S3E14: Practical Advocacy and Allyship

While sharing about what brings each of them joy, Amber discusses adult friendships and community, while Will’s is his recent foray into writing fiction novels! The main discussion topic this episode is the ongoing work of Allyship and Advocacy. One big piece of advice is that the word “ally” should never be louder than your actions. This is especially true when you are in a room that lacks representation from marginalized groups. A few bits of advice for allyship: 1) When possible, listen to the perspectives of members of marginalized groups before taking action. 2) Make sure you’re amplifying diverse voices rather than replacing them. 3) Focus on practical outcomes rather than getting caught up in symbolic victories or arguments. During Story Time, Will shares a story about a time a diversity trainer rudely shut down someone raising a valid concern, and a story about a late night comedy show updating its hosting format in a way that allows more diverse voices to be heard by rotating between hosts of different backgrounds. This episode’s question is “Can you be ‘racist’ against White people?” This question potentially involves some of those ‘symbolic’ battles related to terminology. The precise, academic definition of ‘racism’ involves systemic processes that disadvantage people of color. But colloquially, many people use the term “racist” to encompass various forms of racial bias and prejudice, which can include bias disfavoring White people.  The Bias Habit-Breaking Skill is Translate Individual Change to Institutional Change. All the skills from every episode start with individual-level change in your own thoughts and behavior, but then can extend to institutional and systemic change, because those organizations and systems are made up of individuals. Closing the “joy sandwhich” of this episode, Will’s joyful recommendation is the hilarious and heartfelt tv show Bob’s Burgers, which contains a surprising amount of positive, diverse representations and lessons about allyship, as well as inclusion and belonging–in a community as well as in a family. Dr. Cox’s book is available now! The publisher is University of California Press, and the full title is Overcoming Bias Habits: An Evidence-Based Guide to Creating a Joyfully Inclusive World. Check your small local bookstores! From Amazon: https://a.co/d/iwnakbM From Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/overcoming-bias-habits-william-t-l-cox-phd/1148276458?ean=9780520410428 We now have merch! Buy some to support the show at https://www.biashabit.com/store Follow Diverse Joy on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, Threads, and Bluesky.

For this Halloween episode, “co-ghosts” Amber and Will are in costume as Wonder Woman and Superman, two characters known for embodying truth and justice!  To open, Will shares his love of “dark joy”–à la the Addams family–which includes things such skull art and goth aesthetics. Amber’s joy is some of her “Forty Before Forty” activities (which, admittedly, have turned into a “Fifty Before Fifty”) including doing to a UFO convention and a haunted tunnel tour of Portland! They discuss bias and exclusion in schools for the main topic; touching on what gets taught versus banned, racial biases in discipline, adultification, police in schools, school-to-prison pipelines, standardized testing, achievement gaps, language assimilation, and more. During Story Time, Amber shares a story about a student who was penalized for their accent–not great, particularly since there are ways in which “accents” can be accommodated–and a story about a task force that created guidelines to help reduce bias and colonization in education.  The question is about how “anger” and “disgust” are common reactions to bias and prejudice; is one more “useful” as a reaction? A great discussion ensues! (Spoiler alert, anger tends to be less helpful in actually resolving anything.)  This episode’s Bias Habit-Breaking Skill is Speaking Up, with guidelines for how to address both intent and impact and how to speak up for other people’s slip-ups versus your own slip-ups. (Allies have particular power when speaking up for others.) To close out the episode, Amber’s joyful recommendation is the fun, smart, charming show Abbott Elementary! If you’re unfamiliar, Abbott is a sitcom focused on faculty and staff working at a K-8 school in Philadelphia (with some fun, recurring student characters); the setting naturally allows for great diversity in the cast, and though it’s a comedy, the show frequently tackles topics that real teachers have to deal with, and highlights the difficulties facing educators, while still being thoroughly entertaining.   Dr. Cox’s book is available now! The publisher is University of California Press, and the full title is Overcoming Bias Habits: An Evidence-Based Guide to Creating a Joyfully Inclusive World. Check your small local bookstores! From Amazon: https://a.co/d/iwnakbM From Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/overcoming-bias-habits-william-t-l-cox-phd/1148276458?ean=9780520410428 We now have merch! Buy some to support the show at https://www.biashabit.com/store Follow Diverse Joy on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, Threads, and Bluesky.

