MAKING CONNECTIONS: January 2025 podcast playlist

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This podcast playlist delves into the science and art of building meaningful relationships, from fostering trust to embracing vulnerability. Through powerful stories and actionable insights, the episodes will show how connecting with others goes beyond networking—it’s about creating genuine bonds that lead to growth, collaboration, and positive change. Together, let’s discover how we can turn this new chapter into an opportunity to build deeper, more meaningful connections that will last long into the future.

This playlist was curated by Cesar, chapter leader of our Boston Chapter. Cesar is also the former (and founding) chapter leader of our Milwaukee chapter.

Podcast Playlist on MAKING CONNECTIONS

Get the full playlist on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

The Best of “How To”: “The Infrastructure of Community” (December 2024, 40 min)
Host Julie Beck talks with Eric Klinenberg and Kellie Carter Jackson to explore how both physical structures and cultural habits can better facilitate our connections with one another.
The Happiness Lab: “The Secret to Making Friends as an Adult” (September 2022, 32 min)
Loneliness is a far more common and far more serious problem than we think. It affects one in five Americans, and takes a toll on our bodies and minds. To thrive we need to several types of social interactions – both casual and more intimate. With the help of US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy; Harvard Divinity School fellow Casper ter Kuile; and friendship expert Marisa Franco; Dr Laurie Santos looks at how loneliness might be affecting you or someone you know, and what science-back steps you can take to increase your circle of friends.
Good Life Project: “How to Make Life-Changing Friendships” (April 2024, 1 hr 6 min)
In our disconnected world, are you longing for deeper bonds and a true sense of belonging? Discover how to cultivate extraordinary friendships, nurture healing communities, and transform the way you show up in relationships. This powerful episode brings together three trailblazers – Mia Birdsong on reimagining family beyond the nuclear model, Dr. Marisa Franco sharing the science of making profound platonic connections, and Dr. Joy Harden Bradford illuminating the restorative magic of women’s circles and sisterhoods. Through candid stories and research-backed insights, you’ll gain practical tools for initiating authentic friendships, resolving conflict with empathy, and creating safe spaces to be truly seen and supported. Whether you crave more intimacy, community, or platonic love, this conversation will inspire you to invest in the meaningful relationships that allow you to thrive.
Friend Forward: “How to Talk to Strangers” (February 2023, 23 min)
Making new connections can be tough. And quick moments of interaction with strangers aren’t the greatest opportunities to make friends. But let’s be real, friendships are the essence of a rich and fulfilling life. So how do we get more intentional and step out of our own way? In this episode, Ashley Kirsner, Founder of Skip the Small Talk, talks about constructing intentional spaces for people to come together, explore their comfort zones, and potentially develop relationships. We all start as outsiders seeking community, but with an encouraging pep talk, some self-compassion, and a flexible mindset, strangers can become acquainted.
Interfaith Voices Podcast: “‘The Nearness'” (July 2023, 17 min)
Many Americans feel disillusioned with formalized religious institutions, yet their hunger for spiritual comfort remains. Enter, the Nearness, a year-old online space where people of all faiths and no faith can talk over.
Bonus podcast episodes:

• How to Be a Better Human: “How to find connection –and love– in everyday life” (February 2024, 32 min)
  Romantic love isn’t all it’s cracked up to be – at least that’s one way positive psychologist Barbara Fredrickson puts it. Barbara’s decades of research suggest that emotions outside of our narrow definition of love are just as important to our well-being. In this episode, Barbara shares what to look for when we want to broaden our experience of positive emotions, and suggests ways to build the consistent connection and care at the heart of our best relationships.
• Imaginary Worlds: “Second Life Goes On” (March 2021, 33 min)
  One year into this pandemic, it’s been a struggle to feel a connection with other people digitally. This is an episode from the show Science Friday about a community that refused to disband their virtual world. As reporter Daniel Peterschmidt explains, the staff had set up a virtual outpost in Second Life when it was a trendy thing to do in the mid-2000s. The show eventually left Second Life, but Daniel recently discovered their community of hardcore fans stuck together long after many people abandoned Second Life, and the group went through not-so virtual turmoil along the way.

Conversation Starter Questions:

1. What are some practical ways to move beyond surface-level interactions and create deeper, more meaningful connections with others?
2. How can we cultivate vulnerability in our relationships to foster trust and emotional intimacy, both personally and professionally?
3. What are the key signs that a connection is deepening, and how can we nurture those relationships to ensure they grow?
4. How can active listening and empathy enhance the depth of our connections with others, especially in a fast-paced, digitally-driven world?
5. What role does shared purpose or values play in forming deeper connections, and how can we identify and align with those in others?
6. How can we overcome the fear of rejection or judgment when trying to build deeper connections with new people?
7. How do you maintain and strengthen deep connections over time, especially when life circumstances change or physical distance grows?