Reconsidering
47 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 months ago - ★★★★★ - 49 ratingsRe:considering explores how to navigate your career, relationships, and the values that guide you through the inevitable changes of life. Each episode co-hosts Bob Baxley, Meredith Black, and Aarron Walter talk with people who’ve figured a few things out about living a satisfying life filled with meaning and show you how you can too.
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Episodes
Episode 40: The Dangers of being nice with Dr Aziz Gazipura
January 09, 2024 14:00 - 1 hour - 96.1 MBBeing nice is a virtue—until it's not. Compulsively helping and staying positive to the detriment to your sanity and needs can lead to resentment and broken relationships. Dr Aziz Gazipura, author of Not Nice: Stop People Pleasing, Staying Silent, and Feeling Guilty... And Start Speaking Up, Saying No, Asking Boldly, And Unapologetically Being Yourself (https://bookshop.org/p/books/not-nice-stop-people-pleasing-staying-silent-feeling-guilty-and-start-speaking-up-saying-no-asking-boldly-and-un...
Episode 39: Work addiction with Bryan Robinson
December 12, 2023 17:00 - 59 minutes - 82.1 MBAmericans love a hard worker. The employee who toils eighteen-hour days and eats meals on the run between appointments is usually viewed with a combination of respect and awe. But for many, this lifestyle leads to family problems, a decline in work productivity, and, ultimately, physical and mental burnout. Bryan Robinson, author of Chained to the Desk in a Hybrid World, knows a thing or two about work addiction. He spent years hiding and repressing destructive addition to his work, which too...
Episode 38: Rewind: Cultivating community and friendship with Tina Roth-Eisenberg
November 28, 2023 11:00 - 59 minutes - 82.4 MBIt's the Thanksgiving holiday break in the US, so we're re-broadcasting one of our favorite episodes about friendship and community, which is very timely as we approach the holiday season. Living in isolation for two years without the support of community clarified for many of us just how nourishing and essential relationships are to us. Now that we’re starting to re-enter the world, how might we be more intentional about cultivating community? Tina Roth-Eisenberg—Swissmiss to her hundreds o...
Episode 37: Katherine May: Enchantment
November 14, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 84.3 MBKatherine May first joined us on Reconsidering in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, to talk about her book Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times (https://bookshop.org/p/books/wintering-the-power-of-rest-and-retreat-in-difficult-times-katherine-may/16519711?ean=9780593189481). It was a timely topic and a memorable conversation as most of us were confronting one of the most challenging and isolating holidays seasons of our lifetimes. With that moment now thankfully...
Episode 36: The realities of death with Shoshana Berger
October 31, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 89.6 MBIt's time to confront one of life's most certain yet most avoided topics: the end of life. While death eventually greets us all, most of us skirt around the topic and what it means for us and our loved ones. In this illuminating conversation, we aim to demystify this phase of life and empower you to approach it with a sense of preparedness and dignity. Our guest, Shoshana Berger, (https://www.linkedin.com/in/shoshanaberger/) serves as the Global Editorial Director at Ideo (https://www.ideo.co...
Episode 35: Radical candor and inclusive thinking with Kim Scott
October 17, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour - 84.9 MBIn the bestselling book Radical Candor, author Kim Scott laid out a simple framework for how to create, foster, and thrive in a culture that effectively gives and receives feedback—direct, clear, concise, and actionable. However, when you write a book about feedback, well, you get a lot of feedback, and indeed she did. Rather than ignoring or hiding from it, however, Kim decided to do the hard work of internalizing and processing it with the result being her latest book, Just Work. We had the...
Episode 34: Making better decisions with Dr Richard Winters
October 03, 2023 15:00 - 57 minutes - 79.3 MBThink your job is stressful? Try being an emergency response physician at the Mayo Clinic, one of the top hospitals in the US that sees some of the most extreme emergencies. Dr Richard Winters has been responding under pressure in chaotic situations for a long time, and it’s taught him valuable lessons about decision making and leadership. In his book, You're the Leader. Now What?, Richard distills his knowledge into simple frameworks and practical tactics that can help us lead colleagues and...
