There is so much misunderstanding and discomfort around people with disabilities. Dr. Cynthia Overton tells about how when she was using a wheelchair, people would lock eyes with her and refuse to break eye contact or even blink so they didn’t look at the wheelchair.

In this powerful episode, Dr. Michael Baran interviews Dr. Overton, a fellow social scientist. They discuss Cynthia’s transition from a person without a disability to a person with a disability at age 26 when she was diagnosed with a rare spinal cord injury. Cynthia tells the story of what that was like, how people engaged with her, and how she navigates life now. She also provides insights on the health care system, learned from her experiences living in hospitals for seven weeks. This episode will help listeners think more deeply about a wide range of disabilities, think more critically about the health care system, and learn practical strategies to interact with all people and build a culture that is truly inclusive and safe for everyone. We will also discuss more lighthearted topics such as Cynthia’s forays into stand-up comedy and her love for The Golden Girls or K-dramas.

Resources mentioned:

Clear Cane Chronicles book

Crip Camp documentary

Black fatigue is not just about Black people being tired. It’s about the real psychological and physical costs of racism, inequity, and exclusion. This is a people issue, and also a business issue. Any organization that ignores Black fatigue is choosing higher burnout, turnover, and reputational risk over trust, innovation, and real performance.

In this incredibly relevant and important episode, Dr. Michael Baran interviews two guests: (1) legendary trailblazer Mary-Frances Winters who coined the term Black Fatigue in her 2020 book of the same name, and (2) her daughter and business partner Mareisha Winters Reese who is collaborating with Mary-Frances to write the second edition of that book, to be released in June 2026. Michael and these guests unpack what Black Fatigue really is and how racism literally erodes the mind, body, and spirit across generations. Mary-Frances and Mareisha share what has changed in the forthcoming second edition of the book, including new chapters on AI, global Black experiences, and their perspective on the deliberate attempts to erase Black people, culture, and history. We also dig into the emotional weight of this political moment, the weaponizing of and co-opting of terms like DEI, “woke,” and Black Fatigue itself! We close with concrete ways to learn, act, and sustain resistance, including their upcoming companion workbook on healing Black Fatigue.

Resources mentioned:

• Black Fatigue book
• Preorder Black Fatigue second edition
• Documentary, 13th
• Podcast, 1619
• Michael’s piece on Frozen II

I often recommend documentaries as a good way for people to learn more about others who they might not have a lot of experience with. But not all documentaries are created equal. There are so many decisions involved in ethical and responsible storytelling.

In this behind-the-scenes episode, Dr. Michael Baran interviews Oscar, Emmy, and Peabody award-winning documentary film producer Caroline Waterlow. Caroline isbased in New York City and has been working in the documentary film industry for almost 30 years. She produced such award-winning documentaries as OJ: Made in America, STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A, Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae, and so many more. In this episode, Michael and Caroline talk about a wide range of fascinating issues: (a) ethical representation in documentary filmmaking, (b) rapidly building a culture of inclusion and safety with project teams, (c) bias and inequities faced by women in this industry, (d) building trust with people, (e) fascinating behind the scenes details about the making of the documentaries, and so much more. She ends by giving us a teaser of her upcoming work, dealing with themes of sex, AIDS, body positivity, and public access TV in New York City.

Resources mentioned:

Caroline Waterlow IMDb page

OJ: Made in America on Netflix

Stax: Soulville USA on HBO

Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae on Hulu

Cameraperson on HBO

Subject on Prime Video

It can be a challenge sometimes to get out of the present moment and take a more bird’s eye view of changes in the workplace through time. How have cultures changed over time, especially in terms of culture, biases, and inclusion? Why is this important for companies to consider, as they plan for the future?

In this big-picture episode, Dr. Michael Baran interviews internationally acclaimed strategist, author, speaker Effenus Henderson. Effenus went from working on a tobacco farm in North Carolina to Chief Diversity Officer for Weyerhaeuser Company and now President and CEO of HenderWorks, Inc. and Co-Founder of the Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion.

In this episode, Effenus talks about a wide range of important issues: (a) his journey and experiences with segregation and bias, (b) the economic imperative for organizations to nurture culture, and how they can do that, (c) trust-building leadership in today’s complex world, (d) invisible barriers to success in the workplace, and so much more. He ends by talking about what the workforce may look like in 15 years, when the US becomes a majority minority country and how businesses must adapt with an inclusion lens to that diversity.

Resources mentioned:

Effenus Henderson’s book SPINE

The Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion

Effenus Henderson’s LinkedIn

HenderWorks, Inc.

When you think of being an ally, what comes to mind? Are you thinking that being an ally means being respectful to everyone? Are you thinking about a scenario where someone is being bullied or insulted and you stand up for them or stand with them? While those are both important, they are not enough, if we really want to create cultures of more inclusion and safety for everyone.

In this action-oriented episode, Michael interviews highly acclaimed workplace influencer, speaker, and four-time author, Karen Catlin. Karen went from 25 years building software products and serving as a vice president of engineering at Adobe to now being one of the most widely-known thought leaders on the topic of allyship. In this episode, Karen answers questions that so many people have about allyship. She clarifies how allyship really means taking action and how allyship is essential for building workplaces where everyone thrives. She also shares some examples of ally actions that from her newsletter that goes out to 40,000 people every week, including the example from the title which is related to the common occurrence of men leaving “office housework” to women in workplaces. Along the way, she talks more her journey and her optimism about the ripple effect that ally actions can have for our workplaces and for the world.

