Bounce! Conversations with Larry Weeks

Larry Weeks
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A podcast about the challenges of being human (and running things). Host Larry Weeks interviews thought leaders across psychology, business, science, and culture to explore resilience, emotions, mental health, and practical ways to stay grounded through change while building purpose and real happiness.

  1. 2 DAYS AGO

    The AI Fallacy: Dr. Jerry Kane on Education, Work, and What We're Getting Wrong

    The AI fallacy is thinking the transformation is only in the tool. AI is already transforming education and work; not just because of what it can do, but because of what people believe it can do. Students, workers, managers, universities, and companies are all changing their behavior around AI, sometimes rationally, sometimes badly, and often before they even fully understand it. The AI paradox is that it is both a technology and a social event. It is a technology because it is something we install, manage, govern, and use. But it is also a social event because it functions as a moment in history, one that is already altering how people learn, work, teach, hire, manage, and make decisions. Treating AI only as technology leads to the fallacy: the mistaken belief that because a challenge is technical, the solution must also be purely technical. My guest is Professor Gerald C. "Jerry" Kane. Prof. Kane is the C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry Chair in Business Administration and Professor of Management Information Systems at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business, he has also served as a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Business School, a Guest Editor at MIT Sloan Management Review, and a Senior Editor at MIS Quarterly. Jerry's research explores the role of digital technologies in business strategy, organizational culture, and talent development, with a particular focus on how people and organizations respond to digital disruption. He is also the author of two books on that topic: The Technology Fallacy and The Transformation Myth: Leading Your Organization Through Uncertain Times. I had Jerry on the podcast before. This time, I wanted to talk to him because he sits in both worlds: he studies how companies adapt to digital transformation, and he is also a professor watching AI hit higher education in real time, not as a theory, but in his classroom, with his students, right now. Treating AI as a software update rather than a cultural shift results in 'bolted-on' systems that people neither trust nor understand. Some highlights from the episode. 02:13 Meet Professor Jerry Kane 07:12 How fast AI hit campus 13:22 The university policy divide 14:19 Workplace tools and incentives 17:36 Young minds and the outsourcing of thinking 20:20 Teach the basics first, then add AI 24:22 Degrees vs. lifelong upskilling 29:34 Curation as the new core skill 31:50 AI pushback from artists and creators 32:47 Ethical use over refusal 33:18 What's actually happening inside companies 34:13 Building a coalition of the willing 36:13 Shadow AI and the risks of unsanctioned use 38:25 Efficiency vs. transformation 40:44 Layoffs and AI washing 42:12 Middle managers and org structure 43:27 Adoption steps and safety 47:29 Minimal viable governance 55:35 Jobs anxiety vs. reality 58:30 Bullish long-term, uncertain short-term 1:00:49 Chatbots and attention traps Enjoy! For show notes and more, visit https://www.larryweeks.com/podcasts/

    1hr 2min

  2. 29 APR

    Happy or Hidden: Sonja Lyubomirsky on the Science of Connection and Feeling Loved

    Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky is one of the world's leading researchers on happiness, human flourishing, and what actually helps people feel connected. A Professor of Psychology at UC Riverside, she is the bestselling author of The How of Happiness and The Myths of Happiness, published in 39 countries. Her latest book, written with Harry Reis, is How to Feel Loved. Sonja's work has shaped the modern science of happiness and earned major honors, including recognition as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Basel, and several leading awards in personality and positive psychology. She also writes a popular newsletter on the science of happiness, and her research has been featured widely in media, documentaries, podcasts, and public conversations around the world. On the show, we cover: Self-help culture and happiness The happiness trap: doing what we think will make us happy that can backfire The counterfactual gratitude practice The "masking effect": seeking admiration and its impact on connection The vulnerability paradox Being loved vs. feeling loved Curiosity as a way of making other people feel seen Challenging the Five Love Languages Why small daily moments of connection matter so much On AI: the rise of AI companions and simulated connection The multiplicity mindset: why people are more than one trait or action For show notes and more, visit larryweeks.com

