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June 12, 2020

Race and Power

The Washington Post

Opinion: To my white friends, the time for talk has passed. Now is the time for work.

Go To Website

Brian Lowery

Brian Lowery is a Professor of Organizational Behavior and a social psychologist by training. He received his doctorate from UCLA in 2001 with a minor in statistical methods.

Learn More About Brian

Webinar

Sessions

Working for What?: Reimagining the Meaning of Work

Reimagining Work

Working for What?: Reimagining the Meaning of Work

Climate change, a pandemic, inequality, all demand that we examine the economic systems and structures we are operating within. In this time of unprecedented change, how might we reimagine work?

Featuring:

Darren Walker

Interconnected: Work in the Global Economy

Reimagining Work

Interconnected: Work in the Global Economy

Given the ever-more connected world we live in, how should we reimagine the economy?

Featuring:

Condoleezza Rice

Reimagining Work

Broken Paths to Economic Mobility

As the wealth divide continues to deepen and class and race inequities are exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the American dream of upward mobility has been called into question.

Featuring:

Christina Sass

Laura Maristany

Who's Responsible?: Government, Business and Philanthropy

Reimagining Work

Who's Responsible?: Government, Business and Philanthropy

While the form of this debate has changed with the times, the underlying question remains the same: who is responsible?

Featuring:

Aisha Nyandoro

William Spriggs

Reimagining Work

Rethinking Gigs, Redefining Careers

How did the gig economy adapt through the pandemic? Might it provide a model to reimagine work post COVID?

Featuring:

Melissa Valentine

Samuel Bright

Reimagining Work

Worker Power

What does the future of worker protections look like? How can we protect dignity and fairness in work?

Featuring:

Roy Bahat

Mary Kay Henry

Reimagining Work

Firing the Office, Freeing the Workers

How many more ways are workers held captive by work? Who will see the benefits of this new flexibility? Is the office done for good?

Featuring:

Karen Arnold

Anu Partanen

Citizens & Workers: Education in a Capitalist Democracy

Reimagining Work

Citizens & Workers: Education in a Capitalist Democracy

In a republic and capitalist economy that depends on an educated citizenry, how should we reimagine education at this critical time?

Featuring:

Rachel Carlson

David Osborne

Work Environment: Who Makes All The Decisions?

Reimagining Work

Work Environment: Who Makes All The Decisions?

As we continue to adapt to COVID, who will own the decision power to reimagine work?

Featuring:

Laura Carstensen

Jennifer Liu

Manu Meel

Flexible for Whom?: Work Equity Post-COVID

Reimagining Work

Flexible for Whom?: Work Equity Post-COVID

How might we reimagine work with a view to better equity post-COVID? Featuring Brian Lowery and Aquilina Soriano Versoza.

Featuring:

Aquilina Versoza

Webinar

Sessions

Session #

Race and Power

Creating Race

How was the idea of race created? What function did it serve? Is race understood the same everywhere?

Justice

American society has undervalued Black lives. What will it take for America to live up to its principles of liberty and justice for all?

Whiteness

Today, it seems much less uncomfortable to talk about what it means to be white. What does it mean to be white? Who gets to be white and why?

Featuring:

Ian Lopez

Session #

Race and Power

Environmental Justice

Challenges to the environment disproportionately affect communities of color. Have healthy environments become a privilege?

Featuring:

Leslie Fields

Tamara Toles O'Laughlin

Session #

Race and Power

Education: Still Separate and Unequal?

How do we account for the continuation of this educational divide, what are its consequences, and what, if anything, can we do about it?

Featuring:

Michael Drake

Sean Reardon

Session #

Race and Power

Urban Design: Making Space for Equity

The planning decisions we made in the past haunt us in the broad inequities we experience today. How can we make better decisions for the future?

Music: The Roots of Our Rhythm

Music connects us, but like many things also seems to fall along racial cleavages, telling us where and to whom we belong. But, creativity rarely respects arbitrary barriers.

Food: Reparations on the Menu

The history of race can be seen in our diets and the hands that touch the food we eat--68% of farm workers and 50% of food service and preparation workers are people of color.

