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PODCAST

Diverse Joy

Infusing science, practical skills, and joy into diversity discussions! Follow @DiverseJoy on social media! In each episode, Dr. William T. L. Cox and Dr. Amber Nelson share something that is bringing them joy, talk about a diversity topic, share stories, teach a bias habit-breaking skill, and give a media recommendation of something that brings them joy. Their goal is jointly to provide entertainment and education, and they infuse science, practicality, and most of all, joy into conversations

education social sciences

All Episodes

62:51

S3E13: Addressing Bias in Education

Diverse Joy ·

2026/10/07

For this Halloween episode, “co-ghosts” Amber and Will are in costume as Wonder Woman and Superman, two characters known for embodying truth and justice! To open, Will shares his love of “dark joy”–à la the Addams family–which includes things such skull art and goth aesthetics. Amber’s joy is some of her “Forty Before Forty” activities (which, admittedly, have turned into a “Fifty Before Fifty”) including doing to a UFO convention and a haunted tunnel tour of Portland! They discuss bias and

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63:19

S3E12: Most Joyful Show on Earth: Inclusion in Circus...

Diverse Joy ·

2026/09/02

We invite guest Mark Hayward, a highly accomplished international performer with multiple world titles and world records, to talk about bias and inclusion in circus and variety arts. (Spoiler alert: It might sound oddly specific, but the stuff we talk about is entirely generalizable).For this episode, Mark’s joy is the sense of community he gets from spending time with fellow jugglers, performing artists, and circus folks. Amber’s joy is her project watching all the Disney animated feature films

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56:43

S3E11: Joy as a Wellness Practice

Diverse Joy ·

2026/08/05

Will and Amber are dressed as pirates for “Arrgust,” which is International Pirate Month. While Amber sports a more traditional pirate outfit, Will’s takes inspiration from Star Wars and includes a Kowakian monkey-lizard puppet that he wears on his shoulder.While sharing their joys for the month, Amber discusses her collection of Loungefly bags and mini backpacks (a vast collection that includes many that have been gifted to her, because so many people know she collects them, making her easy to

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53:48

S3E10: Avoiding Demotivational Traps When Consuming...

Diverse Joy ·

2026/07/01

We start this July episode discussing joy, including: Will’s is a trip he took with Roman and friends to Skywalker Ranch! Amber’s is “dopamine dressing,” in which you dress to bring yourself, and others, joy - usually through mixing patterns and colors (it’s kind of maximalist).This episode’s discussion topic is Avoiding Demotivational Traps — there are many ways people try to face problems like racism and disparities that end up resulting in less motivation, rather than more motivation, to solve

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60:51

S3E09: What a Drag! Queens Past and Present! With...

Diverse Joy ·

2026/06/03

It’s June, which means it is Pride Month, so we invited a special guest–drag queen Cynthia Mooseknuckle, a Madison legend–to talk drag and the LGBTQ+ community!For “What’s bringing us joy?” Cynthia’s is hot beverages in the morning, to help awaken the senses! Amber’s is attending Vogue Balls in Portland. And for Will, it‘s his recent trend of discovering new (and old) music albums every morning. This episode’s discussion topic is the history and contemporary use of drag performance as both an art

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59:05

S3E08: Neurospicy and Thriving: ADHD and Neurodiversity

Diverse Joy ·

2026/05/06

For this late-spring episode, Amber and Will dressed up to express their love of the Netflix series Bridgerton. Will’s shares that his joy is his recent ADHD diagnosis (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). While Amber’s joy is her job as a full-time pediatric clinical psychologist and the lives she can impact through that work, which includes doing ADHD testing and being able to tell people, “yes, that’s what this is,” or, “no, it’s this other thing” and helping folks get the treatment they

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50:58

S3E07: Reclaiming Native American Heritage! With...

Diverse Joy ·

2026/04/01

In this episode, we invite special guest Jack Pepple, a member of the Santee Sioux Tribe, to share some of his experiences and perspectives related to his Native American heritage. Jack’s joy is that April is National Poetry Month, and he shares with us a delightful, uplifting, spiritual poem by Joy Harjo called, “For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet“. Joy Harjo is an award-winning poet and was the first Native American Poet Laureate of the United States. Amber’s

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54:46

S3E06: Understanding Gender Bias and Gender Similarities

Diverse Joy ·

2026/03/04

Amber and Will are dressed up as Daisy and Donald Duck for Disney Bounding month! Will’s joy this month is his new routine of charging his phone in his kitchen at night, which has significantly transformed his sleep and his mental health all day long by not having his phone in the bedroom with him at night. Amber’s joy is the book “Romanticize Your Life,” which gives her daily recommendations to make her life more whimsical and fun! This month’s discussion topic is gender bias, which taps into how

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54:06

S3E05: Why Belonging Matters As a Multi-Cultural...

Diverse Joy ·

2026/02/04

This episode, we invite special guest Xizhou Xie (pronounced “She-Joe She-uh”), an artist, statistician, and Chinese-American immigrant. Xizhou’s joy this episode is her wonderful cats, Shadow and Kit-Kat! Amber’s joy is a local BIPOC community group, and Will’s joy is his and producer Eric Roman’s annual “Soup-er Bowl” party. For the main discussion topic on belonging, Xizhou shares some of her story of how she came to the U.S., how she thinks of belonging (or lack thereof) as an immigrant in the

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57:00

S3E04: Learning About Bias in Kids

Diverse Joy ·

2026/01/07

It’s our New Year’s episode (happy 2026 everybody)! For this mid-winter episode, Will shares the joy of going to the Lake Geneva Winterfest America’s Snow Sculpting Invitational™ and the delightful sights of artfully crafted snow sculptures there, and Amber’s joy is discovering new-to-her music and musicians like Doechii, Panic Shack, and Olivia Dean!The discussion topic is Learning About Bias in Kids, including how kids learn bias from their environments and peers, and how they often display bias,

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57:08

S3E03: Mind-Body Connection: The Body Keeps the Joy

Diverse Joy ·

2025/12/03

Will and Amber’s joys this holiday season relate to holiday traditions: Amber’s recalls how her mom would give her and her brother gift every day of the month leading up to Christmas as kids, and then segueing that into gifting board games as adults, and getting to spend time together playing them; and Will talks the current tradition of he and Eric Roman getting Lego Star Wars Advent Calendars from past guest (and friend) Sandy Eichel and their wife!For this episode’s main discussion, the hosts

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49:43

S3E02: The Brain’s Wicked Reward System and...

