Podcst

Are You a Preacher, Prosecutor, Scientist, or Politician?

The Curiosity Shop with Brené Brown and Adam Grant

Vox Media Podcast Network

May 14, 2026

Show Notes

Do you find yourself defaulting to “Preacher” mode when you’re under pressure, or starting to act like a “Prosecutor” when someone challenges your ideas? Brené and Adam unpack four mental modes – Preacher, Prosecutor, Politician, and Scientist – to explore why we often cling to being right rather than getting it right. In this episode, they discuss how these defensive stances are shaping our response to AI, Brené’s “bounce” method for emotional hypothesis-testing, Adam’s go-to “strategy of small losses,” and ways to stay curious when the stakes are high.

You can find The Curiosity Shop on ⁠YouTube⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠ (@thecuriosityshop).


0:00 - Introduction and Emoting

3:00 - Thinking Under Thread

- Testing Your Gut with Small Experiments

- The Integrity of Commitment: The Making of This Podcast

- Four Thinking Modes: Scientist, Preacher, Prosecutor, Politician

- When Opinions Become Beliefs

- The Social Costs of Changing Our Minds

- A Missing Mental Model: Teacher

- Wrap up



Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know - Adam Grant, 2021,Book


Eric Ries on ‘The Lean Startup’ - Eric Ries, 2011,Knowledge at Wharton


Learning Through Failure: The Strategy of Small Losses - Sitkin, 1992, Research in Organizational Behavior


AffectiveForecasting - Wilson & Gilbert, 2003,Advances in Experimental Social Psychology


Atlas of the Heart - Brené Brown, 2021(Book)


The Science of the Deal - Adam Grant, WorkLife with Adam Grant Podcast


The Power of Vulnerability - Brené Brown, 2011,TED


The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers - Adam Grant, 2016,TED


BeliefsAre Like Possessions - Abelson, 2007,Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour


We Need to Talk about Astrology - Adam Grant, 2024,Substack


The Diplomat - Cahn et al., 2023-present,Let's Not Turn This Into a Whole Big Production & Well Red, Netflix (TV series)


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