Our lives are populated by rituals. Baptisms. Funerals. Graduations. Singing happy birthday, chanting cheers at a sports event, saying grace before dinner. When we perform rituals, there's no causal link between the behavior and the hoped for effect; for example, there's no causal connection between exchanging rings at an altar and becoming wedded to another ... Show More
Yesterday
Big P vs. Little P Purpose: Why You Don't Need to Find Your One True Calling
People are told their whole lives how important it is to find their purpose. But many find the search frustrating. They feel there's one true calling or one grand goal they're supposed to be pursuing, but they can't seem to discern what it is.My guest, Jordan Grumet, author of Th ... Show More
50m 49s
Jul 28
Restless, Rooted: What the Odyssey Reveals About Americans' Divided Souls
With the release of Christopher Nolan's adaptation of the Odyssey, it seems like everyone's been talking about a 3,000-year-old epic again. But my guest thinks this ancient tale offers a framework for understanding our modern lives that you probably haven't heard before.Patrick D ... Show More
52m 37s
Jul 21
The Secret Skills of Master Negotiators
When most people think of negotiation, they picture big, high-stakes moments: haggling over the price of a house, negotiating a starting salary, or hammering out the terms of a business deal. But negotiation is also something we do every day. It’s working out who’s taking on whic ... Show More
1 h
Apr 2023
Dimitris Xygalatas, "Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living" (Little, Brown Spark, 2022)
Ritual is one of the oldest, and certainly most enigmatic, threads in the history of human culture. It presents a profound paradox: people ascribe the utmost importance to their rituals, but few can explain why they are so important. Apparently pointless ceremonies pervade every ... Show More
34m 18s
Mar 2023
How Rituals Attach us to our Communities with Dimitris Xygalatas, Ph.D.
"If you randomly assign people in two groups and you give them different insignia or you have them go through different practices, as we saw in this study, they come to like each other more. It's very easy to create this basic sense of belonging and identity. Ritual is particular ... Show More
56m 54s
Feb 2025
Rituals
This episode explores the importance of rituals in relationships, emphasizing how they create trust, connection, and predictability between partners. Whether it is daily acts, like greeting each other after work or having a bedtime routine, or larger, less frequent traditions, li ... Show More
45m 45s
Dec 2022
An Ancient Solution to Modern Problems
<p>People in every country and culture mark important milestones, such as births, marriages and deaths, with intricately choreographed scripts. We even appeal to supernatural forces to give our favorite sports teams an extra advantage. This week on the show, anthropologist <a hr ... Show More
51m 34s
Sep 2024
This Harvard Professor Studies Our Weird Rituals
Whether clinking a glass with a friend, blowing on a cake, touching wood for good luck or tapping the plane before boarding, most of us have at least one weird ritual. Today’s guest, Harvard Professor Mike Norton, studied them for years. In today’s Nudge episode, he shares his fi ... Show More
31m 15s
May 2024
The Science of Rituals & How They Can Transform Our Health, Happiness and Relationships with Professor Michael Norton #452
Have you ever thought about the role that rituals play in our health and wellbeing? Whether it's a morning routine, a pre-game warmup, or a cultural tradition, rituals can provide us with structure, meaning, and connection.
Today’s guest is Professor Michael Norton, Professor o ... Show More
1h 48m