How to Be a Better Human Recommends
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I'm Chris Duffy, and you're listening to How to Be a Better Human. You know, whenever people ask me about hosting this podcast, one of the things that I tell them is that I really do actually record this podcast in my bedroom while hiding underneath a little makeshift blanket fort. That's where I am right now, for real. And it is a surprisingly effective sound booth. And the other thing that I tell them is that it is mind-blowing to me how much great material we have to cut out of each episode. Not for me, from our guests.

One thing is we finish every interview by asking our guest what is something that has made them a better human. So maybe it's a movie or a book or a song. And we've gotten so many incredible recommendations from them, and only a few of which have actually made it onto the podcast. So today, we wanted to try something a little bit different. This is an episode stitched together from many different interviews. What inspires the brilliant people who have been on our show? What do they turn to? In this episode, you're going to find out. So first up, we have Franklin Leonard.

Franklin is a film and television producer and the founder of The Blacklist, which transformed the way that Hollywood made movies by celebrating the best unproduced screenplays each year. Here's how Franklin responded when we started talking about whether any movie he'd ever seen had helped him to be a better human. I don't know if there's anything that I can articulate about what I learned about being human, except for an appreciation for being alive. I remember watching Moonlight at the Toronto Film Festival and

I just remember thinking that everything in this moment right now is perfect because a movie like this exists and a movie like this is as good as it is. And I don't know what's going to happen. I don't, I remember somebody asking me like, do you think it could win best picture? And I remember, I remember saying if there is any justice, it will, but I don't necessarily believe that there is.

But I knew in that moment that beauty existed and that I was reminded that a certain kind of human connection existed. And I knew that it was possible to recreate it. And that oftentimes is what we all need to get up in the morning and keep going through what we go through on a day-to-day basis. I could not agree with what Franklin just said more. Moonlight is such an incredible film.

Even the script alone is just incredible. I started reading a copy because I was curious to see how it was formatted and I wanted to see like what it looks like. And the next thing I knew, I had read the entire script cover to cover. It was just that beautiful and gripping. OK, but also in our interview with Franklin, he and I discovered that we are both very obsessed with a very different film.

I think you bring up such a great point, too, which is that you can have a fantastic script that makes you think about the world in a different way and think about what it means to be a human in a different way in any kind of film. I mean, one of my favorite examples of this, other than the ones that you brought up, is that Paddington, too, is a takedown of the criminal justice system in the carceral state. That's a little stuffed bear who's really fighting for change.

I will not lie, when I watch Paddington 2, movie ends. Those of you who've seen it will know the moment that I'm talking about. I burst into tears and was inconsolable for a good five minutes. And that's the thing. Big commercial movies, Paddington 2, Marvel movies, Pixar, you know, animated films. Do not be stupid enough to believe that you know better about what something is until you've experienced that thing. It's like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

Once you've watched it or once you've experienced it or you know enough to actually say concretely why this thing isn't good, by all means, have an opinion. But you yourself are preventing yourself from having joy by making assumptions about an entire class of art without ever actually experiencing it. Okay, we are going to have more recommendations from more brilliant people right after this.

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Hello, hello. I'm Malik. I'm Jamie. And this is World Gone Wrong, where we discuss the unprecedented times we're living through. Can your manager still schedule you for night shifts after that werewolf bit you? My ex-boyfriend was replaced by an alien body snatcher, but I think I like him better now. Who is this dude showing up in everyone's old pictures? My friend says the sewer alligators are reading maps now. When did the kudzu start making that humming sound?

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I mean, you could like up the energy a little bit. You could up the energy. I actually don't take notes. That was good. I'm just kidding. You sounded great. So did you. And we are back. OK, so on today's episode, we are revisiting past conversations with brilliant guests and then sharing some of their recommendations for what has made them a better human. Christopher Robichaux teaches very serious people all about ethics and philosophy.

And then surprisingly and delightfully, he has a podcast of his own where he analyzes the philosophical questions that are brought up by popular culture, things like superhero movies or zombie films or all sorts of stuff. And here's what he said have been some of his favorite moments to analyze from popular culture. Personal favorite is one that I had. I think it's the last one that we've done before the pandemic. We took a break because many of my guests are academics and all of us had to sort of

go under and learn how to do zoom for a year but the last one that we did which ended up then being um uh later on a video as well with more folks was on the watchman television show and uh the guest was chris lebron a dear friend of mine and uh you know he and i talked about this television show which i think is just absolutely phenomenal really showing the way you can

do well, this idea of telling a great story and also tackling very, very challenging issues surrounding, uh, surrounding race conversation that we had was very enriching. And, um, I, I'll use this as an advertisement, watch that show, read the Watchman graphic novel first, and then watch that show. It is amazing. And it has one of the best episodes of superhero origin stories. I think ever not going to give anything away, but, um,

Just absolute magic. So the last one is my favorite one. I can't wait to get back to it when we all return to some degree of normal, which is likely going to be this fall. Yeah, I also want to second that recommendation. I love Watchmen. It's such an unbelievably nuanced show. And I think it's genuinely changed some of the discourse in the United States and and brought a lot of new media attention to the history of the Tulsa massacre.

