Is This a Thing?

If you feel more recharged after spending the evening at home with a book than you do after a night out with friends, that’s a good indication that you’re an introvert. But if the thought of going to a party with a noisy crowd makes you freeze in fear, you’re probably experiencing something more than just introversion or shyness. Social anxiety is the third most common psychological disorder, after depression and alcoholism. Dr. Ellen Hendriksen joins us to talk about how introversion and social anxiety relate, how to face your anxious fears, and how to be yourself. Dr. Ellen Hendriksen is a clinical psychologist at Boston University’s Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders. She is the host of the podcast “Savvy Psychologist,” and the author of the book How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critics and Rise Above Social Anxiety.

Ignoring someone to check a cell phone, also known as “phubbing,” is becoming more and more common. To find out what effect this has on us, scientists have begun conducting studies focused specifically on “phubbing.” We’ve asked Dr. Emma Seppälä, a psychologist at Yale and Stanford universities and an expert on emotional health, to help us understand more.

Nearly 40% of currently employed workers who are 65 and older have retired at some point. We bring you a conversation about these older people who are unretiring—or choosing to reenter the workforce after they thought those working years were behind them. Retirement columnist and author, Rodney Brooks, joins us to discuss unretirement. Mr. Brooks’ work has appeared in the Washington Post, USA Today, the ESPN website.