Handling Difficult People, Healing Breakups, and the Science of Talking to Strangers | Shankar Vedantam

This is the 10% happier podcast. I'm Dan Harris. Hello gang. As somebody whose career revolves around the study of human happiness and flourishing, I am continuously struck by by this fact.

We know from all the evidence that one of, if not the most important variables when it comes to mental health and physical health, is the quality of your relationships. We know this. And yet very few of us are actually taught any form of what I like to call interpersonal hygiene when it comes to our romantic relationships, our work relationships, our friendships, and beyond. We're just kind of left to figure it out on our own, to muddle through. And so today we're going to talk to an excellent guest, a frequent flyer here, about some strategies from the psychological research, so some evidence-based strategies to improve your interpersonal hygiene.

Shankar Vedantam is the host of the Hidden Brain podcast. It's also a radio show. And on the show he explores the hidden patterns that drive human behavior. Shunker is also the author of several books, including The Hidden Brain and Useful Delusions. He's also somebody I've met and talked to many times and I like a lot.

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