We invite guest Mark Hayward, a highly accomplished international performer with multiple world titles and world records, to talk about bias and inclusion in circus and variety arts. (Spoiler alert: It might sound oddly specific, but the stuff we talk about is entirely generalizable). For this episode, Mark’s joy is the sense of community he gets from spending time with fellow jugglers, performing artists, and circus folks. Amber’s joy is her project watching all the Disney animated feature films (an idea she got from producer Eric Roman)! And Will shares about his husband Eric Roman’s amazing baking, which you can check out on Instagram @SuperGayBakes. For the main discussion, Mark talks about inclusion and bias in the past and present of circus and variety arts. The world of the circus has an interesting and rich, but complex, relationship with diversity. On the negative side, of course sometimes circuses used differences to make spectacle (e.g., “freak shows”). On the more positive side, the circus was often a place where people of color, LGBTQ+ folks, and disabled folks could make a living and find a sense of community, in times when traditional financial opportunities were often closed to them. We also discuss how activities like juggling and yo-yo are forms of play that can contribute positively to mental health.  During Story Time, Mark shares a story related gender and belonging/inclusion in competitive environments, and a story related to being receptive when someone pointed out a misuse of power during a performance.  This episode’s question is about how changing social norms related to inclusion, has played out when working in performance arts, and the importance of knowing how to grow and change with the times.  This episodes bias habit-breaking skill is to Think Ahead. We’re less likely to show bias when we’ve thought things through ahead of time.  Mark’s joyful recommendation (which Amber also loves!) is Murderbot, a sci-fi TV show and book series that connects to many issues related to classism and culture, with a diverse cast of characters–without the show being about diversity. CSAW Nonprofit: https://www.csawcircus.org/about @TheMarkHayward To be notified when you can preorder Mark’s book about how to be an MC, sign up here: http://Www.modernvaudevillepress.com/mc Dr. Cox’s book is available for preorder! The publisher is University of California Press, and the full title is Overcoming Bias Habits: An Evidence-Based Guide to Creating a Joyfully Inclusive World. Check your small local bookstores! From Amazon: https://a.co/d/iwnakbM From Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/overcoming-bias-habits-william-t-l-cox-phd/1148276458?ean=9780520410428 We now have merch! Buy some to support the show at https://www.biashabit.com/store Follow Diverse Joy on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, Threads, and Bluesky.

Will and Amber are dressed as pirates for “Arrgust,” which is International Pirate Month. While Amber sports a more traditional pirate outfit, Will’s takes inspiration from Star Wars and includes a Kowakian monkey-lizard puppet that he wears on his shoulder. While sharing their joys for the month, Amber discusses her collection of Loungefly bags and mini backpacks (a vast collection that includes many that have been gifted to her, because so many people know she collects them, making her easy to shop for) which she uses for her various Disneybounds; and Will discusses the joy of cruises he and Eric Roman have been on (a couple of them with his parents). This episode’s discussion is about how to work joy into your life to promote your mental and physical health. Amber shares science and practical skills, as found in the field of positive psychology, related to joy and health, to help your nervous system, prefrontal cortex, and more. She also shares some new-to-the-show acronyms: PERMA and SMILE to help you remember the tools she discusses. In Story Time, Will shares an experience related to racism in high school, and Amber shares a story connected to microdosing joy and her cultural heritage. This episode’s question: Is there a difference between happiness and joy? (Spoiler alert: For technical and diagnostic reasons, yes, there is.) This episode’s Bias Habit-Breaking Skill is Seeking Individuating Information, which is getting to know the details of what makes someone unique, rather than relying on group membership to distinguish them - this comes more naturally when dealing with majority culture folks in a group, as you have to rely on more individuating information to tell them apart, but less naturally for folks not in the majority: It’s a numbers game! Will’s joyful recommendation is the touching, LGBTQ+ Netflix show–which recently concluded with a movie–Heartstopper! (It’s based on a graphic novel, so a double recommendation.) We highly recommend it if you like adorable romance and need more queer representation and joy in your life! Dr. Cox’s book is available for preorder! The publisher is University of California Press, and the full title is Overcoming Bias Habits: An Evidence-Based Guide to Creating a Joyfully Inclusive World. Check your small local bookstores! From Amazon: https://a.co/d/iwnakbM From Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/overcoming-bias-habits-william-t-l-cox-phd/1148276458?ean=9780520410428 We now have merch! Buy some to support the show at https://www.biashabit.com/store Follow Diverse Joy on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, Threads, and Bluesky.