Episode 33: How to apologize well with Marjorie Ingall and Susan McCarthy
September 19, 2023 09:00 - 53 minutes - 72.9 MBAn apology can mend old wounds, reunite people, and heal communities. Despite the potential power it can have, a good apology is hard to find. There's a simple structure to a good apology we should all have memorized along with the traits of a bad apology that will only lead us into pain and misery. In this episode, we're going to the apology experts for guidance, Marjorie Ingall and Susan McCarthy, authors of the book “Sorry Sorry Sorry: The Case for a good apology” and founders of SorryWa...
Episode 32: Mastering change with Brad Stulberg
September 05, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 84.9 MBLike it or not, change is inevitable. Your career, relationships, body, health, mood are all in constant motion. We can fight it but it’s unproductive and leads to suffering. Our pal Brad Stulberg is back on the show to help us look at change differently. His new book Master of Change: How To Excel When Everything Is Changing - Including You is full of deeply researched wisdom from science and philosophy that will help you become more resilient and adaptable. Show notes and transcript: http...
Episode 31: The wisdom of games with Oliver Roeder
February 07, 2023 11:30 - 48 minutes - 66.7 MBThere’s a point in our lives when we’re told it’s time to grow up and stop playing games. To move away from the trivial pursuits of childhood and get serious about how we spend our time. But what if that advice is wrong? What if games are actually one of the best ways to spend our time and one of our best opportunities to learn about our world and even ourselves? Why are games so embedded in the human experience and how should we think about them as part of our own lives? That’s the topic of ...
Episode 30: Figuring out friendship with Kat Vellos
January 17, 2023 11:00 - 56 minutes - 78.1 MBFriendship is something that’s easy to take for granted. Meeting friends in our early years might have come easy but as we age friends move away, people couple off, careers and families start and suddenly making friends isn’t as easy as it used to be. As many studies have shown, if you want to live a longer, more fulfilling life you’ll need to invest in friendships now. In this episode we speak with friendship expert and author of We should get together: The secret to cultivating friendship...
Episode 29: Giving up on productivity with Madeleine Dore
January 03, 2023 11:00 - 46 minutes - 64.5 MBAre you one of those people who thrives off a check-list? It feels satisfying to complete things, but the satisfaction only lasts for a fleeting moment as a cleared check-list invites more tasks. It's an exhausting treadmill that inevitably gives rise to guilt and shame when we can't keep up. Madeleine Dore, author of “I Didn’t Do the Thing Today; letting go of productivity guilt” joins us to talk about giving yourself permission to let go to focus on what really matters. We’ll talk about t...
Episode 28: Embracing remote work with Annie Jarvis
December 20, 2022 11:00 - 44 minutes - 61.2 MBA few years ago, most of us were still heading into the office five days a week. But the pandemic changed the workplace dramatically. Most of us now work from home or are working in a hybrid environment, which has introduced challanges in our both our personal and professional lives. How do we navigate these changes? Annie Jarvis, Vice President of Product at Indeed, joins us to talk about the future of remote work, what she’s seen working at Indeed during the pandemic, and her experiences ...
Episode 27: The power of mentorship with Felix Lee
November 29, 2022 11:00 - 49 minutes - 67.6 MBMentorship can be a powerful force that improves life but it's often hard to come by. Most of us struggle to ask, “will you be my mentor” and may not even know what kind of support or commitment we're asking for. Felix Lee, founder of a thriving community of mentors and mentees called ADP List, saw a lot of people losing their jobs and looking for guidance and support during the pandemic. He also recognized that the crisis had caused people to raise their hand to support those in need. At j...
Episode 26: Rethinking education with Connie Liu
November 15, 2022 11:00 - 52 minutes - 71.5 MBHigh school sucks. It’s socially awkward, culturally confusing, and academically irrelevant. And though the first two might largely be an inescapable part of the teenage experience, the third is of critical concern to both the stability of society and the health of the economy. Which is why we wanted to spend some time learning more about what’s happening in the world of primary education and the ways in which it’s affecting the future of work. In this episode, we’re joined by Connie Liu, fo...