    50 min

  3. 20 MAR

    How to Decide: Gary Klein on Expertise, Intuition, and the Limits of AI

    You make hundreds of decisions a day. Most of them invisibly. A few of them under real pressure, with incomplete information and no clear right answer. So how do the people who do this for a living like firefighters, surgeons, military commanders, and get it right when the stakes are highest? That's the question Dr. Gary Klein has spent his entire career answering. Not in a lab. In the field. With people whose next call might be life or death. Gary is a cognitive psychologist, a Senior Scientist at MacroCognition LLC, and the Chief Scientist at ShadowBox LLC. He's one of the founding figures of naturalistic decision making, the study of how people actually decide in the real world, under time pressure and uncertainty. He built the Recognition-Primed Decision model, which has been incorporated into Army and Marine Corps doctrine. He created the PreMortem method of risk assessment, endorsed by Nobel Prize winners Daniel Kahneman and Richard Thaler.  He's the author of several influential books, including Sources of Power, The Power of Intuition, Streetlights and Shadows, Snapshots of the Mind, and Seeing What Others Don't, a fascinating deep dive into how insight actually works. Malcolm Gladwell put it simply: "No one has taught me more about the complexities and mysteries of human decision-making than Gary Klein." In this conversation, we get into everything from how Gary personally works through a tough decision to when you should, and shouldn't, trust your gut. We cover the value of first-person expertise, the difference between knowledge and knowing, how to use a pre-mortem, and why more information doesn't necessarily mean better decisions. Then we spend time on AI: what happens when people start outsourcing their thinking, and what might get lost in the shuffle. I also ask him to audit my use of his framework for managing uncertainty  because there's a lot of that going around right now. Some highlights from the episode: 02:35 The White House Situation Room (and why he can't talk about it) 05:17 Writer's block, pen and paper, and how Gary structures his thinking 07:37 Walking through a real decision: the medical scenario 10:53 Intuition: when to trust it, when to question it 13:00 Pattern matching, mental simulation, and the Recognition-Primed Decision model 18:00 The AI concern: outsourcing decisions and eroding expertise 18:42 The pre-mortem: how it works and why Nobel Prize winners endorsed it 22:35 The 80/20 of decision making: build experience and frame the problem 27:12 AI and the younger generation: old fogey worry or real risk? 31:49 Why curiosity about failure is the thing AI can't replicate 33:06 Tacit knowledge: the invisible layer AI can't scrape 39:07 Five sources of uncertainty — and tools for managing them 42:36 Wrapping up: the cognitive dimension and what makes humans indispensable We go from the mechanics of expert decision making to a surprisingly urgent question: in an age of AI, what happens to the skills you never knew you were building? Enjoy!

    48 min

  4. 20 FEB

    More Than Matter: Philip Goff on Mind, Value, and Cosmic Purpose

    Prof. Philip Goff is a British philosopher, author, and professor at Durham University whose research focuses on philosophy of mind and consciousness. He was an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Central European University and the Department of Philosophy, University of Birmingham. Philip is also the author of Galileo's Error: A New Science of Consciousness, Consciousness and Fundamental Reality, and his most recent, Why? The Purpose of the Universe, is the touchstone for this episode. We're covering some lofty territory today: from the hard science of physics and cosmology to the deep waters of philosophy, religion, and the question of God. Some highlights from the episode: 06:16 Framing the big questions: purpose, consciousness, and the value hypothesis 10:00 Fine-tuning theory: dark energy and the "casino" intuition 12:54 Meaning: Frankl, suffering, and why questions matter 16:52 Agency and teleology 24:18 Mystics and mystical experience across traditions 28:04 Consciousness and panpsychism 28:52 The 'Why' book tension: cosmic purpose, hope, and meaning 30:14 Returning to religion: becoming a 'heretical Christian' 31:32 Meaning as beauty, gratitude, and 'pronoia' 34:06 Scientism and other ways of knowing 37:47 Religion as social technology: community over doctrine 39:23 Orthodox mysticism + Anglican flexibility 41:19 Prayer: orientation vs. supplication 45:08 Meditation: creative energy without certainty 51:04 Reflections on affordances and enacted meaning Quick note: at the very end of this episode I tacked on a short addendum. I share how this conversation actually landed for me.  Enjoy!