We start this July episode discussing joy, including: Will’s is a trip he took with Roman and friends to Skywalker Ranch! Amber’s is “dopamine dressing,” in which you dress to bring yourself, and others, joy - usually through mixing patterns and colors (it’s kind of maximalist). This episode’s discussion topic is Avoiding Demotivational Traps — there are many ways people try to face problems like racism and disparities that end up resulting in less motivation, rather than more motivation, to solve the problems. Many involve misusing “educational media” to achieve catharsis or avoid seeing or facing real problems (”entertainment” and “educational media” can certainly mix and overlap, when we say “educational media” in this capacity, we mean the kind of movies or books where even the marketing is trying to make sure you “know” this is some kind of “inspirational” piece that you “should get something out of,” even though many pieces of “entertainment” can also accomplish the same thing - they just tend to be more subtle about it). Amber shares the idea of Sankofa (a word from Akan, one of the many languages spoken in Ghana), which involves having your feet firmly facing forward, to make positive progress to the future, but also looking back to remember the past, both to learn from it and to bring forward what was good. During Story Time, Will shares a story about someone who got censored by her work place, with them saying she could not be a guest on Diverse Joy, because they were afraid of federal backlash for the show focusing on DEI. The more positive story was about another popular podcast, Stop Podcasting Yourself, doing a very nice job with diversity among its guests (having women, people of color, and folks with disabilities make up a large portion of its guest list). This episode’s Question is “Why are ‘checklist’ approaches to DEI bad?” Checklist approaches can give a “catharsis” effect–you’ve finished a thing, check it off–that demotivates people, making diversity and inclusion efforts something that you “get over with” rather than an approach that is about maintaining inclusion over time with ongoing effort.  Our Bias Habit-Breaking Skill is Broadening Your Input via Increasing Representation in your Social, Physical, and Digital Environments. This takes many forms, such as increasing diversity of speakers you invite to your organizations (Social), in whose pictures or art is displayed in your work or home (Physical), or the picture on your website (Digital).  The skills segment leads to an excellent chat about Amber’s church and how her pastor does a great job of Increasing Representation in invited speakers and even in different representations of Jesus found throughout the church. Amber’s joyful recommendation is KPop Demon Hunters, a movie that became a cultural sensation over the year. It’s a fun, goofy, musical action movie set in a reality centered around (generations of) K-Pop musical group(s) that must stop demons from entering reality through music! (Amber got Will and Eric Roman watch it soon after we recorded this episode, and they agree that it is fantastic!) Dr. Cox’s book is available for preorder! The publisher is University of California Press, and the full title is Overcoming Bias Habits: An Evidence-Based Guide to Creating a Joyfully Inclusive World. Check your small local bookstores! From Amazon: https://a.co/d/iwnakbM From Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/overcoming-bias-habits-william-t-l-cox-phd/1148276458?ean=9780520410428 We now have merch! Buy some to support the show at https://www.biashabit.com/store Follow Diverse Joy on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, Threads, and Bluesky.

