Diverse Joy

Will and Amber are dressed up as Dorothy and Sophia from “The Golden Girls”, in honor of this month being the 40th anniversary of that groundbreaking television show. Amber's shares her joy a formal tea dining experience she had with friends (where they dressed “Bridgerton”-esque to make it extra special), and Will’s joy is his universally adored dog, Ezra, a silvery gray Westiepoo! Their discussion topic is generational biases, and Amber starts us off by quizzing Will and producer Eric Roman on Gen Alpha slang! They go on to discuss many ways inter-generational stereotypes and biases occur. One issue of note is the misperception that concepts or ideas are “new” when in fact they are merely new to you, or just more out in the open and have become mainstream (e.g., thinking trans* and nonbinary identities are “new”). This can happen both from older people against younger and vice versa. They also discuss age bias and questioning the competence of older (or younger) folks. Another important generational issue that can impede healthy discussion is neglecting to recognize both how far society has come and how far we still have to go. Amber and Will recommend both embracing the passion and fresh eyes of youth and recognizing the experience and groundwork of those who came before. They also draw attention to how people often dismiss the opinions and choices of both kids and seniors. During Story Time, Will shares a story about a time a professor made an assumption that his colleague was racist because he was older, and Amber shared stories about her “lifespan development” college course, including helping people visualize themselves older and bringing older ladies to speak to her class and the joy that always brought her students. This episode’s question is about imposter syndrome and how to cope with it. The bias habit-breaking skill covered this time is something the hosts help you work on every episode with their joyful recommendations, which is to Broaden Your Input via Media. If you can add stories from diverse perspectives to your media diet, it can help reduce bias! To help you apply that skill, consider checking out Will’s joyful media recommendation this episode, which is the evergreen, hilarious, smart, and wonderful television show, “The Golden Girls,” and its sequel series “The Golden Palace.” It was groundbreaking in many amazing ways, with many hot-button issues that are still relevant, or that have become relevant again, today! We now have merch! Buy some to support the show at https://www.biashabit.com/store Follow Diverse Joy on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, Threads, and Bluesky.

Will’s joy this month is the annual Woof’s Boat Cruise in the lakes around Madison, and Amber's is a lovely, heartwarming gift from her former students! The cohosts start off discussing the benefits that diversity brings to organizations. Teams with more diversity tend to have more creative, transformative solutions to problems, and some reports say that corporations with more diversity actually make more money. They also caution against thinking of diversity only in terms of utility, because removing barriers to full inclusion is just the right thing to do! Next, they talk about the unfortunate “Pet to Threat” phenomenon that can often push diverse people out of organizations. Coined by Dr. Kecia Thomas and her colleagues, Pet to Threat involves someone, often a person of color, first being trotted out as wonderful addition to an organization (like a “Pet”), but when they have new ideas or want to address problems in the organization, people start turning against them (they become a “Threat”). Another analogy for this is that organizations start off excited for someone to “shake things up” (seen as a positive), but when they start actually making changes, they’re “rocking the boat” (seen as a negative). During Story Time, Will and Amber share about their own Pet to Threat experiences and how that impacted them, and also how having the “Pet to Threat” label for their experiences has been therapeutic for them and others! This episode’s question involves the difference between “inclusion” and “belonging”, with a conversation around how and why many organizations have recently begun adopting “belonging” as a major diversity goal. This episode’s bias habit-breaking skill is to Track the Data. Tracking data is a great way to assess where problem areas might be and also how well you’re doing with solutions. Look at types of data you might track regarding your customers, clients, employees, or even just yourself! Will’s joyful media recommendation is the adorable, smart, and endearing television show, “Bluey!”, which is great for kids and adults! The cohosts shouted out and promised to link you to a lot of extras this episode, so check these out if you wish! America Ferrera’s amazing TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/america_ferrera_my_identity_is_a_superpower_not_an_obstacle An article by Dr. Kecia Thomas about Pet to Threat: https://www.forbes.com/sites/keciathomas/2024/01/13/the-persistence-of-pet-to-threat/ The song “A Diagnosis” from Crazy Ex Girlfriend: https://youtu.be/uic_3vlI5BE?si=Fv58K0tbGe4Uo6Oj Two great Instagram accounts Will and Amber recommend: https://www.instagram.com/astar4real/ https://www.instagram.com/aletheacrimmins/ Brene Brown on how “fitting in” is the opposite of belonging: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2ClCPF9w7yc Also check out the wonderful work by Julie Oyemaja and the Interprofessional Primary Care Institute: https://www.linkedin.com/company/interprofessional-primary-care-institute We now have merch! Buy some to support the show at https://www.biashabit.com/store Follow Diverse Joy on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, Threads, and Bluesky.

