Provoked Newsletter

1 week ago | toddkashdan.substack.com | Todd Kashdan

I love conversing on podcasts. You never know what’s going to happen. In this conversation, we discuss the concept of 'soft eugenics' and how it shows up in various life domains such as the new height filter on dating apps (). We explore the dynamics of personality, the psychology of protests, and there is extra emphasis on how protestors and law enforcement often screw up and how they can be more persuasive.

1 week ago | toddkashdan.substack.com | Todd Kashdan

Here’s how I play the game: if everyone’s doing it, I assume there’s a stranger, smarter way. When it comes to joy, I reverse-engineer most societal blueprints. That means: if you want to go out for dinner and drinks on a Friday night? I won’t be joining. If it requires a buzzer that vibrates when a hostess says, “We’re running about 45 to an hour right now,” that’s when I mysteriously get a craving for protein-enhanced pop-tarts and reruns of Succession. You know what’s never crowded? Tuesday.

2 weeks ago | toddkashdan.substack.com | Todd Kashdan

We are criminally underestimating the value of extraordinary, weirdly life-affirming interactions with strangers. Especially when you’ve moved into a new house and your entire nervous system is being held together with takeout containers and cardboard furniture. Humans are hilariously bad at predicting social experiences.

2 weeks ago | toddkashdan.substack.com | Todd Kashdan

The rebels we need right now aren't the ones making noise for attention —they're the ones asking better questions. In this CivilTalk episode (link), I sat with Topacio to explore what it takes to challenge absurdity in social interactions, the workplace, and a tyrannical government with courage and wisdom. Specific personality dimensions separate effective principled nonconformists from those who merely make waves. More importantly, we can cultivate these skills in ourselves.

2 weeks ago | toddkashdan.substack.com | Todd Kashdan

Let’s not kid ourselves. For all the TED talks about differences (your superpower), empathy (another superpower), identity (another?), delayed gratification (more?), and patience (for fuck sakes?) there’s a quiet click happening behind closed screens: people sorting through sperm donor catalogs like they’re shopping for high-end espresso machines. Adjustable features, filtered search options, premium models with musical aptitude and six-pack abs. We don’t call it eugenics anymore.