Brené Brown on the Courage to be Vulnerable (On Being)

This is an encore presentation of Brené Brown's appearance on the NPR program, On Being, originally aired in November of 2012 - and I'm pretty sure I posted it then. But this is good, and there are a lot of additional resources provided by the On Being staff, so here it is again.

Brené Brown on the Courage to be Vulnerable

December 5, 2013


Photo by Martin Gommel
Courage is borne out of vulnerability, not strength. This finding of Brené Brown’s research on shame and "wholeheartedness" shook the perfectionist ground beneath her own feet. And now it’s inspiring millions to reconsider the way they live, parent, and navigate relations with members of the opposite gender.

Listen

• Radio Show/Podcast  (mp3, 52:06)
• Unedited Interview » Brené Brown  (mp3, 87:24)
• Transcript

Voices on the Radio

Brené Brown
Brené Brown is Research Professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. Her books include: The Gifts of Imperfection and Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead.

Recommended Reading

I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn't): Making the Journey from "What Will People Think?" to "I Am Enough" by Brene Brown (2007)


The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brene Brown (2010)


Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown (2012)

Production Credits

Host/Producer: Krista Tippett
Executive Editor/Chief Curator: Trent Gilliss
Technical Director/Producer: Chris Heagle
Senior Producer: Lily Percy

Like-Minded Conversations

Investigating Healthy Minds with Richard Davidson
Neuroscientist Richard Davidson is revealing that the choices we make can actually “rewire” our brains. He’s studied the brains of meditating Buddhist monks, and now he’s using his research with children and adolescents to look at things like ADHD, autism, and kindness.



Getting Revenge and Forgiveness
Michael McCullough describes science that helps us comprehend how revenge came to have a purpose in human life. At the same time, he stresses, science is also revealing that human beings are more instinctively equipped for forgiveness than we've perhaps given ourselves credit for. Knowing this suggests ways to calm the revenge instinct in ourselves and others and embolden the forgiveness intuition.

Pertinent Posts from the On Being Blog

Brené Brown on Leaning Into Our Vulnerability (video)
One of TED's most popular lectures, Dr. Brené Brown offers solutions on how we can deal with vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame.



Completely Free to Be Vulnerable: Martha Depp on Art and Cancer
We received this remarkable video from a brother to his sister. A tribute on art, cancer, and vulnerability that touched us deeply.


"Compassion comes from the recognition that all of us are vulnerable."
The director of the Stanford University Forgiveness Project connects the dots between compassion and vulnerability.



Guilt vs. Shame: Which Signals Leadership Potential?
Feelings of guilt, normally shunned or discouraged, can actually signal a capacity for leadership. What does this say about people who never feel guilt?



Into the Wilderness: Parenting a Terminally Ill Child
A story of learning and friendship and circles of learning in which each person is a teacher — of learning how to live with death and learning how to live.



Time-Lapse of Graphic Recording Session of Brené Brown Interview

Art evolves in its iterations, and it's fascinating to see how Doug Neill's graphic recording session of our show with Brené Brown progresses before our very eyes.



Human Connections Matter, Discover Israeli and Pakistani Peers
What do Israeli and Pakistani peers have in common? A Jewish American journalist looks beyond Western media's portrayal of Pakistan and discovers universal values.



It Gets Better Project

Another kind of contribution to civility, an act of care for "despairing LGBT kids who are being bullied and harassed, kids who don't think they have a future" from syndicated columnist Dan Savage.



Brené Brown: A Twitterscript

A compilation of time-shift tweets of Krista's interview with Dr. Brené Brown. Was this an interview or therapy session?



Finding an Image for Vulnerability

The story behind this one powerful shot of "vulnerability and shame" from Segovia, Columbia.