It’s June, which means it is Pride Month, so we invited a special guest–drag queen Cynthia Mooseknuckle, a Madison legend–to talk drag and the LGBTQ+ community! For “What’s bringing us joy?” Cynthia’s is hot beverages in the morning, to help awaken the senses! Amber’s is attending Vogue Balls in Portland. And for Will, it‘s his recent trend of discovering new (and old) music albums every morning. This episode’s discussion topic is the history and contemporary use of drag performance as both an art form and a form of community and protest. Cynthia shares how drag has been a way to bolster her self-confidence, both in and out of drag. The conversation touches on acceptance and self-acceptance, authenticity, the influx of competitiveness into drag, and related topics and tangents (it’s a great conversation)!  In Story Time, Cynthia shares a negative story about drag is–sometimes–more exploitative and exclusionary as it has become more mainstream, competitive, commodified, and profit-motivated. For her more positive story, she shares about going back to her small Midwestern hometown to be celebrated and honored in drag! This episode’s question is about whether it is difficult to remain sober within the drag community. Cynthia shares her personal journey with sobriety. This episode’s bias habit-breaking skill is to Broaden Your Input via Genuine Connections. Making friendships with people different from you can help push back against biases in your mind. While talking about genuine connections and friendships, the discussion taps into recent tragic experiences with persecution of immigrant communities in the United States. As always, we close out the episode with a joyful recommendation. Whenever we have a guest, we let them give theirs, and Cynthia’s is “retro gaming,” or playing classic video games, which can bring in good feelings of nostalgia and comfort that can bolster your mental health! She recommends classic Pokémon games, in particular. (Cynthia Mooseknuckle’s name actually comes from the character of Cynthia, introduced in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.) Dr. Cox’s book is available for preorder! The publisher is University of California Press, and the full title is Overcoming Bias Habits: An Evidence-Based Guide to Creating a Joyfully Inclusive World. Check your small local bookstores! From Amazon: https://a.co/d/iwnakbM From Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/overcoming-bias-habits-william-t-l-cox-phd/1148276458?ean=9780520410428 We now have merch! Buy some to support the show at https://www.biashabit.com/store Follow Diverse Joy on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, Threads, and Bluesky.

For this late-spring episode, Amber and Will dressed up to express their love of the Netflix series Bridgerton.  Will’s shares that his joy is his recent ADHD diagnosis (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). While Amber’s joy is her job as a full-time pediatric clinical psychologist and the lives she can impact through that work, which includes doing ADHD testing and being able to tell people, “yes, that’s what this is,” or, “no, it’s this other thing” and helping folks get the treatment they need.  The main discussion topic of this episode is learning about ADHD and, more broadly, neurodiversity. Amber discusses what ADHD is (including how ADD, attention deficit disorder, which you’ve probably also heard of, is now classified as one of three types of ADHD rather than being its own thing), some of how it is diagnosed, how it shows up in people’s lives, and some coping mechanisms–including another Amber Acronym: BOOST. As people with ADHD diagnoses themselves, Will and Amber both pull on their own life experiences as well as the research and clinical literature to discuss all of the above. During Story Time, there are stories related to testing for ADHD, and how an early diagnosis can be helpful for avoiding addiction issues later in life (because proper treatment will help with how the brain’s reward system handles an ADHD person’s dopamine requirements). This episode’s Question is, “What is neurodiversity?” (Hint: It’s an umbrella term for conditions that are neurodevelopmental and neurological in their etiology.) Will shares two Bias Habit-Breaking Skills this month: Considering Situational Explanations for Behavior and Doing Perspective-Taking. Both of which are handy tools for helping to reduce bias and create inclusion. Amber and Will close out the episode with the joyful recommendation of the hilarious and musical TV show that touches on many great diversity and mental health topics, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend! (It acknowledges that its title is a bit problematic.) (If you were expecting the recommendation to be Bridgerton, and are confused about why it isn’t - go give season 1, episode 5 a listen.) Dr. Cox’s book becomes available for preorder! The publisher is University of California Press, and the full title is Overcoming Bias Habits: An Evidence-Based Guide to Creating a Joyfully Inclusive World. Check your small local bookstores! From Amazon: https://a.co/d/iwnakbM From Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/overcoming-bias-habits-william-t-l-cox-phd/1148276458?ean=9780520410428 We now have merch! Buy some to support the show at https://www.biashabit.com/store Follow Diverse Joy on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, Threads, and Bluesky.

