What Number 10 Does to You | Burnham's first day, Kerr's record and the money myth
We recorded this one at nine o'clock on a Monday morning, a few hours before Andy Burnham walked into Number 10 as the country's fifth Prime Minister in five years. So we spent most of it asking what that job actually does to a person: whether you can stay yourself once you are in it, how you build a cabinet that will argue with you rather than nod along, and why so much of the answer sits with the team and the civil service around you. Along the way we get to Josh Kerr's mile world record and whether visualising a result really works, Claudia Winkleman admitting she was too nervous to enjoy her own chat show, FTSE 100 bosses on 130 times the average wage, and the rather uncomfortable evidence about money and happiness. We finish on hope, and why it works better than fear when you are trying to talk to people.
CONCEPT OF THE WEEK
Mirror neurons. Peter is sceptical that there is one dedicated neuron sitting there copying other people, but the brain scan evidence is solid: watch someone do something and your own brain lights up in ways that echo what they are doing. It is a good part of why humans learn so well by watching, and a reminder that we are social animals whether we like it or not.
THE TRIPLE T
The 5-4-3-2-1 technique, for when you are stressed or overwhelmed. Sit still and work through your senses. Five things you can see, four you can feel, three you can hear, two you can smell, one you can taste. The point is the attention rather than the senses. We have very little conscious control over our heart rate or our breathing, but we can choose where to point our attention, and doing that on purpose settles everything else down. If you lose your place halfway through, start again at five. That is part of the exercise.
LIKED THIS ONE?
Please leave us a review wherever you are listening. It takes a minute and it genuinely helps other people find the show.
Got a question, a comment, or a story you want us to put on the couch? Write to us at hello@experiencepodco.com. New episodes land every week.
Website: https://www.experiencepodco.com
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033Qpocb5a1TC3KNyN7Ypt
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/experience/id6791528666
CONCEPT OF THE WEEK
Mirror neurons. Peter is sceptical that there is one dedicated neuron sitting there copying other people, but the brain scan evidence is solid: watch someone do something and your own brain lights up in ways that echo what they are doing. It is a good part of why humans learn so well by watching, and a reminder that we are social animals whether we like it or not.
THE TRIPLE T
The 5-4-3-2-1 technique, for when you are stressed or overwhelmed. Sit still and work through your senses. Five things you can see, four you can feel, three you can hear, two you can smell, one you can taste. The point is the attention rather than the senses. We have very little conscious control over our heart rate or our breathing, but we can choose where to point our attention, and doing that on purpose settles everything else down. If you lose your place halfway through, start again at five. That is part of the exercise.
LIKED THIS ONE?
Please leave us a review wherever you are listening. It takes a minute and it genuinely helps other people find the show.
Got a question, a comment, or a story you want us to put on the couch? Write to us at hello@experiencepodco.com. New episodes land every week.
Website: https://www.experiencepodco.com
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033Qpocb5a1TC3KNyN7Ypt
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/experience/id6791528666
