247: Judith Moskowitz: How to Flourish Amidst Stress (Best of NSE)

No Small Endeavor with Lee C. Camp

Lee Camp

Philosophy, Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 555 Ratings

🗓️ 2 February 2026

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Judith Moskowitz didn’t begin her research career to prove people could thrive in the middle of devastating grief. But that’s where her work led. In the 1990s, Moskowitz was part of a research team studying men caring for partners dying of AIDS. As expected, participants described the overwhelming stress and sorrow. But then something unexpected happened: they asked why no one was asking about the good things in their lives. Judith Moskowitz has spent decades studying the emotional lives of people under intense life stress. In this episode, she joins host Lee C. Camp for a deeply practical conversation about emotional nuance, the science of positive psychology, and eight research-backed practices anyone can use to increase positive emotion and foster flourishing relationships, even when life is hard. Key Ideas Hold Joy and Sorrow Together Even under extreme stress, positive emotions can coexist with grief and fear—and this emotional diversity strengthens our capacity to cope. Let Emotions Inform You Negative emotions are not enemies to eliminate but signals that offer information about what matters and where change is needed. Notice What Still Shines Learning to notice small positive events—even fleeting ones—can meaningfully increase well-being during difficult seasons. Practice Gentle Awareness Mindful, non-judgmental attention to emotions helps people recognize their inner life without shame or suppression. Choose Compassion Daily Small acts of kindness and self-compassion can interrupt stress cycles and reconnect us to the common good. Show Notes, Resources, and Transcript⁠ for abridged episode with Judith Moskowitz Join our subscriber-only community called NSE+ BY CLICKING HERE Get ad-free listening, great member-only bonus content, and early access to tickets for our live shows. AND, you're helping make NSE sustainable by becoming a member! No Small Endeavor: An award winning podcast exploring what it means to live a good life, with thought provoking conversations about human flourishing, theology, politics, faith, social sciences, search for meaning, meaning and purpose, practices, common good, truth beauty and goodness, productivity, habit formation, neuroscience, science and religion, social justice, the cardinal virtues, the how of happiness, theology and culture, self development, virtue theory, being human, moral philosophy, and community.Follow @nosmallendeavor Host Lee C. Camp: Lee has worked as a professor of theology & ethics for more than 25 years, teaching and writing on topics of faith & politics, inter-religious dialog, and human flourishing at the intersection of theology, moral philosophy, and social sciences. Follow @leeccamp Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Lee C. Camp, and this is no small endeavor, exploring what it means to live a good life.
0:09.6	In the context of stress, and basically in the context of life, negative emotions are normal.
0:16.0	That's Judith Moskowitz, a social psychologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine,
0:23.2	she studies the impact of positive emotion in the context of intensely difficult life circumstances.
0:30.8	You don't want to deny or suppress your negative emotions. But even in the midst of really extreme
0:36.7	stress, people can experience positive emotions,
0:40.1	and these positive emotions and positive events seem to be helping them cope better with this
0:45.8	extreme form of stress. She relayed some groundbreaking research in the field of social psychology
0:51.6	and offer some helpful tools and practices for increasing one's positive emotion in the field of social psychology and offer some helpful tools and practices for increasing
0:55.2	one's positive emotion in the midst of acute stress. All coming right up.
1:01.7	Are you curious about the hidden side of everything? Then I have a podcast for you. I'm Stephen
1:08.0	Dubner, host of Freakonomics Radio. Each week we hear from some of the most
1:12.2	fascinating scholars and thinkers as we tackle big topics like how whales became the face of
1:18.2	environmental activism, how to succeed at failing, and whether public transportation should be free.
1:24.5	Go ahead. Listen to Freakonomics Radio wherever you get your podcasts.
1:33.8	I'm Lecy Camp. This is no small endeavor exploring what it means to live a good life.
1:41.9	Stress, we're told, can be a silent killer, and it sometimes appears that our entire economy
1:48.4	and social structure are oriented toward increasing our stress levels, then add the challenges
1:55.0	of major life events, a death of a loved one, losing a job, friends moving away, applying for college, a divorce,
2:03.4	and a sense of overwhelming stress seems sooner or later to come for us all.
2:09.6	Our guest today, a social psychologist and professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine,
2:16.9	has dedicated her research career to studying
	...

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