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Flourish FMAuthor: jonandnick
What does it take to flourish? We started Flourish FM to share cutting edge research from world experts on how to thrive, so you can take away big ideas and practical steps to enhance your life, the lives of others, and, ultimately, make the world a better place. Flourish FM is hosted by Dr. Jon Beale and Dr. Nick Holton, and in collaboration with the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University, the Department of Education at the University of Oxford, and The Shipley School. Language: en Genres: Education, Self-Improvement Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Episode 86: How to Use Curiosity & Experimentation to Flourish, with Dr. Anne-Laure Le Cunff
Episode 86
Wednesday, 22 July, 2026
Dr. Anne-Laure Le Cunff is a neuroscientist, entrepreneur, and educator whose work explores the neuroscience of curiosity and what it shows us about how to live, learn, and flourish in an uncertain world. She is the founder of Ness Labs, whose weekly newsletter on mindful productivity and lifelong learning is read by more than 100,000 people. Anne-Laure is the author of Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World (2025), which draws on ancestral philosophy and contemporary neuroscience to argue for replacing rigid linear goals with small, curiosity-driven experiments. Her writing and ideas have been featured in media outlets including Big Think, Forbes, Wired, and on leading podcasts on creativity, productivity, and well-being. Anne-Laure is a UKRI-funded researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London, where she applies her research on the neuroscience of curiosity to ADHD, AI, mental health, and lifelong learning. She holds a PhD in Psychology & Neuroscience from King’s College London, and before her doctoral research she worked as an executive on Google’s digital health team. Follow us: YouTube @flourishfmcast Instagram @flourishfmpodcast LinkedIn @flourishfmpodcast Twitter @flourishfmcast Facebook @flourishfmcast Anne-Laure Le Cunff links: Website Ness Labs Newsletter Book: Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World (2025) Recent paper on flourishing: “Systematic Curiosity as an Integrative Tool for Human Flourishing: A Conceptual Review and Framework” (Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 2024) LinkedIn Instagram X (Twitter) Substack YouTube Episode timestamps: 01:10 Why Curiosity Matters 02:32 Systematic Curiosity Defined 04:42 Curiosity for Flourishing 06:29 Shadow Side and Self Regulation 09:21 Metacognition and Reflection 12:07 Types of Curiosity Matrix 14:35 Distraction and Context 15:51 Sponsor Antifragile Academy 17:23 Designing Tiny Experiments 21:36 From Habits to Tiny Experiments Book 23:19 Experimental Mindset Under Uncertainty 25:22 Curiosity Profiles and Stress Tolerance 28:31 What Makes Experiments Tiny 31:02 Redefining Success as Alignment 33:52 Finding Curiosity via Self Anthropology 36:01 Retrospective Experiments and Reframing 39:40 One Experiment to Try This Week 40:45 Where to Find Anne Laure
