Can Optimism Be Learned? (Like Right Now?)

Short Wave

NPR

Daily News, Nature, Life Sciences, Astronomy, Science, News

4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 29 April 2020

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Optimism is often thought as a disposition, something you're born with or without. So can it be learned? On today's show, Maddie talks with Alix Spiegel, co-host of NPR's Invisibilia, about "learned optimism." We'll look at what it is, the research behind it, and how it might come in handy in certain circumstances, like maybe a global pandemic?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there!
0:01.0	Here at the show, we are trying to learn a little bit more about you and how podcasts fit
0:06.4	into your life.
0:07.8	If you can help us out, there is a short, anonymous survey online that takes about 10 minutes.
0:13.2	It's at npr.org-slash-podcast-survey.
0:17.3	All one word.
0:18.5	We'd love to have your input.
0:19.8	It really helps.
0:21.4	npr.org-slash-podcast-survey.
0:24.8	Thanks.
0:26.3	You're listening to shortwave from npr.
0:31.4	Maddie Sifai here.
0:32.6	So today we've got a special shortwave guest, Elise Spiegel, one of the hosts of Invisibilia,
0:39.2	NPR's podcast about human behavior.
0:41.8	Haley's.
0:42.8	Hey, I am a fan of this podcast, so I am very happy to be here.
0:46.9	Good, I'm so glad you're here.
0:48.8	So you've brought us a story today about a very helpful feeling that seems really hard
0:55.0	to hold on to at this moment.
0:57.2	Yeah.
0:58.2	I mean, recently for reasons that are probably not that hard to figure out, I've been thinking
1:03.4	a lot about optimism.
	...

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