Featuring:

Tunde Wey

Session #

Race and Power

Sports: Leveling the Playing Field

Games are serious business. From the schoolyard to professional leagues, sports are a ubiquitous presence in our society.

Health: Unequal Treatment

Is healthcare a privilege or a right? What factors contribute to the disparities in health among racial/ethnic and gender groups?

Flexible for Whom?: Work Equity Post-COVID

How might we reimagine work with a view to better equity post-COVID? Featuring Brian Lowery and Aquilina Soriano Versoza.

Featuring:

Aquilina Soriano Versoza

Session #

Reimagining Work

Work Environment: Who Makes All The Decisions?

As we continue to adapt to COVID, who will own the decision power to reimagine work?

Citizens & Workers: Education in a Capitalist Democracy

In a republic and capitalist economy that depends on an educated citizenry, how should we reimagine education at this critical time?

Firing the Office, Freeing the Workers

How many more ways are workers held captive by work? Who will see the benefits of this new flexibility? Is the office done for good?

Worker Power

What does the future of worker protections look like? How can we protect dignity and fairness in work?

Rethinking Gigs, Redefining Careers

How did the gig economy adapt through the pandemic? Might it provide a model to reimagine work post COVID?

Who's Responsible?: Government, Business and Philanthropy

While the form of this debate has changed with the times, the underlying question remains the same: who is responsible?

Broken Paths to Economic Mobility

As the wealth divide continues to deepen and class and race inequities are exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the American dream of upward mobility has been called into question.

Interconnected: Work in the Global Economy

Given the ever-more connected world we live in, how should we reimagine the economy?

Working for What?: Reimagining the Meaning of Work

Climate change, a pandemic, inequality, all demand that we examine the economic systems and structures we are operating within. In this time of unprecedented change, how might we reimagine work?

Featuring:

Darren Walker

When Everything Is Fake News: Knowledge in the Information Era

Session #

People & Planet in the Information Era

When Everything Is Fake News: Knowledge in the Information Era

As polarization, misinformation, and doubt in science rise, what will be the consequences for people and the world?

People & Planet in the Information Era

Big Tech & the Data Economy

As the era of Web 2.0 came to dominate, so too did tech companies’ influence on our lives.

Featuring:

Eric Schmidt

Big Brother is Watching: Law and Privacy

Session #

People & Planet in the Information Era

Big Brother is Watching: Law and Privacy

We live in a time of mass data gathering, not just on the part of private corporations, but also by governing bodies the world over.

People & Planet in the Information Era

Tech Monopolies: Promise or Peril?

Data and information monopolies in the information era

Featuring:

Ken Buck

Free Speech: Where’s the line, Who’s to Say?

Session #

People & Planet in the Information Era

Free Speech: Where’s the line, Who’s to Say?

Speech and content moderation on the internet

People & Planet in the Information Era

Can Democracy Survive the Digital Era?

Governing & democracy in the information era

Featuring:

Zoe Lofgren

Session #

People & Planet in the Information Era

Tech, What’s Next?

The future of technology, web3, and crypto

Featuring:

Mercedes Bent

The Existential Crisis: Addressing Climate Change

Session #

People & Planet in the Information Era

The Existential Crisis: Addressing Climate Change

What information, technology, and actions do we need to rise to the climate change challenge? How are decisions around climate made?

Featuring:

Ray Mabus

Session #

People & Planet in the Information Era

Our SciFi Future

With the bounds of AI and other technology being pushed further each day, what will our collective future look like?

Featuring:

Timnit Gebru

Me, Myself, and Technology: How Tech Defines Us

Session #

People & Planet in the Information Era

Me, Myself, and Technology: How Tech Defines Us

How does tech affect us? How does it shape who we are?

Featuring:

Kate Eichhorn

Session #

Tensions: Business, Civic Society and Politics

How Fast Food Franchises Shape Communities

Explore the complex relationship between fast food franchises, civic engagement, business opportunity, and communities in the United States

Featuring:

Marcia Chatelain

Session #

Tensions: Business, Civic Society and Politics

The Economics of Inequality

Nobel laureate Sir Angus Deaton addresses the crisis of “deaths of despair” in the United States.