Amber's geeky joy this month is the creativity of insurance commercials, and Will’s joy is visiting the American Players Theater for Shakespeare productions. July is BIPOC Mental Health Awareness month, so the cohosts discuss bias and its effects on mental health. We talk about various ways that bias can cause mental health issues, whether that bias comes from outside influences or from within oneself. We also discuss coping mechanisms to help mitigate the impacts of stereotyping and bias on mental health, one of which is Amber's acronym SAFETY, which stands for Soul care, Asking for help, Finding community, Engaging in social activism, Tending to your whole self, and Yanking the plug. We also cover some of the obstacles and intolerance people have against mental health therapy. During story time, Will shares a story about a time he unintentionally expressed bias and was called out for it but worked to understand why what he did was not great, and a story about someone expressing prejudicial preconceived notions against his father for displaying American flags in office, and how his father came to understand that person’s differing perspective. These stories lead to a nice deliberation about how people can see the same event or symbol (e.g., the American flag) in very different ways and how to be intentional in the values we put on display (such as pairing an national flag with other, values-based flags). The audience question is about how to respectfully make presentations, or how to lead discussions, about identities that are not your own. This episode’s bias habit-breaking skill is to Retrain Reactions with the mnemonic Detect/Reflect/Reject. And we close with Amber’s joyful recommendation of the long-running, goofy, time-twisty television series, "Doctor Who", with a special shout out to Jinkx Monsoon! We now have merch! Buy some to support the show at https://www.biashabit.com/store Follow Diverse Joy on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, Threads, and Bluesky.

The cohosts and returning guest Nicki Vander Meulen are dressed up in rainbows and sparkles in honor of LGBTQ+ Pride Month! Nicki’s joy is a bracelet with a neurodiversity symbol for Autistic people, and Will’s joy is a rainbow necklace and a pin he got when our Inequity Agents of Change nonprofit was admitted to Wisconsin’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Amber’s joy is her work with The Rainbow Connection at Camp Ukando, where she helps kids cope with battling childhood cancer. This episode’s discussion topic makes use of Nicki’s expertise as a lawyer, as we discuss diversity and legal issues in the hiring process. We discuss laws and protections related to various group statuses and identities in the workplace, and what people can and cannot discuss when making hiring decisions. Even people who have good intentions related to diversity sometimes make big missteps in this area. The discussion also lends itself to a nice chat about disability and accommodations issues in hiring, including whether and when to disclose a disability-related need or diagnosis in the hiring process. We also talk about how to legally bring in diversity-related values to recruitment and hiring processes. During Story Time, Nicki shares a story of someone violating the legal guidelines related to race in a hiring process, and a more positive story related to someone from her past reaching out to apologize for not being receptive to her accommodations needs! Since this episode is coming out in during LGBTQ+ Pride Month, the question is “Why are Pride/Heritage/History months important?”, which leads to a great discussion about recognition of how many social groups, their histories, and how their contributions are sometimes overlooked. This month's bias habit-breaking skill is to Think Ahead. Bias is more likely to happen when we’re being more spontaneous. Especially in hiring situations, we can think ahead by committing to the types of credentials we want to use to make our hiring decision, which reduces the likelihood of bias coming into play. We also cover how these credentials you think ahead about can have built-in flexibility. We finish with Nicki’s joyful recommendation, which is the heartwarming, trendsetting, and transcendent music of Dolly Parton! We now have merch! Buy some to support the show at https://www.biashabit.com/store Follow Diverse Joy on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, Threads, and Bluesky.