Diverse Joy ·

2025/11/05

In excitement for the release of the movie Wicked: For Good later this month, Amber and Will are dressed as Elfie and Guy-linda from Wicked!Will’s joy this month is Heels and Wheels, a disability-inclusive dance group in Madison, Wisconsin. Amber’s joy is the power of Wicked The Musical and especially the movie starring Cynthia Erivo, which brings a new depth of feeling to the character of Elphaba as portrayed by a Black woman, and especially her experience of the Pet-to-Threat phenomenon. Amber

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55:13

S3E01: Joy as Resistance and Bias Reduction

Diverse Joy ·

2025/10/01

For this Halloween episode, Will is dressed as Dracula and Amber is the Bride of Frankenstein! This is the first episode of season 3, and Amber’s joy is all the great reactions the podcast has received, including “Diverse Joy” being officially ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts globally! Will’s joy is that his book, "Overcoming Bias Habits", is now available for preorder! (Details below.)This episode’s discussion topic is how joy can be used as a scientifically validated tool against bias. Some

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87:13

S2E14: Alpha, Boomer, Millennial: Learn about...

Diverse Joy ·

2025/09/03

Will and Amber are dressed up as Dorothy and Sophia from “The Golden Girls”, in honor of this month being the 40th anniversary of that groundbreaking television show. Amber shares her joy about a formal tea dining experience she had with friends (where they dressed “Bridgerton”-esque to make it extra special), and Will’s joy is his universally adored dog, Ezra, a silvery gray Westiepoo! Their discussion topic is generational biases, and Amber starts us off by quizzing Will and producer Eric Roman on

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01:20:40

S2E13: Diverse People Bring Diverse Perspectives

Diverse Joy ·

2025/08/06

Will’s joy this month is the annual Woof’s Boat Cruise in the lakes around Madison, and Amber's is a lovely, heartwarming gift from her former students!The cohosts start off discussing the benefits that diversity brings to organizations. Teams with more diversity tend to have more creative, transformative solutions to problems, and some reports say that corporations with more diversity actually make more money. They also caution against thinking of diversity only in terms of utility, because

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01:44:51

S1E12: Moving From Surviving to Thriving: Addressing...

Diverse Joy ·

2025/07/02

Amber's geeky joy this month is the creativity of insurance commercials, and Will’s joy is visiting the American Players Theater for Shakespeare productions. July is BIPOC Mental Health Awareness month, so the cohosts discuss bias and its effects on mental health. We talk about various ways that bias can cause mental health issues, whether that bias comes from outside influences or from within oneself. We also discuss coping mechanisms to help mitigate the impacts of stereotyping and bias on mental

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01:20:02

S2E11: Guidelines for Fair and Legal Employment...

Diverse Joy ·

2025/06/04

The cohosts and returning guest Nicki Vander Meulen are dressed up in rainbows and sparkles in honor of LGBTQ+ Pride Month! Nicki’s joy is a bracelet with a neurodiversity symbol for Autistic people, and Will’s joy is a rainbow necklace and a pin he got when our Inequity Agents of Change nonprofit was admitted to Wisconsin’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Amber’s joy is her work with The Rainbow Connection at Camp Ukando, where she helps kids cope with battling childhood cancer. This episode’s discussion

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01:42:18

S2E10: Healing and Understanding Intergenerational...

Diverse Joy ·

2025/05/07

To celebrate Star Wars Day ("May the Fourth be with you!)", Will and Amber dress in their favorite colors (pink and green) as "Star Wars" characters, and share "Star Wars" related joys. Amber's joy is attending one of Disneyland's After Dark Nites for "Star Wars" last year - with her mom, Will, and producer Eric Roman. Will's joy is the fun "Star Wars"-inspired details producer Eric Roman has added to their house. Before they get into the main discussion topic, Will shares some "bonus science" about

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01:00:29

S2E09: Discovering Room To Grow! With Guest Sandy Eichel

Diverse Joy ·

2025/04/02

We now have merch! Buy some to support the show at https://www.biashabit.com/storeWill, Amber, and returning guest Sandy Eichel are dressed up in purple and green to celebrate Spring! Sandy shares their joy about early spring flowers, Amber continues that thread sharing her joy about the flower farms and tulip festival in Oregon, and Will’s joy is using butterfly pea flower tea to make color-changing cocktails!  Sandy leads off the discussion about how to find joy in discovering you have room to

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01:16:54

S2E08: Unpacking the Science and Controversy around...

Diverse Joy ·

2025/03/05

March is Disneybound* month, something Amber enjoys every year, so for this month’s episode, we got dressed up as Chip (Will) and Dale (Amber) from Disney’s Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers!What’s bringing us joy this time? Will shares about how much joy cosplay brings to him, and getting to inhabit a character who’s someone other than himself - even if it’s a villain. And Amber talks about the joy she got from taking some of the high schoolers she mentors to Atlanta to tour HBCUs and helping them

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41 results

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