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Episode Description
From classrooms and locker rooms to workplaces and social media, Adam and Brené trace how shame and humiliation are used to control behavior and even fuel violence. They explore what causes shame, why our self-protective responses backfire, and how we can handle it more effectively. They also unpack the messy overlap between imposter syndrome and cultural pressures toward self-doubt.
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Chapter Titles + Timestamps:
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0:00 - Introduction
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2:10 - The One, Two, Threes of Shame
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8:52 - The New Research on Humiliation
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14:04 - What Is Humiliation?
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18:30 - Why Don’t People Outgrow Shame?
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29:09 - How to Help People Out of Shame?
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38:05 - Reconnecting Your Prefrontal Cortex Post-Shame
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42:55 - How Does Shame Relate to Imposter Syndrome?
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50:10 - Biggest Takeaways About Shame, Guilt, Humiliation, and Embarrassment
Healing Humiliation: From Reaction to Creative Action - Hartling & Linder, 2016, Journal of Counseling & Development Shame and Humiliation: From Isolation to Relational Transformation - Hartling et al., Stone Center for Developmental Services and Studies
Unmasking the Impostor - MIT Sloan Office of Communications, 2025 (Tewfik, Debunking 4 myths)
Listening to shame, Brené Brown, 2012, TED
The Power of Vulnerability, Brené Brown, 2011, TED
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