Also, one of the writers, Cord Jefferson, is just one of my favorite people writing TV. I think everything that he makes is brilliant. And Watchmen is, I just want to say, also a great show, period. It's not just important. It's both important and very entertaining. It's rare that you get both of those together. Okay, and now you might know Aparna Nancherla from her stand-up comedy, from her jokes on Twitter, or from her starring roles in shows like BoJack Horseman or Corporate or Space Force.

And here is Aparna's recommendation for a podcast that helps make her a better human. A podcast other than this one, obviously. I've been listening to a podcast called Hurry Slowly by this woman, Jocelyn Gly, and she was noting how answering emails...

Like after you answer each one, you get a little fix of completion or like a little high versus a longer term project that might not elicit that same rush because you're kind of just plugging away with like another drop in the bucket towards completion. In our episode with Lucy Hone, who's an expert on grief and resilience, she's going to talk

I found myself thinking over and over about the power of music to capture some of the depth of grief and sadness in a way that maybe nothing else can. You know, the idea of like a breakup song that's so ubiquitous. Music and lyrics that perfectly capture the experience of being heartbroken. And I think that that experience can expand past just love to grief and death and mourning of all sorts.

So in our conversation, I told Lucy about how much meaning I have found in the musician Nick Cave's writing and how open he is about losing his son in a tragic accident. He once wrote about this idea that he can continue to speak to his son and can continue to build a relationship with him even if his son is no longer physically present. And that's really stuck with me. And I've thought about that a lot. And Lucy told me that for her, music has also been incredibly helpful.

One practical tool I use to help inspire me about these kind of checkered life stories that we all live through is I listen to Desert Island Discs, which comes from the BBC. And I've been listening to it since I was a reasonably young girl. It used to be on Friday mornings.

And now I listen to it on podcast and we all do as a family. And it has, I love the fact that it gives you, it gives me kind of hope and faith that somehow we will just kind of get through. And it's a,

so many stories of how just people, famous people talking about their lives and their favorite music and their favorite book. And I love this kind of concept. I love the combination of bringing music. Music is everything to us as a family. We absolutely, music is probably the thing that helps me most to be a better human and lift my mood. So that and Desert Island Discs podcast.

We're going to take a quick break. So while we're gone, think about your desert island discs. And by the time you're done coming up with what you'd take to a desert island, we'll be right back. Don't go anywhere. Warmer, sunnier days are calling. Fuel up for them with Factor's no prep, no mess meals. You can meet your wellness goals thanks to this menu of chef crafted meals with options like calorie smart, protein plus, veggie vegan or keto. And Factor has fresh, never frozen meals, which are dietician approved and ready to eat in just two minutes.

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There's also engineered air mesh on the upper side of the shoe that provides the right amount of stretch and structure. It'll turn everyday miles into everyday endorphins. That sounds good, right? Let's run there. Visit brooksrunning.com to learn more. And we are back. Okay, so it's not just podcasts, movies, and music that people recommend when I ask them what's helped them to be a better human. In fact, probably more than any other answer, our guests have recommended books, books that transform them for the better.

Here is what political scientist Rob Willer, who studies how to have conversations across ideological divides, here's the book that he recommended.

One thing I was thinking about today is Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man," which is a novel about the Black American experience in the mid-20th century, but I think it resonates now, and in particular the experience of being a Black man in America. And that book, for me, just taught me a lot about race when I was

at a young age when I just didn't know. I was having trouble tapping into other perspectives, I mean, which we're always struggling to do, to get out of our own heads and into the heads of other people with different experiences from us. But now it was sort of like an empathy generator for me. Okay, so Dr. Lina Nguyen is a public health leader, and she's done an enormous amount of work to help patients gain control over the care that they and their loved ones receive. And she also recommended a book.

