The P-Word

This week on Invisibilia, a close look at the expression of power in everyday interactions. We've all heard that power is dirty, that it corrupts. And yet, there's no denying that we need it - to meet our needs, to make demands, to effect change in the world. So what happens when you're so grossed out by power, you'd rather avoid the power game altogether? When a comic and a dominatrix go head to head, we find out the surprising forms power can take and what it takes to treat a power allergy.

Featured in this episode:

Alex Song-Xia is a writer, actor, and comedian whose work can be found here, and they are @alexsongxia on twitter

Read Julie Batillana and Tiziana Casciaro's book, Power For All

Read Kasia Urbaniak's book, Unbound - A Woman's Guide to Power

Learn more:

"The P-Word: Power aversion and responsibility aversion as explanations for the avoidance of power," by Kathryn E. Hull, Jennifer R. Overbeck, Luke D. Smillie, and Piers D. L. Howe

You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate our Power of Persuasion and Why It Matters, by Vanessa Bohns

"Who Wants to Get to the Top? Class and Lay Theories about Power," by Peter Belmi and Kristin Laurin

"The Burden of Power: Construing Power as Responsibility (Rather Than as Opportunity) Alters Threat-Challenge Responses," by Annika School, Frank de Wit, Naomi Ellemers, Adam K. Fetterman, Kai Sassenberg, Daan Scheepers

The Power Paradox: How We Gain and Lose Influence, by Dacher Keltner

Power: Why Some People Have it and Others Don't, by Jeffrey Pfeffer

"Theories of Power: Perceived strategies for gaining and maintaining power," by Leanne Ten Brinke and Dacher Keltner

Special thanks to the following musicians:

Connor Lafitte

Connor Moore of CMoore Sound

Henry Schiller

Magnus Moone

Ramtin Arablouei

Theme music by Infinity Knives

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