Celeste Headlee

Despite our constant search for new ways to 'hack' our bodies and minds for peak performance, human beings are working more instead of less, living harder not smarter, and becoming more lonely and anxious. We strive for the absolute best in every aspect of our lives, ignoring what we do well naturally. Why do we measure our time in terms of efficiency instead of meaning? Why can't we just take a break?In Do Nothing, award-winning journalist Celeste Headlee illuminates a new path ahead, seeking to institute a global shift in our thinking so we can stop sabotaging our well-being, put work aside and start living instead of doing. The key lies in embracing what makes us human: our creativity, our social connections (Instagram doesn't count), our ability for reflective thought, and our capacity for joy. Celeste's strategies will allow you to regain control over your life and break your addiction to false efficiency, including:-Increase your time perception and determine how your hours are being spent. -Stop comparing yourself to others.-Invest in quality idle time. Take a hot bath and listen to music.-Spend face-to-face time with friends and familyIt's time to recover our leisure time and reverse the trend that's making us all sadder, sicker, and less productive.

“WE NEED TO TALK.”In this urgent and insightful book, public radio journalist Celeste Headlee shows us how to bridge what divides us--by having real conversationsBASED ON THE TED TALK WITH OVER 10 MILLION VIEWSNPR's Best Books of 2017Winner of the 2017 Silver Nautilus Award in Relationships & Communication“We Need to Talk is an important read for a conversationally-challenged, disconnected age. Headlee is a talented, honest storyteller, and her advice has helped me become a better spouse, friend, and mother.” (Jessica Lahey, author of New York Times bestseller The Gift of Failure)Today most of us communicate from behind electronic screens, and studies show that Americans feel less connected and more divided than ever before. The blame for some of this disconnect can be attributed to our political landscape, but the erosion of our conversational skills as a society lies with us as individuals.And the only way forward, says Headlee, is to start talking to each other. In We Need to Talk, she outlines the strategies that have made her a better conversationalist—and offers simple tools that can improve anyone’s communication. For example: BE THERE OR GO ELSEWHERE. Human beings are incapable of multitasking, and this is especially true of tasks that involve language. Think you can type up a few emails while on a business call, or hold a conversation with your child while texting your spouse? Think again.CHECK YOUR BIAS. The belief that your intelligence protects you from erroneous assumptions can end up making you more vulnerable to them. We all have blind spots that affect the way we view others. Check your bias before you judge someone else.HIDE YOUR PHONE. Don’t just put down your phone, put it away. New research suggests that the mere presence of a cell phone can negatively impact the quality of a conversation.Whether you’re struggling to communicate with your kid’s teacher at school, an employee at work, or the people you love the most—Headlee offers smart strategies that can help us all have conversations that matter.

Editor's NoteStopping sexism…Headlee’s guide isn’t just for women: it’s for anyone who wants to create a more equitable and inclusive society.DescriptionAs she admits in the first salvo of her enlightening new guide to battling gender discrimination, award-winning author and radio journalist Celeste Headlee is herself … a sexist.But aren’t we all? Indeed we are, no matter the strength of our convictions otherwise, and herein lies the crux of Headlee’s examination of inherent—and often unconscious—cultural biases: Whether we can admit it or not, we all bring instinctive and learned prejudices to our interactions and conversations, to the detriment of everyone.Fortunately, Headlee presents a thoughtful, practical, and cogent manual on becoming aware of, and reversing, the sometimes subtle sexism with which we all struggle, actively or not. With the same empathetic and circumspect approach seen in her 2017 book We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter, Headlee lays out the fundamentals of creating allies, rather than alienating those who may simply be playing prescribed cultural roles. But deprogramming people without making them defensive (and dismissive) is easier said than done.The culprit? “Benevolent sexism.” As Headlee writes, this pervasive daily frustration for at least half the population is “hard to address because people often fail to recognize so-called friendly sexism as harmful.” To combat this, the author walks us through an often surprising and always illuminating three-step process, drawing on human psychology and refreshing common sense. In the end, we’re rewarded with a compelling take on one of our most insidious problems—and, happily, a way to bring people together in these divided times.

