Civil rights leader Valarie Kaur is building a movement to reclaim love as a force for justice, healing, and transformation in America. In this episode, we talk about what led Valarie to courageously explore Sikh ancestral wisdom, how her ancestors’ truths parallel what I’ve learned from the research, and how we need both the eyes of a sage and the heart of a warrior to live a fully meaningful life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode Brené and Barrett discuss their learnings on AI and social media and some of their favorite nuggets from each of the guests in the series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're coming back with new episodes starting February 28th. Get episodes as soon as they're published by following Unlocking Us on your favorite podcast app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sonya Renee Taylor and I talk about body shame, radical self-love, and social justice. This conversation was a big unlocking for me — especially when it comes to understanding the connection between how we think about our bodies and oppression. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Scott Sonenshein — a researcher and professor — and I talk about the art and science of being scrappy, why outsiders are sometimes better than experts, and why comparison is truly the thief of joy. This book turned things upside down for me — in the best way. I hope the conversation does the same for you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So glad to be back! Launching our second season with a conversation on one of my favorite subjects (and least favorite experiences): Day 2! It sounds easy enough, but Day 2 is no joke. It’s the messy middle — the point of no return. Join us as we talk about navigating what’s next and why it’s always best to stumble through the darkness together. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We received so many thoughtful and tough AMA questions from listeners that it took us two episodes to cover the most popular topics. In Part 2, I unpack one of the most-asked questions: How do parents build shame resilience in our children? I’m also answering another popular question: Are there TV series and/or films that I think do a great job of accurately capturing emotions and the human experience? While there are SO many that do that well, I share a few of my current favorites. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I said, “Ask Me Anything,” and the Unlocking Us community came through with the tough questions. To be honest, I thought I’d get some easy, fun ones — but no, all deep-end questions. In fact, we received so many thoughtful and tough AMA questions from listeners that it took us two episodes to cover the most popular topics, including “fake news,” disappointment versus self-pity, religion and shame, when something is shame-worthy, and how parents can build shame resilience in children. I also discuss what TV series and films I think do a great job of accurately capturing emotions and the human experience, and I answer my own 10 rapid-fire questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In today’s solo episode, I share my thoughts about why accountability is a prerequisite for change and why we need to get our heads and hearts around the difference between being held accountable for racism and feeling shame and being shamed. I share my personal stories of being held accountable and holding myself accountable, as well as my strategies for pulling my “thinking brain” back online when I’m experiencing the flight and fight energy fueled by shame. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I’m talking with Judd Apatow, who has directed, produced, and written many of the biggest comedy films and hit TV shows of the past two decades. We look at what’s funny, why it’s funny, and why laughter creates connection. We also uncover that thin line between humor and grief and what it means to tell the stories of our lives in a way that we recognize ourselves and our shared humanity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meet Carrie Rodriguez and Gina Chavez, the musicians who created and perform the music you hear every week on Unlocking Us. Artists and activists, Gina and Carrie integrate stories, culture, and the heart of past generations into their music to create artful and hopeful futures. You can hear it in their music, and you can see it in their lives. I’m so grateful that our weekly Unlocking Us conversations begin and end with their soulful sounds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I talk to artist, advocate, executive producer, and all-around amazing woman and friend Laverne Cox about her new, groundbreaking documentary, Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen; the importance of policy protection for the trans community; and the seismic shifts in the world today. We also discuss the complexities of intersectionality and accountability, the difference between discomfort and safety, and the ultimate power of seeking love and living in the light. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Austin Channing Brown’s anti-racism work is critical to changing our world, and her ability to talk about what is good and true about love, about our faith, and about loving each other is transformative. She is a writer, a speaker, and a media producer providing inspired leadership on racial justice in America. In this episode, we connect on her book, I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, and talk about her online television show, The Next Question. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this second of a two-parter on Living BIG, Ashley and I take on the topics of generosity, resentment, boundaries and grief. And we explore this critical question: What boundaries need to be in place for me to be in my integrity and to be generous in my assumptions about others? I’m grateful to rumble on this — and so many other questions — with this awkward, brave, and kind community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I’m talking with professor Ibram X. Kendi, New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist and the director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University. We talk about racial disparities, policy, and equality, but we really focus on How to Be an Antiracist, which is a groundbreaking approach to understanding uprooting racism and inequality in our society and in ourselves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington are true creatives and storytellers, working to make timely art that is honest and vulnerable and truth-telling. Here’s Part 2 of my conversation on Little Fires Everywhere. This episode covers how Reese and Kerry worked with a team of other creatives to bring Celeste’s words to life. We talk about the challenges and responsibilities of creating authentic, living, breathing characters with complex internal thoughts. We talk about motherhood and how it connects us, changes us, and changes as it goes. And we talk about creating art that honors ordinary, complicated people from completely different backgrounds, while connecting us all together. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My conversation with Celeste Ng is the first of two episodes on Little Fires Everywhere, where I’ll cover the book and the series. We talk about the writing process, the stories that we tell, and the stories that define us. We also cover how our hometowns shape us, how parenting is a shame minefield, and how we all have the power to mourn moments even while we’re in them. Celeste also fills us in on what she thinks about the series and what it felt like watching Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington create a show from her novel. I love this episode as a reader, as a writer, and as an observer of what it means to be human. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jay and Mark Duplass are two of my favorite humans. They are filmmakers, writers, directors, producers, actors, and activists. They’re also partners, fathers, and brothers who believe in connection, love, and the importance of small moments. In this episode, we talk about their memoir, Like Brothers, and how so much of what we crave in life comes from straddling the paradoxes inherent in love, creativity, and relationships. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Harriet Lerner’s work has transformed my work and my life. She’s a renowned psychologist and bestselling author who has been studying apologies — and why some people won’t give them — for more than two decades. In Part 2 of our two-part series, we share from a course together on her groundbreaking book Why Won’t You Apologize?: Healing Big Betrayals and Everyday Hurts. We dig into the “mischief of defensiveness,” the power of listening, and the secret life of the non-apologizer. We also take on one helluva role play where you get to hear me get schooled and learn a lot and get schooled again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the first episode of two-part special based on a course that Dr. Harriet Lerner and I did together on her groundbreaking book Why Won’t You Apologize?: Healing Big Betrayals and Everyday Hurts. It’s an authentic, hard conversation about making mistakes, healing hurts, and being brave. Harriet is a friend, mentor, and teacher. Her work has shaped my career and made my life better. During a time of deep uncertainty and anxiety — when many of us have struggled to be our best selves all of the time — apologizing has never been more important. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, I talk to two women who provide wise counsel for those of us who have struggled with belonging and faith (and still do on occasion). Sue Monk Kidd and Jen Hatmaker are dissident daughters, brave leaders, and the very best companions for a contemplative journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you ever struggled with feeling lonely — even when you’re surrounded by people you love? I have. It’s painful and confusing. In this episode, I talk to Dr. Vivek Murthy, a physician and the 19th surgeon general of the United States, about loneliness and the physical and emotional toll that social disconnection takes on us. We talk about his new book, Together, and what it takes for each of us to tilt the world toward love and connection. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Marc Brackett has dedicated his life to studying emotions and to teaching us what he’s learning. In this episode, we talk about how emotional literacy — being able to recognize, name, and understand our feelings — affects everything from learning, decision-making, and creativity to relationships, health, and performance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alicia’s book, More Myself: A Journey, is a master class in authenticity and vulnerability. In this episode, Alicia and I talk about the quiet, subtle experiences that fuel our need to armor up and self-protect and the courage behind owning our worth, listening to our own voice, and living with our own “girl on fire” energy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this first of a two-parter with Ashley, I tell a story from Rising Strong that kicked off our Living BIG strategy. Spoiler alert: I am very, very, very pissed-off in this story. But I eventually come around to finding and seeing the connection between boundaries, integrity, and generosity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We all have patterned ways of managing our day-to-day anxiety, and these patterns often reflect the roles and expectations of our first families. In this episode, we’ll talk about over- and under-functioning in anxious times, why anxiety is contagious, and how we can cultivate a calm practice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grief expert David Kessler takes us by the hand and walks us into what he’s learned about love, loss, and finding meaning. As someone who has a lot of fear about grief and grieving, this conversation is not what I expected. The only word I can use to describe what I learned from David is beautiful. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We have collectively hit weary. This is especially true for the brave folks on the front lines of this pandemic and for the people who love and support them. And it’s also true for all of us. In this episode, I talk about strategies for falling apart, staying connected and kind, and giving ourselves permission to feel hard things. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Strap yourselves in! In this episode, I talk to my dear friend and sister Cheetah, Glennon Doyle — author of the New York Times #1 bestseller Untamed and the founder of Together Rising, an all-women-led nonprofit organization that has revolutionized grassroots philanthropy, raising over $25 million for women, families, and children in crisis. This is an honest conversation about walking away from the lifelong training that keeps us small, quiet, and afraid and embracing our wild, brave hearts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tarana is a good friend and one of my favorite people on earth. She has been working at the intersection of racial justice and gender equity for nearly three decades, and she started the ‘me too.’ Movement in 2006. In 2017, when the #metoo hashtag went viral, Tarana emerged as a global leader in the evolving conversation around sexual violence. In this episode, we talk about how her theory of “empowerment through empathy” is changing the way the world thinks and talks about sexual violence, consent, and social justice. AND we also talk/cry/laugh about falling in love, running as fast as we can from love, and the perils of sharing a bathroom with the guys we love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The first Unlocking Us podcast is here! Along with the excitement of sending this into the world, I’m feeling equal doses of fear, awkwardness, and vulnerability. In this episode, I talk about my strategy for staying in tough first times versus tapping out and shutting down. When we get to the point that we only do things that we’re already good at doing, we stop growing. And truly living. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join researcher and #1 New York Times best-selling author Brené Brown as she unpacks and explores the ideas, stories, experiences, books, films, and music that reflect the universal experiences of being human, from the bravest moments to the most brokenhearted.  Subscribe now for updates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Part 2 of my conversation with Father Richard Rohr, we talk about facing our shadows and living and loving through the second half of life, and we laugh. A lot. What a gift to be with him at the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque. A deep and true blessing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I flew to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to spend the day with Father Richard Rohr. We laughed, I cried a little, we laughed some more, and I told him why his work pisses me off sometimes. He thoroughly delighted in that last part. In Part 1 of this special two-part series recorded at the Center for Action and Contemplation, we focus on his writing in Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps and just a few of the quotes — on spirituality, suffering, gratitude, and grace — that have changed and rearranged me over the years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re back with Part 2 of my conversation with Chris Germer, a clinical psychologist and lecturer on psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and we’re talking about fierce compassion, which is something so many of us are trying to figure out right now. When there’s so much pain and hurt in the world, we want to be a voice. We want to speak up and speak out. We want to take action, and we want to do so from a place where we are healing pain. In this episode, Chris and I talk about what’s actually possible for us as humans and how we can respond to pain and hurt without causing more of it and without self-protecting and distancing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I’ve been waiting my whole life to talk to Chris Germer. He is a clinical psychologist and lecturer on psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and he co-developed the Mindful Self-Compassion program with Kristin Neff, which has been taught to 200,000 people worldwide. I recently read an article written by Chris called “The Near and Far Enemies of Fierce Compassion,” and as soon as I read it, I said, “Put him on the podcast list. I’ve gotta talk to him.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re back with Part 2 of my conversation with Bono, recorded live at the historic Paramount Theatre and presented by Austin City Limits Festival’s Bonus Tracks. In this episode, we take it back to Bono’s early days in Ireland — most notably the school where he’d meet his future bandmates, his future wife, and a headmaster who modeled what it was to live in the radical center, in a space forged by complication and contradiction. “How casually our destiny arrives,” Bono writes of this formative era. From there, our conversation rolls through matters of faith, creativity, and what it means to truly surrender. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to Part 1 of my conversation with Bono, recorded live at the historic Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas. I have been a U2 fan since the very beginning, and this event, presented by Austin City Limits Festival’s Bonus Tracks, was sheer magic. I don’t know what happened, but we got mentally in sync, spiritually locked in together, and we talked about everything from rock and roll to love and faith. His new memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, is the ultimate love story — to his wife, Ali; to his family; and to all of us who’ve found all kinds of peace and challenges in the music and the lyrics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s Part 2 of my conversation with Attica and Tembi Locke, writers, showrunners, executive producers, and the creative sister duo behind the Netflix series From Scratch, based on Tembi’s 2019 memoir of the same name, about love, Sicily, and finding home. In Part 1, we talked about the series and their story, and as we jump back into our conversation, we are talking about the success of this show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Quantitative futurist Amy Webb talks to us about the three technologies that make up the "super cycle" that we're all living through right now: artificial intelligence, wearable devices, and biotechnology, and why, despite the unnerving change, we still need to do some serious future planning.