July 16, 2020 9:00 pm

Friday, Our Making a Phenom Mini-Series Continues with Pete Carroll and Angela Duckworth

“Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.” Shakespeare said it best. On this week’s episode of StarTalk Sports Edition, we’re continuing our Making a Phenom mini-series. Host Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Gary O’Reilly and Chuck Nice investigate how great athletes become great, with Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and world-renowned psychologist and author Angela Duckworth, PhD. Before we get to this episode, be sure to catch up on our previous episode in our Making a Phenom series: Genetics and The Mind.

What does it take to become great? Can anyone become great? What if you’re supposed to be great and you fail – how do you explain that? These are the questions we’re exploring on our latest episode.

First we check in with Pete Carroll. You’ll learn about his new book and educational program called Compete to Create. We investigate why self-discovery is necessary in order to achieve your best. Pete tells us about his commitment to optimism and why there are no shortcuts to being great. He tells us about his first encounters with Russell Wilson and his exceptional mentality from the very beginning. You’ll also learn how Pete handles players who might be great on the field but hard to work with off the field.

Then, Angela Duckworth joins us to explore the value of grit. Angela is the author of the best-selling book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. We start simple: what is grit? Are there ways to get grit? Angela explains the importance of a “growth mindset.” Discover why becoming the best doesn’t happen alone. We take a look at some of the myths of grit. And, we discuss why talent might be overrated.

Lastly, Neil reflects back on his wrestling career and shares the lessons he learned that have helped him throughout his life. We also investigate if grit comes at the expense of something else. All that, plus, Angela gives us one last piece of advice about chasing goals.

Please join us tomorrow for Making a Phenom: Nurture at 7pm ET right here on our website, as well as on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn. If you’re a StarTalk+ Patron or an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free at 7pm, too.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
– Ian Mullen