Episode 25: Finding headspace with Leslie Witt
November 01, 2022 10:00 - 51 minutes - 70.8 MBAs recently as a decade ago, most of Western culture dismissed meditation as a sort of “touchy-feely” pursuit with no real value. Thanks in large part to the rise of meditation apps like Headspace however, that attitude has dramatically shifted from one of skepticism to one of curiosity heading towards broad acceptance. And just in time too as the pandemic and lockdown revealed for all of us the perilous state of the mental health system and the importance of emotional self-care. Our guest ...
Episode 24: Embracing change with John Maeda
October 18, 2022 10:00 - 57 minutes - 78.4 MBJohn Maeda would rather be curious than afraid, despite the tectonic shifts in our world. AI—artificial intelligence—is reaching new milestones that foreshadow big changes in many careers. Some ignore what’s on the horizon, others acknowledge what’s to come but are paralyzed by fear. John Maeda takes a different approach: he just keeps reinventing himself. John jumped from MIT where he was a professor deeply invested in technology to the Rhode Island School of Design where he shook up the tra...
Episode 23: Life is hard with Kieran Setiya
October 04, 2022 10:00 - 1 hour - 92.1 MBLife is hard. We want to think that isn’t the case but again and again, the universe shows us we’re wrong. We face loss, periods of illness and infirmity, and failure. Such is the human condition and there is no escaping these essential truths. Where better to turn for comfort, insight, and wisdom than the great minds of philosophy that came before us? Our guest, Kieren Setiya, professor of philosophy at MIT, has been on the show before and he's back to share what he's learned writing his mos...
Episode 22: The power of regret with Dan Pink
September 20, 2022 10:00 - 50 minutes - 69.8 MB“No regrets.” You’ve heard people proclaim it as a philosophy of life. That’s nonsense, even dangerous, says Dan Pink in his latest book The Power of Regret. Everybody has regrets. They’re a fundamental part of our lives. And if we reckon with them in fresh and imaginative ways, we can enlist our regrets to make smarter decisions, perform better at work and school, and deepen our sense of meaning and purpose. In this episode, NYTimes best selling author Dan Pink shares what he learned from h...
Season 3 coming September 20
August 03, 2022 11:00 - 1 minute - 2.28 MBNow that season 2 has wrapped, the Reconsidering team is taking a break. Season 3 is already coming together with exciting new interviews that will further illuminate the elements of a satisfying life. Kieran Setiya will be back to talk about his new book, Life is hard, which explores philosophical insights that can set us on the right path. Dan Pink will share the power of regret and how it can actually help us live a more fulfilling life. And we’re working on a special 5 episode series in p...
Episode 21: Coaching yourself into a better career with Ed Batista
July 19, 2022 10:00 - 1 hour - 86.3 MBIn sports, the coach plays the important role of guiding players and delivering the feedback they need to operate at their best. But in our professional lives we almost never have the guidance and support of a coach, which makes it challenging to reach our full potential and at times leaves us trapped in negative behavior cycles. Ed Batista has spent years coaching senior leaders who are facing a series of challenges or seeking greater fulfillment in their role. He’s distilled decades of guid...
Episode 20: Rediscovering creativity with Kaushik Panchal
July 05, 2022 10:00 - 59 minutes - 81.1 MBStarting early in childhood, creativity is slowly extracted from our lives. It becomes the domain of the select few of exceptional talent. But creativity can and should be an important part of everyone's life. In this episode of Reconsidering we’re going to explore an entirely different way of approaching creative expression—one that sees it not as a destination that yields a singular artifact but rather one that imagines creativity as an essential tool for learning—one that not only tolerate...
Episode 19: Improvising life with Patricia Ryan Madson
June 21, 2022 10:00 - 54 minutes - 75.1 MBIf the past few years have taught us anything it is this: don’t get too attached to your plans. Or as Patricia Ryan Madson might put it, “Life is something we all make up as we go along.” For many of us, the improvisational life can feel awkward, uncomfortable, and even frightening. But with some practice, reflection, and a slight shift in attitude, it can lead us to a life filled with YES! One where opportunities and adventures flow naturally into our lives—ones that we willingly embrace an...