To celebrate Star Wars Day ("May the Fourth be with you!)", Will and Amber dress in their favorite colors (pink and green) as "Star Wars" characters, and share "Star Wars" related joys. Amber's joy is attending one of Disneyland's After Dark Nites for "Star Wars" last year - with her mom, Will, and producer Eric Roman. Will's joy is the fun "Star Wars"-inspired details producer Eric Roman has added to their house. Before they get into the main discussion topic, Will shares some "bonus science" about aggression research. The episode's discussion topic focuses on Intergenerational Trauma, with the conversation ranging from epigenetics and genetics, to how the self-talk of parents can affect their children, corporal punishment and Stacey Patton's book "Spare the Kids: Why Whupping Children Won't Save Black America", and how events such as the Pulse nightclub shooting and the murder of George Floyd create collective trauma for members of related communities. And, importantly, they discuss steps to take to help heal from these intergenerational and collective traumas. The anecdotes from Story Time include a negative story from Will and how the Chienese Exclusion Act of 1882 directly affected his family and lead to his great-grandfather, who was Chinese and Native Hawaiian, to abandon his Chinese last name. Amber shares about how she helps Black youth in the predominantly White state of Oregon. The question this month is about how to "be better" when you grew up in a very racist space, and the short answer is that if you're already thinking about how to be better, you're on the right path! Put in the effort, use the tools you've learned from listening to "Diverse Joy", and keep at it. This month's bias habit-breaking skill is a spin on a classic: Broaden Your Input, but this time via Images in the Environment. Amber and Will discuss many great ways to increase representation in your physical and digital environments. The episode wraps up with Will's joyful recommendation of "Fire Island" (2022) as part of the lead-up to Pride next month! This movie is a gay, Asian-American take on "Pride and Prejudice" focusing on a group of friends who go to Fire Island for the summer, and all the shenigans that ensue! This movie is particularly imporant for its representation of diversity in the gay community, since a lot of LGBTQ+ media focuses on White folks, and the two main characters in "Fire Island" are Asian-American (played by the amazing Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang), with Margaret Cho showing up as their group's queer auntie. It's a lot of fun; check it out! We now have merch! Buy some to support the show at https://www.biashabit.com/store Follow Diverse Joy on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, Threads, and Bluesky.

We now have merch! Buy some to support the show at https://www.biashabit.com/store Will, Amber, and returning guest Sandy Eichel are dressed up in purple and green to celebrate Spring! Sandy shares their joy about early spring flowers, Amber continues that thread sharing her joy about the flower farms and tulip festival in Oregon, and Will’s joy is using butterfly pea flower tea to make color-changing cocktails! Sandy leads off the discussion about how to find joy in discovering you have room to grow. The hosts and Sandy discuss how to maintain positive motivation when you make a mistake, or when someone else points out a mistake to you. They also discuss some of the ways things can go wrong with someone who isn’t able to accept constructive feedback related to bias. This discussion produces several handy insights into how our emotional reactions to feedback can be used for good, to help us make progress, or how our emotional reactions can lead us astray, if we get too defensive or upset. One major area of discussion includes how some folks can have very strong emotional reactions to issues that don’t actually affect their lives at all (e.g., non-transgender folks having very strong emotional reactions to trans* people just existing). These strong reactions often arise from societal norms, more than any strong personal values that have been consciously examined and adopted. Habit disruption results in frustrated feelings, but try to redirect them and “get curious, not furious”! This discussion also leads the host to talking about how the “coming out” process that LGBTQ+ folks go through often involves examining and challenging societal norms, and also ways to expand your friend group beyond people who are similar to you. During story time, Sandy shares a negative story about someone being hostile about LGBTQ+ people even existing, and they share a more positive story about someone having a negative reaction to LGBTQ+ topics at first, but they later came around and thanked Sandy for the education Sandy provided. This story time also opens the door for discussion of how you can and should set boundaries and protect yourself during difficult conversations. This month’s audience question involves pronouns, specifically whether it might be good or useful to use “they” as a default pronoun for everyone until you know their actual gender identity and pronouns. That also opens the door to another question, about cisgender people using “she/they” or “he/they” as their stated pronouns, as a way to signal that they are open and accepting to diverse gender identities. This episode’s habit-breaking skill is Don’t Rely on Personal Objectivity. It backfires when people bluntly believe that they are objective when making decisions, leading to more, rather than less, bias. Objectivity is something you can strive for, but never think you’ve achieved it. We’re better served by being mindful of ways biases may influence us. This discussion also gets into learning about how to question your self-talk. The episode wraps up with Sandy’s joyful recommendation of the inspiring, calming, and beautiful reality show, “Escape to the Chateau”, which is a comfort show for Sandy, and it inspires them to try new things. The folks from that show also have a great podcast, called “Dick and Angel’s Chat…eau”.

