Maya Shankar is a cognitive neuroscientist and host of the award-winning podcast A Slight Change of Plans. As a girl, she struggles with taking things too seriously: herself, the sufferings of others, the hypothetical misfortunes she imagines for the future. She turns to her father for perspective — and he takes her on a memorable walk, one that helps her un ... Show More
Apr 14
How the bees saved me, by Dr. Marla Spivak
Before becoming a MacArthur award–winning entomologist, Dr. Marla Spivak is adrift – first as a young woman in search of direction, then deep in the Amazon, severely ill and fearing death. Time and again, it’s the hum of bees that shows her a path forward. Apiculture doesn’t just ... Show More
30m 7s
Apr 7
Forging my own path, by Isha Sesay
Writer Isha Sesay is happiest when she is caring for others; it’s a lesson she learns from her mother while growing up in Sierra Leone. But as an adult, there’s another lesson her mother teaches her, in quite another way: that even the most caring and giving among us must learn t ... Show More
33m 1s
Mar 31
Dancing on my own, by Alex Morris
Just out of school, writer Alex Morris gets a job performing and teaching improv comedy in London, playing absurd characters night after night. But his knack for hiding his true self starts long before he ever steps onstage. Alex is hiding a secret — one that only his family and ... Show More
35m 14s
May 2022
Headspace x Dr. Maya Shankar: Control is an Illusion
Cognitive Scientist Dr. Maya Shankar is guest-hosting all week! Dr. Shankar hosts “A Slight Change of Plans,” a podcast all about who we are and who we become in the face of a big change. Over the next several episodes, she’ll talk about how to work with change, instead of agains ... Show More
6m 10s
Oct 2021
Dr. Maya Shankar | Change Happens
<p>Imagine being so drawn to a pursuit as a kid, it consumes most of your waking hours, rapidly becomes your identity, and is the thing you believe you’ll devote your life to, and then, in the blink of an eye, it’s taken away. That’s what happened to Maya Shankar, who fell in lov ... Show More
1h 1m