Rewind: Brad Stulberg on getting grounded
June 07, 2022 10:00 - 58 minutes - 57.4 MBIn this special rewind episode, we re-air one of our most popular interviews that guests on the show have often cited as a favorite. In it Brad Stulberg shares practical guidance to get out of the grind and build a more grounded life. Hustle culture keeps us grinding, busy, overcommitted, rushed, and subsequently ungrounded. It’s a phenomenon Brad Stulberg calls “heroic individualism” and it’s something he knows all too well from his own life and his performance coaching work with people doi...
Episode 18: Improving mental health with Meredith Arthur
May 24, 2022 10:00 - 43 minutes - 59.3 MBAt some point we all struggle with stress, anxiety, and incessant overthinking. Meredith Arthur, author of Get Out of My Head, is on a mission to help us find strategies for defusing these emotional bombs. Meredith founded Beautiful Voyager, an online community where people discuss mental health challenges and support one another on their journey. In this episode we talk with Meredith about her own struggles with mental health and how to muster the courage to admit to our own limitations so ...
Episode 17: The absurd brevity of life with Oliver Burkeman
May 11, 2022 10:00 - 56 minutes - 78 MBIn his New York Times bestselling book Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman writes, “The average human lifespan is absurdly, terrifyingly, insultingly short. But that isn’t a reason for unremitting despair, or for living in an anxiety-fueled panic about making the most of your limited time. It’s a cause for relief. You get to give up on something that was always impossible – the quest to become the optimized, infinitely capable, emotionally invincible, fully independent person you’re official...
Episode 16: Navigating midlife with Kieran Setiya
April 26, 2022 10:00 - 48 minutes - 67.2 MBThough most people pass through a midlife malaise or crisis, few have studied the phenomenon as closely as M.I.T Philosophy Professor Kieran Setiya. As Kieran shares in his book Midlife: A Philosophical Guide, people as far back as ancient Greece have written about midlife crises and searched for answers to life's big questions. In this episode, Kieran Setiya boils down what happens to us at midlife and exposes the wisdom of those who have come before us and found satisfaction as they entere...
Episode 15: Cultivating community and friendship with Tina Roth-Eisenberg
April 12, 2022 10:00 - 59 minutes - 81.6 MBLiving in isolation for two years without the support of community clarified for many of us just how nourishing and essential relationships are to us. Now that we’re starting to re-enter the world, how might we be more intentional about cultivating community? Tina Roth-Eisenberg—Swissmiss to her hundreds of thousands of followers on the web—has thought about this deeply. She’s the founder of Creative Mornings, a global creative community in 224 cities and 67 countries that welcomes thousands ...
Episode 14: Rethinking work with Scott Shute
March 29, 2022 10:00 - 1 hour - 82.6 MBToo often we’ve been told that the workplace is an arena of competition, a zero-sum game where the strong thrive and the rest barely survive. If we’re going to reconsider anything, it’s hard to imagine a better place to start than this outdated, outmoded, and destructive model of the workplace. In this episode, Scott Shute, the former Head of Mindfulness and Compassion at LinkedIn and the author of the book, “The Full Body Yes”, shares stories and insights from his experience leading a large-...
Episode 13: Long-term thinking with Dorie Clark
March 15, 2022 10:00 - 1 hour - 94.1 MBIt’s no secret that many of us feel pushed to the limit, rushed, overwhelmed, and perennially behind. We keep our heads down, focused on an endless to-do list without a moment to breathe. How can we break out of this vicious cycle of short-term thinking and create the kind of interesting, meaningful lives we all seek? Dori Clark, Duke University professor and author of The Long Game, wants to help us reorient ourselves towards big picture thinking that will help us make small changes today th...
