I'm Alan Alda, and this is clear and vivid conversations about connecting and communicating.

I think empathy is something we can teach. I think people, the more they do it, the more they'll get addicted to it.

And, you know, listen, I think the world is aching for empathy. I will, long after I've left the practice of active practice of medicine, and I've left CBS News, I will be thinking about the empathy project forever, until with my last breath. I think it's that

important. There's no better gift we can give our future generations. That's John Lapuch.

Best known as the Chief Medical Correspondent for CBS News, he's also a practicing gastroenterologist

and the founder and president of the NYU Langone Empathy

Project, which works to promote a culture of empathy in medicine. As part of its program for

medical students, the project features Hollywood quality videos of how empathy affects the

doctor-patient relationship. This is great. I love to talk about empathy,

and I love to talk about it with you. You need a sign out in front of your door. Empathy are us.

You're really committed. You too. People have said we both should be committed, but we've managed to

avoid that. You know, it runs in my family.

Normally, I do not lead with this, but I didn't want to forget to do it.

Of course, you knew my father-in-law Norman Lee are very well.

Yeah.

You know, he always said, I want to know what the other guy has to say, even if it differs from me.

Yeah.

I did this straight-to-camera spiel for CBS Sunday morning right before the

2024 election. And it was about tone of voice. You know, I have video. My son Daniel is down

33. But back then, he was a newborn. So Daniel is in the crib and I come in and you see me going, good morning, and how are you?

And the first line of the piece is something like we learned from the very first moments of life to respond in a certain way to a certain tone of voice.

And it's so easy to forget.

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