Well, I mean, I've been reading a lot of memoirs. From all of them, of course, I learn a lot. The last memoir that I read is one that is particularly meaningful to me because it was written by my mentor and the late Congressman Elijah Cummings from Maryland. And he used to say, and this was reflected so much in his book, that you turn your pain into your passion that is your purpose.

Pain, passion, and purpose. When I think about the course of my life and my career, that very much defines me. My mother's illness, as an example, was something that was so deeply painful. I mean, she died 10 years ago. And I think about her every day, especially as I look at my young children. My mother was a teacher. She would have loved more than anything else to get to know my kids. And of course, that's something that would never happen.

And I think about how something that was this extremely painful part of my life and my upbringing was what fueled my passion for patient advocacy, that then I was able to turn into my purpose as well as a provider of healthcare, as someone who's shaping policy as well. And so I think for me, and I know for so many others, that idea of pain, passion, and purpose is

helps to give us meaning and helps to drive us in what we do. It's probably no surprise that Juli Delgado Lopera, as an award-winning author, would also recommend a book.

Here's what they said when I asked them if a book had ever helped them to become a better human. Definitely Pedro Lemebel. So Pedro Lemebel was a Chilean writer and activism performer who passed away five years ago. He has a novel called My Tender Matador. A lot of his work hasn't been translated. And he writes in this like Chilean slang, very rococo, very embellished. And he manages to pack together some like

anti-capitalist like protesting at the same time that he's like, you know, in a drag show. So he's wonderful. And he was alive during the Pinochet regime in Chile. And he totally, totally changed my life. So pero le mevel. I would also add that Juli's book Fiebre Tropical is so well written and unique. Now, they're not going to recommend their own book, but I can. So read Fiebre Tropical by Juli Delgado Lopera.

And last but certainly not least, educator and activist Michelle Kuo gave a TEDx talk about the transformative power of reading. So there's probably no one better to end this episode with. Here are some recommendations from her. So I love the Makioka Sisters, which I was talking about earlier by Tanizaki. It's a long book. And I read it first when I was pregnant and I reread it again for this book club that we started. But

It was, it's just a fully immersive world into Japanese, this like dying Japanese world of customs and ritual in Osaka, Japan. And I got totally, but it's also escapist enough with all of these various marriage plots and rejected suitors that it doesn't feel, you feel like you can leave behind your current world.

What is one idea or book or movie or piece of music or what's one thing that has made you a better human? Well, I'll choose my favorite book here, which is Middlemarch. It's just an extraordinary book by George Eliot. And I reread it every couple of years. I love the book because the people are so flawed, but nonetheless lovable. So I don't know if I should explain the plot, but it's basically a marriage plot.

where this woman marries a guy and she thinks that he, this is not a story about my husband, by the way, I've liked this book before. Important disclaimer. Yeah. She marries a guy who she thinks she really loves. Everybody's like, why are you marrying him? He's so old and he's got all of these warts on his face. Don't do it. And she's like, no, no, no, none of you understand him. He's a man of knowledge.

He's writing this book that has the key to all mythologies. I'm going to help him with his book. And together, we're going to make these incredible contributions to the human mind. And then through her marriage, she feels just increasing realization that she married the wrong person. She feels despair. She wonders about what the point of his project is, whether it's intellectual or creative. She just doesn't believe in it.

And it's funny as I keep going back to this book, you know, as you read this book, you're like, oh my God, I feel so bad for her. But then as you grow older, you feel really bad for the husband. And I love how their perspective changes. You just, you're like, oh my God, am I like this guy? Are my creative projects...

worthless. And how would it feel to have this young person who adores you that the more she gets to know you, the more she doubts that your project is worthwhile. Like, and so he, he feels incredibly rejected. And I feel like the book is, it's such a beautiful story about

And it's also really funny too about these choices we make and our judgments of people and how they're often projections of our own desires and how much we attach to other people, our own dreams. Anyway, so I just feel like I've grown up with that book and I still love its messages about flawed idealism and how destructive self-doubt can be. ♪

Okay, I hope you enjoyed this very special and different edition of our podcast. If you like these recommendations, feel free to recommend our show to a friend. We would love that. And either way, thank you so much for listening. We really appreciate it. I'm your host, Chris Duffy, and this has been How to Be a Better Human.

On the TED side, this show is brought to you by Abhimanyu Das, Daniela Balarezo, Frederica Elizabeth Yosefov, Ann Powers, and Cara Newman. From PRX Productions, How to Be a Better Human is brought to you by Jocelyn Gonzalez, Pedro Rafael Rosado, and Sandra Lopez-Monsalve. PR.