March is Disneybound* month, something Amber enjoys every year, so for this month’s episode, we got dressed up as Chip (Will) and Dale (Amber) from Disney’s Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers! What’s bringing us joy this time? Will shares about how much joy cosplay brings to him, and getting to inhabit a character who’s someone other than himself - even if it’s a villain. And Amber talks about the joy she got from taking some of the high schoolers she mentors to Atlanta to tour HBCUs and helping them realize they could go to those types of schools. This episode’s main discussion focuses understanding what implicit bias is, and the controversy around the Implicit Association Test (IAT), and the ways in which it gets used without proper context and how that can create bad data (and how it negatively affects meta analyses of stereotyping and bias research). The discussion topic leads into the audience question where Will explains terminology variations regarding unintentional bias versus unconscious bias vs implicit bias (and how and why he prefers “unintentional bias” but for our purposes, they’re essentially the same thing). This episode’s habit-breaking skill is to Be Mindful of Your Input, because your social environment and the media all influence how you think, particularly related to marginalized or stereotyped groups. This discussion carries us into story time, where Will relates a story about a very young White boy whose only regular exposure to Black folks was on the TV show COPS and how that lead to an embarrassing situation; and Amber shares about a time she accidentally assumed a name that was difficult for her to pronounce belonged to the only Latin intern in her group, but she acknowledged the mistake and explained how it happened - rather than trying to ignore the error - and the intern graciously understood and forgave her. The episode wraps up with Amber’s joyful recommendation of Trixie Motel the motel (and then home) makeover show staring Trixie Mattel! *Disneybounding: If you are bound for (traveling to) a Disney Parks property, Disney does not allow adults in costumes (unless it’s a special event), so fans will create versions of Disney character outfits using “everyday clothes” rather than costumes, hence Disneybounding.

For this Black History Month episode, Will wears the Black History Month colors while Amber dresses in an Ankara print; they are joined by educator Bernie Hoes. What’s bringing us joy? For Will, it's an Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy he attended with friends; for Amber, it's Portland's My People's Market, a gathering of diverse vendors and entrepreneurs; and for Bernie, fellowship with good friends! Because it's Black History Month, the discussion focuses on the idea of Living Black History. It's a great discussion, with many great topics, ranging from Chocolate City in Baltimore, other Black neighborhoods in predominately White cities, sundown cities and counties, George Floyd, Walidah Imarisha, Snoop Dogg and Niecy Nash-Betts, Black vernacular and code-switching, to how Blackness is not a monolith, the "tyranny of categories," and so much more. Did it result in our longest episode to date? It sure did! But we know you'll find it fun and enlightening. For story time, Amber shares about a well-intentioned but unfortunately poorly executed diversity effort, and Bernie has a positive story about a student using “gay” derogatorily, but other students stepped in to question his word choice correct the behavior. Our audience question asks Bernie about the intersection of being Black and gay. This episode’s habit-breaking skill is Don’t Try To Ignore Group Statuses, meaning don’t try to ignore race or other group statuses, but rather acknowledge how they affect the lives of people, and watch out for how they could create biases! The episode wraps up with Bernie’s joyful recommendation of "House Hunters" as a lovely insight into diverse people's lives!

