Encore: 24 Hours of Kindness
The Science of Happiness
PRX and Greater Good Science Center
4.4 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 30 March 2023
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Why should you be nice? Our guest explores how small, daily acts of kindness can produce meaningful life changes.
Episode summary:
When you’re kind to someone, the positive impact doesn’t stop with them. In fact, the effect of your kind action can ricochet back to you by improving your physical health and outlook on life. This week’s episode is all about how kindness has the power to strengthen our sense of self within a larger community. Our guest Aaron Harvey is an activist and UC Berkeley alumni who performed five random acts of kindness in one day. He found that practicing kindness allowed him to develop deeper relationships with those around him and shifted the way he views his role in society. Later, we hear from Oliver Scott Curry, the Research Director at Kindlab, to learn about why humans are evolutionarily designed to be kind and how practicing kindness can positively affect our physical and mental state of being.
How to Do This Practice:
Choose a day of the week to perform 5 random acts of kindness throughout that day.
These acts don’t have to be big or small or even for the same person. Just aim to perform a variety of acts of kindness. This could include helping a friend with a chore or providing a meal to a person in need.
After each act, write down what you did in at least one or two sentences and reflect on how it made you feel.
Learn more about this practice at Greater Good In Action:
https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/random_acts_of_kindness
Today’s guests:
Aaron Harvey is a UC Berkeley Underground Scholar alumnus and activist. After facing the possibility of life in prison, Aaron successfully proved his innocence due to a lack of evidence.
Learn more about Berkeley Underground Scholars: https://undergroundscholars.berkeley.edu/
Oliver Scott Curry is the Research Director for Kindlab at kindness.org. He uses scientific research to better understand topics like kindness, human morality and cooperation.
Learn more about Oliver and his work: https://www.oliverscottcurry.com/
Learn more about Kindlab: https://kindness.org/kindlab
Follow Oliver on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Oliver_S_Curry
Follow Oliver on Google Scholar: https://tinyurl.com/yc29nn62
Resources from The Greater Good Science Center:
Random Acts of Kindness: https://tinyurl.com/jxafbdm4
How to Start a Kindness Revolution: https://tinyurl.com/3fr68t6v
Three Strategies for Bringing More Kindness into Your Life: https://tinyurl.com/22cx7w9f
How Kindness Fits Into a Happy Life: https://tinyurl.com/h8mspz37
How to Be a Kindness Role Model for Your Kids: https://tinyurl.com/3cjkp785
Where Does Kindness Come From? https://tinyurl.com/hkv94anp
Is There an Altruism Gene? https://tinyurl.com/5n8r7eh5
More Resources on Kindness
MasterClass - How to Be Kind to Yourself: 5 Ways to Practice Kindness: https://tinyurl.com/ycx7uysu
The New York Times - The Unexpected Power of Random Acts of Kindness: https://tinyurl.com/ycxxd7af
TED Talk - Mark Kelly: How one act of kindness a day can change your life: https://tinyurl.com/u2n3t3s
Have you ever tried practicing random acts of kindness? Ever been the recipient of one? Email us at [email protected] or use the hashtag #happinesspod.
Help us share The Science of Happiness!
Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You know, my first police stop, I think I was like 11 or younger than that, right? |
| 0:07.0 | I fit the description. |
| 0:09.0 | They cuffed me, sat me on a sidewalk for like 30 minutes, and then just let me go. |
| 0:15.0 | And that was like my introduction to law enforcement. |
| 0:19.0 | And then it just never stops. |
| 0:21.0 | It just keeps getting worse and worse and happening more and more often as time goes on. |
| 0:27.0 | So it was me and 32 other individuals, first time to ever use this law, Penal Code 182.5. |
| 0:33.0 | And they said that they had me documented as a gang member because of multiple police stops in my community. |
| 0:40.0 | And because I was documented, therefore I could be held liable for any crimes committed by that gang, |
| 0:48.0 | whether I had knowledge of it or not. |
| 0:50.0 | They charged us with conspiracy to commit some shootings. |
| 0:55.0 | They weren't even trying to prove that I had anything to do with the shootings. |
| 1:00.0 | You know, I spent eight months in county jail, $1.1 million bail looking at 56 years of life. |
| 1:11.0 | But I would have these conversations with my dad. |
| 1:14.0 | I remember when I was incarcerated, I was about to sign a deal for 19 years. |
| 1:18.0 | And I was telling him I was just tired. |
| 1:20.0 | I'm tired of going back to court. |
| 1:22.0 | I'm tired of, you know, my sign now for 19 years. |
| 1:25.0 | I'll be out in 47 years old, whatever. |
| 1:28.0 | He said, I've always told you stand up for your rights. |
| 1:31.0 | And he was like, you know, Malcolm and Martin and many others, like stood up for their rights. |
| 1:37.0 | And they died because of it. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from PRX and Greater Good Science Center, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of PRX and Greater Good Science Center and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.