Making Your Dog Happy with Dr. Emily Levine

Dive into the depths of our planet with "Stuff You Should Know" hosts Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant as they skillfully unearth the history and significance of plate tectonics. From the foundational myths of figures like Helena Blavatsky to the groundbreaking scientific contributions of Alfred Wegener, they explore the tumultuous journey toward accepting the theory that profoundly changed our understanding of Earth's dynamic crust. This episode not only charts the early conception of continental drift but also pays homage to the indomitable curiosity that propels scientific discovery.

The conversation ventures into the present-day mechanics of tectonic movements, detailing the monumental role they play in sustaining Earth's habitability. The duo elucidates how shifting plates shape our landscapes, influence global climates, and even craft cultural narratives, including our storytelling and speculative future geological formations like 'Pangea Proxima.' The hosts' engaging narrative transcends geological discussion, unexpectedly delving into the realm of pet nutrition and the credibility of veterinary expertise, further demonstrating their commitment to addressing listener curiosities and fostering an invaluable educational experience.

In the heartfelt podcast "REAL ONES with Jon Bernthal," actor Jon Bernthal invites Zach Skow of Marley's Mutts to discuss the inspiring initiative known as the Positive Change Program. This innovative collaboration, featured on the episode, brings together rescue dogs facing euthanasia with inmates yearning for a fresh start. It's a story of mutual redemption, reflecting the program's healing vision for both man and animal through shared rehabilitation journeys.

Listeners are guided through Skow's personal narrative, where his canine companion, Marley, was a pivotal force in overcoming addiction and loneliness, and how this bond stimulated the creation of an organization destined to enact social and emotional recuperation. The podcast eloquently unfolds the program's success since its inception at California City Correctional Facility, highlighting the profound changes in the lives of inmates and their four-legged trainees, as well as the overarching societal benefits—from reducing recidivism to saving dogs from untimely fates. Join Bernthal and Skow as they explore the powerful interplay of canine and human companionship within the walls of incarceration, revealing lessons of hope, purpose, and the unyielding potential for second chances.

Many college students take a Psychology 101 class, but not many of them actually absorb and remember the material. If you like the study of the mind but would rather pass on dry lectures, The Psychology Book offers a broad overview of psychology and how it’s changed over time, exploring its various fields and the major figures and theories in those fields. The authors bring a wide range of expertise to the book, including clinical psychology, business psychology, journalism, writing and editing, and music.

In our guide, we’ll explore the origins of psychology before moving chronologically through six major fields: behaviorism, psychoanalysis, cognitive psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology, and differential psychology. We’ll also add historical context, criticisms and limitations of certain theories, and updated research that supports or contradicts some theories.

In The Definitive Book of Body Language, communication experts and best-selling authors Allan and Barbara Pease argue that body language plays a key role in shaping interactions between people. The authors explain that during verbal interactions, people pay more attention to the facial expressions, gestures, and postures they see than the words they hear. Therefore, knowing how to interpret body language—and show the right body language—can help you communicate more effectively.

You’ll come away from this guide understanding:

• How your body language reflects and influences your emotions
• Why other people respond to you the way that they do
• How to adapt your body language to garner positive responses from others

We’ll also expand on the authors’ thoughts with psychological research, additional insights, and practical methods from other communication specialists and self-help practitioners.

Dogs crave eye contact with human beings because it gives them emotional connection. This desire is so great that scientists have hypothesized that dogs have evolved over time to develop expressions that prompt a positive response in their owners.

Do you wish you could better understand the ways people communicate with their body language? Nonverbal communication plays a huge role in how people express emotions and interact with each other. With an understanding of how to use and interpret body language, you can more easily form connections with others, adapt your nonverbal signals to suit different situations, and even alter your emotional state.

In Shortform’s Master Guide to Understanding and Using Body Language, we’ve collected insights from nine experts in nonverbal communication, including self-help authors, former FBI agents, behavioral experts, and leadership specialists. We’ll discuss how body language impacts our communication, as well as some of the most important contextual factors that should influence how we interpret nonverbal signals. Finally, we’ll look at a selection of nonverbal cues you can use to show others you’re open to friendship—and that may indicate whether or not others feel the same way.

In the Lex Fridman Podcast, neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman and host Lex Fridman delve into a myriad of interconnected themes, exploring the nexus of personal development, mental health, the dynamics of relationships, and the future implications of artificial intelligence. Together, they construct a rich tapestry of discussion, encompassing the crucial importance of physical exercise for cognitive stimulation, the value of introspection, daily rituals, subconscious cues, societal norms, and the influence of admiration within interpersonal relationships to craft a dynamic and enlightening dialogue.

Venturing into more intimate territories, Dr. Huberman unveils the transformative effects of emotional bonds, his aspirations of becoming a parent, and his unique approach to productivity. The conversation resonates as it zigzags from fitness struggles to triumphs in professional projects, before culminating into a compelling discourse on artificial intelligence and its potential impact on decision-making processes. Throughout the podcast, the synergy between the speakers creates a captivating blend of scientific insights, personal narratives, and thought-provoking analysis.

If you imagine a genius scientist or philosopher, you may picture someone sitting alone, lost in thought, slowly formulating their world-changing ideas entirely in their head. However, truly effective thinking could look very different. In The Extended Mind, science writer Annie Murphy Paul argues that optimal cognition isn’t about withdrawing deeper into our minds—it’s about engaging more with the world outside of our heads. By engaging intentionally with our bodies, environments, and social relationships, we can access more sophisticated and productive forms of thought.

