FEAR with Mary Poffenroth
Julie and Casey talk with Fear expert Mary Poffenroth about her work as a fear researcher and science communicator - and try very hard not to fangirl too much.
After discovering Mary on one of our favorite podcasts (Ologies with Alie Ward) we have been quietly (gently, classily) social media stalking her for some time now. We were thrilled when she agreed to talk to us about all things fear: its origin, how it manifests, and what we can do about it...because fear ain't a stop sign.
TOP TAKEAWAYS
Fear is a primal response that our bodies need to survive.
You cannot "Crush" or "Dominate" or "Eliminate" fear.
Fictional fear (fear of things that are not direct physical danger to us) generally gain power by the stories we tell ourselves about our experiences.
We live in a culture that glamorizes stress and denigrates fear. Yet, they are the same thing.
Mary is launching a FREE course on identifying and working with your fear. Check it out! https://www.marypoffenroth.com/hello
Mary Poffenroth is a biology lecturer and fear researcher for San Jose State University. In addition to contributing to Science magazine, Forbes, TEDx and SXSW, she advises growth driven individuals and organizations on how to use science to transform their relationship with fear to improve strategic decision making and increase creativity while cultivating more authentic communications.
Mary, a Salzburg Global Fellow and first generation college student, holds two masters degrees, one in biology and the other in science communication from Imperial College London, and will be completing her PhD in Media Psychology in 2020. She is the author of Write Present Create: Science Communication for Undergraduates and has taught nearly 20,000 students both in person and online since 2007. She began her research career in astrophysiology at NASA Ames Research Center Moffet Field in 1999 and now focuses her research on the intersection of fear science, communication, and personal/social change.
See her TedX talk here.