The emotions you’ve felt but never named with John Koenig

Worklife with Adam Grant

TED

Management, Worklife Podcast, Worklife With Adam Grant, Work Life Balance, Ted Talks, Podcast About Work Life, Ted Adam Grant, Adam Grant Podcasts, Ted Podcasts, Adam Grant, Organizational Psychologist, Business

4.8 • 9.4K Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you heard of the word sonder? It’s the realization that each “random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.” John Koenig introduced it in his book The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows—a compilation of new words aiming to capture the nuance and complexity of emotions that can be hard to put a finger on. In this vocabulary-expanding episode, John and Adam explore the sense of loss upon finishing a great book or movie, the dread of chasing a dream, and the awe of human existence. They discuss John’s method and motivation for inventing new words and consider the profound capacity for language to show people that they’re not alone.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's the first customer of the day.
0:02.0	The unexpected 20% tip and the 100% boost to your confidence.
0:07.0	Business is a numbers game and sum up has the tools you need to stay ahead.
0:12.0	With tap to pay, you can accept contactless payments using just your smartphone.
0:17.0	And with our free business account, you can manage all things money with zero hassle all in one place.
0:24.4	Make it count with SumUp.
0:26.2	Download the app or find out more at sumup.com.uk.
0:32.2	I wish that intimacy could be the other way.
0:34.7	Like, I wish I could find out people's deepest, darkest secrets.
0:38.0	And then over years as we build up trust, I could learn what their name is.
0:44.3	Hey, everyone, it's Adam Grant. Welcome back to Rethinking, my podcast on the Science of
0:49.3	What Makes Us Tick with the TED Audio Collective. I'm an organizational psychologist, and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating people
0:56.4	to explore new thoughts and new ways of thinking.
1:02.2	My guest today is John K.nig, a writer, graphic designer, video creator, and voice actor.
1:08.5	John's the author of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows,
1:11.5	where he coined a series of emotion words
1:13.4	that brilliantly describe human experiences
1:15.6	that had previously escaped the English language.
1:18.7	If I didn't have little labels,
1:20.4	to help me remember certain things,
1:22.5	it's clouds in darkness in your head, basically.
1:25.9	But if you have a word,
	...

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