This is Hidden Brain, I'm Shankar Vedanta.

So many of us spend the present, planning for the future.

We approach life like a game of chess,

plotting each move with care and deliberation.

But even the best-late plans can go off track.

We study hard, but don't get into our dream school.

We lose our job and have to begin a new, in a totally different field.

A pandemic hits and we start to rethink where we live and how we spend our time.

When the ground shifts beneath our feet, it can feel profoundly unsettling, destabilizing even.

Maya Shankar knows this feeling well.

I was really devastated to lose something that I was completely in love with and so passionate about.

And that had really constituted such a large part of my life and my identity.

You know, I was first and foremost a violinist.

Maya is the host of a new podcast called The Slight Change of Plans.

It's a show about how people navigate disruptive moments in life.

She has conversations with well-known people like Hillary Clinton and Kacey Musgraves,

and she'd also share stories about people like the young cancer researcher,

who had to navigate a stage 4 diagnosis of her own.

One of the reasons I'm excited about the show is because our Hidden Brain episode about Maya's

own Slight Change of Plans has long been one of our favorites.

If you've ever felt like life is throwing you curveballs and you want to figure out how to adapt

to them, I think you will enjoy the story. Last and renewal this week on Hidden Brain.

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