The emotions you’ve felt but never named with John Koenig

ReThinking

TED

Society & Culture, Organizational Psychology, Worklife Podcasts, Adam Grant, Rethinking Podcast, Ted Podcast Adam Grant, Ted Talks, Adam Grant Podcasts

4.7 • 626 Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you heard of the word sonder? It’s the realization that each “random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.” John Koenig introduced it in his book The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows—a compilation of new words aiming to capture the nuance and complexity of emotions that can be hard to put a finger on. In this vocabulary-expanding episode, John and Adam explore the sense of loss upon finishing a great book or movie, the dread of chasing a dream, and the awe of human existence. They discuss John’s method and motivation for inventing new words and consider the profound capacity for language to show people that they’re not alone.

For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/RWAGscripts

ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith.

For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Gina's a muncher.
0:02.3	Jackson Nippler.
0:04.5	Lucy likes to linger.
0:08.1	But not for too long.
0:10.2	And Harry?
0:11.9	Thank you, Harry.
0:13.5	Mikado is the crunchy biscuit stick dipped in smooth milk chocolate
0:17.3	and makes other biscuits look so ordinary.
0:20.3	Mikado is deliciously Moorish.
0:22.5	However you enjoy it, make every day more Macardo. Grab a pack in your local store today.
0:28.5	Find Macardo in the biscuit aisle. Michael Lewis here. My best-selling book The Big Short
0:34.5	tells the story of the build-up and burst of the U.S. housing market back in 2008.
0:40.7	A decade ago, the Big Short was made into an Academy Award-winning movie.
0:44.6	And now I'm bringing it to you for the first time as an audiobook narrated by yours truly.
0:50.1	The Big Short's story, what it means to bet against the market, and who really pays for an unchecked financial system, is as relevant today as it's ever been.
0:59.2	Get the big short now at Pushkin.fm slash audiobooks or wherever audiobooks are sold.
1:08.7	I wish that intimacy could be the other way.
1:11.2	Like, I wish I could find out people's deepest, darkest secrets.
1:14.5	And then over years as we build up trust, I could learn what their name is.
1:20.9	Hey, everyone, it's Adam Grant.
1:22.9	Welcome back to Rethinking, my podcast on the Science of What Makes Us Tick with the TED Audio Collective.
1:28.5	I'm an organizational psychologist, and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating people
	...

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