Sharing my beliefs and thoughts on the Israel-Hamas war in an essay on brenebrown.com today. They don’t fit on an Instagram square, and many of you may find them naïve or conflicting or not enough. That’s OK. These ideas are based on my experiences, my faith, and my values. Link in profile.
We all have what it takes to lead. Every single one of us. #CourageisContagious
BACKSTORY: On 10/12/2020, Texas governor had protections removed by our state board. Social workers fought and it was overturned within two weeks. We’re not having it.
To all the social workers who are fighting crises inside of pandemics and working on the hard edges of love. Thank you.❤️
We’re all COVID-done but COVID isn’t done. I love these neighbors who are crushing both safety and fun!
Next year the kids are going to be asking, “Where’s the candy chute?”
Awkward, brave and kind, friends! 🎃
Our first podcast series kicks off with an interview with acclaimed psychotherapist Esther Perel. The topic for this first series is “Living Beyond Human Scale: The Possibilities, the Costs, and the Role of Community.” This series will be unique in that it crosses over between Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead, with discussions ranging from mental health and social media to readying a workforce (and a bunch of anxious humans) for AI. Also, rather than dropping two podcasts every week, I’ll be recording short series of 3-4 thematic podcasts that will drop several times over the course of the year. You can now listen to the new podcasts and our entire library anywhere you listen to podcasts — we’re no longer exclusive to one platform. I’d love to know what you think about the convo and any other questions you have around staying connected while living beyond human scale. Podcast comments are open on brenebrown.com ❤️
An important conversation with @elizlesser on how the world changes when women tell the stories on today’s episode of #UnlockingUs. Link in profile.
I love Mira Jacob’s book, “Good Talk.” I finished it in one day, and I still pick it up as a reminder and reference book.
This quote from her High Five interview is exactly what the book delivers:
“I wanted to talk about this very unglamorous, hard-to-define thing, which was how beautiful and hilarious and terrible and heartbreaking everyday conversations can be with the people you love.”
Somehow the hard-to-define messiness of everyday conversations feels better when you know you’re not alone. Thank you, @goodtalkthanks.
You can find the link to the interview in my profile.
📸 by @tazzystar
I love Mira Jacob’s book, “Good Talk.” I finished it in one day, and I still pick it up as a reminder and reference book.
This quote from her High Five interview is exactly what the book delivers:
“I wanted to talk about this very unglamorous, hard-to-define thing, which was how beautiful and hilarious and terrible and heartbreaking everyday conversations can be with the people you love.”
Somehow the hard-to-define messiness of everyday conversations feels better when you know you’re not alone. Thank you, @goodtalkthanks.
You can find the link to the interview in my profile.
📸 by @tazzystar
I define a leader as anyone who holds themselves responsible for finding the potential in people and processes, and has the courage to develop that potential. It has nothing to do with titles or corner offices. The toughest part of daring leadership is building a courageous culture where armor is neither required nor rewarded. #RehumanizeWork
I define a leader as anyone who holds themselves responsible for finding the potential in people and processes, and has the courage to develop that potential. It has nothing to do with titles or corner offices. The toughest part of daring leadership is building a courageous culture where armor is neither required nor rewarded. #RehumanizeWork
I define a leader as anyone who holds themselves responsible for finding the potential in people and processes, and has the courage to develop that potential. It has nothing to do with titles or corner offices. The toughest part of daring leadership is building a courageous culture where armor is neither required nor rewarded. #RehumanizeWork
I define a leader as anyone who holds themselves responsible for finding the potential in people and processes, and has the courage to develop that potential. It has nothing to do with titles or corner offices. The toughest part of daring leadership is building a courageous culture where armor is neither required nor rewarded. #RehumanizeWork
I see y’all! ❤️👊🏼❤️
Data from @texas_tribune
A conversation with @jon.meacham about about history’s lessons on leading through crises and deep political divides.
Also, the importance of humility and candor in leadership and why there’s so much at stake for the election right now.
