In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes: To Be More Productive, Try Managing Your Energy Instead of Your Time Your Music Playlist May Reveal if You're a Psychopath or Not "Traditional" Family Values Were Invented in the 1950s How The Best Marriages Work [Full Podcast with Dr. Eli Finkel] Curiosity Patreon Page There are many more lessons to learn in Tony Schwartz's best-selling book "The Way We're Working Isn't Working." For the latest and greatest research on marriage in the modern world, pick up "The All-or-Nothing Marriage: How the Best Marriages Work" by Dr. Eli Finkel. We handpick reading recommendations we think you may like. If you choose to make a purchase through that link, Curiosity will get a share of the sale. Learn about these topics and more onCuriosity.com, and download our5-star app for Android and iOS. Then, join the conversation onFacebook,Twitter, andInstagram. Plus: Amazon smart speaker users, enable ourAlexa Flash Briefing to learn something new in just a few minutes every day!
In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes:
There are many more lessons to learn in Tony Schwartz's best-selling book "The Way We're Working Isn't Working." For the latest and greatest research on marriage in the modern world, pick up "The All-or-Nothing Marriage: How the Best Marriages Work" by Dr. Eli Finkel. We handpick reading recommendations we think you may like. If you choose to make a purchase through that link, Curiosity will get a share of the sale.
Learn about these topics and more on Curiosity.com, and download our 5-star app for Android and iOS. Then, join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Plus: Amazon smart speaker users, enable our Alexa Flash Briefing to learn something new in just a few minutes every day!
Full episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/managing-energy-instead-of-time-psychopath-music-playlists-and-traditional-1950s-marriage-myths-w-dr-eli-finkel
[MUSIC PLAYING] CODY GOUGH: Hi, we've got three stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I'm Cody Gough.
ASHLEY HAMER: And I'm Ashley Hamer. today, you'll learn how your music playlist might reveal whether you're a psychopath, a trick for being productive by managing your energy, and we'll bust a common myth about traditional marriages from the 1950s.
CODY GOUGH: Let's satisfy some curiosity.
ASHLEY HAMER: Cody, what's your, like, best productivity tip that you love to use that always works for you?
CODY GOUGH: Honestly, getting enough sleep.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah.
CODY GOUGH: That's what I do. what's your trick?
ASHLEY HAMER: I like to give myself little rewards. Like, if I finish this thing, then I get to watch an episode of Netflix, or I get to have a snack. something like that. That works pretty well.
CODY GOUGH: Yeah, that's good.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah, well, today, we've got a productivity hack for you. Try managing your energy instead of your time. This comes from Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project. His organization has worked with companies like Google, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and Facebook, to improve culture, morale, and productivity, using experience tested techniques. The Energy Project breaks down human energy into four types, physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Schwartz went through the process with more than 100 employees at Wachovia Bank in 2006, and participants outperformed their bank employee coworkers by 20%.
So, here's how to focus on each type of energy. Nutrition, exercise, and sleep are the pillars of physical energy. So to start, make sure you're not skipping breakfast or exercise, or working too late. And get enough sleep. That will give you a lot more energy during the day. Next is mental energy. Two words, stop multitasking. Multitasking is technically impossible, anyway. So block your time so you can focus on one thing at a time. The third type of energy is emotional energy. That's what fuels the quality of your attention and work. When you get stressed, try emotionally stabilizing exercises, like going for a walk, taking a deep breath, or even sending an encouraging email to a coworker. Positivity is surprisingly contagious.
And finally, there's spiritual energy. This one is a bit less well defined, but it's basically all about feeling like your day-to-day work is in line with a larger goal, or a higher purpose. Take some time to outline your guiding principles, long-term goals, and lofty ideas for yourself. Then brainstorm ways to make your daily work fit into those dreams. They might not sound scientific, but your spiritual energy is clearly connected with real-life productivity. Try managing your energy instead of your time, and see if it helps. After all, you only get 24 hours in a day, no matter how well you manage it.
CODY GOUGH: Unless you have a time machine.
ASHLEY HAMER: True.
CODY GOUGH: Ashley, what do you listen to at work?
ASHLEY HAMER: Nothing.
CODY GOUGH: Really?
ASHLEY HAMER: Oh, I can't write when I'm listening to anything.
CODY GOUGH: Are you serious?
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah.
CODY GOUGH: Wow.
ASHLEY HAMER: Whenever you see me with headphones in, it's to listen to a podcast or a video for work. Otherwise, silence.
CODY GOUGH: Wow.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah.
CODY GOUGH: All right. I like EDM.
ASHLEY HAMER: Wow,
CODY GOUGH: So. Repetitive, generally. And you can kind of zone out. It's an outgrowth of my love for video game music, which I will also listen to.
ASHLEY HAMER: That makes sense.
CODY GOUGH: Go on YouTube, grab that video of the top 25 Megaman tracks of all time. Top 25, top 50. Just--
ASHLEY HAMER: You're so weird.
CODY GOUGH: --get into that 8-bit groove. I am good to go. But could your favorite playlist reveal that you are a psychopath?
ASHLEY HAMER: I'd say that one might be.
CODY GOUGH: I sure hope not. JK. Because preliminary and unpublished research from New York University says your favorite playlist could reveal that you're a psychopath. For the study, 200 people listened to 260 songs. Those with the highest psychopath scores were some of the biggest fans of Blackstreet's No Diggity. The most psychotic of the bunch also loved M&M's incomparable Lose Yourself. No judgment if you like those songs, though. Because they're pretty good, actually. Participants with lower psychopathy scores really dug The Knack's My Sharona and Sia's Titanium.
