What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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2 WHAT'S UP! MAY 3-9, 2020 PODCASTS Brené Brown Is Rooting For You, Especially Now REGGIE UGWU The New York Times B rené Brown's voice, that of a teacher and a Texan, is amicably upbeat and frays a little at the edges. When she speaks, the combination of her mild Southern twang, propulsive intellect and swear-jar cordiality can be hypnotic. Brown, a research professor who holds a doctoral degree in social work, is famous for her viral talks on a range of uncomfortable emotions most people prefer not to think about. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and with the help of a new podcast called "Unlocking Us," she's teaching an attentive audience to navigate the ones it can't escape. "A crisis highlights all of our fault lines," Brown says, speaking by phone from the house in Houston where she's sheltering with extended family. "We can pretend that we have nothing to learn, or we can take this opportunity to own the truth and make a better future for ourselves and others." Brown is perhaps best known for her TEDx talk "The Power of Vulnerability." Recorded at an event in Houston in 2010, the talk is one of the five most popular in TED history, with more than 60 million views. It summarizes a decade of Brown's research on shame, framing her weightiest discoveries in self- deprecating and personal terms. (A central anecdote tells of an emotional breakdown that led to a visit with a therapist, to whom Brown then issued a list of approved discussion topics.) "The Power of Vulnerability" introduced the world to a new star of social psychology — a working wife and mother who referred reverentially to "the data" while recognizing her own life as a kind of natural experiment. Brown followed it with another TED Talk, "Listening to Shame," and a book, "Daring Greatly" — both released in 2012 — that earned her an ardent following and the admiration of celebrity self- help connoisseurs like Oprah Winfrey, Gwyneth Paltrow and Marc Maron. Her growing media empire encompasses multiple best-selling books, speaking engagements at companies like Google and Disney, and a one-hour Netflix special. Brown's podcast, "Unlocking Us," premiered March 20, shortly after much of the country entered lockdown. She'd intended the show, announced in January, to explore a wide range of human experience, anchored by conversations with her famous friends, fellow researchers and inquisitive listeners. A planned launch event at this year's South by Southwest conference was to feature #MeToo founder Tarana Burke and "Queer Eye" star Jonathan Van Ness. But the conference was canceled, and Brown found herself regrouping. "The social work axiom says you meet people where they are," she says. So far, that has meant abandoning pretaped episodes to grapple with the alienation and anxieties of a collective nightmare. As a host, Brown frequently leans into poignant subjects with a mix of humanity and profanity, deploying the kinds of confessional stories to which her audience is accustomed. (For example, we learn about her post-fame marital strife and the more mutually supportive relationship it helped foster.) But the show's most rewarding moments have come from her conversations with guests, including grief expert David Kessler and emotional intelligence researcher Marc Brackett. Channeling Oprah, Brown cheers their most potent insights like a scholarly hype woman: "Say that again!" Brown has noticed that, far from being debilitated by enforced isolation, some have leaned into it obnoxiously, devising performative "quarantine projects" like baking bread and bodybuilding as a new means of signifying their worthiness. She seemed exasperated by this, drawing a distinction between "externally driven pressures" and "internally driven goals." But then, as if taking her own advice, she decided to choose generosity. "If baking bread and getting a six-pack moves you, or brings you comfort, go ahead and do it," she said. "And if you can figure out how to do both — DM me." Brené Brown's "Unlocking Us" averages more than 1 million downloads per episode, according to a spokesman, and has remained in the top five of the Apple Podcasts chart since its debut. (Courtesy Photo/Maile Wilson) GO ONLINE! 'Unlocking Us' Listen to Brené Brown's "Unlocking Us" at brenebrown.com