How to Turn Your Awkwardness Into a Social Asset, With Tai Tashiro

This week on The Upgrade, we were joined by Tai Tashiro , relationship expert and author of Awkward: The Science of Why We Social Awkward and Why It’s Awesome , to discuss why the same qualities can trigger social anxiety or embarrassment. can really work in our favor.

Listen to The Upgrade above, or find us in all the usual podcast locations including Apple Podcasts , Google Play , Spotify , iHeartRadio , Stitcher, and NPR One . Subscribe, rate and review!

This week we discussed:

  • From funeral home failures to deplorable post-coital comments, New Yorkers share their worst awkward moments.
  • Difference between an awkward moment and an awkward person
  • Why we shouldn’t use the term “on the autism spectrum” as a generic term for awkwardness
  • An evolutionary argument for awkwardness
  • Why awkwardness is often associated with excellence
  • Methods for Teaching Parents to Improve Social Skills for Parents
  • How the digital age has made us all more awkward and what to do about it
  • One Reporter’s Story of Overcoming Fear of Phone Calls

Our weekly updates

Every week we want to tell you about the improvements we have made to our lives. This week we talked about small house replacements, soundproofing from noisy neighbors upstairs, and an app to track the hours we spend with our phones.

Do you want to ask a question?

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  • Call (347) 687-8109 and write down the question. We love calls! We could just play yours on the show!
  • Send your question to upgrade@lifehacker.com .

Please keep your questions and comments as short as possible. That means 3-5 sentences for emails and 30-60 seconds for calls. We look forward to hearing from you!

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