We help you ring in the New Year with this month's episode (released New Year's Day)! Will shares that (last year's) New Year's Eve festivities brought him joy; and Amber gives us an inside look at her Spotify Wrapped. This episode's main discussion topic is Beauty Standards and the Halo Effect (allowing people whom you might find more attractive to get away with things that you might not let people you find less attractive to get away with - see the TV show "You" as a great example of "the character is a stalker, but he's hot, so it's kind of okay!"). For story time, Will recounts a negative story about what could have been a human resources violation at a workplace related to a married couple where the wife was up for a promotion and the boss wanted to make sure she did not wind up with a pay bump that would have resulted in her making more money than her husband, but the HR person stepping in to stop that nonsense; followed up by a more positive story that ties into the main Beauty Standards topic, and how "Star Trek: Discovery" had a lovely storyline about a "repulsive looking" alien character finding love in the final season of the show (with a more traditionally beautiful character). In response to this month's audience question, Amber and Will discuss name bias and the ways in which it can negatively impact folks, such as applying for jobs (and ways in which to potentially combat that bias). The bias habit-breaking skill in this episode is to Adopt a Cumulative Perspective on Bias, which requires understanding that just because you might think if you slip up and express bias towards someone, you should acknowledge that your "one time slip up" is actually probably one of dozens of "slip ups" that person has been the recipient of that day - because bias, even minor slips - aren't actually rare and isolated incidents for those people experiencing them. The episode wraps up with Amber's joyful recommendation of "Never Say Never with Jeff Jenkins", a travel show hosted by a larger bodied Black man, who doesn't let the lack of accommodations for heavier folks stand in his way of having all the life experiences he wants to have (like skydiving).

This month's episode focuses on the holiday season. We share holiday-related joy! Amber discusses visiting Disneyland during the holidays and the extra magic it brings! Will's joy is his friends' annual (faux) gingerbread crafting party. This episode's main discussion topic focuses on cancel culture and how to move past cancel culture to have productive and constructive conversations when someone makes a mistake. This leads us to touch on many timely and important topics, including how to maintain accountability without "canceling" someone, the difference between guilt and shame, how to "call people in" rather than "call them out", and how to have productive conversations about correcting language that others might use without realizing it's offensive or problematic. This brings up several widely publicized instances of public figures being criticized (in some cases, we suggest, too severely) for honest mistakes or misunderstandings, as well as some cases of public figures who doubled down on their offensive rhetoric. For story time, Amber and Will both share stories related to difficult or productive conversations, which provides them a with a chance to discuss the negative and positive impacts those conversations can have. In response to this month's audience question, they provide additional advice on how to manage discussions about difficult or polarizing topics, and how to "respond" to criticism, rather than merely "reacting" to it. The habit-breaking skill in this episode is to Listen With Humility. When others bring up an issue related to bias, diversity, or related topics, have enough humility to hear what they have to say, and be willing to question your own way of thinking. Growth and change require some discomfort! And we close out with Will's joyful recommendation of the adorable, charming, cute, and quirky movie, "A Christmas Movie Christmas".

In this episode we have a very special guest, Valeria Martinez, Esq., who is an immigration attorney and joins Drs. Cox and Nelson to talk about immigration issues! We share joy! Valeria's joy is that after recently graduating from law school, she has now "made it" and is employed her lifelong goal of being an immigration lawyer! Will's joy is his 40th birthday this month, and being named one of Madison, Wisconsin's "Forty Under 40" class of 2024 by InBusiness Magazine. Amber's joy is her "forty before 40" list of forty new grand experiences she is working on before she turns 40 next year! This episode's discussion topic involves immigration, especially legal issues related to immigration. With our guest, we talk through some an array of topics and history related to immigration in the United States, including the Chinese exclusion act, the "undesirable aliens act" of 1929, the State Department's Diversity Visa program, country caps on immigration, the role of the law in mandating fairness, asylum seekers, the definition of migrants as compared to refugees, and more! For story time, Valeria shares difficult stories related to her parents immigrating to the U.S. from Mexico, and more joyous stories related to immigration victories in her legal work today. In response to this month's audience question, Valeria gives you her best advice related to what people should look for in an immigration attorney. The habit-breaking skill in this episode is to Broaden Your Input via Contact. In other words, seeking more positive, genuine contact with people different from you. Make new friends! Although we often assume someone of a different race or other group status won't have much in common with us, the reality is that you likely share more in common than you think; all you need is one small thing in common as a foundation to build a genuine relationship. As we build positive connections with people from different groups, those connections and relationships push back against biases in our minds. Genuine relationships then also can serve as resources for helping us to learn more about the experiences and perspectives of people in other social groups. And we close out with Valeria's joyful recommendation of the wholesome and multifaceted K-Drama, "The King's Affection". It was so lovely to have Valeria as our guest this episode.

