Why Adaptation Is a Human Superpower (Maya Shankar)

Hard Knox with Amanda Knox

Knox Robinson Productions

True Crime, Mental Health, Health & Fitness, Society & Culture

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 January 2026

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Maya Shankar is a cognitive scientist, writer, and host of the podcast A Slight Change of Plans, whose new book The Other Side of Change explores who we become when life takes an unexpected turn. In this rich and intimate conversation, Maya and Amanda dig into moments ranging from Juilliard dreams cut short by injury to miscarriage. They talk about locked-in syndrome, prison poetry, and the surprising psychology of why uncertainty can feel worse than pain. Along the way, Maya shares practical tools offering listeners a hopeful and deeply human guide to navigating change without platitudes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	For ad-free episodes of Hard Knocks, subscribe at Amandanox.substack.com, where you'll also find access to essays, bonus episodes, and more. Enjoy.
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0:45.8	I'm Amanda Knox and you're listening to Hard Knox.
0:49.9	I'm Amanda Knox. Today on Hard Knocks, I interview Maya Shunker, a cognitive scientist writer and host of the podcast, a slight change of plans.
1:06.0	She also happens to be a friend of mine.
1:08.0	We chat a bunch and text a bunch, and she's just a lovely person who is so
1:13.9	insightful and so kind. And what we're going to be talking about is her new book that's coming out,
1:20.8	the other side of change, who would become when life makes other plans? And one thing that makes
1:26.7	Maya so approachable is she's done her homework. That's just
1:30.4	kind of her personality, is always doing her homework. So she has her claim in the book about how
1:36.5	change can be this catalyst for growth, this doorway to reinvention. But then she gets into, well,
1:43.2	what is the cognitive and behavioral
1:45.1	science that supports this claim? And most importantly, what can we actually do? What literally
1:51.6	can we actually do when we find ourselves in the midst of a crisis that will help us to emerge
1:56.5	on the other side in a positive, in the way that we want to be and not feeling like we've lost
2:01.5	ourselves in the process. She has some great advice about it, great stories, a lot of personal,
2:07.7	intimate insights. And I think you'll enjoy this conversation and her new book. So enjoy.
2:13.3	Welcome to Hard Knocks, Maya. Thank you so much for being here. You are the most brilliant cognitive scientist writer and host of the podcast, A Slight Change of Plans, and also a friend of mine. And it's so great to chat with you because you have this new book coming out, The Other Side of Change, Who We Become When Life Makes Other Plans.
	...

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