What happens when life doesn’t go according to plan? In this award-winning podcast, cognitive scientist Dr. Maya Shankar explores how we experience change and strategies we can use to better navigate moments of upheaval. Maya’s life took a dramatic turn when an injury ended her career as a violinist and inspired her to study the science of change. Named Apple Podcasts’ Best Show of the Year, A Slight Change of Plans features deeply personal stories and scientific insights about who we are and who we become in the face of a big change. Past guests include Kacey Musgraves, Brené...
Latest episodes
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43 min
Letting Go of Control Through Tiny Experiments
Neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff was climbing the ranks at a big tech company, and had ambitious plans for her future—when a health scare made her rethink her relationship with c…
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47 min
Reckoning with the Empty Nest
Writer Kelly Corrigan always knew her daughters would grow up and eventually move out. But knowing this chapter of parenthood would end didn’t make it any less heartbreaking when t…
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40 min
Why We Crave Closeness — and Run From It
Neuroscientist Amir Levine studies attachment styles – how comfortable we feel with emotional intimacy and how sensitive we are to disruptions in our relationships. For decades, sc…
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48 min
Leaving the Life You Trained For
Professional violinist Vijay Gupta grew up performing on the world’s biggest stages in order to fulfill his parents' dreams for him. But the pressure to play perfectly became too m…
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40 min
Petra Mathers and Her Michael | From Death of an Artist
Here’s a preview of another Pushkin podcast, one that explores many of the topics we cover here on A Slight Change of Plans: grief, jealousy, anger, and awe. It’s called Death of a…
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48 min
What a Therapist Learned in Therapy
Psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb built her career helping people question the stories they tell themselves. But when an unexpected heartbreak left her reeling, she found herself sitti…
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55 min
“I Have One Goal: Keep You Alive”
Stephanie Wittels Wachs and her younger brother Harris were best friends. So when he confided that he was struggling with opioid addiction, Steph believed they’d find a way through…
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53 min
Can Uncertainty Be a Gift?
How can we find resilience, growth, and new possibilities within life’s more unpredictable moments? In this special episode from the podcast, TED Talks Daily, Maya joins journalist…
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42 min
The Hidden Wounds of Moral Injury
While deployed to Afghanistan with the U.S. Air Force in 2014, psychologist Michael Valdovinos had an unexpected emotional breakdown. None of the diagnoses he knew best–like PTSD o…
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37 min
Tenacity: Stories about perseverance | From The Story Collider
As the great Rocky Balboa once said about life: Iit will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.” But in this week’s episode from our friends at The St…
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34 min
A Realist’s Guide to Optimism
Deepika Chopra, a clinical psychologist, has a problem with the way optimism is often defined. Real optimism, she says, shouldn’t be about always expecting the best, because someti…
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18 min
When Panic Takes Over – And How to Break Free
Amazon editors just chose Maya’s new book, “The Other Side of Change,” as one of the Best Books of 2026 So Far! To celebrate, we’re sharing a chapter from the audiobook with you to…
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1 h 03
Caitlin Lost the Voice in Her Head
Today we’re bringing you an episode from Proxy, a show built around a simple idea: Whatever you might be going through — no matter how specific or hard to explain – you’re not alon…
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44 min
The Science of True Fun
As adults, it’s easy to think of fun as a luxury – something we’ll get around to after everything else is done. But science journalist Catherine Price says fun is essential to our…
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1 h 00
When Grief Remakes You
In 2023, Allie Kramer’s three-year-old son Theo was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. In the months and years that followed Theo’s diagnosis, Allie tried to keep a steel grip o…
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19 min
Maya’s Advice to New Grads
A few years ago, Maya gave a commencement address to graduates of the Juilliard School of Music’s pre-college program. In honor of commencement season, with students around the wor…
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46 min
Why We Avoid Conversations That Would Make Us Happier
We often avoid social interactions out of fear that others don’t want to engage with us. But social psychologist Nick Epley says that fear is misplaced. Today, Nick joins Maya to t…
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15 min
BONUS: How Small Businesses Endure for Generations
How do some small businesses stand the test of time? In today’s mini episode, Maya talks with Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business and host of “The Unshakeables” podcast, about wh…
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1 h 08
Rainn Wilson and Maya on Navigating Change and Identity
Earlier this year, Maya did a bunch of interviews for the launch of her book, “The Other Side of Change.” Today, we’re sharing one of those conversations, from the podcast “Soul Bo…
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32 min
How to Feel More Loved
To feel more loved in our relationships, we often think we need to change ourselves or wait for others to change. But happiness scientist Sonja Lyubomirsky shares a better approach…