October means it's our Halloween episode! For the occasion, Amber is dressed up as Weird Barbie from Barbie (2023) and Will is dressed up as Quicksilver from X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)! We share joy! Amber's joy is getting together with her family to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters; Will shares his joy about his friends' massive annual Halloween party, with a different theme each year! This episode's discussion topic involves the power of analogy in media representations. Although we talk about how media representation matters in terms of literal portrayals in each episode during our joyful recommendation segment, often the media can provide powerful analogies to teach meaningful lessons, and that's what we dig into during this main topic. This month's audience question asks why dressing in costumes of other cultures is often considered offensive, and we talk about the nuances around this topic. For story time, Will and Amber continue the thread from the question and share anecdotes related to costumes and culture and setting expectations for what costumes are or are not acceptable in a given context. The habit-breaking skill in this episode involves favoring mindfulness over blunt, ineffective approaches to bias reduction. Specifically, Don't Try to Bluntly Suppress Stereotypes! Bluntly pushing thoughts out of your mind actually makes those thoughts have a bigger influence on your subsequent thinking and behavior. And we close out with Amber's joyful recommendation of the heartwarming, insightful, and impactful Disney/Pixar movies Inside Out and Inside Out 2.

For this Labor Day month episode, Amber and Will are dressed up as Rosie (and Ross) the Riveter! We share joy! Will's joy is visiting Disney Parks, especially Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, which puts you on the immersive Star Wars planet of Batuu. Amber shares her joy about a recent project in which she reads fiction book series then watches their corresponding movies! This episode's discussion topic involves the concept of colonialism and decolonization, in which we seek to understand and examine personal or cultural practices that arise from colonial history. These practices can include things like leadership styles, decision-making procedures, and inherent hierarchies. The goal with this idea is not to necessarily reject "colonialist" ways of doing things, but to examine whether they are the way we want to move forward, or if we're just perpetuating the way "things have always been done" without critical examination. During story time, Will and Amber share stories related to people falsely adopting identities they do not hold, including the notion of "pretendians", which are people who pretend to have Native American Indian heritage. This month's audience question is about how to speak up for JEDI (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion) work when you're a member of spaces that don't have much diversity. This episode’s habit-breaking skill is to Question Assumptions, and discussion of that skill taps into many areas, including how more assertive communication styles tend to dominate in science and academic domains. And we close out with Amber's joyful recommendation of Beyoncé's invigorating and revolutionary album, Cowboy Carter. Shout-outs this episode include Disney World and Disney Land, especially Galaxy's Edge. We also mentioned Nicole Byer's "Newcomers" podcast. Books we discussed include "The Education of Little Tree" by Asa Earl Carter under the pseudonym Forrest Carter and "Yellowface" by R.F. Kuang. We also discuss the broadway musical "Hamilton." Amber also encourages you to check out the writing of her beloved and insightful friendtor Jude Bergkamp to learn more about decolonialism and decolonization! Will also wants to shout out the amazing Black country music star, Brittney Spencer, who was on the "Cowboy Carter" album. Check out her recent album, "My Stupid Life" (it's a bop!) and also her interview on The Daily Show with Dulcé Sloan, where they discuss many great topics related to Black women and country music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEb03tPe9eQ