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I’m talking with Attica and Tembi Locke, writers, showrunners, executive producers, and the creative sister duo behind the Netflix series From Scratch, based on Tembi’s 2019 memoir of the same name, about love, Sicily, and finding home. We started talking about the series and their story, and then we really went everywhere from there — this turned into a full-blown LIFE conversation. Which, if you’ve seen the series, will not surprise you at all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s Part 2 of our two-part series with Anand Giridharadas, author of The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy. I’m still thinking about Anand’s story and how his experiences informed this concept of persuasion as being the heart of democracy. In this episode, we talk more specifically about the real stories included in the book — some scary, some incredibly inspiring — and he shares more about the individuals behind this meaningful work, which is built on meeting people where they are. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I love this two-part series with Anand Giridharadas, author of The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy. Every now and then, I come across something that makes me think in a completely new way, and this was one of those times. We talk about this concept of persuasion — the ability to reach across differences and believe that others are movable, as well as the idea that I have the capacity to be moved — as being the heart of democracy. I’m so glad you’re here for this conversation, and get ready to be persuaded. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I think y’all know that I’m a fifth-generation Texan, and I have another Texan with me today: Beto O’Rourke. He is running for governor of Texas, and early voting starts next week on October 24th, with Election Day coming up on November 8th. But beyond the timeliness of voting, I wanted to connect on the timeliness of brave leadership — because we really need courageous, real, authentic, empathic leaders right now. So I wanted to have him on the podcast to learn a little bit more about his approach, his vision, and what he wants for us in our state. And, you know, if you’re not in Texas, there’s a saying, “As Texas goes, so goes the nation.” I think you’ll find this interesting. Whether you agree or disagree with Beto’s position on things, I think he’s a strong leader with a different approach — and I love the authenticity. I think you’ll find his story and his vision for politics and life in general compelling. We need to be talking to more and more leaders about what their vision is, what their concerns are, who they are as people. You know, we always say on Dare to Lead, who you are is how you lead, and I think we got a really good picture of that in this conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The sisters are here for our final installment in a three-part series on The Love Prescription: Seven Days to More Intimacy, Connection, and Joy, from Drs. John and Julie Gottman. And we’re talking about our reaction to the book and what we learned from the Gottmans in Parts 1 and 2. Their tactical, practical, get-your-vulnerability-on work calls us to action, so we commit to doing some specific things over the next weeks. It’s scary. It’s vulnerable. But we’re ready to take on this seven-day journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re back with Part 2 in our three-part series with Drs. John and Julie Gottman, respected, expert clinicians and researchers who’ve been studying couples and relationships for decades. We’re talking about their new book, The Love Prescription: Seven Days to More Intimacy, Connection, and Joy. And I’m telling y’all, this is the real deal. To love somebody and to ask to be loved — to want to be seen and to show your inner self — this is courage and vulnerability. This is bravery. This is love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Think you can’t make relationship changes in a week? Drs. John and Julie Gottman say, yes, actually, you can — and they have 40 years of breakthrough research on marital stability and divorce prediction to prove it. The Gottmans are back, by popular demand, and they’re here to talk about their new book, The Love Prescription: Seven Days to More Intimacy, Connection, and Joy. In this first of a three-part series, we talk about their work, their findings, and some huge hacks that were mind-blowing for me. This book feels so hopeful because it’s direct, it’s really honest, and it’s so actionable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned over the past, maybe, 50 years, but specifically, research-wise, over the past 25, it’s that every time we think we’re completely alone in struggle, that is exactly when we need to remember that the human experience is never a singular experience. I’m sharing this reflection in the hopes that it resonates with some and to remind myself that I’m not alone. I’m glad you’re here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are back with Part 2 of our reader and audience Q&A on Atlas of the Heart, with questions from both the book and the HBO Max series. If you listened to Part 1, oh wow, these questions are hard — and I don’t have all the answers, which I love. Because that means I get to learn more, and I’m learning right along with my sisters, Ashley and Barrett. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this first episode of a three-part Sisters Book Club series, Ashley and Barrett turn the tables and interview me about Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience. They ask all the questions everyone wants to know, and they pull no punches — starting with stories about childhood superpowers, to matters of biology, biography, behavior, and backstory in the context of emotions and the book itself. We also talk about how Atlas is broken up into three sections, how the data was collected and analyzed to present the 87 emotions covered, and how powerful it is to have vocabulary that’s as expansive as our experiences. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices