Conversation: April 2020 listening list

NOTE: Adam Grant curated the podcast listening list below for the PBC community! Adam is a New York Times best-selling author, TED speaker, influential thinker, Wharton professor, organizational psychologist, and all-around powerhouse. In addition, Adam recently launched a new season of TED original podcast, WorkLife with Adam Grant.

It’s April 2020 and these are strange times. Most people around the world have been told to stay home and limit interactions with others. This is so counter to everything we’ve been building together with PBC over the last few years, but we’re in a position now that every move we don’t make can have a huge positive impact. We are in the midst of an existential crisis and the changes we’re making are for the sake of humanity. That said, it’s important to continue to find ways to have AUTHENTIC CONVERSATIONS with our fellow humans. It’s been beautiful to watch people be creative in finding ways to connect over the past month.

Originally we chose the theme of conversation in order to be aligned with the National Conversation Project’s Week of Conversation, which was supposed to take place in April. But, with the global pandemic that is upon us, they have pivoted their focus to #WeavingCommunity. This is a theme that is at the heart of our efforts with PBC and we hope you’ll consider participating in the conversations about conversation that we have over the course of the month. Your local chapter may be having virtual meetings, but you are always more than welcome to join our global virtual chapter. It’s a wonderful way to converse with people both near and far.

Podcast Listening List on CONVERSATION

Get the listening list on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

Podcast: Invisibilia. Episode: The Confrontation (March 2020, 53 min)
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Other apps (via Podchaser or Podyssey)
Teenagers have an honest conversation about race in America.
Podcast: How’s Work? with Esther Perel. Episode: The Break-Up (February 2020, 54 min)
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Other apps (via Podchaser or Podyssey)
Parting ways professionally can be as difficult as a romantic break-up. Esther Perel, an iconic couples therapist, expertly guides these business partners through a conversation about their past, present, and future.
Podcast: Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard. Episode: Chris Voss (February 2020, 1 hour 40 min)
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Other apps (via Podchaser or Podyssey)
An in-depth conversation with Chris Voss, a former FBI hostage negotiator.
Podcast: The Upgrade by Lifehacker. Episode: How to Be a Better Conversationalist, With Journalist Celeste Headlee (May 2019, 37 min)
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Other apps (via Podchaser or Podyssey)
A discussion with Celeste Headlee, who literally wrote the book on how to have better conversations.
Podcast: WorkLife with Adam Grant. Episode: How to Love Criticism (February 2018, 35 min)
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Other apps (via Podchaser or Podyssey)
How to embrace negative feedback.

Conversation Starter Questions

1. What was your favorite/least favorite episode?
2. Do you consider yourself a good conversationalist? What do you think you could do better in?
3. Did you pick up any tips about how to be a better conversationalist from this listening list?
4. What is your biggest pet peeve when in a conversation?
5. How do you receive and give criticism?
6. Adam Grant talked about a creating a challenge network that consists of a group of people who are tasked with radical honesty in terms of your performance. Is this something you would do? Why/why not?
7. Of Celeste Headlee’s 10 tips for better conversations (as heard in the episode from The Upgrade by Lifehacker) which one resonated with you the most?
8. How would radical transparency (like those that happen at Bridgewater as described in Adam Grant’s podcast) go over at your workplace?