This episode is the season premier of season 2! Will and Amber share their joy about people's responses to season 1 of the podcast, and also about their recent trip to the Bristol Renaissance Faire! They discuss the core philosophy behind "diverse joy", and why joy is so crucial for diversity work. During story time, Amber's stories touch on the theme of "yucking someone's yum", which can rob joy from others. In response to our audience question, we discuss how to stay motivated in the face of events and movements that oppose justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) work. During the skills segment, we revisit the core idea of how to Approach Bias as a Habit to Be Broken, which involves Motivation, Awareness, Tools, and Effort. We also discuss why and how we focus on developing skills that empower people to make changes to their own behaviors, rather than prescribing or enforcing "rules" about what is or isn't acceptable. This episode's joyful recommendation is the suspenseful and exciting Star Wars TV show, "the Acolyte". Also check out these shout-outs from this episode! Will mentioned his and Eric Roman's favorite Star Trek podcast, "The Greatest Generation" which reviews old Star Trek episodes (also check out its sibling podcast, "The Greatest Trek", that reviews new Star Trek and also Battlestar Galactica), they are @GreatestTrek on YouTube and on social media, and special thanks to their producer Wynde Priddy for helping us out! Amber and Will also mentioned the Bristol Renaissance Faire @BristolRenaissance on Insta and https://renfair.com/bristol/, at which we saw amazing shows by Barely Balanced @barelybalanced and Adam Crack @winrichadam. Amber mentions her nonprofit For Us By Us: Kinship Coalition, and Chris Rock's Documentary "Hair". Will also mentioned a book he thought was called "Hair", but we couldn't find it! Maybe he misremembers the title. Apologies! Amber also discusses her Psychology Today piece, "Catching One's Breath in the age of "I Can't Breathe"" interview. Last but not least, we also mention Eric Roman's photography, which you can check out at https://www.erbeining.com.

In this final episode of Season 1, Amber shares her joy about vacationing in Hawai'i, and Will shares his joy about the Madison Chamber Orchestra's annual "Concerts on the Square" outdoor concert series. We discuss many different ways that biases can seep into healthcare settings, through the perceptions of medical professionals, treatment plans, policies and procedures in medical offices, and even in the way medical equipment works. During story time, Will shares stories about a doctor jumping to biased conclusions about him, and also about finding a much better, more inclusive and accepting doctor. This month's habit-breaking skill is learning to disrupt Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, in which our expectations about others bring out the behaviors we were expecting, with people living up to our heightened expectations, or living down to lowered expectations. Amber's joyful recommendation is the visually and musically stunning masterpiece, "Encanto."

In this episode, Will shares his joy about Gay Pride month, and Amber's joy is seeing outdoor movies in the park! They discuss wellness and self-care, both in terms of individual self-care (e.g., rest, getting a massage) and collective self-care (e.g., coming together with community). Considerations of wellness and self-care are important for everyone, but are especially crucial for people frequently disadvantaged by biases and inequities. Amber shares stories about having to maintain work productivity after major collective traumas (i.e., the murder of George Floyd), and how a colleague helped take up burdens during that difficult time. This month's habit-breaking skill is to Speak Up when bias occurs, and we review several key guidelines on how to speak up about bias effectively, to effect change in others' behavior. This skill also provides opportunity to discuss something foundational to the podcast, the notion of adopting a "scientist-practitioner" model, in which we translate scientific evidence and knowledge into practical, concrete skills for laypeople. Will's joyful recommendation this episode is the endearing and heartwarming hit show, "Steven Universe". In this episode, Amber mentions using a Steven Universe song, "Here Comes a Thought", to teach people about mindfulness. If you're interested, check it out here: https://youtu.be/dHg50mdODFM?si=HA7kTYCkoKq-he8T

Amber shares her joy about attending Portland's Outdoor Market, and Will's joy is his koi pond waking up after winter! This episode discusses a major topic from Will's research career: the notion of "gaydar" as a legitimizing myth that perpetuates stereotyping related to lesbian/gay/bisexual (LGB) folks. Although many people have intuitions that they believe allow them to "tell" that someone is gay/lesbian, research in this area consistently shows that those intuitions most often lead to largely inaccurate conclusions in the real world. Expanding on this notion of LGB stereotyping, Amber and Will discuss many ways this type of stereotyping perpetuates harm, and also unpack the LGB community's multifaceted relationship with its stereotypes and communicating or concealing identity. This episode's bias habit-breaking skill is learning to identify and disrupt "Attentional Spotlight", which draws your attention more strongly to evidence that supports stereotypes (and away from evidence that contradicts stereotypes). Amber's joyful recommendation this episode is the thoughtful and dynamic TV show, "Home Economics", which tackles many issues related to social class and race, while still being wildly entertaining!

