Today it’s great to have Olga Khazan on the podcast. Khazan is a staff writer for The Atlantic, covering health, gender, and science. Prior to that, she was The Atlantic’s Global editor. She has also written for the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, Forbes, and other publications. She is a two-time recipient of the International Reporting Project’s Journalism Fellowship and winner of the 2017 National Headliner Awards for Magazine Online Writing.

Topics

[02:23] The origin of Olga Khazan’s weirdness

[04:02] The natural tendency of loner kids to flock together

[07:35] The state of our polarized society

[08:53] How outcasts bond over the mutual feeling of being different

[10:17] Changing social norms without changing people’s attitude

[11:45] The implications of normalizing everything

[12:29] Why most people find it hard to be different

[14:10] Gender issues when upholding the norm

[16:13] The relationship between tribal instincts and farming

[18:03] Why most people tend to overgeneralize stuff

[19:34] Why American’s warm more towards English speakers than non-English speakers

[21:15] Social stresses and how it’s related to loneliness

[23:59] The link between adverse health outcomes and racial disparities

[25:09] Perceived versus real social treatment

[26:25] The relationship between weirdness and creativity

[28:27] How being different can help you find your true self or your true love

[35:48] How to be different

[37:06] Comfort with discomfort

[39:30] “The weirder you are the fewer and the more precious are the people who truly accept you”

[40:35] Why non-conformists desire to improve the lives of others