Featuring:

The First Amendment and its Social Discontents

Session #

Tensions: Business, Civic Society and Politics

The First Amendment and its Social Discontents

Are government officials’ social media accounts private or should they be considered “state action”?

Featuring:

Pam Karlan

Building Bridges: The YMCA’s Role in a Divided America

Session #

Tensions: Business, Civic Society and Politics

Building Bridges: The YMCA’s Role in a Divided America

What role can and should civic organizations like the YMCA of the USA play at a time of intense political polarization, demographic segregation, and rising socioeconomic inequality?

Featuring:

Suzanne McCormick

Governing Tech: International Cooperation and Competition

Session #

Tensions: Business, Civic Society and Politics

Governing Tech: International Cooperation and Competition

When regulating something as complex as artificial intelligence, how should countries work together?

Featuring:

Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar

Beyond the Checkered Flag: What F1 Tells Us about Sport and Society

Session #

Tensions: Business, Civic Society and Politics

Beyond the Checkered Flag: What F1 Tells Us about Sport and Society

Formula One is a global sport. It has teams that cost many millions to operate, it races at some 24 venues around the world, and it hosts an array of sponsors.

Featuring:

Toni Cowan-Brown

When the Well Runs Dry: Tensions, Solutions and the Future of Water

Session #

Tensions: Business, Civic Society and Politics

When the Well Runs Dry: Tensions, Solutions and the Future of Water

In this conversation, Professor Brian Lowery will be joined by Peter Gleick, Pacific Institute Co-Founder and Senior Fellow.

Featuring:

Peter Gleick

Session #

Tensions: Business, Civic Society and Politics

The Divided States of America

In this conversation, Professor Brian Lowery will be joined by Thomas Edsall, New York Times columnist.

Featuring:

Thomas B. Edsall

Technology, Foreign Policy and National Security

Session #

Tensions: Business, Civic Society and Politics

Technology, Foreign Policy and National Security

In this conversation, Professor Brian Lowery will be joined by Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster to discusss Technology, Foreign Policy and National Security

Featuring:

H. R. McMaster

Immigration: Navigating Economic Concerns and Civic Integration

Session #

Tensions: Business, Civic Society and Politics

Immigration: Navigating Economic Concerns and Civic Integration

In this conversation, Professor Brian Lowery will be joined by Rachel Perić, CEO of Welcoming America.

Featuring:

Rachel Perić

The Growth of AI: Balancing Business Interests and National Security

Session #

Tensions: Business, Civic Society and Politics

The Growth of AI: Balancing Business Interests and National Security

In this conversation, Professor Brian Lowery will be joined by Thomas Kurian, MBA '94 and Google Cloud CEO.

Featuring:

Thomas Kurian

Recent

Media

KWYS Hot Take: Traffic

Brian and Amy share hot takes on traffic.

KWYS Hot Take: Beef

Brian's take on the Kendrick and Drake beef.

Video Series

How to Live a Meaningful Life | TED

What makes for a meaningful life? Social psychologist Brian S. Lowery explores three ideas tied to the experience of meaning and shows why simply pursuing personal achievements isn't the best way to find it. (Recorded at TED2024 on April 19, 2024)

Discussion

How to Be a Better Human

Psychologist, author and Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Brian Lowery argues that this question is so difficult to wrap our heads around because what we think of as our individual identity is actually a social construction. In this episode, he and Chris take us on a journey exploring the objective vs the subjective self, the performance of identity and how your view of others has a stronger sway than you realize.

Discussion

What Makes Us Human in the Age of AI? | TED Intersections

AI has the potential to impact the way humans interact with the world — and each other. Social psychologist Brian S. Lowery and AI technologist Kylan Gibbs dive into the ramifications of emerging technologies on people’s mental health and social dynamics. Hear why Gibbs thinks, counterintuitively, the more we use AI, the less real it will feel — and how Lowery suggests we fulfill our intrinsic need for connection amid dizzying technological advances.

Discussion

Grey Matter with Michael Krasny

Brian Lowery joins the podcast Grey Matter with Michael Krasny Matter to discuss and challenge assumptions of the self.

