Dr. Wendy Suzuki

Kathryn interviews Author and Professor Wendy Suzuki PhD. From a global pandemic, to political unrest, to climate change, the past year has been nothing if not stressful. For most of us, it would be difficult to describe stress and anxiety as a good feeling. But what if it could be? World-renowned neuroscientist Dr. Wendy Suzuki has found a way to unlock the potential of anxiety to be a benefit instead of a drawback and reveals that anxiety is not only essential for our survival but also a key component of our ability to live optimally. She helps us understand how simple but powerful shifts in mindset and practical strategies can help us transform our social anxiety, fear of performance, or fear of public speaking into empowering assets.Dr. Suzuki serves as an expert for publications including The Wall Street Journal, Shape, and Health. Her TED talk was the 2nd most viewed TED talk of 2018.Kathryn also interviews Author Susan Frances Morris. At age fifty, Susan Morris is diagnosed with breast cancer—and she's floored. Desperate to pinpoint the cause, one night she decides to type a question into her search engine: "What are the risk factors of getting breast cancer?" She's surprised to discover research showing that long-term exposure to stress and traumatic childhood experiences can both increase the risk of breast cancer. Her memoir alternates between her childhood—as a sensitive child and then teenager who shouldered the burden of caring for her younger siblings as her dad's alcoholism tore at the threads of their home life—and an adult who for a decade-plus has been living a trauma-free life with a caring husband and rewarding career in nursing . . . only to be diagnosed with breast cancer. This is a story of redemption—of a woman who manages to escape harrowing circumstances and start anew—but it's also a story of how our legacy lives within us, and how healing from the adverse effects of childhood can truly take a lifetime.