In this early spring episode, Will’s joy is his local Gallery Night, a festive celebration of local art and artists. Amber’s joy is cherry blossom season in the Pacific Northwest. This episode's discussion topic is “Intersectionality”, a term that had seen widespread attention and some misunderstanding in recent years. Intersectionality is a framework for understanding how our various identities come together (i.e., intersect) in unique ways. For example, the experiences of a straight Black woman and a gay Black man will have some similarities, but also important differences. We have a better understanding of people’s experiences when we consider their many identities that intersect. This episode’s question dispels misconceptions sometimes raised in rude public discourse that intersectionality is just about “adding up” identities for victimization. In story time, Amber shares a couple of powerful stories about difficult and positive interactions she’s had with police officers, and discusses some of the nuances of being Black and dealing with the police. This month’s habit-breaking skill is to Seek Individuating Information. The more you get to know the unique details that make someone and individual, the less likely it is that stereotypes and biases will try to “fill in the gaps” in your perceptions of that person, leading to discriminatory assumptions or behaviors. Will’s joyful recommendation is the hilarious and fun woman-led musical comedy TV show “Girls5Eva”.

In this Disability Awareness Month episode, we invite back lawyer Nicki Vander Meulen to talk about the history of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), especially how other movements, including the Black civil rights movement and the gay rights movement, cooperated to bring about the ADA. Nicki's joy this episode is the Marvel character Rocket Raccoon, who many see as an icon for inclusion, especially among the disability community. Amber's joy is that March is also "Disney Bounding Month", when she dresses up daily as various Disney characters, to the delight of all who know her! Will's joy is his annual tradition of throwing big theme parties for all his friends! We discuss the many protests and sit-ins related to the disability rights movement, including the 504 sit-in and the Capitol crawl, both of which succeeded in part due to solidarity and support from other rights movements. Throughout this discussion, we touch on many issues around disability and accommodations, especially highlighting how accommodations help everyone, not just people with disabilities. Nicki shares several stories related to obstacles she's faced as an autistic person with cerebral palsy, teaching us some ways people fall short in their interactions with people with disabilities, but also giving us guidance on how to do things better! This episode's question centers on why disability is not "just" a feature of people's medical conditions, but of obstacles created by a world that often overlooks differences in ability. Today's habit-breaking skill is learning to catch Untested Assumptions, which, when unchecked, serve to perpetuate biases in our minds. Nicki's joyful recommendation is the amazing "Guardians of the Galaxy" series of movies.

Will's joy this episode is "Camp Bingo", a local drag bingo event that fundraises for services for people living with HIV/AIDS, and Amber's joy is after-Valentine's candy sales! This month's episode focuses on weight bias, and Amber and Will discuss terminology for people who occupy bigger bodies, and many ways the world isn't set up for fat people, creating challenges for them. Amber shares stories related to being fat when seeking healthcare. This episode's question is "Isn't supporting fat people supporting them being unhealthy?", and in answer to that we unpack the relationship between body positivity and health, specifically challenging the notion that supporting fat people's body positivity is supporting them being unhealthy. In this discussion, Amber talks about the recent movement to champion "Health at every size". This episode's habit-breaking skill is learning to watch out for and disrupt Confirmation Bias, which results in us giving more mental weight to confirmatory evidence over disconfirmatory evidence. Amber's media recommendation is Lizzo's reality show "Watch Out for the Big Grrrls". (We also acknowledge that, after the recording of this episode, some controversy about Lizzo and that show has come to light. As of this episode's release the allegations have yet to be addressed in court.)