Navigating Uncertainty: October 2020 listening list

There is no question that we are living in uncertain times. We do not know when the global coronavirus pandemic will end. Around the world, countries are facing important elections, social justice protest movements, refugee crises, and much more. Trying to go through the motions of normal daily life and understand one’s role in creating the world we want to live in can be confounding and exhausting. The episodes this month all discuss different types of uncertainty and ways to navigate it. Hopefully we can all find something helpful to take away about how to navigate these challenging and often dark days.

(This podcast listening list was curated by Sarah, leader of our Baltimore chapter.)

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Podcast Listening List on NAVIGATING UNCERTAINTY

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

Podcast: Life Kit
Episode: Tips To Help You Cope With An Uncertain Future (May 2020, 19 min)
Three people who have survived tough times and gained perspective offer seven tips on how to cope.
Listen on app of choice (via Podkite) or via Podchaser or Podyssey
Podcast: On Being with Krista Tippett
Episode: Rebecca Solnit — Falling Together (March 2020, 52 min)
A discussion with Rebecca Solnit, a columnist and author, who “celebrates the unpredictable and incalculable events that so often redeem our lives, both solitary and public.” (Read her book, “Hope In The Dark”)
Listen on app of choice (via Podkite) or via Podchaser or Podyssey
Podcast: Tara Brach
Episode: Embracing Uncertainty: Sheltering in Love – Part 9 (2020-05-20) (May 2020, 45 min)
“This talk explores the conditioned ways of reacting to insecurity that contract us, and pathways of letting go of resistance, opening to Beginner’s mind and discovering a timeless, wise and loving presence in the midst of inevitable change.”
Listen on app of choice (via Podkite) or via Podchaser or Podyssey
Podcast: The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos
Episode: Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Epictetus (September 2020, 30 min)
“Philosophy professor Bill Irvine joins Dr Laurie Santos to delve into Stoicism – an ancient school of thought which urges us to reframe how we view the problems we all face and defuse the negative emotions of anger and envy that can be so harmful to our happiness.”
Listen on app of choice (via Podkite) or via Podchaser or Podyssey

Bonus podcast episodes:

• World Cafe Words and Music from WXPN: “How An Unexpected Call Brought Kathleen Edwards Back To Music” (Note: this episode was a top pick for the main listening list above, but World Cafe only keeps the last 10 episodes available by RSS, so we couldn’t include it. But, if you’d like to listen to it, you can listen on the web using the link above.)
• Pandemic Economics: “Navigating Uncertainty”
• Risky Talk: “Confronting Uncertainty with Tamsin Edwards”
  
• Happiness Lab: “Don’t Accentuate the Positive”
• Unlocking Us with Brené Brown: “Brené with Emily and Amelia Nagoski on Burnout and How to Complete the Stress Cycle”

Recommended Books & Other Resources

• Book: Hope In the Dark by Rebecca Solnit
• Book: A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster by Rebecca Solnit
• Book: The Stoic Challenge: A Philosopher’s Guide to Becoming Tougher, Calmer, and More Resilient by Bill Irvine
• Book: Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved by Kate Bowler
• Book: Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
• Book: An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything by Chris Hadfield
• Online Course: “The Science of Wellbeing” with Laurie Santos (host of The Happiness Lab podcast)

Conversation Starter Questions

1. Is uncertainty inevitable? How and where does it show up?
2. Can attempts to eliminate uncertainty be harmful, and how so?
3. What are some strategies to navigate life’s uncertainties? Do you find any of these particularly helpful or unhelpful?
4. What types of uncertainty are most difficult for people to face today as individuals? As countries? As a planet? Are there lessons we can learn in one area to apply to other areas?
5. What might acceptance of uncertainty look like? Is that a positive goal or more of a problematic stance?
6. Are there times when choosing an option involving more uncertainty can be the best choice?