Hot dogs come in packages of ten. Hot dog buns come in packages of eight. Why? Is this some sort of marketing ploy or plot? What could possibly be the reason for this obvious mismatch? This episode begins by revealing the explanation. https://www.womenshealthmag.com/food/a40984485/hot-dogs-buns-packages/ Think of all the batteries you use in a day. A good part of your life is powered by batteries. From your flashlight, all your remotes, your car to your cellphone – all these devices require batteries to function. As necessary as they are, you may not know a lot about batteries. For example, why are there different sizes? Why do batteries seem to last longer than before? Joining me to answer these questions and to reveal the interesting history of battery technology is James Morton Turner, author of the book Charged: A History of Batteries and Lessons for a Clean Energy Future (https://amzn.to/3QYnR1n). You probably cringe when you see old pictures of yourself because your clothes and hairstyle look so horrible. Why is that? They looked fine at the time the picture was taken. What causes these things to fall in and out of style? It comes down to culture and status. Culture changes over time and so does our desire for status. That’s according to W. David Marx. David is a long-time writer on culture based in Tokyo and he is author of a book called Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion and Constant Change (https://amzn.to/3wNJeub). Listen as he discusses the fascinating connection between status and culture and how they work together to drive changes. Can your morning cup of coffee predict the weather? Maybe, if you know how to read the surface bubbles. Listen as I reveal how those bubbles predict the kind of day you are about to have. https://www.instructables.com/Predict-weather-with-a-cup-of-coffee/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Be careful what you say when someone pays you a compliment. This episode begins with some great advice on the importance of taking a compliment graciously. https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/etiquette/how-to-accept-a-compliment-with-class/ Is it good to be cynical? After all, cynics claim they see the world and the people in it more accurately – they are not so naïve and trusting as the rest of us. Well, it seems being a cynic has a downside – a BIG downside as you are about to hear from Dr. Jamil Zaki. He is a professor of psychology at Stanford University, the director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab and author of the book Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness (https://amzn.to/3XeRfpL). If you or someone you know leans to the cynical side, you need to hear this discussion.  When the pressure is on, it makes any task more difficult. Some people rise to the occasion while others crumble. Why? It has a lot to do with what you are telling yourself. That’s according to my guest Dr. Dana Sinclair who is a psyhologist, clinical assistant professor with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and founder and partner of Human Performance International. Dana has been working with top athletes in every major sport since 2000. She is author of the book, Dialed In: Do Your Best When It Matters Most (https://amzn.to/4dvvW8Y). Moths and bugs seem very attracted to lights at night. You see them fly in circles around a light source and sometimes crash and die into a light or fire. Why do they do that? Listen and I’ll explain the prevailing theories. https://earthsky.org/earth/why-are-moths-attracted-to-flame/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When your phone or tablet or computer starts acting weird or gets glitchy, the conventional wisdom is to reboot. In other words, turn it off and on again. And usually, the recommendation is to turn it off for at least 10 seconds before turning it back on. Why 10 seconds? Is it really that important? Listen as I reveal the answer. https://www.howtogeek.com/165110/do-i-really-have-to-unplug-my-cable-modem-for-at-least-10-seconds/ So much food gets wasted – especially in the United States. Specifically, 40% of all food in the US goes to waste! How can that be? What’s the problem? There are a lot of factors from the size of your fridge to the demand for “perfect” produce. Yet there is a lot we can all do to help solve the problem with very little effort – and you will save a lot of money in the process. Here to explain how is Kathryn Kellogg, owner and founder of https://www.goingzerowaste.com and author of the book 101 Ways to Go Zero Waste (https://amzn.to/3yfHSMV). Insects are an almost constant companion in the summer. Yet most of us don’t know much about them other than the fact that they are annoying. There are millions of species of insects. They travel all over the world. Do they do the world any good? What’s the difference between an insect and a bug? How long do they live? Why should we care about them? All of those questions and more are tackled by my guest Steve Nicholls, an Emmy award winning producer and director of acclaimed wildlife documentaries and author of the book, Alien Worlds: How Insects Conquered the Earth, and Why Their Fate Will Determine Our Future (https://amzn.to/4d1M1mP). It may not be practical, but taking an afternoon nap might just do you a world of good and make you smarter. Listen as I explain the benefits of a short afternoon snooze. https://www.trinityhealthofne.org/about-us/blog/midday-nap-could-leave-you-smarter-study Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m sure you’ve gotten a song stuck in your head. It happens to all of us. And once it gets in your head, it is hard to get rid of. It turns out there are some ways that have researched that do seem to work to get that song out of your head the next time it seeps in and just won't leave. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/03/21/heres-how-get-song-out-your-head/99264896/ You have probably done something to someone out of spite. Most people have. Interestingly, humans are just about the only creature on earth that acts out of spite. According to psychologist Simon McCarthy-Jones. Simon says spite comes from a feeling of being wronged – of not being treated fairly. Often people will go to great lengths to get revenge. That’s spite. Still, spite may not be all bad. It can actually be useful. Listen as Simon reveals why we do things out of spite and why spite may be an important tool we use to keep each other honest. Simon is author of the book Spite: The Upside of Your Dark Side (https://amzn.to/2OO8FJu)  Human memory is full of flaws. For example, most things we simply don’t remember at all. Other things we don’t remember very well and a lot of what we do remember gets distorted over time. So how do we make sense of our memory? Here to help explain it is Lisa Genova. She is a neuroscientist, writer and speaker who has appeared on The Today Show and PBS NewsHour, and she is author of the book Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting (https://amzn.to/3ccv2B7). Ever have a bad day? Sure, you have. And it seems that the worse the day gets – the worse it gets. Well, you can actually turn that spiral off. Listen as I reveal this simple technique that will stop you from focusing on the bad things happening so your day can get back on track. Source: Dr. Judith Orloff author of Positive Energy (https://amzn.to/3dZ323w). PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Indeed is offering SYSK listeners a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to get your jobs more visibility at https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING TurboTax Experts make all your moves count — filing with 100% accuracy and getting your max refund, guaranteed! See guarantee details at https://TurboTax.com/Guarantees Dell Technologies and Intel are pushing what technology can do, so great ideas can happen! Find out how to bring your ideas to life at https://Dell.com/WelcomeToNow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Choking under pressure. No one wants to do that yet when the stakes are high, it can be hard to rise to the occasion and easy to choke. This episode begins with a technique that has proven to help people in high pressure situations to NOT choke when there is a lot riding on the outcome. http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2012/09/choking-pressure.aspx You likely know people you are tightwads or spendthrifts. Perhaps you are one of them. How is it that some people become one or the other? Why does it seem that they are attracted to each other (and apparently they really are)? What’s the difference between being a tightwad and being frugal – or cheap? Here to explain the world of tightwads and spendthrifts is Scott Rick He is a marketing professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, and author of the book, Tightwads and Spendthrifts: Navigating the Money Minefield in Real Relationships (https://amzn.to/47oFOxt). Interestingly, Scott is a spendthrift who is married to a tightwad so he is truly on the front lines of this discussion.  Here in the USA, people like the idea of buying products that are “Made in America.” Still, over the last several decades, a lot of things that used to be made here have been outsourced to other countries. Now there is an effort to bring more manufacturing back to the United States. Joining me to explain why so much manufacturing left in the first place, how it is coming back and the benefits of doing so is Rachel Slade. Rachel teaches political science at Tufts University, she is an award winning writer and she is author of a book called Making It in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. (And How It Got That Way) (https://amzn.to/3NPlezt). There is no one secret to happiness. However, there are some necessary ingredients to having an overall sense of happiness. Listen as I explain what they are and how to create them in your life. https://www.biopsychiatry.com/happiness/ PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Indeed is offering SYSK listeners a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to get your jobs more visibility at https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING TurboTax Experts make all your moves count — filing with 100% accuracy and getting your max refund, guaranteed! See guarantee details at https://TurboTax.com/Guarantees Dell Technologies and Intel are pushing what technology can do, so great ideas can happen! Find out how to bring your ideas to life at https://Dell.com/WelcomeToNow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scientists have studied what is the perfect temperature in an office or work environment. And the magic number is 77 degrees Fahrenheit. What’s so magical about 77 degrees? I begin this episode with the explanation and what happens if temperature gets too far off from there. https://heatmyjob.com/office-temperature-can-play-part-employee-output/  The beginning of the year is when people set new goals for themselves. And it turns out that the process you use to set your goals will make a difference in how successful you are in reaching them. That’s the message from Michael Bungay Stanier. Often described as one of the top coaches in the world, Michael is author of a book called, How to Begin: Start Doing Something That Matters (https://amzn.to/3qL3UiH). When you follow his advice, you will most likely improve the chances that your goals will be reached.  It seems pretty random how we categorize people into groups depending on when they were born. We have baby boomers, millennials, Gen Xers and a few others I imagine. But is that fair? Is their any reason to think that people born in a certain generation share traits and characteristics? Should we be generalizing about a group based on when they were born? Here to discuss this is Bobby Duffy, professor of public policy and director of the Policy Institute at King’s College in London and author of the book, The Generation Myth: Why When You’re Born Matters Less Than You Think (https://amzn.to/3eUyIrL).   Germs can spread throughout a household in many different ways - and one is through your toothbrush. Listen as I explain how this happens and how you can prevent those toothbrush germs from infecting others. Source: Dr. Philip M. Tierno, author of The Secret Life of Germs (https://amzn.to/3HBF4bV). PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Zocdoc is a FREE app and website where you can search and compare highly-rated, in-network doctors near you AND instantly book appointments with them online. Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Dell Technologies and Intel are pushing what technology can do, so great ideas can happen! Find out how to bring your ideas to life at https://Dell.com/WelcomeToNow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Generally, women seem to have a better, more sensitive sense of touch than men do. Yet, it isn’t gender that really determines that. This episode begins with an explanation of why some people’s sense of touch is better than others and why most (but not all) of them are women. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091215173017.htm When your work is fun and enjoyable, you do better work. It doesn’t have to be totally fun – even making it a little more fun can pay big dividends according to Ali Abdaal. Ali is one of the most followed productivity experts and he is author of the book Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You (https://amzn.to/47AZajf). If you’ve always thought that success and productivity only come from discipline and hard work, I think you will find this conversation to be liberating.  Here is the link to Ali’s YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@aliabdaal Much of what determines how long you live and how healthy you remain as you get older – is pretty well known and is not that difficult to do if you make it a priority. That’s according to Michael Greger, MD, who is a founding member and Fellow of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and author of the book, How Not to Age: The Scientific Approach to Getting Healthier As You Get Older (https://amzn.to/3tCR1g2). Listen as he reveals some of the simple ways you can live long and stay healthy and active from now all the way through your golden years. A lot of people say they feel stuck – stuck in their job or marriage or in some other way they just feel stuck in life. Interestingly, this is a fairly new phenomenon. Listen as I explain why there is so much stuckness in the world and what you can do to get unstuck. Source: Anneli Rufus author of the book Stuck (https://amzn.to/47ftboo) PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Zocdoc is a FREE app and website where you can search and compare highly-rated, in-network doctors near you AND instantly book appointments with them online. Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Dell Technologies and Intel are pushing what technology can do, so great ideas can happen! Find out how to bring your ideas to life at https://Dell.com/WelcomeToNow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever wonder what the life expectancy is for that house fly buzzing around your kitchen? Or what’s the fastest insect on earth? Do you know how many kinds of insects there are in the world? This episode begins with some interesting facts about bugs and insects you likely don’t know – including the difference between a bug and an insect. https://gohannan.com/common-pests/amazing-but-true-interesting-facts-about-bugs/ You must be afraid of something. In fact, you are probably afraid of several things. Fear is a good thing. It keeps us safe from harm. And understanding how fear works can really help you navigate the world better. Joining me to discuss what fear is and where it comes from is Helen Odeskky, a licensed clinical psychologist, anxiety expert and author of the book Stop Fear from Stopping You: The Art and Science of Becoming Fear-Wise (https://amzn.to/3qBprt2). Listen to our conversation and you may just view fear in a whole new light.  Nature can be beautiful and wonderful. It can also be gross and disgusting. Still, disgusting can also be very interesting according to Erika Engelhaupt. She is a writer and editor for National Geographic and author of the book Gory Details : Adventures from the Dark of Science (https://amzn.to/39v0IQn). Listen as she explains some really gross but fascinating things like how tiny bugs live in the pores on you face; how “fatbergs” (like icebergs except made of fat and sludge) flow under our cities; how gross peeing in the pool really is; what ants really taste like should you need to eat some and a lot more. Everyone who uses credit has a credit score – sometimes called a FICO score. A lot of people don’t really understand where that score comes from or what the number means. Listen as I reveal how your score is determined and how to keep your FICO score as high as possible. https://www.thebalance.com/understanding-credit-utilization-960451 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Zocdoc is a FREE app and website where you can search and compare highly-rated, in-network doctors near you AND instantly book appointments with them online. Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Dell Technologies and Intel are pushing what technology can do, so great ideas can happen! Find out how to bring your ideas to life at https://Dell.com/WelcomeToNow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the sun hits it just right, you can sometimes see just how dirty your computer screen gets. And it can get pretty filthy. So, what’s the best way to clean it? Not with window cleaner, that’s for sure. Listen as this episode begins with the right way to clean your monitor so you don’t cause damage https://www.rd.com/article/how-to-clean-a-computer-screen/ We all know exercise is good for you. Any exercise is good whether it is cardio or lifting weights - it’s all great! But it doesn’t have to be formal, strenuous exercise. In this episode, you’ll hear how simply moving your body can do wonders. Your body is designed to move – not sit around. And when you move it in the right way, the benefits are spectacular, according to Caroline Williams, a science journalist who is a regular contributor to New Scientist and author of the book Move: How the New Science of Body Movement Can Set Your Mind Free (https://amzn.to/3Jsjlot). Is privacy dead? After all, you hear a lot of people talking about how so much of our information is floating around, it is impossible to expect much in the way of privacy. Not true, according to Neil Richards. Neil is a leading expert in privacy law. He is Professor of Law at Washington University School of Law, and author of the book, Why Privacy Matters (https://amzn.to/32xsxaG). Listen as he discusses how privacy works, how the laws must change and how privacy is not dead – yet. But it is definitely in need of repair.  Are you one of those people who eats lunch at their desk? A lot of people like to keep working as they eat lunch – particularly if you work from home. While it may seem like an efficient thing to do, it’s actually a terrible idea. Listen as I explain why. https://www.businessinsider.in/heres-why-you-should-stop-eating-lunch-at-your-desk-every-day/articleshow/45464205.cms PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season! .Right now you can get two Memberships for the price of one at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Dell Technologies and Intel are pushing what technology can do, so great ideas can happen! Find out how to bring your ideas to life at https://Dell.com/WelcomeToNow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Getting a paper cut sucks. It looks like nothing but it sure hurts like crazy. This episode starts with a look at why paper cuts hurt so much and the best way to treat one. http://www.menshealth.com/health/why-are-paper-cuts-so-painful You might think your personality is pretty well determined already. However, it is actually changing all the time whether you like it or not. Organizational psychologist Benjamin Hardy joins me to reveal how your personality evolves throughout your lifetime and how you can influence those changes to become the person you want to be. Benjamin Hardy is a contributor to Inc., and Psychology Today and he is author of the book Personality Isn’t Permanent (https://amzn.to/3GS1ebv) The pace of life just seems faster than it used to be. And while you might long for the good old slower days, they are likely not coming back. A better approach may be to learn to manage the faster speed of life and make it work for you. Joining me to discuss how to do that is Vince Poscente, former Olympic speed-skier and author of bestselling book, The Age of Speed (https://amzn.to/2UGj8Gm). Don’t you hate it when you can’t remember where you put your keys or wallet or glasses? What is it that makes them so easy to lose in the first place? Listen as I explain WHY you likely misplaced them and the best way to figure out where they are? http://lifehacker.com/the-two-factors-that-make-you-forgetful-1563418168 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season! .Right now you can get two Memberships for the price of one at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Dell Technologies and Intel are pushing what technology can do, so great ideas can happen! Find out how to bring your ideas to life at https://Dell.com/WelcomeToNow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can never say, “I love you” enough to your partner. They are the 3 magic words of love. Yet, there are three other words you may also want to say more often to help forge a closer and stronger bond. Listen as I reveal what those three words are. https://truetowords.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-me-us-we-little-words-big-impact.html It feels good to help someone in need. However, it can feel really uncomfortable if you are the one asking for the help. However, it doesn’t need to be difficult, according to Heidi Grant, author of the book, Reinforcements: How to Get People to Help You (https://amzn.to/2MRA4Ep). She has some great advice that explains how to ask and who to ask that will make it easier to make the request and make it much more likely that people will say yes. Listen and learn to become a much better asker when you really need help.  Everyone has lucky moments in life. However, it is what you do with your luck when it strikes that determines how lucky you really are. That’s according to Christian Busch, PhD, Director of the Global Economy Program at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs and author of the book, The Serendipity Mindset: The Art and Science of Creating Good Luck (https://amzn.to/30VClYu). Really lucky people know how to capitalize on those lucky moments in life to maximize the benefits. Listen and you too will know how when those lucky moments come along.  Even the best cooks in the world are looking for better and more efficient ways to get things done in the kitchen. I found some great suggestions that I use myself from the website Epicurious.com. - from what kind of chicken to buy, where to keep your lemons to why you most certainly need a new ice tray for the freezer. https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/best-cooking-advice-ever-article PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season! .Right now you can get two Memberships for the price of one at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Dell Technologies and Intel are pushing what technology can do, so great ideas can happen! Find out how to bring your ideas to life at https://Dell.com/WelcomeToNow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you have a bad cough, prescription cough syrup is often the remedy of choice – particularly the kind with codeine. But what if chocolate works better? Seriously. This episode begins by discussing the best way to stifle that urge to cough. https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/chocolate-can-fight-coughs-better-than-some-cold-medicine/ Do you have a favorite Christmas movie? Maybe you like White Christmas or It’s a Wonderful Life or maybe Home Alone? Well, whatever it is, I suspect you will hear it discussed during my conversation Jeremy Arnold. Jeremy is a film historian who, along with Turner Classic movies, has put together a wonderful book called Christmas in the Movies: 30 Classics To Celebrate the Season. (https://amzn.to/3GzDZ3S). Listen and you will hear some of the backstories about many of the most iconic Christmas movies of all time. When you think about it, sarcasm is a really weird way to try to get your point across. Still, it can be extremely effective. It can also affect people in interesting and unusual ways that aren’t quite so obvious. Penny Pexman, a professor of psychology at the University of Calgary studies sarcasm and she joins me to offer some wonderful insight into how using sarcasm impacts your relationships and interactions as well as who tends to be more sarcastic and why. Penny has a coloring book for kids to help them understand sarcasm called Sydney Gets Sarcastic. You can download it for free at: https://ucalgary.ca/child-infant-learning-development/home-0 Could your Christmas tree be causing your allergy symptoms to flare up? IT is quite possible. Listen as I explain what the problem is and how best to deal with it. https://www.entandallergyspecialists.com/uncategorized/can-christmas-trees-cause-allergy-symptoms/ PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season! .Right now you can get two Memberships for the price of one at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Spread holiday cheer this season with a new phone! Get any phone free, today at UScellular. Built for US. Terms apply. Visit https://UScellular.com for details.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is one word in the English language that has more meanings than any other. A lot more! And the word is only 3 letters long. I begin this episode by revealing which word it is – and there is a good chance you have said the word multiple times today. https://www.rd.com/article/most-complicated-word-in-english/ Can you really inherit your mother’s laugh or your father’s temper? It is a little confusing because some traits you can inherit genetically, but other traits you get from them may just be because you grew up in the same house. Height is something genetically passed down – still not all tall parents have tall children, so how does that work? Heredity is often misunderstood and there is a lot about heredity we just don’t know. Here to explain this fascinating topic so it all makes sense is Carl Zimmer. Carl writes for The New York Times and is author of the book, She Has Her Mother’s Laugh: The Powers, Perversions and Potential of Heredity (https://amzn.to/2IG8KKR). Does anyone know who made the first cellphone call? Not only do we know, we have him here as a guest and you are about to meet him. Martin Cooper is considered the father of the cellphone. He helped to develop the whole basis for cellular technology when he worked at Motorola and did in fact place the very first cellphone call. Martin joins me to recall the early days of the cellphone and has some great terrific insight on the future of cellular technology. Martin is the author of the book Cutting the Cord: The Cell Phone Has Transformed Humanity (https://amzn.to/38aXwIV). Sneakers or tennis shoes are the footwear of choice for many of us. So where did they come from? Interestingly, it took quite a while for them to cross over from the world of sports to everyday casual wear . Listen as I explain the history and who the players were that brought sneakers to the forefront. https://www.factmonster.com/culture-entertainment/fashion/history-sneakers PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season! .Right now you can get two Memberships for the price of one at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Spread holiday cheer this season with a new phone! Get any phone free, today at UScellular. Built for US. Terms apply. Visit https://UScellular.com for details.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should you get a second opinion? A lot of people faced with a medical diagnosis often wonder about that. Will they offend the original doctor if they ask for a second opinion? Is it really necessary? Is it worth the trouble? Listen as I explain the value of a second opinion. https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/second-opinions We know animals communicate – but what are they communicating? When a wolf howls or a dolphin clicks, or a cricket chirps – what is it saying? Is it a language that can be translated or is it just noise to say, “Here I am!” Or is it something else entirely? And here is something interesting – we can teach our language to chimps and parrots – and they are able to use it. But they don’t use it when they are with another chimp or parrot who can also speak our language. Why not? Here to explain the science of animal communication is Arik Kirschebaum. He is a zoologist, college lecturer and fellow at Girton College, University of Cambridge and he has done extensive fieldwork on animal communication. He is author of the book Why Animals Talk: The New Science of Animal Communication (https://amzn.to/3LN4fwe) It's easy to think that loneliness and lack of social connections is a 21st century thing – but it’s not. Research going back decades shows that people have long felt they didn’t have enough friends and connections. Given that we are social creatures who crave connection, why is it so hard to make real friends? Maybe it isn’t. Maybe we just think it is. That’s what David Robson is here to discuss. He says that once we understand the barriers to connecting to other people, they are easy to overcome. David is an award-winning science writer and the author of the book The Laws of Connection: The Scientific Secrets of Building a Strong Social Network (https://amzn.to/3ynUTDZ). Have you ever struggled with how to end an email? “Sincerely” sounds a bit formal. “Cheers” may be a little too informal. So, what’s best – and worst? Listen as I explain some popular email sign offs that you might want to avoid. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-end-an-email/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some of the most inspiring words can come from some unusual places - and people. This episode begins with some words of hope and inspiration that seem perfect for the holidays - from Mr. Rogers. Source: The World According to Mr. Rogers (https://amzn.to/3RKWfzC). The fight against aging is more complicated than most people think. It isn’t just about living longer, it is also about staying healthy as you get older. And while diet and exercise do seem to help, science is looking at some far more sophisticated ways to fight aging. There is some promising work in the lab that can make worms seem younger, live twice as long and improve their cognitive function. One person on the cutting edge of all this is Coleen Murphy. She is a professor at Princeton University, Director of Princeton’s Glenn Foundation for Research on Aging and author of the book, How We Age: The Science of Longevity (https://amzn.to/3GKDKF5) I bet there have been times in your life when you didn’t try something or take a risk because you were afraid of what other people would think of you – especially if you failed. It appears to be one of the most powerful forces that holds people back. Joining me to discuss why this is such a problem and what we can all do to push it out of the way is Michael Gervais. He is a high performance psychologist, host of the podcast Finding Mastery (https://findingmastery.com/podcasts/) and author of the book The First Rule of Mastery: Stop Worrying about What People Think of You (https://amzn.to/3RtsDoW). As the new year fast approaches, many people dust off their resumes and look for a new job. Listen as I reveal some of the most important traits employers are looking for in new employees. https://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2012/10/04/top-five-personality-traits-employers-hire-most/ PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season! .Right now you can get two Memberships for the price of one at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Spread holiday cheer this season with a new phone! Get any phone free, today at UScellular. Built for US. Terms apply. Visit https://UScellular.com for details.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Sitting is the new smoking” has been a popular expression for the last few years. But seriously, what could be so horrible about sitting? This episode begins with an explanation and advice on what to do differently if you sit a lot. https://www.cnn.com/2015/01/21/health/sitting-will-kill-you/index.html Something interesting has happened over the last few generations. There was a time when kids looked forward to growing up, becoming an grownup and leaving home. Today, not so much. Many young people dread the whole idea of adulthood. Why? Apparently, “adulting” just isn’t appealing because so many young people just aren’t prepared to handle it. That’s according to Julie Lythcott-Haims, a writer, former college dean, former attorney and author of the book Your Turn to Be an Adult. (https://amzn.to/3q89LOB). Listen as she joins me to explain what has changed and what needs to be done to help young people want to grow up.  Have you ever noticed that traffic sometimes seems to have a mind of its own? It’ll slow down in one spot for no apparent reason and then speed up in another spot – again for no apparent reason. And why is it that one lane of traffic moves fast but the one I am in tends to stand still? Besides the obvious accident or construction, what makes traffic flow well some of the time but then get all screwed up and backed up other times? Here to explain some of the science and nuance of traffic flow is Jonas Eliasson an internationally known expert on traffic patterns who is also Director of Transport Accessibility for the Swedish Transport Administration and has an interesting TED Talk on how to solve traffic jams that you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX_Krxq5eUI&t=360s Almost everyone loves at least one type of music. That’s a good thing because listening to music appears to be good for you. Listen as I explain the many benefits according to a lot of research on the topic. https://www.emedexpert.com/tips/music.shtml PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season! .Right now you can get two Memberships for the price of one at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them! Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Dell’s Holiday Event is one of their biggest sales of the year! Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping on everything! Spread holiday cheer this season with a new phone! Get any phone free, today at UScellular. Built for US. Terms apply. Visit https://UScellular.com for details.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is one important question that actually determines how healthy you will be and how long you will live – depending on your answer. This episode begins with that question. And it is certainly worth contemplating. Source: Dr. Paul Pearsall author of The Pleasure Prescription (https://amzn.to/41j3xO8). So much video gets shot around the holidays and much of it is frankly - pretty dull and doesn’t capture the moment the way people hope. Taking great video doesn’t require fancy equipment – your phone will do an excellent job. What makes great video is knowing how to use the camera. Joining me to explain some simple and effective techniques is Steve Stockman. Steve has directed hundreds of TV commercials and shows, and he is the creator of the video course and author of the book – both titled How To Shoot Video That Doesn’t Suck. Listen and you will soon be shooting stunning video.  Here is the link for Steve’s video course: https://stevestockman.com/ Here is the link for Steve’s book https://amzn.to/46Q7E5y When you hear the word extinction – as in some species goes extinct, you probably think that’s a bad thing and something probably went wrong to cause it. Actually, that usually is not the case. Extinction is a natural part of life and how it works is fascinating. Here to explain it so we can all understand is Michael J. Benton. He is a professor of Vertebrate Paleontology at the University of Bristol. He has written more than fifty books, and his latest is called Extinctions: How Life Survives, Adapts and Evolves (https://amzn.to/3GzqkMb). One of the things that makes holiday shopping at the mall so stressful and exhausting isn’t the shopping – it’s the parking hassle. Listen as explain how to remove that stress to make holiday shopping more fun. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204026804577098451316357124 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season! .Right now you can get two Memberships for the price of one at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them! Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Dell’s Holiday Event is one of their biggest sales of the year! Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping on everything! Spread holiday cheer this season with a new phone! Get any phone free, today at UScellular. Built for US. Terms apply. Visit https://UScellular.com for details.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Winter is cold and flu season – and sometimes, when you start feeling sick, you wonder if it is the flu or just a cold. This episode begins by explaining how early symptoms can help you figure it out quickly so you can seek the appropriate remedy. https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/is-it-cold-flu  During the holidays especially, people sense the need and importance of being connected to others. Perhaps one reason people often feel disconnected and isolated may just be that they don’t have the right social skills. Skills like, how to be a great conversationalist, how to ask for forgiveness, how to break up with someone without breaking their heart, how to sit with someone who is suffering, how to end a conversation gracefully.  These are the skills that allow people to get below the surface and really know a person. Joining me with some wonderful insight into this is David Brooks. He is an op-ed columnist, for the New York Times, a writer for The Atlantic and appears regularly on the PBS Newshour. David is author of the book How To Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen (https://amzn.to/483ge1N). People and dogs have been living together for centuries. It is a bond that seems to benefit everyone. So why is the human-dog relationship work so well? Why do so many people report that having a dog makes their life better? And why is it that having a dog seems to improve people’s mental and emotional well-being? One person who really understands this bond is Jen Golbeck. Her writing has appeared in Slate, The Atlantic, Psychology Today, and Wired. In addition, she and her husband rescue golden retrievers who are senior or who have special medical needs. She is author of the book, The Purest Bond: Understanding the Human–Canine Connection (https://amzn.to/3TeMhre). If you’ve ever wondered about what your dog thinks about you and why you get along so well, you should listen to Jen. Does it really work to put your wet phone in a bowl of uncooked rice to rescue it? Maybe but something else may work even better. Listen and find out what it is. https://gizmodo.com/how-to-rescue-wet-gadgets-5951415 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season! .Right now you can get two Memberships for the price of one at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them! Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Dell’s Holiday Event is one of their biggest sales of the year! Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping on everything! Spread holiday cheer this season with a new phone! Get any phone free, today at UScellular. Built for US. Terms apply. Visit https://UScellular.com for details.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People frequently choke when they drink something because – “it went down the wrong pipe.” Is there really a wrong pipe? Why do people sometimes choke when they swallow? I begin this episode by discussing the rather complicated process of swallowing and why sometimes things go awry. Source: Joel Herskowitz, author of Swallow Safely (https://amzn.to/3pXFjqv) Do you prioritize having fun in your life? Or is fun just something you do if there is time once the serious business is finished? Maybe we are looking at fun all wrong! Fun should not be a reward, it is a necessity that is essential to your well-being according to journalist and speaker Catherine Price author of the book The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again (https://amzn.to/32113to) . Listen as she explains the importance difference between “fake fun” and true fun and how having more true fun will transform your life. Catherine’s website is https://howtohavefun.com/ Like most people you probably have a love/hate relationship with your email. Sure it is convenient but all of that incoming information can eat up your time, productivity and energy. Here to explain how to make sure that doesn’t happen is Maura Nevel Thomas author of The Happy Inbox (https://amzn.to/323ZUkt). Maura has some simple strategies that will help you tame all those messages and notifications so you can stay focused on what needs to be done yet still be available to the people who need you. You know the post office mottos that starts …”Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night…” Well, it turns out that isn’t actually the official motto or creed of the USPS. Listen as I explain where that “motto” came from and what actually WILL prevent your mail getting delivered if you are not careful https://about.usps.com/publications/pub100.pdf PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season! .Right now you can get two Memberships for the price of one at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them! Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Shopify gives you everything you need to take control and take your business to the next level. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at https://shopify.com/sysk today! Dell’s Cyber Monday event is their biggest sale of the year. Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping! Spread holiday cheer this season with a new phone! Get any phone free, today at UScellular. Built for US. Terms apply. Visit https://UScellular.com for details.  Planet Money is an incredible podcast with stories & insights about how money shapes our world. Listen to Planet Money https://npr.org/podcasts/510289/planet-money wherever you get your podcasts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the best parts of Christmas is the tree. There is so much lore, and history and fascinating facts about Christmas trees. Listen as this episode begins with some things you may not know. https://www.gertens.com/blog/christmas-fun-facts-and-trivia.html The sense of smell is the one most people say they could live without if they had to pick one. Really? There is a lot more to your ability to smell scents and odors than you may realize. Do you really know how your sense of smell works? What makes some scents wonderful and others disgusting? Did you know a lot of the odors here are on earth come from outer space? These are just a few of the things I discuss with Harold McGee, author of the best-selling book Nose Dive: A Field Guide to the World’s Smells (https://amzn.to/39yhOgx). Listen and you will have renewed respect for your sense of smell and you might not be so willing to give it up! What exactly is the Internet? Where did it come from and how did it get here? These are good questions and you will discover the answers by listening to my interview with James Ball. He is Global Editor at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a former special projects editor at The Guardian and author of the book, The Tangled Web We Weave: Inside The Shadow System That Shapes the Internet (https://amzn.to/3tsaaMP) When you get the hiccups, what’s the best cure to get rid of them? It turns out not all cures work the same for everyone but there are some things worth trying and there is one thing that works every time. Listen as I explain that. Source: Nancy Snyderman author of Medical Myths That Can Kill You (https://amzn.to/3cUAR7d) PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season! .Right now you can get two Memberships for the price of one at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them! Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Shopify gives you everything you need to take control and take your business to the next level. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at https://shopify.com/sysk today! Dell’s Cyber Monday event is their biggest sale of the year. Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping! Spread holiday cheer this season with a new phone! Get any phone free, today at UScellular. Built for US. Terms apply. Visit https://UScellular.com for details.  Planet Money is an incredible podcast with stories & insights about how money shapes our world. Listen to Planet Money https://npr.org/podcasts/510289/planet-money wherever you get your podcasts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seems like there isn’t much your smartphone CAN’T do. However, one weakness it has is the inability to stand up to cold weather. This episode begins with an explanation of why and how your phone is so vulnerable to the cold and what to do about it. https://blog.gaiagps.com/how-to-keep-your-phone-alive-in-cold-weather/ What makes human intelligence superior to the intelligence of other creatures? What are the flaws in human thinking? Will AI ever really be able to think like a human brain or is that really impossible? Listen to my discussion with Max Bennett and you will come away with a very different understanding of both human and artificial intelligence. Max is cofounder and CEO of Alby, a start-up in the AI business. He has published numerous scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals and he has been featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Max is author of the book A Brief History of Intelligence (https://amzn.to/3N8mJbr). You probably aren’t paying attention to it – but right now you are likely hearing sounds. Maybe it is traffic noise or music or the washing machine. We are always hearing something. It turns out that sound plays a much bigger role in your life than you imagine -both good and bad. Here to help you understand why the sounds that surround you are so important is Caspar Henderson. He is a writer and journalist who covers topics such as energy, science and the environment and he is author of the book, A Book of Noises: Notes on the Auraculous (https://amzn.to/3t4vNY4). If you plan to take a lot of photos or videos of family around the holidays, you should be aware of something. You see, there is one thing people often forget to do that they later regret. Listen as I tell you what that is and how to make sure you don’t forget it this year. Source: Cheryl Lightle author of The Creative Memories Way (https://amzn.to/3T3pKh1) PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season! .Right now you can get two Memberships for the price of one at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them! Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Shopify gives you everything you need to take control and take your business to the next level. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at https://shopify.com/sysk today! Dell’s Cyber Monday event is their biggest sale of the year. Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping! Spread holiday cheer this season with a new phone! Get any phone free, today at UScellular. Built for US. Terms apply. Visit https://UScellular.com for details.  Planet Money is an incredible podcast with stories & insights about how money shapes our world. Listen to Planet Money https://npr.org/podcasts/510289/planet-money wherever you get your podcasts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m sure you’ve noticed those little silica gel packs in boxes of shoes or electronics. And if you look closely, you’ll see they typically have a warning to NOT eat them. Are they really that poisonous? What would happen if you did eat one? I begin this episode with an explanation. https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/what-to-know-silica-gel Every day we interact with manmade machines and those interactions have revolutionized modern life. Now with AI and more advanced robotics our relationship with machines is likely to grow deeper. One day we could actually be friends or even lovers with machines! Debra Spar believes our relationship with machines is important to look at and understand. Debra is a professor of business admin at Harvard Business school, former president of Barnard College and author of the book Work, Mate, Marry Love: How Machines Shape Our Human Destiny (https://amzn.to/3xMLhOo). Listen as she offers some fascinating insight into how machines have and continue to change us. Especially around the holidays, people with few friends or connections can feel particularly lonely. By most accounts, that sting of loneliness can only be relieved by being around other people. So how do you do it if you don’t find making friends to be easy? Psychologist Dr. Elicia Nademin joins me to offer simple yet effective ways to connect with the people around you that can dull the pain of loneliness and make you feel great. You might even make some really good friends. Dr. Nademin is author of the book Don’t Be A Stranger: Creating Connections & Memorable First Impressions in Every Day Life (https://amzn.to/2ZSRAUg). Santa is married. We know there is a Mrs. Claus. But her role in the whole Christmas thing is a bit mysterious and unknown. Listen as I explain who she is and why we seem to know so little about her and how she supports Santa and all the elves. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._Claus PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season - for you and anyone on your list! Right now you can get two Memberships for the price of one at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING Indeed is the hiring platform where you can Attract, Interview, and Hire all in one place! Start hiring NOW with a $75 SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to upgrade your job post at https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Dell’s Cyber Monday event is their biggest sale of the year. Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping! Spread holiday cheer far and wide this season with a new phone! Everyone can get the gift of connection at UScellular. Get any phone free, today. UScellular. Built for US. Terms apply. Visit https://UScellular.com for details.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who doesn’t love the smell of a Christmas tree? It seems to be a smell everybody finds pleasing and it also turns out to have some benefits. This episode begins with some reasons why you should take the time to enjoy the scent of pine. https://www.foxnews.com/health/the-healing-power-of-pine Being part of an audience can be magical. Whether you are watching a play or a movie or a concert, the audience members can become a singular force – getting energy and emotion from one another. So, how did audiences come to be? How did audiences learn how to behave? Why do we applaud? Here to discuss all this and more is Robert Viagas. He is Editor-in-chief of Encore Monthly the national theatre magazine and spent much of his career working with Playbill. He is author of the book called Right This Way: A History of the Audience (https://amzn.to/46F8lOS). If there is one thing people like, it is certainty. We like to be sure of ourselves and we like people who seem certain about things. However, uncertainty has its benefits. When you are uncertain about something, it allows you to be curious and ultimately make better decisions. That’s according to journalist Maggie Jackson. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Business Week, Vanity Fair and Wired.com and she is author of the book, Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure (https://amzn.to/3Gli42b).  What if there were some very simple ways that would make sure you get more done in less time? Well, there are! Listen as I explain 3 easy yet powerful techniques from productivity expert Don Wetmore. https://productivity-institute.com/ PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season - for you and anyone on your list! Right now you can get two Memberships for the price of one at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING Indeed is the hiring platform where you can Attract, Interview, and Hire all in one place! Start hiring NOW with a $75 SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to upgrade your job post at https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Dell’s Cyber Monday event is their biggest sale of the year. Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping! Spread holiday cheer far and wide this season with a new phone! Everyone can get the gift of connection at UScellular. Get any phone free, today. UScellular. Built for US. Terms apply. Visit https://UScellular.com for details.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People say where you fall in the birth order compared to your siblings determines (or strongly influences) certain traits and outcomes. This episode begins with a look at whether the research backs this up or it is just a pop culture theory. https://psychcentral.com/blog/birth-order-and-personality#birth-order-and-personality The holidays bring back memories. Many of us get very nostalgic this time of year – longing for people, places and Christmases gone by. Being nostalgic was once thought to be a mental illness. Now, according to research, it can actually be good for you for many different reasons. Joining me to explain why longing for the past is good for your future is Clay Routledge, PhD, whose work has been featured in The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian and CBS. He is author of the book Past Forward: How Nostalgia Can Help You Live a More Meaningful Life (https://amzn.to/3uC1sAs) Do you really like playing Monopoly? Lots of us play it but privately, we hate it. That’s one of the many fascinating things you will hear as I speak with Marcus du Sautoy . He is an award-winning mathematician, a math professor at Oxford and he has studied the history and popularity of games humans play from chess, to backgammon, tic-tac-toe to Monopoly. You will be fascinated by what he discovered. Marcus is author the book Around the World in Eighty Games (https://amzn.to/3MV5Lxm). Cats and Christmas trees don’t mix. Listen as I offer some strategies to help discourage your cat from climbing up and into your tree and maybe even knocking it down. A little prevention, some tin foil and some double-sided tape is all it takes. http://www.petmd.com/cat/seasonal/evr_ct_cats_and_christmas_trees PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season - for you and anyone on your list! Right now you can get two Memberships for the price of one at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING Indeed is the hiring platform where you can Attract, Interview, and Hire all in one place! Start hiring NOW with a $75 SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to upgrade your job post at https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Dell’s Cyber Monday event is their biggest sale of the year. Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping! Spread holiday cheer far and wide this season with a new phone! Everyone can get the gift of connection at UScellular. Get any phone free, today. UScellular. Built for US. Terms apply. Visit https://UScellular.com for details.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don’t you hate it when you hear or think of a familiar song but can’t recall the title? This episode begins with a clever trick that will help identify any song and all it takes is a smartphone. https://lifehacker.com/how-to-identify-any-song-just-by-singing-it-1849039953 Why are you different from me and everyone else? What makes you the person you are? That’s what Chantel Prat has investigated and is here to discuss. Chantel is professor at the University of Washington and author of the book The Neuroscience of You (https://amzn.to/3OJDyHL). She joins me to discuss what makes us all individuals and why we are constantly changing who we are. Extreme weather is fascinating to watch on television – but horrible to live through. And lately we have seen a lot of extreme weather – fires in the west, flooding in the southeast, tornadoes in the Midwest and more. Why is this happening and how does weather work? Here to explain the fascinating world of weather is Matthew Cappucci. He is an on-air meteorologist at FOX5DC in Washington D.C. and author of the book Looking Up: The True Adventures of a Storm-Chasing Weather Nerd (https://amzn.to/3vvSceW). Whenever you are in a situation where you are feeling upset, anxious or nervous, there is a simple strategy you can employ that can help reduce those stressful feelings in about 1 minute. Listen as I explain how to do it - in fact it is something you already know how to do. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture-council/articles/humming-for-self-care-tool-for-leaders-toolboxes-1234956725/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You have probably heard that poinsettia plants are poisonous to people and pets. Really? How poisonous? Can you die from eating them or what? Should you be concerned and keep them out of your home? This episode begins with an explanation of just how dangerous poinsettias are – and are not. https://www.stranges.com/are-poinsettias-poisonous/ Our keen human instincts have helped us survive all these years. However, some of those instincts are not so practical in today’s modern world. This is according to evolutionary biologist Dr. Rebecca Heiss, author of the book Instinct: Rewire Your Brain with Science-Backed Solutions to Increase Productivity and Achieve Success (https://amzn.to/3oxbQTq). Rebecca joins me to discuss how instincts such as the instinct for self-deception and variety and the fear of others can really sabotage your success. She also offers strategies to help override those instincts when you need to. What’s inside a black hole? What exactly is a multiverse? At what point will the sun stop burning? These are just a few of the fascinating questions I explore with Daniel Whiteson, professor of physics at UC Irvine and author of the book Frequently Asked Questions About the Universe (https://amzn.to/3oCeTtR). Listen as Daniel takes important and complex concepts about the universe and makes them interesting and understandable. Your sense of touch is more complicated than you realize. What you touch and how it feels can actually alter the way you think. Listen as I reveal some fascinating research about how your sense of touch works. https://news.yale.edu/2010/06/24/touch-how-hard-chair-creates-hard-heart PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season - for you and anyone on your list - because both of you can learn from the best to become your best - from leadership to effective communication to cooking. Right now you can get Two Memberships for the Price of One at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Dell's Black Friday event is their biggest sale of the year! Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping! Spread holiday cheer far and wide this season with a new phone! Everyone can get the gift of connection at UScellular. Get any phone free, today. UScellular. Built for US. Terms apply. Visit https://UScellular.com for details.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Food labels are full of claims. They say things like “All-Natural” or “Doctor Recommended” or “Made with Whole Grains.” Should you be impressed or are those words and phrases a lot of nothing and nonsense? I begin this episode by revealing why those phrases are worded the way they are and what they actually mean. https://www.cornucopia.org/2010/05/nutrition-buzzwords-make-hay-out-of-grains-of-truth/ Convincing people to do what you want can be a challenge. One of the best ways is to get people to do it because they WANT to do it rather than trying to coerce or convince them. This is according to Christopher Hadnagy who is a global security expert and author of the book Human Hacking Win Friends, Influence People, and Leave Them Better Off for Having Met You (https://amzn.to/3iMz58R) Listen as he shares some valuable insight into what motivates people to give you what you want, why it is so effective and exactly how to do it. You likely have trouble sleeping from time to time. In fact just about everyone does. There are plenty of reasons people don’t sleep. Sometimes your mind is racing, or you are worried about something or it could also be something you ate or drank or even how your bedroom is configured. Here to discuss why people have trouble with their sleep is health journalist Kim Jones author of the book Trick Yourself to Sleep: 222 Ways to Fall and Stay Asleep from the Science of Slumber (https://amzn.to/2MtdFS7). Listen today and tonight you just might sleep like a baby. One of the hardest things on your car’s engine is – when you start it. Listen as I explain why cold engine starts are so tough on your car and how to ease the strain. Source: Jack Gillis author of The Car Book (https://amzn.to/2Ym0DIX) PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season - for you and anyone on your list - because both of you can learn from the best to become your best - from leadership to effective communication to cooking. Right now you can get Two Memberships for the Price of One at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Dell's Black Friday event is their biggest sale of the year! Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping! Spread holiday cheer far and wide this season with a new phone! Everyone can get the gift of connection at UScellular. Get any phone free, today. UScellular. Built for US. Terms apply. Visit https://UScellular.com for details.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Texting and email seem to have replaced the telephone as a primary means of communication. Still, the telephone is sometimes a better option. When it is – how can you make sure you get a call back or a response of some kind? Listen and I’ll tell you. Source: Bill Jensen author of Simplicity Survival Handbook (https://amzn.to/3MMDmt7). Have you ever accomplished a goal and thought – “Hey if I can do that, what ELSE can I accomplish?” It seems success is rarely totally satisfying. Instead, it creates an itch for more success. That place in your brain where that happens is what my guest calls “Wonderhell.” And it turns out to be a fascinating place to explore. Listen as I speak about it with Laura Gassner Otting. She is frequently featured on Good Morning America, The Today Show and Harvard Business Review and she is author of the book Wonderhell: Why Success Doesn’t Feel Like it Should and What to Do About It (https://amzn.to/40EycFi)  There are actually people who believe that you are not responsible for your actions or decisions. In other words, that you have no free will. They believe everything is predetermined – that it is unfair to punish criminals, for example, because whatever they did wrong was not their choice. Then there is the other side of the argument. Joining me to explain why we do have free will – and to help try to understand why some people believe we do not is Kevin Mitchell, an associate professor of genetics and neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin and author of the book, Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will (https://amzn.to/49vncy2) Here is the link for the episode featuring Robert Sapolsky arguing against free will: https://www.somethingyoushouldknow.net/566-do-we-really-have-free-will-how-to-handle-rejection-better/ You frequently hear people say the phrase, "That's a whole nother story." But is nother a real word? That depends. Listen as I explain. https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/whole-nother PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! MasterClass makes a meaningful gift this season - for you and anyone on your list - because both of you can learn from the best to become your best - from leadership to effective communication to cooking. Right now you can get Two Memberships for the Price of One at https://MasterClass.com/SOMETHING PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Dell's Black Friday event is their biggest sale of the year! Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping! Spread holiday cheer far and wide this season with a new phone! Everyone can get the gift of connection at UScellular. Get any phone free, today. UScellular. Built for US. Terms apply. Visit https://UScellular.com for details.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the holiday season, there are more occasions and opportunities to drink alcohol. So, it’s worth noting that not all drinks are created equal when it comes to how they affect you. This episode begins with some interesting information about the differences between beer, wine and hard liquor that could have a definite impact on you and how you feel the next morning. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2006.00190.x Are people born lucky? Or unlucky? What is it about some people that causes them to appear to be lucky a lot of the time? Here to explore the topic of luck is Richard Wiseman. He is one of the top researchers on the science of luck and author of the book, The Luck Factor (https://amzn.to/3EMLy6r). Richard is here to explain what makes lucky people lucky and how we might attract more luck. It’s not magic – it’s all in how you think. How can some people actually believe the earth is flat – and still others believe it is hollow? Some people believe we never landed on the moon – it was all a hoax. Still others are convinced that aliens walk among us. What causes people to believe what seems like nonsense to most of us? That’s why you will want to listen to my guest, Donald Prothero. Donald is a geology professor who has taught at Caltech, Columbia, and elsewhere and he is author of a book called Weird Earth: Debunking Strange Ideas about Our Planet (https://amzn.to/3GOsTc9). Listen to hear his explanation as to why some people cling to what appear to be very odd beliefs and why the problem appears to be growing.  Do you know what the word quantum actually means? Interestingly, 4 out of 5 people could not define it correctly when asked in a survey. Listen to discover what science and the dictionary say it actually means. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quantum#examples PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them! Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Dell's Black Friday event is their biggest sale of the year! Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping! Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Planet Money is an incredible podcast with stories & insights about how money shapes our world. Listen to Planet Money https://npr.org/podcasts/510289/planet-money wherever you get your podcasts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you are getting less than 7 hours of sleep per night (and most people are), that can be a real problem. And the problem is more than just feeling a little sleepy the next day. This episode begins with a stark example of how just a little more sleep each night can make a world of difference and how too little sleep is affecting your life in a negative way. https://www.sleep.com/sleep-health/15-minutes-extra-sleep Simple is better than complicated - every time, every place and in everything. Yet, people tend to complicate things. Listen to my guest and you will understand why clear and simple messaging works best and exactly how to do it. Joining me is Ben Guttmann, a marketing entrepreneur and educator who has helped hundreds of clients, ranging from the NFL to Nobel Laureates, and he is the author of the book Simply Put Why Clear Messages Win—and How to Design Them (https://amzn.to/3udtVwz). Chances are the clothes you are wearing have pockets. And you probably have something in those pockets. Hard to imagine life without them. Yet, pockets are only about 500 years old. So where did they come from? How hard are they to add to clothes? Why do they come in different sizes and put in weird places on clothes? Here to discuss the fascinating history of pockets is Hannah Carlson she is an authority on the history of clothing and author of the book POCKETS: An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close (https://amzn.to/3SUzmef). The next time you get angry, you might want to use that anger to accomplish something important and difficult. Listen as I explain the power of anger and how to use it to your advantage. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/feeling-angry-may-help-people-achieve-goals-study-finds-rcna123611 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them! Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Dell's Black Friday event is their biggest sale of the year! Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping! Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Planet Money is an incredible podcast with stories & insights about how money shapes our world. Listen to Planet Money https://npr.org/podcasts/510289/planet-money wherever you get your podcasts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A kiss can be very powerful. It can make you feel wonderful and connect you to a person – or it can really mess things up. This episode begins with some interesting intel about the power of a kiss, both good and bad. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-we-kiss/ Change is sexy and exciting – and it can also be your worst enemy. On the other hand, there are some things that never change. You can count on them. And perhaps paying more attention to things that stay the same can be a huge benefit to your life and well-being. It is likely better than trying to predict what changes are coming since humans are particularly horrible at such predictions. Here to make the case for embracing things that stay the same is Morgan Housel. He is a partner at The Collaborative Fund and author of the book Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes (https://amzn.to/3SwWn6u). This is a conversation that will bring you a new perspective on how the world works and how people live. Complaining about the healthcare system is easy. Many people feel it is really hard to develop much of a relationship with their doctor when visits are so short and it’s often hard to get an appointment. So perhaps it is up to us – the patients - to squeeze out as much as we can from the healthcare system to get better care and a stronger doctor/patient bond. Joining me to explain how to best do that is Ken Redcross, MD. He is author of the book, Bond: The 4 Cornerstones of a Lasting and Caring Relationship with Your Doctor (https://amzn.to/461Zh6l) and founder of Redcross Concierge, a personalized medical practice designed to enhance the patient-doctor relationship. Listen and you will be much better equipped to interact with the healthcare system. Having little kids is actually good for your immune system. In fact, the more kids the better. How can that be? Listen as I explain. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120703142858.htm PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them! Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Dell's Black Friday event is their biggest sale of the year! Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping! Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Planet Money is an incredible podcast with stories & insights about how money shapes our world. Listen to Planet Money https://npr.org/podcasts/510289/planet-money wherever you get your podcasts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you have siblings, they have had an important impact on you, even if you don’t realize it. This episode starts with a discussion about how brothers and sisters affect your personality and character throughout your life. https://www.tlc.com/life---relationships/study-says-having-a-sister-makes-you-more-optimistic-kinder-and-happier You have probably had at least one experience of déjà vu – maybe several. It’s that feeling that what is happening now, you have experienced before. What causes it? Here to discuss this with me is Anne Cleary, a professor at Colorado State University where she studies the phenomenon of déjà vu. She is also author of a book called The Déjà Vu Experience (https://amzn.to/3ErC6Fm) and has a TED Talk on the subject that you can access here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFAvUkjba-Q.  As you know, you should brush and floss your teeth every single day. Do you? It is a worthwhile exercise because it appears to be good for your brain. Listen as I explore the connection between mental health and dental health. https://www.babylondentalcare.com/flossing-your-teeth-may-protect-against-cognitive-decline/ It turns out that almost every action you take is driven by your emotions. Whether it’s what food you eat, what movie you watch or what job you decide to take – these things are largely driven by how you feel. And that has been true for every decision by everyone throughout history. Human history is really a history of emotions. Richard Firth-Godbehere is a leading expert on emotions and he is the author of a book called A Human History of Emotion: How the Way We Feel Built the World We Know (https://amzn.to/3Bqp9K3) . Listen and you will be amazed by how your emotions truly govern your life. PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them! Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Shopify gives you everything you need to take control and take your business to the next level. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at https://shopify.com/sysk today! Dell's Black Friday event is their biggest sale of the year! Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping! Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever notice how restaurant kitchens have huge exhaust fans over the stove? They have to have them. It’s the law. You have an exhaust fan over your stove too. Listen as I begin this episode by explaining why you need to use it more often – a lot more often. https://polk.ces.ncsu.edu/2023/04/how-and-why-to-use-your-kitchen-exhaust-fan/ “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” “Drinking wine is good for your heart.” “you should really cut back on red meat.” These are examples of some popular and sincere beliefs about food - but are they really true? We will examine these and other strongly held beliefs about the foods we eat with cardiologist Dr. Christopher Labos. He is the co-host of a podcast called, The Body of Evidence (https://www.bodyofevidence.ca/) and he’s the author of the book Does Coffee Cause Cancer?: And 8 More Myths about the Food We Eat https://amzn.to/3sjzetM Imagine our world without the common nail or the wheel or springs. These humble human inventions have had profound impacts on the development of the modern world. Joining to explain what those profound changes are and where these inventions originated is Roma Agrawal. Roma is a structural engineer who has designed bridges and skyscrapers and she is the author of a book called Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World in a Big Way (https://amzn.to/3Sr5cyF). If you ever suspect someone is telling you a tall tale or lying about something that happened, there is an interesting clue to look for in the way they tell the story, according to people who spot liars for a living. Listen and I’ll tell you what to look for. Source: https://lifehacker.com/true-or-false-pay-attention-to-a-storys-structure-and-5959543 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them! Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Shopify gives you everything you need to take control and take your business to the next level. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at https://shopify.com/sysk today! Dell's Black Friday event is their biggest sale of the year! Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping! Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why are the numbers 1, 2 and 3 across the top of a telephone keypad but across the bottom of a calculator? That’s one of three interesting questions that get answered as I begin this episode. The other 2 have to do with portholes and time. Source: Ivan Semeniuk, co-author of Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? (https://amzn.to/3sf8muM) There is nothing wrong with achievement. But if you believe that you are only as valuable as your achievements, that can be a problem. If we let our success or lack of success define who we are at any point in time, it can demotivate you and make you feel as if you don’t matter. Joining me to talk about this is Jennifer Wallace. She is an award-winning journalist and social commentator and frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. She is author of a book called Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic—And What We Can Do About It (https://amzn.to/49jkdIQ) What goes on beneath the surface of the ocean is amazing - much of which I bet you never knew. The oceans cover 70% of the planet and yet most of us know little about what goes on down there. Here to give a fun and interesting tour of the workings of our oceans is Helen Czerski is a physicist and oceanographer at University College London’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and author of the book The Blue Machine: How the Ocean Works (https://amzn.to/3scCyXo). Listen as she explains why the ocean is so salty, why there is really only one ocean and so much more. What if there was one simple thing any woman could do to motivate the man in her life? Well there is according to one marriage expert. In fact, he says this one little thing works every single time if women would just try it. Source: David Clarke PhD, author of The Total Marriage Makeover (https://amzn.to/3QoIvZD) PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them! Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Shopify gives you everything you need to take control and take your business to the next level. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at https://shopify.com/sysk today! Dell's Black Friday event is their biggest sale of the year! Shop now at https://Dell.com/deals to take advantage of huge savings and free shipping! Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You often hear the terms antique, collectible and vintage used interchangeably. However, they do have different meanings that have to do with the age and value of an item. I begin this episode with a brief and helpful explanation. https://www.antique-hq.com/the-difference-between-antique-vintage-and-collectible-item-127/ We don’t swear here on Something You Should Know, so we won’t actually say the word that BS stands for. But everyone knows what it means because we hear BS from people all the time. People toss it around in an effort to make themselves look good or maybe try to sell you something. Being able to tell the truth from BS is a helpful skill and one John Petrocelli is going to teach us. He is a professor of psychology at Wake Forest University and author of a book called The Life Saving Science of Detecting BullSh*t (https://amzn.to/3vNOyfl). John is what you would call an expert on BS after you hear what he has to say, you will be much better equipped to detect BS when you hear it. Wouldn’t it be great if people could just get along? Today more than ever, it seems people are less forgiving and easily upset by the actions of others. So how can we fix this – at least in our own lives? A good starting point is to listen to my guest Bill Eddy. He is an attorney and mediator and author of the book Calming Upset People With EAR (https://amzn.to/3Ch58qm.) Bill is the kind of person who doesn’t get upset. People rarely rattle him or make him mad. Instead, he just tries to resolve whatever the problem is. Listen and he will teach you how. And it’s not that hard.  There are friends and then there are friends with “refrigerator rights.” Those are real friends. Given that we live in a time when people have fewer friendships and feel more isolated, friends with refrigerator rights are precious and rare. Listen and discover what it means and why these friends are important. Source: Dr. Will Miller author of Refrigerator Rights (https://amzn.to/3Ch0jxh). PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Indeed is the hiring platform where you can Attract, Interview, and Hire all in one place! Start hiring NOW with a $75 SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to upgrade your job post at https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING Offer good for a limited time. U.S. Cellular knows how important your kid’s relationship with technology is. That’s why they’ve partnered with Screen Sanity, a non-profit dedicated to helping kids navigate the digital landscape. For a smarter start to the school year, U.S. Cellular is offering a free basic phone on new eligible lines, providing an alternative to a smartphone for children. Visit https://USCellular.com/BuiltForUS ! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are men more rational shoppers than women? Most definitely not. This episode begins by revealing how men are easily duped into thinking something is a bargain when it isn’t. https://www.businessinsider.com/consumers-link-color-with-savings-2013-7 The invention of the electric light has made life easier. But there is a real downside to artificial light. It is messing up your body clock and it can have a serious negative impact on your health. Diabetes, cancer and heart disease have been linked to light exposure. The evidence is compelling and one of the leading experts in this field joins me to explain the seriousness of this problem. He is Dr. Martin Moore-Ede who is s a medical doctor, former professor at Harvard Medical School and he is one of the leading experts on circadian rhythms, biological clocks and light exposure. Dr. Moore-Ede holds multiple patents related to light and circadian rhythms and he is author of a bestselling book on this subject called The Light Doctor The Light Doctor: Using Light to Boost Health, Improve Sleep, and Live Longer (https://amzn.to/3WnqzBo) I bet you have seen people working in other professions and wondered what it must be like to perform that job. Some jobs seem glamorous, others look boring while others appear to be extremely difficult – but are they? Dan Heath, who is the author of several bestselling books and a previous guest here, has a new podcast called What It's Like to Be (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-its-like-to-be/id1707204412) where he explores what it is like to work in other professions. Listen as he reveals what it is like to be a Secret Service agent, a high school principal, a marriage counselor, a comedian and more.  You probably don’t wash your credit cards, but you should. They are one of several rather germy surfaces you touch all the time but never think about. Listen and I will reveal what these nasty surfaces are and why touching them is a bad thing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It might sound odd but the weather can have a significant impact on your purchase decisions. Some things you are likely to buy on a warm sunny day you wouldn't even think of buying on a cloudy and dreary day. This episode begins with an explanation of how this works. https://lifehacker.com/how-the-weather-can-influence-our-car-and-house-buying-5933701 Have you ever felt like an imposter? It’s that feeling of self-doubt that you are in over your head and that other people overestimate your competence and ability. It doesn’t feel very good but it could just be an indication that you are on the right track, according to my guest Dr. Jill Stoddard. She is a mental health care provider and author of the book, Imposter No More : Overcome Self-Doubt and Imposterism to Cultivate a Successful Career (https://amzn.to/3QeIRSj). Listen and discover why feeling like an imposter may just mean you are exactly where you should be No one ever said love was easy. Or maybe they did – but they were wrong. Successful relationships take work. But the work doesn’t have to be all that difficult according to Alexandra Solomon. She is a licensed clinical psychologist at The Family Institute and a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Northwestern University. She is also author of a book called Love Every Day  (https://amzn.to/3FxMX30)  Can someone actually die from being frightened? People often use the phrase, “Scared to death” but is it really possible? Listen and find out. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/its-true-we-can-be-scared-to-death/ PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Indeed is the hiring platform where you can Attract, Interview, and Hire all in one place! Start hiring NOW with a $75 SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to upgrade your job post at https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING Offer good for a limited time. U.S. Cellular knows how important your kid’s relationship with technology is. That’s why they’ve partnered with Screen Sanity, a non-profit dedicated to helping kids navigate the digital landscape. For a smarter start to the school year, U.S. Cellular is offering a free basic phone on new eligible lines, providing an alternative to a smartphone for children. Visit https://USCellular.com/BuiltForUS ! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Your grandmother probably told you to sit up straight – and boy was she right! Good posture can do wonders for all kinds of things from your self-esteem to your math skills. I begin this episode with an explanation. https://www.deseret.com/2023/10/24/23930242/dont-slouch-minding-your-posture-good-mental-health-productivity What could be wrong with creativity? Nothing actually, but creativity may not be all it has been cracked up to be. That’s according to Samuel Franklin. He is a cultural historian who has earned awards and fellowships from the Smithsonian Institution’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation and is author of the book The Cult of Creativity: A Surprisingly Recent History (https://amzn.to/3MiaJUC). Samuel explains how this idea that we all need to be more creative in our work and in everyday life is a fairly recent phenomenon that often makes no sense in a world where so much of what we do does not require creativity – it just requires getting something done. What is it about horror films at Halloween? It is weird to think that we spend time and money to sit and watch a movie that makes us feel uncomfortable and scares the bejesus out of us. Still, many people love it. When you dissect them, horror films are fascinating, yet there is a snobbery about them that says they aren’t as good or as important as “real” movies. Here to discuss all this is science writer Nina Nesseth author of the book Nightmare Fuel: The Science of Horror Films (https://amzn.to/46Let9l). How often do you take a shower? A lot of us can’t imagine starting the day without one. But are daily showers really healthy? Is there a downside to being so clean? Listen as I explain the science of showers. Source: http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/daily/tips/daily-shower-skin1.htm PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Indeed is the hiring platform where you can Attract, Interview, and Hire all in one place! Start hiring NOW with a $75 SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to upgrade your job post at https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING Offer good for a limited time. U.S. Cellular knows how important your kid’s relationship with technology is. That’s why they’ve partnered with Screen Sanity, a non-profit dedicated to helping kids navigate the digital landscape. For a smarter start to the school year, U.S. Cellular is offering a free basic phone on new eligible lines, providing an alternative to a smartphone for children. Visit https://USCellular.com/BuiltForUS ! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Becoming a homeowner is an important goal for a lot of people. After all, home ownership is part of the American dream. However, owning isn’t always better than renting in all situations. Listen as I explain why renting may be the way to go. https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/so-you-think-owning-a-home-will-make-you-happy-dont-be-too-sure/. Also, here is the link to the home ownership/rental calculator: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html What does it mean to be you? What makes you different than everyone else? Is it your consciousness? Listen to my guest Anil Seth. He is a professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience at the University of Sussex and author of the book, Being You: A New Science of Consciousness (https://amzn.to/3DvkibU). What he has to say will make you pause and think about how you experience life in your day-to-day world and why your experience is so different than everyone else’s. Human lifespan continues to increase but some breeds of dogs are actually living shorter lives than they used to. If that surprises you, listen to my guest, veterinarian Dr. Karen Becker author of The Forever Dog: Surprising New Science to Help Your Canine Companion Live Younger, Healthier, and Longer (https://amzn.to/3aBK0yQ). It turns out the way we treat our dogs can really impact their longevity for better or worse. You will also enjoy her story of how she found a dog that lived to be 30 years old.  What do air fresheners do exactly? Do they clean the air and actually eliminate odors or is there something else going on. And have you wondered if they are really safe? Listen as I reveal what the EPA says about commercial air fresheners and what you need to know to keep your family safe. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360132316304334 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Go to https://HelloFresh.com/50something and use code 50something for 50% off plus free shipping! BetterHelp is truly the best way to make your brain your friend. Give it a try. Visit https://BetterHelp.com/Something today to get 10% off your first month! Dell Technologies and Intel are pushing what technology can do, so great ideas can happen! Find out how to bring your ideas to life at https://Dell.com/WelcomeToNow Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While some people take pride in being a perfectionist, the fact is no one is perfect, so it is a somewhat pointless quest to try. Being a perfectionist can also be bad for your health and longevity in a big way. Listen as I begin this episode explaining the dangers of perfectionism. http://www.livescience.com/6724-dark-side-perfectionism-revealed.html In school, we are taught to write well. However, when we communicate in the real world today, effective writing – the kind that people will actually read and respond to - is often not the writing you learned in English class. Research has proven that if you want people to read what you write you need to write using certain principles and discard some of the rules you learned in school. Here to help you understand the science of writing, so people will read it is Todd Rogers. Todd is a behavioral scientist, a professor at Harvard and author of the book Writing for Busy Readers: Communicate More Effectively in the Real World (https://amzn.to/48VFmsF). Have you ever wished you were a better person? Well, if so, here is some good news - it doesn't take much to be better and make a difference. That is the contention of my guest Kate Hanley. Kate is the host of the How to Be a Better Person podcast (https://katehanley.com/podcast/). And author of the book How to Be a Better Person (https://amzn.to/46BGyzD). She is here to explain how just a few little actions could make you feel better about yourself while actually making a difference in the world. And what could be wrong with that.  Trick or treating can be serious business for some people. It’s all about getting the most candy in the least amount of time. If you or your kids subscribe to the “more candy the better” school of trick or treating, listen as I offer some proven strategies that can help you fill that bag up fast! https://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/holiday/best-trick-treat-times/mKtXzk7AlhBtG9vh8IXDyK/ PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Go to https://HelloFresh.com/50something and use code 50something for 50% off plus free shipping! BetterHelp is truly the best way to make your brain your friend. Give it a try. Visit https://BetterHelp.com/Something today to get 10% off your first month! Dell Technologies and Intel are pushing what technology can do, so great ideas can happen! Find out how to bring your ideas to life at https://Dell.com/WelcomeToNow Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can search online for information on just about any topic. Recently there was an interesting article posted on the Reader’s Digest website regarding some topics you probably shouldn’t search. This episode begins with a fun look at some of those topics that might be better the less you know. https://www.rd.com/list/things-never-google-search/ You likely have a sense that when you watch TV or a movie, it has an impact on you. What you probably didn’t realize is how big a deal those influences are. They not only affect you mentally and emotionally, they can cause physical changes in your body. TV and movies also influence the culture at large as well as the economy, science and even the future. To discover how, listen to my guest Walt Hickey. Walt is a Pulitzer prize winning writer and author of a fascinating book called, You Are What You Watch: How Movies and TV Affect Everything https://amzn.to/3Qpymgs) What goes on in your mouth can make a big difference in your overall health and happiness. How you brush, the way your tongue sits in your mouth, if you have your wisdom teeth removed – all these things matter more than you might realize. Here to explain how is Tersa Yang, DDS. She is an award winning dentist and educator who has taught clinical dentistry at the UCLA School of Dentistry, and she is author of the book Nothing But the Tooth (https://amzn.to/490LQGq) Listen and you will discover new things that are going on in your mouth you never knew. It may just be a good idea to set an alarm to go off every work day at 2pm. Why? Well according to one time management expert, there is something you can do then that can make your whole day more rewarding. Listen and I’ll explain what that is. https://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/time-management/how-to-stop-procrastinating-00000000055280 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Go to https://HelloFresh.com/50something and use code 50something for 50% off plus free shipping! BetterHelp is truly the best way to make your brain your friend. Give it a try. Visit https://BetterHelp.com/Something today to get 10% off your first month! Dell Technologies and Intel are pushing what technology can do, so great ideas can happen! Find out how to bring your ideas to life at https://Dell.com/WelcomeToNow Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seems like everyone hates passwords. If they are too random, you forget them. If they are too obvious, you could be hacked. This episode begins with a quick and easy formula to create passwords that are easy to remember and no one else will ever guess. Source: Eran Katz author of Where Did Noah Park The Ark (https://amzn.to/3at5fmx). When you make a choice – any choice, your decision is influenced by so many factors. For example, the order the options were presented to you and who presented them has an influence on your choice. There is a name for this. It is “choice architecture” and it is fascinating and important to understand. One of the leading experts on choice architecture is Eric Johnson, Director of the Center for Decision Sciences at The Columbia Business School and author of the book The Elements of Choice: Why the Way We Decide Matters (https://amzn.to/3mK49bN). Listen as Eric reveals how other people and situations influence what you choose and how you influence the choices other people make – even if you don’t realize it. Most of us probably think that being selfish is wrong. However, that may be a false belief. In fact, maybe we should all be a little more selfish a little more often. That’s according to Michelle Elman. Michelle is a coach and speaker who has been named 1 of the 50 most inspirational women in the UK. Her book is called The Joy of Being Selfish (https://amzn.to/3AvyQq8) and she joins me to discuss the benefits of taking better care of your needs and desires and setting up boundaries for others. We all know everyone lies sometimes. And we all do it for the same reasons. Listen as I explain why we lie, how lying works and how it starts very early in life. https://www.ted.com/speakers/kang_lee PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Go to https://HelloFresh.com/50something and use code 50something for 50% off plus free shipping! BetterHelp is truly the best way to make your brain your friend. Give it a try. Visit https://BetterHelp.com/Something today to get 10% off your first month! Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them! Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Planet Money is an incredible podcast with stories & insights about how money shapes our world. Listen to Planet Money https://npr.org/podcasts/510289/planet-money wherever you get your podcasts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wi-Fi being what it is, sometimes it slows down and things get glitchy – shows stop streaming, games glitch out and other weird things seem to happen. Wouldn’t it be great if you could prioritize which devices in your house get first dibs on the bandwidth? Well actually there is a way. This episode begins with an explanation of how to do it. https://www.popsci.com/diy/prioritize-devices-on-your-wifi-network/ What is the difference between joy and happiness? They are definitely not the same thing. You can make the case that joy is what creates happiness. There is so much to joy and those special moments in life that create it, that it is worth understanding how joy works. For instance, there are things that are universally joyful around the world. Things like balloons and bright colors bring joy to virtually everyone. Ingrid Fetell Lee is an expert on joy and has a blog called The Aesthetics of Joy (https://aestheticsofjoy.com) . She is also author of the book Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness (https://amzn.to/3a4f8GM). She joins me to discuss how we can all bring more joy into our lives and why it is so important to understand the science of joy. Most of us spend more time on our electronic devices than we realize – way more time. The statistics are staggering. What’s worse is that all the time you spend on your phone or other devices is time you are NOT spending doing something else and not spending time with other people. Joseph McCormack has studied this, and he is author of a book called Noise: Living and Leading When Nobody Can Focus (https://amzn.to/3cbgeTS). Listen as he explains the ways technology has become a “weapon of mass distraction” that negatively impacts our lives. He also then offers some simple strategies to help combat the problem. Do you rinse off all the food from the peanut butter jar and other recyclables before you put them out for collection? Should you? Do you have to? Listen as I explain just how clean it has to be and how some recyclables (like pizza boxes) actually can’t be recycled. https://residentialwastesystems.com/blog/do-i-have-to-rinse-my-recyclables/ PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Go to https://HelloFresh.com/50something and use code 50something for 50% off plus free shipping! BetterHelp is truly the best way to make your brain your friend. Give it a try. Visit https://BetterHelp.com/Something today to get 10% off your first month! Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them! Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Planet Money is an incredible podcast with stories & insights about how money shapes our world. Listen to Planet Money https://npr.org/podcasts/510289/planet-money wherever you get your podcasts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every PC owner has probably wondered what the difference is between RESTART and SHUTDOWN – or if there really is a difference. Actually, there is. And if you are having trouble and need to reboot your PC, one is a much better option than the other. Listen as I explain. https://computer.howstuffworks.com/restarting-shutting-down-computer.htm What stops you from doing the important things you say you want to do? If they are so important, why do they remain undone? And how does that impact the rest of your life? To help you understand this and to give you some great motivation to get things done and live the way you want to live is Rob Dial. Rob is host of The Mindset Mentor podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mindset-mentor/id1033048640 and author of the bestselling book Level Up: How to Get Focused, Stop Procrastinating, and Upgrade Your Life (https://amzn.to/48QRV8j). Listening to Rob will get you motivated! What does it mean to be in denial? Basically, it means you refuse to see the truth about people and instead believe what you want to be true. And man does that cause problems. Interestingly, it is easier to spot when others are in denial, a bit harder to see it in ourselves. Joining me to bring some really valuable insight into the whole issue of denial is Jane Greer, a nationally known marriage and family therapist, who has appeared on The Today Show, Oprah, , CBS News, , Dateline NBC, 20/20, and others… She is the author of six books about relationships. Her latest is Am I Lying to Myself?: How To Overcome Denial and See the Truth (https://amzn.to/48QvCzV). Negotiating intimidates a lot of people. Still, you can use some very simple tactics that are easy to do yet extraordinarily powerful. And they come from one of the great negotiators of our time. Listen, I will tell you what these tactics are and how to use them. Source: Herb Cohen author of Negotiate This! By Caring, But Not That Much (https://amzn.to/3rXYnK6). PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game that's super easy to play. Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Go to https://HelloFresh.com/50something and use code 50something for 50% off plus free shipping! BetterHelp is truly the best way to make your brain your friend. Give it a try. Visit https://BetterHelp.com/Something today to get 10% off your first month! Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them! Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Planet Money is an incredible podcast with stories & insights about how money shapes our world. Listen to Planet Money https://npr.org/podcasts/510289/planet-money wherever you get your podcasts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is taking a daily multivitamin a good idea? It seems to make a lot of sense – like an insurance policy. This episode begins with a discussion about what the science says about taking a multivitamin and what it does or doesn’t do for you. https://www.fredhutch.org/en/news/releases/2009/02/multivitamins.html Dating is hard. So you might think dating apps would make it easier. After all, you can meet an endless number of people you would likely never meet otherwise. And therein lies the problem. Maybe the old fashioned way of dating is better. Or perhaps there is an even better way. Listen to my discussion with Jon Birger, an award-winning magazine writer and author of the book Make Your Move: The New Science of Dating and Why Women Are in Charge (https://amzn.to/3ApiNKe).  Seems like people have been talking about and proposing a 4-day work week for a long time. Still, it is not the norm in most places. That may change soon, according to Joe Sanok. Joe has researched the origins of the 5-day work week and explains why a shorter week can actually be good for business and employees. Joe joins me to explain why circumstances today might be perfect to usher in the 4-day work week. Joe Sanok is author of the book Thursday Is The New Friday (https://amzn.to/3oGQBjL). Flipping a coin may seem like a rather ridiculous way to make a decision. But maybe not. Listen as I explain why flipping a coin can actually be a very good way to choose what to do when you can’t decide and the stakes aren’t too high https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703694204575518200704692936 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Go to https://HelloFresh.com/50something and use code 50something for 50% off plus free shipping! Shopify gives you everything you need to take control and take your business to the next level. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at https://shopify.com/sysk today! BetterHelp is truly the best way to make your brain your friend. Give it a try. Visit https://BetterHelp.com/Something today to get 10% off your first month! Bring smiles to all when shopping online with Dell Technologies’ Gift Guide. Whether it’s for the artist, entrepreneur, student, streamer or gamer, you will find the perfect gift for everyone on your list! https://Dell.com/GiftGuide Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you went to your backyard and took a pinch of dirt in your fingers, you would be holding a piece of a shocking underground world you never knew about. Listen as I explain what lives in that world. Source: David W. Wolfe author of Tales From The Underground” (https://amzn.to/3tvUBIk) Whether you are talking to people in a small group or at a large formal event, it can be intimidating and sometimes scary. However, with some simple techniques, you can make speaking less stressful and make your message more impactful, according to Matt Abrahams. Matt is a leading expert in communication and is a lecturer in Organizational Behavior at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He is author of the book Think Faster: Talk Smarter (https://amzn.to/3Q6zMev). Listen to his simple advice and you will instantly improve your speaking ability and your confidence.  When you think of breakfast cereal you probably think of the stuff that comes in a box in the supermarket. Actually breakfast cereal has been eaten for centuries. But boxed breakfast cereal from Kellogg’s and Post and General Mills, that started in the late 1800s with corn flakes being the first cold, boxed cereal. The story of cereal is fascinating and filled with interesting events and quirky characters. Here to tell that story is Kathryn Cornell Dolan. She is an associate professor of English at the Missouri University of Science and Technology and author of the book, Breakfast Cereal: A Global History (https://amzn.to/3ZKV0Tz). It's weird to think, but just in the last few decades human feet have been getting bigger – both men and women’s feet. Why? Listen as I explain the prevailing theory of bigger feet. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1239975/Female-feet-getting-larger-size-10s-demand.html PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Go to https://HelloFresh.com/50something and use code 50something for 50% off plus free shipping! Shopify gives you everything you need to take control and take your business to the next level. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at https://shopify.com/sysk today! BetterHelp is truly the best way to make your brain your friend. Give it a try. Visit https://BetterHelp.com/Something today to get 10% off your first month! Bring smiles to all when shopping online with Dell Technologies’ Gift Guide. Whether it’s for the artist, entrepreneur, student, streamer or gamer, you will find the perfect gift for everyone on your list! https://Dell.com/GiftGuide Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why is it that mosquitoes seem to go after and bite some people more than others? This episode begins with an explanation of what does and doesn’t make you attractive to this summertime pest. https://hartfordhealthcare.org/about-us/news-press/news-detail?articleId=42234&publicid=395# When it comes to health and managing your weight, "going on a diet” is one of the worst things you can do. That’s because most diets are all about what you CANNOT eat rather than what you should eat. And it turns out you can eat just about anything if you understand a few important things about nutrition. That’s what Dr. Sarah Ballantyne is here to reveal. She is author of the book, Nutrivore: The Radical New Science for Getting the Nutrients You Need from the Food You Eat (https://amzn.to/4cREoPN). You may hate rats but they happen to be very interesting, adaptable and crafty creatures. They basically go wherever humans go (with one interesting exception). Rats are vilified all over the world, but is it all warranted? Are they as horrible as people think? Listen to my guest Joe Shute. He is author of a book called Stowaway: The Disreputable Exploits of the Rat (https://amzn.to/3WiYzPl). He explains rats like nobody else. Listen and you may have some new respect for these rodents even if they totally creep you out.  In kindergarten, you probably sat in a circle much of the time. There is good reason to believe that would be the best way to conduct most meetings – in a circle. Listen and I’ll explain why. https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/how-to-make-your-team-more-collaborative.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you are buying candy for Trick or Treaters this year, what kind will it be? Well, if you want to hand out the candy that kids really want, listen as I start this episode with the Top 10 list of the most popular Halloween candies. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/2023/10/03/blow-pops-win-title-ohio-favorite-halloween-candy/71041875007/ Believe it or not, there is an oyster that has lived over 500 years. There is another creature that doesn’t seem to age at all – ever! What if we could somehow isolate whatever that is to lengthen human longevity? There is research looking into that right now. And Steven Austad is one of the leading researchers. Steven is a Distinguished Professor of Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and author of the book Methuselah's Zoo: What Nature Can Teach Us about Living Longer, Healthier Lives (https://amzn.to/3Q5Zj8L). Misbelief is when someone believes something that is just not so – or something for which there is no reason to believe. Some people believe the earth is flat. That is an example of misbelief. While that is a fairly benign example, other kinds of misbelief can have serious consequences as you are about to hear from Dan Ariely.  Dan is a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University and author of several bestselling books. His latest is Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things (https://amzn.to/3ZNNOpB). Dan himself was and is the subject of misbelief. The story will fascinate you. When a prescription runs out, you probably just toss the bottle in the trash. That could be a problem which could come back to bite you. Listen as I explain how and what you should do with those bottles instead. https://www.securshred.com/securshred-news/is-your-prescription-bottle-a-security-risk/ PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Go to https://HelloFresh.com/50something and use code 50something for 50% off plus free shipping! Shopify gives you everything you need to take control and take your business to the next level. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at https://shopify.com/sysk today! BetterHelp is truly the best way to make your brain your friend. Give it a try. Visit https://BetterHelp.com/Something today to get 10% off your first month! Bring smiles to all when shopping online with Dell Technologies’ Gift Guide. Whether it’s for the artist, entrepreneur, student, streamer or gamer, you will find the perfect gift for everyone on your list! https://Dell.com/GiftGuide Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you heard of the Pink Tax? It’s when the women’s version of a product (like razors) costs more than men’s even though they are the same – except maybe the packaging and the color. It happens with a whole host of products from children’s toys to clothes to deodorant and yes, razors. Listen to hear why this “tax” exists and why women might be smart to pick the men’s version of the same thing instead. https://www.voanews.com/a/usa_all-about-america_does-pink-tax-force-women-pay-more-men/6177789.html We like to get around. People like to go places . Whether it’s to go to the store or on vacation or to work or to grandma’s house, we like to be mobile. For thousands of years, humans have tried to find faster and more efficient ways to get from Point A to Point B. Listen to my guest, Tom Standage as he explains the fascinating history of human transportation and how it is changing in a major way right now . In fact, he reveals why one of the latest and most significant innovations in transportation today is the smartphone! Tom is deputy editor of The Ecomomist – and author of A Brief History of Motion: From the Wheel to the Car, to What Comes Next (https://amzn.to/3A8G2s9). You have probably been in a situation where you thought about speaking up and saying something, but you held back, even though you knew you had something important to contribute. If that has happened to you, I want you to listen to my guest, Mary Nestor. Mary is a communications expert, award-winning speaker, business consultant, and author of the book Say It Now! Say It Right (https://amzn.to/39Mybpe) She joins me to explain how to muster up the courage and the words to speak up when you have something important to say. Do you know what a burglar looks like? Would you know one if you saw one? Most of them don’t look like the ones in the movies. Listen as I explain what burglars really look like, how they operate, what they are looking for and how you should protect yourself. Source: Richard T. Wright, author of Burglars on the Job (https://amzn.to/3utSXmU) PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game. You pick 2-6 players and if they will go more or less than their PrizePicks projection. It's that simple! Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Go to https://HelloFresh.com/50something and use code 50something for 50% off plus free shipping! BetterHelp is truly the best way to make your brain your friend. Give it a try. Visit https://BetterHelp.com/Something today to get 10% off your first month! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you are faced with a tough decision, some common advice is to “sleep on it." By sleeping and waking up you may have a new and different perspective that will make your decision easier. Is that true? Is it good advice to sleep on it? This episode begins with a brief discussion. https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/does-sleeping-on-it-really-work Are you a victim of your circumstances or can you build the life you want? According to Arthur Brooks and Oprah Winfrey, your life is yours to create! Arthur is a social scientist, a professor of Management Practice at the Harvard Business School. He has authored several books and his latest he wrote with Oprah titled Build the Life You Want (https://amzn.to/45eihhQ). Listen as he explains how to cultivate happiness, contentment, and fulfillment in your life no matter where you are right now.  Eggs are amazing. For many species, they are the beginning of life. They also make modern cooking possible. They are even essential in making our flu vaccine supply. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! Listen to my guest Lizzie Stark who knows more about eggs than anyone and you will have a better appreciation for the incredible, edible egg. Lizzie is author of the book Egg: A Dozen Ovatures (https://amzn.to/46dU7VW). If you have ever been tempted to buy a trampoline, be aware there is more to that decision than you may realize. Listen as I explain some important considerations and why many people believe it is a bad idea. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-insurance-homeowners-trampoline/trampoline-for-the-kids-check-your-insurance-first-idUSBRE8BJ0ZE20121220 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! PrizePicks is a skill-based, real-money Daily Fantasy Sports game. You pick 2-6 players and if they will go more or less than their PrizePicks projection. It's that simple! Go to https://prizepicks.com/sysk and use code sysk for a first deposit match up to $100 With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Go to https://HelloFresh.com/50something and use code 50something for 50% off plus free shipping! BetterHelp is truly the best way to make your brain your friend. Give it a try. Visit https://BetterHelp.com/Something today to get 10% off your first month! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices