The Curiosity Shop with Brené Brown and Adam Grant
Why Grit Isn’t Always Enough with Angela Duckworth
Research professor Brené Brown and organizational psychologist Adam Grant are partnering on a new weekly podcast grounded in an unflinching commitment to learning and unlearning. At a time when public discourse rewards certainty over inquiry, The Curiosity Shop features two of the world's most sought-after experts on connection, change, and leadership making the case for slowing down, asking better questions, and embracing informed complexity over easy answers. Bringing together their left and right brain sensibilities — she’s a qualitative researcher; he’s a quantitative researcher — they explore some of the defining questions of our time, unpack the research reshaping how we live, lead, and love, and dive deep into the ideas, evidence, and cultural moments intriguing them the most. New episodes drop every Thursday. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Show Notes
What if grit isn’t the whole story behind success? Psychologist and author Angela Duckworth joins Brené Brown and Adam Grant to talk about her new book, Situated, and how the situations around us can shape our behavior, motivation, creativity, and ability to reach our goals. They unpack situational awareness, the paradox of self-control, and why willpower alone can be an unreliable tool for change. Angela also shares practical ways to shape your environment, reduce friction around your goals, and think through when to keep going versus when a different path may serve you better. Together, they explore how becoming more intentional about our surroundings, relationships, and support systems can sometimes be more powerful than simply trying harder.
Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best - Angela Duckworth, 2026, Scribner (author's book page)
Situated Preface (excerpt) - Angela Duckworth, 2026, web excerpt with audiobook sample, angeladuckworth.com
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance - Angela Duckworth, 2016, Scribner
Grit: Perseverance and Passion for Long-Term Goals - Angela Duckworth, Christopher Peterson, Michael Matthews & Dennis Kelly, 2007, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Too Much of a Good Thing: The Challenge and Opportunity of the Inverted U - Adam Grant & Barry Schwartz, 2011, Perspectives on Psychological Science
Situational Strategies for Self-Control - Angela Duckworth, Tamar Szabó Gendler & James Gross, 2016, Perspectives on Psychological Science
Beyond Willpower: Strategies for Reducing Failures of Self-Control - Angela Duckworth, Katherine Milkman & David Laibson, 2018, Psychological Science in the Public Interest
Oxford Essential Quotations (George Bernard Shaw entry) - Susan Ratcliffe (ed.), 2018, reference-work entry, Oxford Reference / Oxford University Press
Maxims for Revolutionists - George Bernard Shaw, 1903; Project Gutenberg edition 2008, public-domain e-text, Project Gutenberg
Figure This: Deciding What's Figure, What's Ground - Adelson, 2002, Monitor on Psychology (American Psychological Association)
LinkedIn post on situations - Angela Duckworth, 2025, social-media post, LinkedIn
The Four Essential Elements of Successful Situations - Duckworth, 2026, book excerpt (online article), Knowledge at Wharton
Strong Ground: The Lessons of Daring Leadership, the Tenacity of Paradox, and the Wisdom of the Human Spirit - Brené Brown, 2025, Random House
Angela Duckworth on Her New Book, ‘Grit’ Controversy, and Parenting in a Digital Age - Fiorillo, 2026, Philadelphia Magazine
Rethinking Rumination - Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Blair Wisco & Sonja Lyubomirsky, 2008, Perspectives on Psychological Science
Self-Focused Attention and Negative Affect: A Meta-Analysis - Nilly Mor & Jennifer Winquist, 2002, Psychological Bulletin
Situated Scorecard - Angela Duckworth, 2026, interactive self-assessment (web page), angeladuckworth.com
Situated Scorecard Handout - Angela Duckworth, 2026, PDF handout, angeladuckworth.com
Self-Control and SAT Outcomes: Evidence from Two National Field Studies - Chayce Baldwin, Kyla Haimovitz, Priya Shankar, Robert Gallop, David Yeager, James Gross & Angela Duckworth, 2022, PLOS ONE
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion - Robert Cialdini, 2021; first published 1984, Harper Business (author's organization site)
As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7 - William Shakespeare, c. 1599, Folger Shakespeare Library
More Than Resisting Temptation: Beneficial Habits Mediate the Relationship Between Self-Control and Positive Life Outcomes - Brian Galla & Angela Duckworth, 2015, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Wendy Wood – Publications - Wendy Wood, faculty web page, USC Dornsife
Habits in Everyday Life: Thought, Emotion, and Action - Wendy Wood, Jeffrey Quinn & Deborah Kashy, 2002, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Asaf Mazar - Asaf Mazar, personal website
