This week's episode was a little late in getting out, but here it is: the second part of the State of the Heart Report, from 6seconds.org. Leah and Jamie discuss the idea of Emotional Intelligence and how there appears to be a downward trend in EQ (Emotional Quotient) in the world, especially in certain demographics. Check out the citations if you want to access the complete report.

Citations:

1. Affordable Counseling | Affordable Therapy | Open Path Collective. (n.d.). Open Path Collective. https://openpathcollective.org/
2. Emotional Intelligence Test. (2025, April 10). Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/tests/personality/emotional-intelligence-test
3. Freedman, J. (2024). State of the heart. In https://6sec.org/soh.
4. FunkyFrogBait. (2025, May 2). How to be a MAN (According to Instagram reels) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV8RfJVwaoE
5. Six Seconds. (2022, February 2). Interactive Wellbeing Balancing Scale • Six seconds. https://www.6seconds.org/scale/

Today's episode comes from an article that Jamie and Leah read about urgency and the power of emotional intelligence. This led us to an even bigger report on the State of the Heart, a report of the state of EQ, or Emotional Intelligence. While this week we discuss mainly the first article, we will circle back to the bigger article next week. Enjoy!

Citations:

Tanon-Olsson, A. (2025, May 7). Overcoming Urgency: How emotional intelligence helps you slow down and focus on what truly matters. Six Seconds. https://www.6seconds.org/2025/05/06/overcoming-urgency-how-emotional-intelligence-helps/

This week, Leah and Jamie discuss a short article that summarizes a longer article from the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science (PNAS). Both articles are found in the citations listed below, but the longer article is behind a paywall. Jamie gives a pretty good review of both articles, and they both discuss how white matter can be affected by the stability of the environment in which children live. A sobering and crucial discussion that has significant impact on children of color and those who live in struggling family environments.

Citations:

1. Black, R. (2025, April 14). Is this really a dire wolf? Here’s how the ‘de-extinct’ pups compare to the real thing. Science. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/dire-wolf-deextinction-colossal-paleontology
2. Early experiences shape the brain’s ‘communication superhighways’ to affect cognition. (2025, April 7). American Academy of Applied Science. Retrieved April 29, 2025, from https://www.science.org/content/article/early-experiences-shape-brain-s-communication-superhighways-affect-cognition
3. Ghosh, P. (2025, April 17). Scientists find promising hints of life on distant planet K2-18b. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c39jj9vkr34o
4. Wikipedia contributors. (2025, February 16). Timeline of the James Webb Space Telescope. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_James_Webb_Space_Telescope