Discussion

Degrees of Freedom

We’ll look at freedom from different perspectives.

Discussion

You Are a Social Creation (with Dr. Brian Lowery)

Dr. Brian Lowery joins Mark Divine on The Mark Divine Show and The Unbeatable Mind Podcast to discuss ideas explored in his new book Selfless.

Discussion

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Episode 239

Dr. Brian Lowery joins Sean Carroll's Mindscape podcast to discuss the sense of self is largely as a social construct.

Discussion

The Social Self

From NPR "It's a simple question with lots of answers: Who are you? You might answer with your name, age, gender, or race. Or you might define yourself by your family — as a sibling, a parent, or son or daughter. You might choose your profession, your passion, your culture, or values. We hear a lot about embracing our "true selves" — the essential core of our beings; the thing that makes us us. But when you break it down, what is the self? Where does it come from? On this episode, we talk to social psychologist Brian Lowery about his new book "Selfless: The Social Creation of 'You.'" He argues that our sense of self mostly comes from other people, and from cultural and societal context. We'll also hear the story of a young woman whose sense of self was destroyed by a traumatic brain injury — and what the healing process revealed about the forces that determine our path in life."

Writing

Our Super Malleable Sense of Self

Dr. Brian Lowery shares an excerpt from his book in Nautilus.

Discussion

SELFLESS: Why “You” Are a Social Creation

Dr. Brian Lowery joins The Next Big Idea podcast to discuss letting go of the idea that you have an essential self.

Discussion

Book Bite - Next Big Idea Club

Dr. Brian Lowery joins Next Big Idea Club to share five key insights from his new book Selfless: The Social Creation of You

Quick Thinks: How Others Define Us

“The self is incompatible with freedom, the way most people understand it, because the self is a constraint,” says social psychologist and professor of organizational behavior Brian Lowery. “The ‘you’ you’re talking about is actually the relationships you have, the social interactions you have and the cultural context you exist in."In this Quick Thinks episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Lowery sits down with podcast host and lecturer in strategic communications Matt Abrahams to talk about his new book, Selfless: The Social Creation of You. Lowery argues that there is no essential “self” — our selves are creations of those we interact with — exploring what that means for who we can be and who we allow others to be. He also shares research on how asking deeply personal questions can be a tool for deepening relationships. Brian Lowery is the co-director of the Stanford Institute on Race and the host of the podcast, Know What You See.

Brian Lowery on understanding the social self

We’re independent! We make our own choices and do our own thing, and march to the beat of our own drum. Right? Turns out, not nearly as much as we thought. In today’s conversation, Jessi visits with Brian Lowery. He’s a social psychologist who runs the Leadership for Society program at the Stanford Business School. His new book is SELFLESS: The Social Construction of “You.” And he’s here to explain that we are all influenced by others, just as we are influencing them, too. Brian shares his philosophy of the social self alongside thoughts on how we can make big changes to ourselves and our communities - by being more consciously in community.

Discussion

Talk Nerdy: The Self w/ Brian Lowery

In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Stanford University professor Dr. Brian Lowery joins Cara to talk about his new book, "Selfless: The Social Creation of "You." They discuss the complex psychology of identity, intersubjectivity, and humanity in a reality shaped by social pressures and norms. Follow Brian: @BrianLoweryPhD.

Discussion

Multiplicity of Identities with Brian Lowery

What is the self? What are we talking about when we say we know ourselves? Scientists believe the brain defines who we are, but Brian Lowery suggests that the self goes beyond our physical being, rooted in our relationships and interactions with other people.

Discussion

Race and Power

Your Brain At Work

In this episode, we bring an esteemed panel together to discuss a shocking statistic about return-to-office work: only 3% percent of Black professionals want to come back.

Discussion

Race and Power

The Invisibilty of White Privilege

The Invisibility of White Privilege with Brian Lowery, PhD

Opinion

Race and Power

GQ Interview

Meet Brian Lowery, the psychology researcher whose recent study found that white folks are more likely to bring up personal hardships when presented with the concept of privilege.