In this episode, we invite special guest Jack Pepple, a member of the Santee Sioux Tribe, to share some of his experiences and perspectives related to his Native American heritage.  Jack’s joy is that April is National Poetry Month, and he shares with us a delightful, uplifting, spiritual poem by Joy Harjo called, “For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet“. Joy Harjo is an award-winning poet and was the first Native American Poet Laureate of the United States. Amber’s joy is Pitch Black, a Black entrepreneurship organization that lifts up Black businesses and nonprofits across the U.S.! Will’s is a train trip he took with producer Eric Roman, Jack, and other friends, in which they crossed the country and collectively wrote their own murder mystery. In a combined Story Time–Discussion Topic segment, Jack shares his personal story related to people around him trying to erase or deny his Native American heritage, how that affected him and how he reconnected with his identity over time. It provides an excellent framework to also discuss some of the historical context related to Native heritage erasure and redemption, and many related topics like reservations, media portrayals of native folks, alcoholism and substance abuse stereotypes and realities, assimilation and mandatory religious conversion to Christianity, two-spirit people, and more! Our connections to our identities provide a sense of stability and strength that buffers our well-being, and when an identity is erased or stigmatized, we can lose those beneficial effects. We also discuss land acknowledgments (e.g., we record the podcast in Madison, WI, which is situated on unceded land from the Ho Chunk nation).  This episodes question is “Is it okay to say ‘Indian,’ versus ‘Native American’ or ‘Indigenous’?” The answer: It depends, and you should ask the person it impacts. This episode’s bias habit-breaking skills are two tools to help overcome bias habits, to Detect/Reflect/Reject Bias and to Rehearse Replacements. Jack’s joyful recommendation is the novels of award-winning Blackfeet Native American horror author Stephen Graham Jones. One book Jack particularly recommends is My Heart is a Chainsaw, in which a young Indigenous girl who loves horror movies finds herself in a horror movie-like scenario when a slasher attacks people in her community! It is a fast-paced, intriguing offering for any horror fans out there!   Dr. Cox’s book becomes available for preorder! The publisher is University of California Press, and the full title is Overcoming Bias Habits: An Evidence-Based Guide to Creating a Joyfully Inclusive World. Check your small local bookstores! From Amazon: https://a.co/d/iwnakbM From Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/overcoming-bias-habits-william-t-l-cox-phd/1148276458?ean=9780520410428 We now have merch! Buy some to support the show at https://www.biashabit.com/store Follow Diverse Joy on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, Threads, and Bluesky.