    54 min

  5. 2 FEB

    Beliefs Behind Your Stress: Dr. Walter Matweychuk on REBT and the 'Musts' That Wreck Your Mood

    My guest on this podcast asserts that a huge chunk of our psychological stress isn't caused by what's happening but by the demands one quietly places on reality. In this episode, Dr. Walter Matweychuk teaches me about Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), which focuses on identifying and disputing irrational, self-defeating beliefs to reduce emotional distress and change negative behaviors. Walter makes the case that REBT is not just a therapeutic modality but a philosophy for living based on emotional responsibility, resilience, and a way to stop rating yourself as "good" or "bad." Walter is a psychologist with the University of Pennsylvania Health System and an adjunct professor at NYU who specializes in REBT. Formally trained by pioneers Dr. Albert Ellis and Dr. Aaron Beck, he integrates their foundational insights into a private practice serving clients worldwide. He is the author/co-author of multiple books and writes the Intermittent Reinforcement newsletter. Beyond his clinical work, Dr. Matweychuk is widely recognized for hosting the weekly REBT Conversation Hour, a long-running public demonstration of practical cognitive-behavioral strategies available at REBTDoctor.com. In this conversation: What Walter learned training with CBT legends Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck Shame vs. healthy concern, and Walter's "shame-attack" experiments The two big engines of disturbance: "ego disturbance" vs. "discomfort disturbance" The way dogmatic "musts" turn a bad moment into an emotional spiral "Philosophical acceptance": how to stop personal scorekeeping How to catch the belief that's driving a feeling in real time The little "8 ideas" card Walter sends people Long-term hedonism: how REBT thinks about pleasure, meaning, and tradeoffs Secondary disturbance: the second layer of suffering that keeps people stuck Emotional responsibility and why it's closer to freedom than "positive thinking" If stress is often a "demand in disguise," this episode might help you spot the demand and loosen its grip. Enjoy! Show notes and more at larryweeks.com

    1hr 40min

  6. 7 JAN

    Stopping the Clock: Steve Taylor on the Psychology and Physics of Time Expansion

    Society views time as a fixed commodity, yet modern theoretical physics and cognitive neuroscience suggest otherwise. If the linear flow of time is truly an illusion, then time isn't just a resource to be managed; it's a perception to be mastered. My guest on the podcast today, Prof. Steve Taylor, argues that time isn't experienced evenly. He suggests that where you place your attention and how you live day-to-day can change the way time unfolds, stretching or compressing your sense of it.  Steve is a researcher in psychology and a senior lecturer at Leeds Beckett University. He has served as the chair of the Transpersonal Psychology section of the British Psychological Society. He writes the popular blog Out of the Darkness for Psychology Today and has contributed to Scientific American, The Conversation, and The Psychologist. In his work on "Time Expansion Experiences," Steve explores why we experience time differently in different states of mind. We discuss everything from slow-motion accident stories (and why calm can show up in chaos) to meditation, flow states, and the mind-bending "eternal now" where mysticism and physics converge. Highlights from the episode: Accidents and "slow-motion" perception: Why the mind slows down in crisis. The age gap: Why children experience long summers while adults feel seasons fly by. Retrospective time theory: How we judge duration after the fact. Automatization: How your brain edits reality to remain efficient. Digital distortion: Social media's impact on your experience of time. The power of novelty: How small changes can make life feel longer. The "Block Universe" theory: Exploring Einstein and Minkowski's spacetime. NDE life reviews: Examining the spatial sequence of memory. Time cessation phenomena: What happens when time stops altogether. The discussion moves from metaphysics to real-world advice on subjectively "lengthening" your life. Enjoy!  Show notes and more visit larryweeks.com