Alistair Brownlee | The Greatest to Ever Do It - World Triathlon, 2024, video, YouTube
The Paradox of a Pair of Clocks. The Magic of Chronos and Kairos or Why I Wear Two Watches! - Brené Brown, 2026, social-media post (from an AMA), LinkedIn / The Curiosity Shop
Quote Origin: Between Stimulus and Response There Is a Space. In That Space Is Our Power To Choose Our Response - O'Toole, 2018, Quote Investigator
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment - Eckhart Tolle, 1997, Namaste Publishing / New World Library (author site)
32% of Americans Have a Tattoo, Including 22% Who Have More Than One - Schaeffer & Dinesh, 2023, short-read survey report, Pew Research Center
Prepared Environment - Association Montessori Internationale, glossary entry, AMI glossary
Understanding the Three-Year Cycle in Montessori - Maria Rodriguez, web article, The Montessori Foundation
Piagetian Theory - American Psychological Association, dictionary entry, APA Dictionary of Psychology
For the Fun of It: Harnessing Immediate Rewards to Increase Persistence in Long-Term Goals - Kaitlin Woolley & Ayelet Fishbach, 2016, Journal of Consumer Research
Mask-Wearing Needs to Be Easy, Understood and Expected - Duckworth, Ungar & Emanuel, 2020, op-ed reprint, Penn Almanac (original in The New York Times)
Everyday Temptations: An Experience Sampling Study of Desire, Conflict, and Self-Control - Wilhelm Hofmann, Roy Baumeister, Georg Förster & Kathleen Vohs, 2012, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Trait Self-Control and the Avoidance of Temptation - Michael Ent, Roy Baumeister & Dianne Tice, 2015, Personality and Individual Differences
More Than Resisting Temptation: Beneficial Habits Mediate the Relationship Between Self-Control and Positive Life Outcomes - Brian Galla & Angela Duckworth, 2015, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
The Myth of Self-Control - Resnick, 2016, Vox
The Power of Vulnerability - Brené Brown, 2010, TED Talk (video), TEDxHouston / TED
Beyond Grit: The Science of Creativity, Purpose, and Motivation - Grant & Duckworth, 2016, published conversation, Next Big Idea Club Magazine
Knee-Deep in the Big Muddy: A Study of Escalating Commitment to a Chosen Course of Action - Barry Staw, 1976, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance
Hope (Psychology) - EBSCO, encyclopedia-style research overview, EBSCO Research Starters
'Grit' and Circumstance: Bestselling Author Angela Duckworth Brings Her Wisdom to BYU - Walch, 2023, Deseret News
The Four Essential Elements of Successful Situations - Duckworth, 2026, book excerpt (online article), Knowledge at Wharton
Workspace Disorder Does Not Influence Creativity and Executive Functions - Alberto Manzi, Yana Durmysheva, Shannon Pinegar, Andrew Rogers & Justine Ramos, 2019, Frontiers in Psychology
A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder - Eric Abrahamson & David Freedman, 2007, Little, Brown (Goodreads listing)
Physical Order Produces Healthy Choices, Generosity, and Conventionality, Whereas Disorder Produces Creativity - Kathleen Vohs, Joseph Redden & Ryan Rahinel, 2013, Psychological Science
Documenting Anne Lamott - SFGate / San Francisco Chronicle (no byline), SFGate
Genius of the AND - Jim Collins, concept page (with excerpts from Built to Last), JimCollins.com
Self-Control and Grit: Related but Separable Determinants of Success - Angela Duckworth & James Gross, 2014, Current Directions in Psychological Science
A Psychometric Evaluation of the Short Grit Scale - Oscar Gonzalez, Jessica Canning, Heather Smyth & David MacKinnon, 2020, European Journal of Psychological Assessment
In 'Situated,' Angela Duckworth, the Author of 'Grit,' Does an About-Face - O'Gieblyn, 2026, The New Yorker
How Willpower Wasn't: The Truth About Ego Depletion - Danvers, 2020, blog post ('How Do You Know?'), Psychology Today
A Multisite Preregistered Paradigmatic Test of the Ego-Depletion Effect - Kathleen Vohs and colleagues, 2021, Psychological Science
The Impact of Sleep Interventions on Athletic Performance: A Systematic Review - Lúcio Cunha and colleagues, 2023, Sports Medicine – Open
The Attentional Cost of Receiving a Cell Phone Notification - Cary Stothart, Ainsley Mitchum & Courtney Yehnert, 2015, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
Wear Eye Protection When Playing Pickleball - Reena Mukamal, patient-education web article, American Academy of Ophthalmology
Breaking Up with Perfectionism - Adam Grant with Eric Best, 2022, podcast episode, WorkLife with Adam Grant / TED Audio Collective
Adam Grant on How to Reach New Heights - Wharton Magazine (no byline), 2023, Wharton Magazine
Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things - Adam Grant, 2023, Viking (Penguin Random House page)
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