With Barry Schwartz and Po Bronson

Airs Wednesday, October 28th 2015

During this week’s radio show you will learn about:

• • Why We Work
  • Does Anybody Want to Work?
  • Happy and the Workplace
  • The Universal Question all People Must Ask
  • Making Good and Bad Decisions Through Transitions

 

Barry Schwartz is a professor of psychology at Swarthmore College, in Pennsylvania.  He has been there since receiving his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1971.  Schwartz has written ten books and more than 100 articles for professional journals. In 2004, Schwartz published The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less. It was named one of the top business books of the year by both Business Week and Forbes Magazine, and has been translated into twenty-five languages. Schwartz has published articles in sources as diverse as The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Parade Magazine, USA Today, Slate, Scientific American, The New Republic, Newsday, the Harvard Business Review, and the Guardian.  He has appeared on dozens of radio shows, including NPR’s Morning Edition, and Talk of the Nation, and has been interviewed on Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN), the Lehrer News Hour (PBS), The Colbert Report, and CBS Sunday Morning.  He has lectured the British and the Dutch governments, as well as trade organizations and businesses representing industries as diverse as healthcare, personal finance, travel and leisure, restaurants, supermarkets, consumer electronics, office supplies, software development, e-commerce, advertising, arts and entertainment, cable television, home building, and the military.  Schwartz’s most recent book, written with colleague Ken Sharpe, is Practical Wisdom: The Right Way to Do the Right Thing. Schwartz spoke about the paradox of choice at TED in 2005 (a talk viewed by more than 8 million people), and he spoke about practical wisdom at TED in 2009 (viewed by more than 2 million).  His  new book, Why We Work, has just been published.

You can learn more about Barry here.

 

Po Bronson has built a career both as a successful novelist and as a prominent writer of narrative nonfiction. He has published six books,  and he has written for television, magazines, and newspapers, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and for National Public Radio’s Morning Edition.

Po Bronson’s book of social documentary, What Should I Do With My Life?, was a #1 New York Times bestseller and remained in the Top 10 for nine months. His first novel, Bombardiers, was a #1 bestseller in the United Kingdom. His books have been translated into 19 languages.

Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman’s New York magazine articles on the science of parenting won the journalism award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Mensa Award, and a Clarion Award. Their articles for Time  won the award for outstanding journalism from the Council on Contemporary Families. Their recent collaboration, the book NurtureShock, has been a New York Times bestseller and was featured on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

You can read more about Po here.