    1hr 5min

  7. 08/10/2025

    When Goals Fail: Anne-Laure Le Cunff on How Small Experiments Change Everything

    We've been taught that success comes from setting goals, defining purpose, and executing a plan. But what if those very habits—the linear drive for certainty—are what keep us stuck? Dr. Anne-Laure Le Cunff, neuroscientist, founder of Ness Labs, and world-leading expert on mindful productivity, has an alternative: treat your life like a series of tiny experiments. In her new book Tiny Experiments, she explores how curiosity, liminal spaces, and small-scale testing can transform how we handle uncertainty and growth. Anne-Laure argues that traditional goal-setting and the "tyranny of purpose" trap us in rigid definitions of success and failure. Instead, she offers a science-backed framework for progress through curiosity-driven experimentation, an approach that replaces pressure with play and perfectionism with learning. We discuss how to navigate the in-between spaces of life, the thresholds between who we were and who we're becoming, and why those moments of uncertainty hold the most potential for transformation. Listen as we dive into how to build an experimental mindset that turns confusion into data and uncertainty into discovery. Highlights  What if the most uncertain moments are also the most meaningful? Invisible "scripts" quietly running your decisions, and how to rewrite them Why rushing to "figure it out" might be costing you your next breakthrough How to turn fear of the unknown into curiosity about what's possible The surprising neuroscience behind why smaller risks create bigger change A four-step framework that turns uncertainty into momentum Why chasing legacy might be keeping you from real impact right now How to slow time without quitting your schedule The overlooked social hack that makes personal growth exponential What happens when you start studying your own life like a scientist If you're in between, unsure, or just restless, this conversation is for you. Anne-Laure shows that uncertainty isn't a problem to solve; it's the raw material of discovery.

    35 min

  8. 08/09/2025

    Fear, Anger, and the Plans They Hide: Angus Fletcher on the Science of Primal Intelligence

    In a world increasingly dominated by AI and computational thinking, we've been taught that logic is the ultimate form of intelligence. But what if an over-reliance on pure reason is making us more fragile and less equipped to navigate uncertainty? Angus Fletcher is a professor at Ohio State's Project Narrative and the author of the best-selling book, Primal Intelligence. Angus's has had an extraordinary career path to say the least, from building mutant neurons in neuroscience labs to studying Shakespeare at Yale, and being recruited by US Army Special Operations to train their elite operators. Angus argues that the human brain is less a computational machine, and more a dynamic, narrative-based engine built for action and foresight. This "biological intelligence," often overlooked and untrained, is what allows us to operate with limited information, adapt in volatile environments, and innovate in ways no machine can. For his groundbreaking work on this very topic, Angus was awarded the Commendation Medal by the US Army in 2023. Listen as we dive into the science of your innate intelligence and how narrative thinking works, and how understanding what feelings are telling you can transform how you deal with uncertainty.  Some highlights from the episode: Angus's journey from neuroscience to Shakespeare to Army Special Operations Why hard skill, soft skill distinction misses the point entirely How biological intelligence differs from computational intelligence The Army's discovery about decision-making in volatile environments A novel take on the purpose of emotions  What fear and anger signals (and what to do about it) Special operators' techniques for turning anger on and off Why gratitude works best when applied to specific negative experiences The brain as a Swiss Army knife rather than calculator How to use emotions like a dashboard for better decision-making How an integrated past and branching future creates anti-fragility If you're curious about the kinds of intelligence that AI can't replicate, and how to better utilize yours, this conversation provides the science and practical tools to get started. For show notes and more, visit larryweeks.com

    1hr 4min
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About

A podcast about the challenges of being human (and running things). Host Larry Weeks interviews thought leaders across psychology, business, science, and culture to explore resilience, emotions, mental health, and practical ways to stay grounded through change while building purpose and real happiness.

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