Resources mentioned:

• Karen’s TEDx talk on women in tech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uiEHaDSfgI
• The Wake Up book by Michelle MiJung Kim https://www.michellemijungkim.com/book
• Sign up for Karen’s Newsletter https://betterallies.com/subscribe/
• More information about Karen’s books: https://betterallies.com/

Would you be surprised to learn that over 300,000 Black women were recently pushed out of the US labor force in just three months? Do you know how that impacts all of us? It was Katica Roy’s research that brought this to our national attention, first from her MSNBC byline that broke the story and then from the front-page article about it in the New York Times. In this episode, host Michael Baran asks Katica more about how that is happening and what the implications are for workplaces and for the country more generally.

In addition, Katica discusses a wide range of issues, including (a) how policy is not gender neutral, (b) how we all fund the pay gap through our taxes, (c) how gender equity is not just women’s rights, (d) men, mental health, and the “man box,” (e) how AI has bias, but can also detect and eradicate bias in the workplace in just 10 years, (f) and how she sees equity as a massive economic opportunity.

Resources mentioned:

• Katica Roy’s MSNBC article breaking the new about 300,000 Black women pushed out of US labor force
• New York Times front page that mentions Katica’s research
• Katica Roy articles, from Forbes
• ABC News video with Katica Roy interview
• Katica Roy website

There’s a lot of misunderstanding about the use of gender-neutral pronouns they/them in the workplace and in the world. Many people in your organization or in your life, especially younger people, would be feeling a lot more inclusion if people used these pronouns correctly. In this episode, Michael Baran delves into the many ways that people are messing up – by ignoring people’s identities, by debating the grammar of it (or some other devil’s advocate position), by rolling eyes or pausing before using those pronouns, as if to communicate something about it not being “normal.” Michael also provides straightforward and actionable tips, for using the pronouns correctly and for sharing your pronouns as a simple act of allyship.

Have you struggled to understand why people share pronouns or what it means to use they/them pronouns? Have you noticed people making others feel uncomfortable by not using their pronouns naturally? What is behind all of this, and what can we do about it?

In this episode of The Culture Advantage, host Michael Baran explains multiple encounters with people messing up on they/them gender pronouns as he would mention that the co-author of his book used those gender-neutral pronouns. He started to wonder whether it was just really hard for people to make their brains do that work if they weren’t used to it. But then he describes a situation in which a swim team coach used gender neutral pronouns perfectly! And it wasn’t because they had a lot of practice; it was because they were announcing a big award and wanted to keep the winner a surprise.

Michael gives some immediately actionable tips that everyone can follow: (1) use they/them pronouns naturally, without any extra eye rolls or tone changes; (2) give context if you think people need it;(3) understand that this use of they/them as singular has been around since the 1300s, according to Merriam-Webster; (4) speak up, even if it doesn’t affect you directly; (5) understand that using the pronouns that people want to be called does not threaten your own worldview; (6) don’t debate with people or play devil’s advocate, as they have thought long and hard about their identity; and (7) know that you will mess up sometimes and that the key is correcting it and moving on.

This episode will be useful for everyone, with tips that will be used both in and out of work. The lessons in the episode are especially important for those trying to build cultures of inclusion in their workplaces. Intentional attention to detail and to practice around these issues is vital to ensure that the many nonbinary people in your organization (and other LGBTQIA+ people as well) feel their best and can do their best at your organization.

If you’ve been working for at least a few years, especially in the corporate world, you’ve probably done an unconscious bias training. These trainings can be frustrating and ineffective! They fail to really provide deep understanding about bias, and they do not usually provide practical solutions. In this episode, Michael Baran provides that deep understanding with some compelling research studies and with a fascinating account of how biases develop, starting in childhood. He also describes what can be done about these unconscious (or implicit) biases at work, both to reduce our own biases and to mitigate biases with policies and practices.

Have you ever done an unconscious bias training? They can be both incredibly frustrating and entirely ineffective. Why is understanding bias important, and what can we do about it?

In this episode of The Culture Advantage, host Michael Baran explains why he has found unconscious bias trainings frustrating. First, they fail to provide a deep understanding of what bias really is and why we have them. And second, they fail to give practical solutions that can be implemented at work. Michael provides that deep dive into what unconscious bias really is, why we develop biases starting in early childhood, and what we can really do about them.

Michael narrates some of the classic and striking research studies about unconscious bias, focusing first on a study about gender bias in orchestras. When the gender of the candidate was fully blocked by putting a screen on stage, more women were immediately hired, because the interviewers were just listening to the music without the bias getting in the way. In a second example, Michael describes how copies of the exact same resume were sent out to jobs, only with half of them using a stereotypically sounding white name, and half of them using a stereotypically sounding Black name. These studies highlight the striking impact that bias can have on our workplace decisions.

Understanding the impact of bias, what can we do about it? The suggestions that we just try to “make our unconscious biases more conscious” don’t feel helpful because (1) we don’t know what they are, and (2) they are deep seated. Instead, Michael provides some practical tools for how we can reduce our own biases in the long term while also thinking about ways to block the impacts of bias immediately at work. Suggestions include (1) using the Implicit Association Test as a learning tool, (2) diversifying our perspectives and getting to know more about others, (3) introspecting when we commit subtle acts of exclusion, (4) keeping a bias journal, (5) diversifying panels and committees and considering other perspectives when making decisions, (6) baking the bias mitigation into policy and practice, and (7) slowing down the big decisions.

This episode will intrigue everyone and will deepen your understanding of not only bias but also brain development. And then, it will provide practical ways to begin a process of bias reduction, in our own heads, and in our workplaces.