooks (on the science of conversation)

Alison Wood Brooks (Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves) is a behavioral research scientist. Alison joins the Armchair Expert to discuss why growing up as a twin is like watching an alternate version of your own life, how we underestimate the complexity of chin wagging, and the reality that human connection is not just about transactional information exchange. Alison and Dax talk about Kant's sparkling smart people dinner party rules, how hungry we can be to extract vulnerability from others while being hesitant to share it ourselves, and how asking more questions creates magic in one's personal life. Alison explains research she's done into the relationship between humor and power, how asking more questions creates magic in one's personal life, and why saying 'I'm sorry' is more powerful than 'I love you.'

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Episode overview

Alison Wood Brooks (Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves) is a behavioral research scientist. Alison joins the Armchair Expert to discuss why growing up as a twin is like watching an alternate version of your own life, how we underestimate the complexity of chin wagging, and the reality that human connection is not just about transactional information exchange. Alison and Dax talk about Kant's sparkling smart people dinner party rules, how hungry we can be to extract vulnerability from others while being hesitant to share it ourselves, and how asking more questions creates magic in one's personal life. Alison explains research she's done into the relationship between humor and power, how asking more questions creates magic in one's personal life, and why saying 'I'm sorry' is more powerful than 'I love you.'

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Short transcript highlights

These brief excerpts are navigation aids selected from different points in the transcript.

  1. 0:00welcome welcome welcome to armchair expert experts on Expert I'm Dan Shepard and I'm joined by Lily padman hi today
  2. 1:10:10do it for fun if we're best friends and I want to tease you that's like a really funny way to do it if...
  3. 2:23:28all right that's it that was everything yeah okay wonderful love you love you
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