In this urgently needed guide, the PBS host, award-winning journalist, and author of We Need to Talk teaches us how to have productive conversations about race, offering insights, advice, and support.A self-described “light-skinned Black Jew,” Celeste Headlee has been forced to speak about race—including having to defend or define her own—since childhood. In her career as a journalist for public media, she’s made it a priority to talk about race proactively. She’s discovered, however, that those exchanges have rarely been productive. While many people say they want to talk about race, the reality is, they want to talk about race with people who agree with them. The subject makes us uncomfortable; it’s often not considered polite or appropriate. To avoid these painful discussions, we stay in our bubbles, reinforcing our own sense of righteousness as well as our division.Yet we gain nothing by not engaging with those we disagree with; empathy does not develop in a vacuum and racism won’t just fade away. If we are to effect meaningful change as a society, Headlee argues, we have to be able to talk about what that change looks like without fear of losing friends and jobs, or being ostracized. In Speaking of Race, Headlee draws from her experiences as a journalist, and the latest research on bias, communication, and neuroscience to provide practical advice and insight for talking about race that will facilitate better conversations that can actually bring us closer together. This is the book for people who have tried to debate and educate and argue and got nowhere; it is the book for those who have stopped talking to a neighbor or dread Thanksgiving dinner. It is an essential and timely book for all of us.

When you hear the term “self-compassion,” you might immediately think of the word “nice,” or think that it’s a feeling reserved for the saintly and tenderhearted… that the rest of us are simply too busy to bother showing others any sort of kindness, let alone showing it to ourselves. But what if you found that was a misconception, and that compassion — especially for oneself — isn’t “nice,” but tough and resilient and even badass? And what if cultivating that “tough” self-compassion isn’t a fruitless endeavor at all, and could actually provide you with proven, long-term emotional benefits?In It Starts with Self-Compassion, Celeste Headlee, award-winning journalist and host of the hit 2015 Tedx Talk “10 ways to have a better conversation,” lays out the case for turning inward and extending empathy and understanding to ourselves, while providing us with ways to recognize and acknowledge our thoughts and behavior without judgement. Blending her signature empathy with extensive, carefully curated research from positive psychology, neuropsychiatry, sociology, and other disciplines, Headlee offers a comprehensive examination of self-compassion and how it can improve your emotional well-being, as well as distinguish it from related notions like self-love or self-acceptance, all while centering her discussion around its three key components: mindfulness, a sense of connection to all of humanity, and kindness.But Headlee’s approach isn’t just theoretical. In addition to defining and breaking down psychological concepts, this Scribd Original is packed with evidence-based exercises to help you assess your current level of self-compassion and give it a boost through journaling and “mind-training” practices like meditation and internal dialogues.This new work from Headlee is a crucially insightful read for all personal growth fans. It offers a fresh perspective on thinking about how we can be better to ourselves, and is as practical and scientifically rigorous as it is emotionally enlightening and accessible.

This book guides you through the process of creating a radio show or podcast from the initial idea to the finished production. Drawing on the experience of national broadcasters like Steve Inskeep, Susan Stamberg, and Michel Martin of NPR, this book includes a collective 400 years of wisdom about broadcasting and audio. It also includes a detailed guide to doing great interviews, recruiting the best talent, staffing your show, and a removable guide that you can hand to producers on your staff. Also, templates you can duplicate to begin producing your podcast or show immediately.

We work feverishly to make ourselves happy. So why are we so miserable? This manifesto helps us break free of our unhealthy devotion to efficiency and shows us how to reclaim our time and humanity.'This book is so important and could truly save lives . . . With intelligence and compassion, Headlee presents realistic solutions for how we can reclaim our health and our humanity from a technological revolution that seems hell-bent on destroying both. I'm so grateful to have read this book. It delivers on its promise of a better life' - Elizabeth Gilbert, bestselling author of Big Magic and Eat, Pray, LoveDespite our constant search for new ways to 'hack' our bodies and minds for peak performance, human beings are working more instead of less, living harder not smarter, and becoming more lonely and anxious. We strive for the absolute best in every aspect of our lives, ignoring what we do well naturally. Why do we measure our time in terms of efficiency instead of meaning? Why can't we just take a break?In Do Nothing, award-winning journalist Celeste Headlee illuminates a new path ahead, seeking to institute a global shift in our thinking so we can stop sabotaging our well-being, put work aside and start living instead of doing.The key lies in embracing what makes us our creativity, our social connections (Instagram doesn't count), our ability for reflective thought, and our capacity for joy. Celeste's strategies will allow you to regain control over your life and break your addiction to false efficiency, -Increase your time perception and determine how your hours are being spent.-Stop comparing yourself to others.-Invest in quality idle time. Take a hot bath and listen to music.-Spend face-to-face time with friends and familyIt's time to recover our leisure time and reverse the trend that's making us all sadder, sicker, and less productive.