Episode 12: Host mini-episode: Meet Aarron Walter
February 02, 2022 11:00 - 25 minutes - 59.5 MBNow that season 1 is wrapped, we're bringing you a special mini-episode to tide you over while we work on season 2. The tables are turned as Bob Baxley and Meredith Black interview their co-host Aarron Walter to uncover his origin story and why the themes of Reconsidering are important to his personal journey. Show notes and transcript: https://reconsidering.org/episodes/12
Episode 11: Host mini episode: Meet Meredith Black
January 25, 2022 11:00 - 27 minutes - 63.9 MBNow that season 1 is wrapped, we're bringing you a special mini-episode to tide you over while we work on season 2. The tables are turned as Bob Baxley and Aarron Walter interview their co-host Meredith Black to uncover her origin story and why the themes of Reconsidering are important to her personal journey. Show notes and transcript: https://reconsidering.org/episodes/11
Episode 10: Host mini episode: Meet Bob Baxley
January 18, 2022 11:00 - 23 minutes - 29.7 MBNow that season 1 is wrapped, we're bringing you a special mini-episode to tide you over while we work on season 2. The tables are turned as Meredith Black and Aarron Walter interview their co-host Bob Baxley to uncover his origin story and why the themes of Reconsidering are important to his personal journey. Show notes and transcript: https://reconsidering.org/episodes/10
Episode 9: Surviving Crisis with Shanti Brien
January 04, 2022 11:00 - 46 minutes - 54.1 MBShanti Brien received a phone call from her husband that changed everything. Authorities started a criminal investigation into her own husband’s company and he needed a lawyer to defend him. As a criminal defense attorney, Shanti knew how to navigate these situations but not when it was her own husband facing jail time that could tear her family apart. In this episode, Shanti shares how this moment of crisis and reflection helped her rethink her career as an attorney and inspired her to star...
Episode 8: The Power of Rest and Retreat with Katherine May
December 21, 2021 11:00 - 54 minutes - 57.7 MBKatherine May is a mother, nature lover, writing teacher, and a New York Times best selling author. She’s also been knocked down many times in her life and found a way forward by embracing the coldest passages of life. Katherine’s personal struggle is the subject of her most recent book Wintering, which has influenced many with wisdom about the power of rest and retreat to help us through difficult times. On this episode of Reconsidering, we talk with Katherine about work addiction, illness...
Episode 7: Less grinding more grounded with Brad Stulberg
December 07, 2021 11:00 - 59 minutes - 65.1 MBHustle culture keeps us grinding, busy, overcommitted, rushed, and subsequently ungrounded. It’s a phenomenon Brad Stulberg calls “heroic individualism” and it’s something he knows all too well from his own life and his performance coaching work with people doing their best to reach their peak. Brad wants to shake us out of the hustle mindset and help us find a more grounded, sustainable existence. His book The Practice of Groundedness provides the framework. In our conversation with Brad he ...
6: Resilience and career change with Maria Giudice
November 23, 2021 11:00 - 57 minutes - 60.4 MBWe all have those moments of uncertainty where we don’t know if we should stay put at our careers or jump ship. And sometimes we don’t have a choice and are forced to jump. It can lead to an existential crisis. Who am I now? Do I have anything left to offer? What’s next? These are all questions pop up in our conversation with our guest, Maria Giudice, who has navigated career change many times with grace. Maria Giudice is a design executive who has had quite the career in Silicon Valley. She...
5: Ximena Vegoechea on listening like you mean it
November 09, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 69.1 MBListening. It’s a skill that is hard to perfect in a world filled with distractions. But cultivating a satisfying life filled with rich relationships, growth, and connection requires this foundational skill. Getting good at listening to others can also help you tune into your own inner dialogue and emotional state. In this episode, Ximena Vengeochea, author of “Listen like you mean it” explains the art of listening and why it makes us better thought partners at work and at home, provide us ...
5: Listen like you mean it with Ximena Vengoechea
November 09, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 69.5 MBListening. It’s a skill that is hard to perfect in a world filled with distractions. But cultivating a satisfying life filled with rich relationships, growth, and connection requires this foundational skill. Getting good at listening to others can also help you tune into your own inner dialogue and emotional state. In this episode, Ximena Vengeochea, author of “Listen like you mean it” explains the art of listening and why it makes us better thought partners at work and at home, provide us ...
4: Making time with John Zeratsky
October 26, 2021 12:00 - 40 minutes - 94.6 MBFor many of us, time slips by mysteriously. It’s gobbled up by email, social media infinity pools, and the flotsum and jetsum of life. At the end of the day we’re left wondering, “uh, what did I do today?” John Zertasky, co-author of Make Time, wants us to be more aware of and intentional about how we spend our most precious resource—our time. John spent years working at Google and GV, the venture capital arm of Google. With that sort of background you might think John’s perspective on time m...
3: The career arc with Judy Wert
October 12, 2021 10:00 - 43 minutes - 49.8 MBCareers, careers, is there anything else so central to our lives that is so ill-defined and largely misunderstood? Academic career, sports careers, college careers. It seems we're awash in careers, and yet when it comes to our professional career, the one that really matters, many of us feel somewhere between uncertain and confused. Unable to see or appreciate the common patterns or longer arcs that might allow us to understand, process, and position our own ambitions, successes, and disappoi...
Episode 3: The career arc with Judy Wert
October 12, 2021 10:00 - 43 minutes - 49.8 MBCareers, careers, is there anything else so central to our lives that is so ill-defined and largely misunderstood? Academic career, sports careers, college careers. It seems we're awash in careers, and yet when it comes to our professional career, the one that really matters, many of us feel somewhere between uncertain and confused. Unable to see or appreciate the common patterns or longer arcs that might allow us to understand, process, and position our own ambitions, successes, and disappoi...
2: The Great Resignation with Vipula Gandhi
September 28, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 64.8 MBNearly 50% of the US workforce is reconsidering their career and thinking about leaving their current job. Was the pandemic the driving force behind this? What does this mean for employees right now? We dive into this with Vipula Gandhi, Head of US Enterprise and Managing Partner at Gallup Inc and the author of a very popular article that some of you may have read called The 'Great Resignation' Is Really the 'Great Discontent'. We talk in detail with Vipula about why people are re-evaluating...
Episode 2: The Great Resignation with Vipula Gandhi
September 28, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 64.8 MBNearly 50% of the US workforce is reconsidering their career and thinking about leaving their current job. Was the pandemic the driving force behind this? What does this mean for employees right now? We dive into this with Vipula Gandhi, Head of US Enterprise and Managing Partner at Gallup Inc and the author of a very popular article that some of you may have read called The 'Great Resignation' Is Really the 'Great Discontent'. We talk in detail with Vipula about why people are re-evaluating...
Episode 1: The myths of happiness with Bill Burnett
September 14, 2021 00:00 - 54 minutes - 46 MBFor most people the ingredients that go into a satisfying life are mysterious. Certainly career and relationships play a big role but they don’t always go as planned which makes satisfaction and happiness mercurial. Bill Burnett, Executive Director of the Design Program at Stanford, founder of Stanford’s Life Design Lab, and co-author of two best selling books Designing Your Life and Designing Your Work Life, thinks of life as a design problem that can be prototyped and iterated upon using de...
1: The myths of happiness with Bill Burnett
September 14, 2021 00:00 - 54 minutes - 46 MBFor most people the ingredients that go into a satisfying life are mysterious. Certainly career and relationships play a big role but they don’t always go as planned which makes satisfaction and happiness mercurial. Bill Burnett, Executive Director of the Design Program at Stanford, founder of Stanford’s Life Design Lab, and co-author of two best selling books Designing Your Life and Designing Your Work Life, thinks of life as a design problem that can be prototyped and iterated upon using de...
Reconsidering trailer
August 30, 2021 15:00 - 2 minutes - 6.48 MBThe pandemic has forced many of us to step back and reflect on what's important. Reconsidering, a new podcast launching Sept 14 from Meredith Black, Aarron Walter, and Bob Baxley, explores how to navigate big transitions in your career, relationships, and values to help you learn how to make a life while making a living.