Hi, I'm Anna Marie Cox and welcome to With Friends Like These.

We've been doing themed episodes this year.

If you haven't noticed, that's cool.

We designed them to fit in with everything else so you don't have to listen in order.

You can just drop in and out.

Last season, we tackled conversion experiences, like a scientist who became a believer in psychic

healing.

And we learned about the way your brain reacts to information that runs counter to existing

beliefs, spoiler alert, and not great.

This season, we've been talking about good intentions.

Among other things, we've investigated why suicide prevention is not what you think

it is, and told the story of the Christian missionary who tried to evangelize to the most

remote peoples on Earth.

That, also, not great.

We have upcoming shows that deal with an experiment in harm reduction for sex workers and the unhomed,

and a conversation about whether or not it's a good idea to let kids believe in Santa

Claus.

This episode is about the most personal kind of good intention, the value of positive thinking.

I talked to Gabriel Atengin.

A professor of psychology at both New York University and the University of Hamburg.

She's the author of rethinking positive thinking inside the new science of motivation.

She's been doing research on optimism and positive thinking for decades.

...