This feels like an important and urgent listen. It gives me hope and resolve. Link in Profile to listen now.
“For the American idea, though it is shared by all of us, is realized in each one of us.” VOTE.
Photo Credit: Associated Press
You know I love a good metaphor! In this conversation, Amy compares the unpredictable change that’s happening right now to hitting a patch of ice while you’re driving. She explains that we have to resist the human reflex to slam on the brakes and instead steer into the ice. It’s the perfect metaphor because that out-of-control spin-y feeling is exactly how most of us feel right now. I think you’re going to really love her take on the world, the three trends that make up the current “super cycle” of change (AI, wearable technology, and biotechnology), and the need to increase our capacity for uncertainty (ugh).
I appreciate the difficult and rigorous debate in comments on the website. I’m listening and learning. Comments are closed here but will be open on the website for one week.
My intention with the new essay and the podcasts is not to change your mind about me or to change your beliefs. My intention is to share what I’m learning for the purpose of me being a better global citizen and highlighting work that is, in my opinion, important and could make a difference in the lives of many people. It’s important to note that I’ve read every comment, and we’re not going to agree on everything.
Link in profile.
Last summer, I received a flurry of texts from my fashionista friends that were all some version of, “OMG! @thebemagugu reads your books!” It turns out that he mentioned reading them in an interview for @britishvogue. It took me 20 seconds to fall in love with him and his breathtaking work! It took another 10 seconds to call my team and say, “We have to do a Daring Interview with him for the ABK Edit!”
His words are as beautiful as his designs! If you know him, you’ll love this interview. You can find the link in my profile. If this is your introduction — you’re welcome!
The stunning photography is by @travysowen.
Oliver Sacks wrote: “Music can pierce the heart directly; it needs no mediation.” I love this quote, and some of the most heart-piercing music in my life comes straight out of Austin, Texas. Hello Willie, Gary Clark Jr., Lucinda Williams, and Shakey Graves — just to name a few. I’d love for y’all to join us for a special fundraiser in Austin — the “Live Music Capital of the World.” On April 2nd, two of my favorite Austin musicians, Gina Chavez and Carrie Rodriguez, will join me and “Texas Monthly’s” John Spong for a night of song and storytelling to benefit HAAM — The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians. HAAM provides access to affordable healthcare for greater Austin’s low-income, working musicians, with a focus on prevention and wellness. Many Austin musicians are self-employed and have no access to health insurance or basic healthcare. They often work multiple jobs and struggle to pay for basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter, with nothing left for healthcare. I hope you’ll join us! You can buy tickets at thelongcenter.org — all funds go directly to HAAM! Rock on.
Oliver Sacks wrote: “Music can pierce the heart directly; it needs no mediation.” I love this quote, and some of the most heart-piercing music in my life comes straight out of Austin, Texas. Hello Willie, Gary Clark Jr., Lucinda Williams, and Shakey Graves — just to name a few. I’d love for y’all to join us for a special fundraiser in Austin — the “Live Music Capital of the World.” On April 2nd, two of my favorite Austin musicians, Gina Chavez and Carrie Rodriguez, will join me and “Texas Monthly’s” John Spong for a night of song and storytelling to benefit HAAM — The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians. HAAM provides access to affordable healthcare for greater Austin’s low-income, working musicians, with a focus on prevention and wellness. Many Austin musicians are self-employed and have no access to health insurance or basic healthcare. They often work multiple jobs and struggle to pay for basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter, with nothing left for healthcare. I hope you’ll join us! You can buy tickets at thelongcenter.org — all funds go directly to HAAM! Rock on.
