Olivia Fox Cabane

speaker

140 appearances 1 recordings 1 series first heard Jul 2026 last heard 23 Jul

Olivia Fox Cabane’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 1.

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Something You Should Know · The Science of Charisma & Why Midlife Is Better Than Everyone Thinks · 23 Jul 2026 podcast

So the day that I learned that in controlled laboratory experiments, researchers were able to raise and lower people's level of charisma as if they were turning a dial, that was the day I decided I'm going to learn this stuff because the science is out there.

I think so, yes.

And the reason I think so is that some of the most fascinating stories in the lore of charisma are ones like Marilyn Monroe deciding she was going to prove that Norma Jean and Marilyn were personas she could flip in and out of.

And so on one New York summer, I think it was 1955, she goes into Grand Central Station with a photographer and a journalist.

And she was showing them that she could just be Norma Jean.

So she boards a subway car.

And even though there is a camera clicking the whole time, apparently not a single person noticed her.

Then she emerges from the subway, goes back onto the street, turns to the reporter, says, so you want to see Marilyn?

And he said that there wasn't a huge gesture.

She just overall shifted her body language, fluffed up her hair, but all of a sudden, to the reporter, it looked magic.

And all of a sudden, for all the people around, they realized it was Marilyn and the crowd went wild.

So we do have these stories of the charismatic superstars turning it on and off.

And we have the studies of participants' level of charisma going up and down.

Because charisma can take effort, I understand why some people would want to turn it off, especially since, let's be honest, there are downsides to being charismatic.

It may sound weird, but people really do get high on your presence and people can get kind of addicted to the charisma being turned on.

And then they're the other ones like you can convince people even when you're wrong.

And I've seen this with founders in Silicon Valley time and time again.

Charismatic founders have a huge advantage in fundraising, but they can sometimes have a genuine disadvantage in leading because they will convince their team.

They will convince customers even when they are incorrect.

And then eventually product market fit or whatever it is that shows that they got everyone to drink their Kool-Aid along with them.

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