Do you ever turn your phone off? I mean ALL the way off. This episode begins by explaining why it is a good idea to do it and how often you should. https://www.batteriesplus.com/blog/tech/should-you-turn-off-your-phone Asking someone for something can be hard. After all, you might not like the answer. Still, as the saying goes, “It doesn’t hurt to ask.” Whether you are asking for a job or for help or money or a favor, asking can be stressful. What if there was a formula to follow that would make asking for anything a lot easier and a lot more likely to result in a “yes”? Here to share that formula is Laura Fredricks. Laura is a lawyer who has asked and raised more than $1 billion for nonprofits, businesses, and individuals. She is author of the book Hard Asks Made Easy: How to Get Exactly What You Want (https://amzn.to/3WJhAu0) It’s hard to imagine life without ice. We use it for so many things. In fact, even before there were freezers, people used ice. In the early days of the ice industry, it was harvested and shipped all over the world – which sounds strange because you would think it would melt before it got there. But it didn’t. Joining me to tell the amazing story of ice is Amy Brady. She is the executive director of Orion magazine and author of the book Ice: From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks—a Cool History of a Hot Commodity (https://amzn.to/3MKX7Rc). If you ever have to go to the hospital, there is one month out of the year that you really want to try to avoid going at all costs. Listen as I explain which month that is and why you want to stay away. https://www.fox2detroit.com/sponsored/bernstein-july-effect PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! The Dell Technologies’ Summer Sale Event is on, with limited-quantity deals on top tech! It’s the perfect season to power your passions during Dell’s Summer Sale Event. Save today by calling 877-ASK-DELL. Discover Credit Cards do something pretty awesome. At the end of your first year, they automatically double all the cash back you’ve earned! See terms and check it out for yourself at https://Discover.com/match We really like The Mel Robbins Podcast! https://melrobbins.com/podcast You can change your life and Mel Robbins will show you how, so search for it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen! Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Back when grocery stores started charging for new plastic bags, there was a concern that using reusable grocery bags could be dangerous because of the germs and bacteria that accumulate in those bags when you use them over and over again. You don’t hear so much about this concern today like you used to. Should you be worried about your reusable grocery bags? This episode begins with an exploration into that. https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/how-clean-are-your-reusable-shopping-bags-the-truth-will-shock-you/ You and every other human being engages in a lot of self-deception. We tell ourselves stories about how wonderful we are or how great our kids are, or how skilled we are at something. While it may seem silly, it turns out that self-deception serves an important purpose in our ability to navigate through life according to Shankar Vadantam author of the book Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain (https://amzn.to/3gfTNgI). Shankar joins me to explain this fascinating quirk of human behavior and how to make the most of our own self-deception. Shankar’s podcast Hidden Brain can be found here: https://hiddenbrain.org/ Flirting can be fun. It might even lead to romance. On the other hand, it could get you in trouble depending on who you flirt with and where. Jean Smith is a social and cultural anthropologist who has studied flirting and written a book called Flirtology (https://amzn.to/3pzec4u). Jean joins me to discuss what flirting is and how to do it well. Her website is www.Flirtology.com A lot of people voluntarily refuse to take a vacation. Yet, the benefits of taking a vacation are impressive and numerous. Listen as I explain how “all work and no play” is a bad for your mental and physical health and why you must take your summer vacation this year and why it’s important to actually enjoy the experience. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/take-back-your-time-10-reasons-why-vacations-matter-keith-salwoski/ PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Indeed is the hiring platform where you can Attract, Interview, and Hire all in one place! Start hiring NOW with a $75 SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to upgrade your job post at https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING Offer good for a limited time. Discover Credit Cards do something pretty awesome. At the end of your first year, they automatically double all the cash back you’ve earned! See terms and check it out for yourself at https://Discover.com/match If you own a small business, you know the value of time. Innovation Refunds does too! They've made it easy to apply for the employee retention credit or ERC by going to https://getrefunds.com to see if your business qualifies in less than 8 minutes! Innovation Refunds has helped small businesses collect over $3 billion in payroll tax refunds! Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus We really like The Jordan Harbinger Show! Check out https://jordanharbinger.com/start OR search for it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Everyone has secrets. And that can be a problem. The burden of keeping a secret has a ripple effect in your life you likely don’t realize. This episode begins with an explanation. http://now.tufts.edu/articles/how-burdensome-are-secrets The world of work and career is changing in a lot of interesting ways. More of us are looking for meaning in what we do rather than just climbing the ladder and making money. A lot of people today have more than just one job – sometimes more than two! And there seems to be a shift in how people relate to their work and their employer. Bruce Feiler has been watching and researching these changing trends in the workplace and he is here to discuss how all this change impacts you and opens up opportunities for all of us. Bruce is the author of six consecutive New York Times bestsellers and his latest is called The Search: Finding Meaningful Work in a Post-Career World (https://amzn.to/3OKgwUI) Doesn’t it seem like a lot more people have allergies today than in the past? Why do we get allergies? What causes them to start in some people but not others? For so many of us, allergies are a real nuisance and for others a serious health risk. Here to discuss what you need to know about allergies is Theresa MacPhail. She is a medical anthropologist, and associate professor of science and technology. She is also author of the book Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World (https://amzn.to/43d9uwb) Of course, you know that exercise is good for your health. It also turns out to be good for your sex life. Listen as I reveal how people who exercise regularly have a lot more fun in the bedroom and feel better about their own sex appeal. https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/health/a776324/can-exercise-lead-to-a-better-sex-life/ PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Indeed is the hiring platform where you can Attract, Interview, and Hire all in one place! Start hiring NOW with a $75 SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to upgrade your job post at https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING Offer good for a limited time. Discover Credit Cards do something pretty awesome. At the end of your first year, they automatically double all the cash back you’ve earned! See terms and check it out for yourself at https://Discover.com/match If you own a small business, you know the value of time. Innovation Refunds does too! They've made it easy to apply for the employee retention credit or ERC by going to https://getrefunds.com to see if your business qualifies in less than 8 minutes! Innovation Refunds has helped small businesses collect over $3 billion in payroll tax refunds! Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus We really like The Jordan Harbinger Show! Check out https://jordanharbinger.com/start OR search for it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ever wonder why mosquitoes are attracted to some people more than others? I begin this episode by discussing 5 factors that make you so irresistible to those pesky insects. https://theweek.com/articles/462191/5-things-that-make-irresistible-mosquitoes Consumer behavior is a fascinating area of research. While people like to think they make objective decisions about what to buy or not buy, there are a lot of factors that influence those decisions such as description, price, ease of use and many more. And they influence you in ways that are not so obvious. Joining me to explain these factors is Richard Shotton. He is a behavioral scientist and author of the book The Illusion of Choice: 16 ½ Psychological Biases That Influence What We Buy (https://amzn.to/3q2Vne9). What do you think of when you hear the word data? Doesn’t it seem that data has an air of certainty, authority and objectivity. It’s hard to argue with data, right? That’s what concerns Chris Wiggins who is here to take a hard look at the history of data, algorithms and statistics and how they have come to drive so much of our lives. Should we accept data simply because, well, it’s data? Or should we be a bit more skeptical? Chris Wiggins is an associate professor of applied mathematics at Columbia University and he is the New York Times’s chief data scientist and co-author of the book How Data Happened: A History from the Age of Reason to the Age of Algorithms (https://amzn.to/3luS1Pb). Ever pull a green potato chip out of the bag and wonder if it is safe to eat? What about the occasional dark brown chip? What’s the deal with that one? Listen as I explain what to do with these off-color chips. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/30746/whats-those-green-potato-chips-you-sometimes-find PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Indeed is the hiring platform where you can Attract, Interview, and Hire all in one place! Start hiring NOW with a $75 SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to upgrade your job post at https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING Offer good for a limited time. Discover Credit Cards do something pretty awesome. At the end of your first year, they automatically double all the cash back you’ve earned! See terms and check it out for yourself at https://Discover.com/match If you own a small business, you know the value of time. Innovation Refunds does too! They've made it easy to apply for the employee retention credit or ERC by going to https://getrefunds.com to see if your business qualifies in less than 8 minutes! Innovation Refunds has helped small businesses collect over $3 billion in payroll tax refunds! Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ask people what their favorite or lucky number is, and you will get a lot of different answers. But if you ask enough people and you start to notice that one number emerges as the clear winner above the others. This episode begins with that number and why it is so popular. Source: Alex Bellos author of Here’s Looking at Euclid (https://amzn.to/3wgjt3z)  We are all afraid of something . Maybe it is spiders or the dark or public speaking. Whatever it is, that creates that feeling of fear in you can be very powerful. Where do fears come from? Why are some people more afraid than others? Do fears last a lifetime or can you eliminate or reduce them? If you have ever wondered about these things, you should listen to my guest Eva Holland. Eva is a writer who had some very strong fears that held her back. As a result, she decided to research the topic in preparation to write her book Nerve: Adventures in the Science of Fear (https://amzn.to/3pK2rrW). Listen as she offers some great insight and advice about all the things that make you afraid. There are so many skills and factors that go into how you communicate to connect, influence and persuade others. There is a good chance you aren’t using all the skills at your disposal according to David JP Phillips. David studied over 5,000 speakers to discover the skills that make them such great communicators. Listen as he joins me to explain some of these skills that you can easily use to make you more influential and better able to speak with others. To learn more about David’s 110 communication skills go to: www.HeadGain.com. His TED Talk is here: https://bit.ly/3cDctG9 Doesn’t it seem weird when you are stuck in a traffic jam then it turns out there was no real reason for it? Why do these phantom traffic jams happen? Is there a way to stop them from happening? Listen as I explain. https://www.livescience.com/61862-why-phantom-traffic-jams-happen.html PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them and treat almost every condition under the sun! Go to https://Zocdoc.com/SYSK and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. The Dell Technologies’ Summer Sale Event is on, with limited-quantity deals on top tech! It’s the perfect season to power your passions during Dell’s Summer Sale Event. Save today by calling 877-ASK-DELL. Discover Credit Cards do something pretty awesome. At the end of your first year, they automatically double all the cash back you’ve earned! See terms and check it out for yourself at https://Discover.com/match If you own a small business, you know the value of time. Innovation Refunds does too! They've made it easy to apply for the employee retention credit or ERC by going to https://getrefunds.com to see if your business qualifies in less than 8 minutes! Innovation Refunds has helped small businesses collect over $3 billion in payroll tax refunds! Let’s find “us” again by putting our phones down for five.  Five days, five hours, even five minutes. Join U.S. Cellular in the Phones Down For Five challenge! Find out more at https://USCellular.com/findus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices