You 2.0: The Passion Pill

Hidden Brain

Hidden Brain Media

Arts, Science, Performing Arts, Social Sciences

4.6 • 40.4K Ratings

🗓️ 7 July 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You’ve probably heard the saying, “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” The idea is that pursuing your passion will feel invigorating — almost magical. But passions can easily wane over time. This week, behavioral scientist Jon Jachimowicz looks at how to keep our passions alive, and how to channel old passions into new pursuits.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Hidden Brain. I'm Shankar Vedantam.
0:03.7	There's a pattern in Hollywood stories about romance and passion.
0:07.6	The lovers may face all kinds of obstacles, but the movies end on a high note.
0:12.3	The couple kiss as the ball drops on New Year's Eve.
0:15.6	They embrace on a beach at sunset.
0:18.2	They celebrate at a wedding.
0:20.7	The 1967 movie The Graduate does something a bit
0:24.2	different. Benjamin Braddock, played by Dustin Hoffman, Gate crashes the wedding of his
0:29.7	soulmate, Elaine Robinson, played by Catherine Ross. He interrupts the ceremony and
0:35.3	shouts Elaine from the balcony of the church.
0:40.3	After a moment of hesitation, Elaine shouts back and runs to him, rejecting her bridegroom and her parents' expectations.
0:52.2	The two escape the church amidst chaos, with Elaine's family and the wedding guests trying
0:56.9	to stop them. The young couple fight off the crowd using a large wooden cross, which Benjamin
1:02.8	uses to block the church doors as they make their getaway. Elaine and Benjamin then board a
1:08.4	city bus sitting at the back together. As the bus drives away, they initially laugh, exhilarated by their daring escape.
1:15.6	However, and this is where the movie veers from the Hollywood formula,
1:19.6	their expressions slowly shift to a more subdued and ambiguous tone.
1:24.6	The camera lingers on their faces as Simon and Garfunkel's The Sound of Silence plays in the
1:30.2	background. Elaine and Benjamin seem to be asking, what now? Starting a love affair is one thing.
1:38.2	Figuring out how to sustain their love is harder and will demand more skill and maturity.
1:46.2	What is true in our personal relationships is also true in our professional lives.
1:51.7	There comes a time when the things we once engaged in with pleasure and passion grow boring
	...

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