In this guide, you’ll learn several simple cognitive strategies and habits that will help you better understand complex ideas, focus more intently on your goals, unlock more creative ideas, and connect more deeply with others. In our commentary, we’ll help you understand and implement these strategies by providing additional context from psychological research as well as books like Hyperfocus and Spark.

Humans play a wide variety of games, from basketball and chess to video games and poker. Why are we so enthralled with these games, even when they don’t really have an impact on our lives outside the game?

Theory of Fun for Game Design, by veteran game designer Raph Koster (lead designer of Ultima Online), discusses why games are fun, what games teach their players, and ultimately how to make a meaningful game.

When your child acts out, punishment may stop the bad behavior right now, but praising positive actions will lead to better behavior in the future.

How can we raise kids to be self-confident, independent, and compassionate? In Unconditional Parenting, author and lecturer Alfie Kohn argues that we should throw away the standard parenting rulebook and replace it with a new approach built on unconditional support, acceptance, and understanding.

Find out what kids really need from their parents, why using rewards and punishments doesn’t work (and can even backfire) in the long term, and what you can do to make your kids feel loved and valued for who they are rather than what they do.

In this guide, we highlight Kohn’s practical advice and add a few more techniques to try out. We also update Kohn’s research and consider ideas from development experts with similar approaches, including Maria Montessori and Janet Lansbury.

Disciplining kids often involves tears, yelling, and drama. In No-Drama Discipline, parenting experts Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson aim to empower parents to discipline their children without the drama, which creates the space to teach children, not just argue with them. This book builds on the lessons of the authors’ previous collaboration on parenting, The Whole-Brain Child, but with a specific focus on discipline.

In this guide, we’ll learn the basics of the authors’ approach to discipline, including how to calm your child’s raging emotions and solidify your bond before redirecting them to a new behavior. Throughout the guide, we’ll also feature advice from other experts on parenting as well as scientific context to help explain why Siegel and Bryson’s advice is so powerful.

If you've ever suffered from anxiety, you know how disruptive it can be to your peace of mind, relationships, and day-to-day activities.

In this Master Guide, we’ll examine what causes anxiety and how it affects your physical health, impairs rational thinking, and fuels unhealthy habits. We’ll also provide practical advice for preventing and overcoming anxiety. Our guide compiles research and methods from a range of experts, including psychologist Daniel Goleman, emotional well-being specialist Nick Trenton, neuroscientist Judson Brewer, self-help guru Tony Robbins, and biologist Robert Sapolsky.

You’ll come away understanding what causes your anxiety, why it’s often difficult to break free from it, and what practical steps you can take to:

• Curb anxious tendencies.
• Preempt anxiety-inducing triggers.
• Prevent anxious thoughts and emotions from escalating.
• Analyze and challenge anxious thoughts.
• Learn from anxious experiences.

Anxiety is sneaky. It lives in our thoughts and habits, and it can show up as a stomachache or a 3 a.m. Netflix binge. But according to Dr. Judson Brewer, you can recognize and counteract anxiety using mindfulness—the practice of paying close attention to the present moment without analyzing or judging it.

In Unwinding Anxiety, Brewer explains how anxiety becomes a habit and how it spawns additional habits that only make things worse. Brewer draws on his background as a psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and mindfulness researcher to show why mindfulness succeeds where traditional methods like willpower, substitution, and avoidance fail.

In this guide, we’ll walk through Brewer’s three-step method for treating anxiety while expanding on the techniques he mentions and offering some additional psychological insights from experts such as Daniel Goleman and Brené Brown.

Even though we’re all human, most of us don’t understand what drives people (including ourselves) to feel and behave the way we do. In The Laws of Human Nature, author Robert Greene looks at several laws that explain, among other things, why we self-sabotage, behave differently in groups, and want the wrong things.

Armed with the knowledge of these fundamentals of human nature, you can manage toxic people, become more empathetic, make people like you, and control your own nature.

Maintaining emotional love and connection in a relationship can be hard. Often, the problem is in the way you are communicating love to your partner, and vice versa. Have you ever demonstrated a gesture of affection, only to not have it appreciated? Does your partner ever say they don’t feel loved enough?

These conflicts happen because every person receives and experiences love differently. The way you experience love dictates your love language. There are 5 love languages: Word of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch. Learning to speak your partner’s love language can help you understand how to make them feel loved. And learning your own love language helps you understand what makes you fulfilled in a relationship.

Dogs crave eye contact with human beings because it gives them emotional connection. This desire is so great that scientists have hypothesized that dogs have evolved over time to develop expressions that prompt a positive response in their owners.

Have you ever wished you could tell what someone was really thinking? In What Every Body Is Saying, former FBI agent Joe Navarro provides insights into how to decipher body language. He argues that by practicing good observation skills and learning to decode universal patterns of behavior, you can master the language of nonverbal communication, gain access to people’s true thoughts and feelings, and detect signs of deception.

In this guide, we’ll explore why body language is an honest form of communication. Then, we’ll examine a process for reading body cues, as well as tips for detecting deception. Along the way, we’ll dig deeper into the psychology behind human behavior and compare Navarro’s insights to those of other guides on body language such as Robert Greene’s The Laws of Human Nature and Jack Shafer’s The Like Switch.