Amber and Will are dressed up as Daisy and Donald Duck for Disney Bounding month!  Will’s joy this month is his new routine of charging his phone in his kitchen at night, which has significantly transformed his sleep and his mental health all day long by not having his phone in the bedroom with him at night. Amber’s joy is the book “Romanticize Your Life,” which gives her daily recommendations to make her life more whimsical and fun! This month’s discussion topic is gender bias, which taps into how we treat kids differently based on gender and teach them gender, how women get taken less seriously in several domains, including science, and how people often devalue femininity or things associated with it (a problem some researchers call “femmephobia”). We also talk about the “man vs bear” scenario that went viral last year and the “pink tax,” in which products marketed at women often cost more. They also discuss the gender similarities hypothesis, which argues (with LOTS of data) that men and women tend to be more similar than different on most psychological variables.  During story time, the first story involves an instance of people teaching gender norms, and the more positive story involves women’s sports being given more prominence and respect.  This episode’s listener question is “What is the Bechdel test?” The Bechdel test is a litmus test related to movie/TV portrayals of women. This episode’s habit-breaking skill is to favor mindfulness over blunt, ineffective tools. Sometimes people try to bluntly shove away bias in their minds, which backfires. Rather than that, it is better to be mindful of bias and accept the reality that bias sometimes comes to mind, then you can work on making sure it does not affect your behavior. Mindfulness is a powerful tool in changing bias. Amber’s joyful recommendation is the play, “& Juliet!” It’s a diverse, nostalgic, empowering jukebox musical, exploring what would have happened if Juliet of “Romeo and Juliet” had lived on after the play.    Dr. Cox’s book becomes available for preorder! The publisher is University of California Press, and the full title is Overcoming Bias Habits: An Evidence-Based Guide to Creating a Joyfully Inclusive World. Check your small local bookstores! From Amazon: https://a.co/d/iwnakbM From Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/overcoming-bias-habits-william-t-l-cox-phd/1148276458?ean=9780520410428 We now have merch! Buy some to support the show at https://www.biashabit.com/store Follow Diverse Joy on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, Threads, and Bluesky.

This episode, we invite special guest Xizhou Xie (pronounced “She-Joe She-uh”), an artist, statistician, and Chinese-American immigrant. Xizhou’s joy this episode is her wonderful cats, Shadow and Kit-Kat! Amber’s joy is a local BIPOC community group, and Will’s joy is his and producer Eric Roman’s annual “Soup-er Bowl” party.  For the main discussion topic on belonging, Xizhou shares some of her story of how she came to the U.S., how she thinks of belonging (or lack thereof) as an immigrant in the U.S., and that in recent times it’s been especially difficult for immigrants in the United States. The hosts discuss related concepts like racial battle fatigue and how to address ambiguous bias. During Story Time, Xizhou shares a negative story about anti-Asian racism, especially highlighting how overt hate can happen anywhere, even in places we hope are more safe or accepting. Her positive story relates to having a booth at an LGBTQ+ Pride event, where she felt amazing community, safety, and belonging, even without identifying as a member of LGBTQ+ community. The positive story leads to great discussion about cross-group solidarity across stigmatized identities. Xizhou’s statistical expertise was wonderful to have as we discussed the answer to our question, “What are some challenges when working with data comparing identity groups?” Even if you are not a scientist or mathematician, this is an excellent primer on how to understand statistics that compare racial, LGBTQ+, or other groups, which can more easily be overblown or misrepresented. The Bias Habit-Breaking Skill is Cognitive Inertia, which perpetuates our preexisting ideas in a number of ways. These include Attentional Spotlight, in which our attention is biased such that we notice more confirmatory evidence, Confirmation Bias, in which we give more weight to confirmatory than disconfirmatory evidence, and Untested Assumptions, when there is no evidence at all, but our own assumptions are a mental rehearsal that can strengthen stereotypes. Xizhou was an author with Will on one of the big research papers providing evidence for some of these phenomena! Xizhou and Amber share additional examples of Untested Assumptions, specifically related to assumptions that Asian folks don’t speak English well.  Xizhou’s joyful recommendation is the whimsical Icelandic-Chinese musician Laufey (Loy-vey), who is “making jazz music cool again.” Her music gives you “main character energy” and fills you with joy!   Check out Xizhou's art!  https://xizhouxie.com/ https://www.facebook.com/xizhouxieart   Dr. Cox’s book becomes available for preorder! The publisher is University of California Press, and the full title is Overcoming Bias Habits: An Evidence-Based Guide to Creating a Joyfully Inclusive World. Check your small local bookstores! From Amazon: https://a.co/d/iwnakbM From Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/overcoming-bias-habits-william-t-l-cox-phd/1148276458?ean=9780520410428 We now have merch! Buy some to support the show at https://www.biashabit.com/store Follow Diverse Joy on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, Threads, and Bluesky.