Oliver Sacks wrote: “Music can pierce the heart directly; it needs no mediation.” I love this quote, and some of the most heart-piercing music in my life comes straight out of Austin, Texas. Hello Willie, Gary Clark Jr., Lucinda Williams, and Shakey Graves — just to name a few. I’d love for y’all to join us for a special fundraiser in Austin — the “Live Music Capital of the World.” On April 2nd, two of my favorite Austin musicians, Gina Chavez and Carrie Rodriguez, will join me and “Texas Monthly’s” John Spong for a night of song and storytelling to benefit HAAM — The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians. HAAM provides access to affordable healthcare for greater Austin’s low-income, working musicians, with a focus on prevention and wellness. Many Austin musicians are self-employed and have no access to health insurance or basic healthcare. They often work multiple jobs and struggle to pay for basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter, with nothing left for healthcare. I hope you’ll join us! You can buy tickets at thelongcenter.org — all funds go directly to HAAM! Rock on.
This is the second episode in our series on the possibilities and costs of living beyond human scale. In this episode, I talk to Dr. William Brady about his latest research on moral outrage and social media. We discuss the importance and helpfulness of moral outrage as an emotion and a catalyst for social change. AND, how dangerous things get when moral outrage is amplified by algorithms built to polarize, antogonize, and keep us engaged long enough to sell us some stuff. We also talk about how social learning (reading cues that help us feel good about ourselves and help us gauge our sense of belonging) can fuel online moral outrage, and why the way we show up online is often completely different than what we do when we’re together IRL. Last, as we head into an election year in the US, William talks about how his research team developed a polarization dictionary to identify how trolls and bots are used to intentionally create division and rage among social media users. I appreciate y’all being on this learning adventure with me and my team. I’m torn between wanting to know and not wanting to know (insert ostrich emoji). But whether we know it or not, we feel the anxiety and overwhelm associated with technology, social media, and the sheer velocity of nonstop information, so I think it’s helpful to understand why. In the spirit of trying to develop community and create a space for debate and discourse, we’re going to close comments on Instagram and Facebook, and open commenting on brenebrown.com (which is and has always been 100% ad free). Right now there’s a pretty basic commenting platform, but we’re working on new ways to support community conversations. We’ll test and learn together. ❤️
The research and reporting for this article is so impressive, but the content is tough. As I read about mothers monetizing their daughters despite the real risks to their mental health and the onslaught of predatory men, I emotionally bounced from disbelief to anger (with judgment rising). I was shocked to read that nearly one in three preteens lists influencing as a career goal. What do we need to understand about influencing and being influenced? This might be the very worst side of the influencer/creator economy, but I think it holds lessons for all of us. When reading about the mothers who felt like they could not stop the influencing or shut down accounts despite knowing the harm it was causing, I kept thinking, “Damn, this sounds a lot like addiction.” I know social media can feel like addiction. Even when it’s hurting us, we don’t stop. Two things: 1. Please know that we talk about child exploitation and the sexualization of girls in this conversation. 2. We’re still experimenting with comments. We built a commenting platform on brenebrown.com. We’re trying new things to see what works and what doesn’t. Is it possible to have meaningful convos and debate on what’s going on in the world today? Jury is still out.
This is the third podcast in our series on living beyond human scale, and I have NOT stopped thinking about my conversation with Dr. S. Craig Watkins since we spoke last week. Our team got an early listen and we were blown away by Craig’s ability to walk us through what is known in the AI community as the “alignment problem” — who needs to be at the table in order to build systems that are aligned with our values as a democratic society? He uses powerful examples about what happens when we start unleashing AI in high stakes environments like education, healthcare, and criminal justice. The question is: What guardrails, policies, and ethical principles do we need to make sure that we’re not scaling injustice? Here’s one of the many, many quotes that shook me by the shoulders: “If we’re going to build AI that matters — AI that impacts the world in a significant way — we’ve got to expand who’s contributing to that conversation and who’s driving how we design and deploy these systems. This is no longer a problem that’s adequately solved by just computer scientists or engineers. Doing that has gotten us to the point now where we see that that’s insufficient, inadequate, and increasingly indefensible.” In the spirit of trying to develop community and create a space for debate and discourse, we’re going to close comments on Instagram and Facebook, and open commenting on brenebrown.com.
