Episode 21: Expertise and Emotion (with Dr. Krista Hoffmann-Longtin)

There are a handful of common threads that run through almost all of the interviews I’ve done to date. People find the Beautiful and True in Nature, in their families, in the sacred, in art, in identity. I’m really excited about today’s guest, because she finds the Beautiful & True in the work she does.

A little background. Dr. Krista Hoffmann-Longtin is an Assistant Dean of the Indiana University School of Medicine at IUPUI, and an Assistant Professor of Communications Studies for the School of Medicine.

To simplify her work FAR too much, she studies how physicians and other scientists collaborate and communicate their knowledge and expertise, both to each other and to the general public. And she also helps train them in HOW to do that, so that productive collaboration is possible.

It sounds heady – and it is – but it’s also about the heart. About conveying important, complex ideas by reaching out to the emotions. It’s about profound listening, and mutual respect, about how DNA scientists and sheepherders are BOTH experts in genetics. Fundamentally, her work is about bringing people from diverse backgrounds together to create a better world.

It’s exciting to talk about, and I know you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. Here we go!

NOTE: A few of the folks Dr. Hoffmann-Longtin mentions in this episode:

Applied Improvisation Network:  http://appliedimprovisation.network/

Alda Center for Communicating Science:  https://www.aldacenter.org/

The Good Listening Project:  https://www.goodlistening.org/

Order and messiness, Beauty and Truth, not pain-free