Adult Friendships, Too Much to Do, Professional New Year's Resolutions, Paradox of Choice, The Lullaby Project, Accessibility Rights

Adult Friendships (0:00:00) You know the song “make new friends, but keep the old”? Well this was a great little rhyme when you were younger and making friends was as easy as sharing your favorite toy or helping each other do homework. But sometimes as we get older, making new friends where bonds are strong and secure as your old friends is not as common. We have less time, less in common, and perhaps have become even a little close-minded. But adult friendships can be some of the most rewarding and sustaining aspects of our lives. So how can you make friends as an adult? We are talking to Olivia June, the creator of the app Hey! Vina, which is like a dating app for making friends.  Too Much to Do (0:16:42) Stress and lack of balance. They’re like monsters crouching just around the corner, waiting to pounce on us if we give them even the tiniest chance. It’s so hard not to fall into the trap of sacrificing important things (like sleep!) for more hours to be productive in other areas! What can we do to find balance? With us is Megan McNealy, a workplace well-being specialist and author of the new book Reinvent the Wheel, a look at how top leaders attain well-being and success simultaneously. Professional New Year's Resolutions (0:33:32) With the new year and new resolutions swirling about, what are you choosing to focus on in 2020? Well whether you have or haven’t already made goals concerning your work, we’ve invited Jodi Smith onto the show to talk about the right professional resolutions that will help propel you in your career.    Paradox of Choice (0:49:19) Can there be too much of a good thing? Sometimes trying to figure out which choice to make between two good options can be paralyzing and uncertain. This phenomenon is called the paradox of choice: where too many options can actually be limiting instead of liberating. It’s an idea unique to us when we are presented with too many options and we are left unsure which is the best, when perhaps there just isn’t a “best”. Here to talk with us about this theory is Dr. Barry Schwartz, an emeritus professor of psychology at Swarthmore College, who has dedicated an entire book to understanding the “paradox of choice,” which is called by the same name.  The Lullaby Project (1:07:24) Have you ever heard of the Lullaby Project? This project helps expectant mothers and parents who want to connect better with their babies and brings them a means to do this through music. Carnegie Hall-performing artists work with parents to create songs and poems for their unborn babies as a gift to bring them closer to their children and each other. We are joined by the Director of Lullaby Project Tiffany Ortiz and teaching artist Jean Rohe to talk about how this project has influenced the lives of many parents.  Accessibility Rights (1:22:31) Wheelchair accessibility is perhaps an issue that maybe not many of us think about, but is a significant part of many people’s lives. If you are in a wheelchair, you have to take into account whether where you live, visit, eat, and travel has accessibility or not. These issues can often hold you back. We are here today to talk about how to better educate ourselves on accessibility rights and how that affects the lives of people who are in wheelchairs. We are pleased to be joined by Reveca Torres, an accessibility rights advocate and founder of a nonprofit called Backbones.