You can see some more of the songs from the study and our full write-up today on curiosity.com and on the Curiosity app for Android and iOS. Although, the lead researcher on the study wouldn't say what were the biggest predictors of psychopathy, because he didn't want to risk skewing the results of future tests. For some broad predictors, though, we can look at research from Kevin Dutton, an Oxford psychologist and author of The Wisdom of Psychopaths. So far, he's gathered data for a psychopath study for more than 3 million people who have taken online surveys on their musical tastes and other preferences.
These surveys aren't perfect, but so far, the results suggest psychopaths prefer rap music to classical and jazz. And the people with psychopathic traits are more likely to read the Financial Times than other newspapers, but that's neither here nor there. And like we said, no judgment here. And again, take this information with a grain of salt. Sometimes science is more fun than it is strictly scientific.
ASHLEY HAMER: I like listening to rap music while reading the Financial Times.
[LAUGHTER]
CODY GOUGH: I'm sure there's a huge overlap.
ASHLEY HAMER: Definitely. Cody, did you ever watch Leave It to Beaver?
CODY GOUGH: That was not in my classic TV lineup.
ASHLEY HAMER: Me either.
CODY GOUGH: I was into I Love Lucy, Mary Tyler Moore Show, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah, what about Mad Men?
CODY GOUGH: Never really did Mad Men. I watched the first episode three different times. And then just kept forgetting to keep going.
ASHLEY HAMER: Interesting, because Mad Men is sort of a modern take on the Leave It to Beaver style marriage. At least, the first season. Then everything goes off the rails.
CODY GOUGH: Sure.
ASHLEY HAMER: Spoilers.
CODY GOUGH: Uh-oh.
ASHLEY HAMER: Well, if you are a fan of classic television, then you might have seen the American traditional family. But there's a problem with the traditional family. Last year on the Curiosity Podcast, we interviewed Dr. Eli Finkel, a social psychology professor and relationship expert, and author of the critically acclaimed book, The All-or-Nothing Marriage. Here's just one thing he told us about the traditional marriage.
ELI FINKEL: We think of the 1950s as being traditional relationship. As if you could take 1950s and extend it back for millennia. And they would all look like Leave it to Beaver, right? But that is not remotely true. And in fact, the historian Stephanie Coontz does a great job of really, sort of, shaking us out of that bizarre assumption that the 1950s model is the traditional marriage. And that everything should be evaluated as a deviation from that. The name of her book is The Way We Never Were. And she has to remind us--
I mean, she has to remind us that Leave It to Beaver was not a documentary. It just so happens that there was a very, very idiosyncratic, highly historically unusual way of approaching relationships in the 1950s, when television came on. And because that's when television came on, it got imprinted in the cultural psyche as if this were traditional. But the idea that there would be a man who kissed his wife. And then went off to the office. And a woman who said, love you honey, see you when you're back. And took care of the home. That was like an eye blink in history, right?
First of all, before the Industrial Revolution, in the mid 1800s, people didn't go off to work. The individual farmhouse was the unit of economic production. This is how people made ends meet. Both men and women contributed hugely to economic production. And it wasn't until you got industrialization and this specialization that you got these highly gendered social roles. Like his sphere is work, and her sphere is home. So that was unusual right from the start.
CODY GOUGH: Long time listeners will remember that we produced more than an hour of interviews with Dr. Finkel across two feature-length podcasts last year. Before we were a daily show, our show used to be half-hour, hour-long deep dives into specific subjects with experts. Well, we've got some exciting news. When you support this show on Patreon, you'll get access to brand new Curiosity Podcast episodes with experts, just like in the good old days.
ASHLEY HAMER: Patreon is a place where you can find creators you love. It's kind of like a Kickstarter. Only, instead of trying to fund one project, you contribute to an ongoing project. Like podcasts, comedians, and YouTube channels. It's an option for you to give back to the creators you love. And you can find us at Patreon.com/Curiosity.com.
CODY GOUGH: This month we've got a full-length interview with Dr. Michael Greger, author of the book, How Not to Die. And founder of nutritionfacts.org. It's live. It's right there. It's done. That podcast exists. Literally, visit our Patreon, become a patron, and you get that episode right now. It's-- there it is. I already said that seven times. Plus, another new episode every month, in addition to lots of other perks, depending on how much you contribute.
ASHLEY HAMER: We've got lots of cool rewards. Like access to uncut interviews, shoutouts on our show, the chance to participate in our interviews. And even join monthly video chats with Cody and me. We promise they'll be fun.
CODY GOUGH: Not to mention, you can chat with us all day on our Discord server. We were going to use Slack. So ignore that if you watch our video.
ASHLEY HAMER: That's right, you can see us in a video we've recorded, specifically for our Patreon page. Even if you don't want to become a patron, you should still check out our page. The video is pretty fun, if we do say so ourselves.
CODY GOUGH: Again, that's patreon.com/curiosity.com all spelled out. We really appreciate your support. Anyway, that's all for today. But Curiosity has big plans for the weekend. And what can you learn about this weekend, Ashley?
ASHLEY HAMER: This weekend, you'll learn about how to break a bad habit, why you've probably been using the term alpha male wrong, storm-chasing tips for beginners, a scale for figuring out whether news about aliens is legit, the best technique for staying calm, and more.
CODY GOUGH: Join us again, Sunday. To learn something new in just a few minutes. If there's something you're curious about, then email question podcast@curiosity.com. And we'll try to answer it in a future show.
ASHLEY HAMER: That's podcast@curiosity.com. Thanks for listening. I'm Ashley Hamer.
CODY GOUGH: And I'm Cody Gough. Have a great weekend.
ASHLEY HAMER: And stay curious
[MUSIC PLAYING] SPEAKER: the Westwood One Podcast Network.