When Panic Takes Over – And How to Break Free

When Panic Takes Over – And How to Break Free

Author: Pushkin Industries June 16, 2026 Duration: 17:57

Amazon editors just chose Maya’s new book, “The Other Side of Change,” as one of the Best Books of 2026 So Far! To celebrate, we’re sharing a chapter from the audiobook with you today. 

Journalist Matt Gutman spent years reporting live from high-pressure situations all over the world. Calm and collected on camera, he was privately dealing with panic attacks behind the scenes. Then, after an on-air mistake jeopardized his livelihood, Matt fell into a seemingly endless cycle of negative thoughts. 

Order “The Other Side of Change: Who We Become When Life Makes Other Plans” at changewithmaya.com/book, or wherever you like to buy books. If you’ve already read “The Other Side of Change,” leave a quick review here: 

Check out some of Maya’s favorite episodes of “A Slight Change of Plans” here. 

  1. A Black Musician Takes on the KKK - Daryl Davis (Spotify) (Apple)
  2. Wired for Change - John Elder Robinson (Spotify) (Apple)
  3. “Grieving the Man I Thought My Husband Was” - Susan Messing (Spotify) (Apple)
  4. A Theranos Whistleblower - Erica Cheung (Spotify) (Apple)
  5. The Science of Regret - Daniel Pink (Spotify) (Apple)
  6. The Science of Making (and Keeping) Friends - Marisa Franco  (Spotify) (Apple)
  7. How Awe Transforms Us - Dacher Keltner (Spotify) (Apple)
  8. Brené Brown on Our Flawed, Imperfect Selves - Brené Brown (Spotify) (Apple)

Looking for more? Explore six years of inspiring stories of change and science-backed insights for a happier, healthier life here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


Life has a way of rewriting our scripts, often when we least expect it. A Slight Change of Plans, from Pushkin Industries, sits with that universal truth through conversations that feel both intimate and expansive. Hosted by cognitive scientist Dr. Maya Shankar, the podcast is shaped by her own pivotal shift-a violin career ended by injury, which led her to professionally examine how we process transformation. Each episode moves beyond theory, featuring deeply personal stories from a wide range of guests who share their own encounters with upheaval. What you’ll hear isn’t just about resilience, but the nuanced science and practical strategies that can help anyone navigate a redirected path. It’s this thoughtful blend of human experience and grounded research that earned the series Apple Podcasts’ Best Show of the Year. Listening feels like gaining a wiser friend, one who helps you reframe life’s unexpected turns not as disasters, but as complex chapters in a continuing story. The podcast ultimately explores how our identities adapt, how we find meaning, and how even the most disruptive changes can lead to growth we never planned for.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

A Slight Change of Plans
Podcast Episodes
Leaving the Life You Trained For [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:30
Professional violinist Vijay Gupta grew up performing on the world’s biggest stages in order to fulfill his parents' dreams for him. But the pressure to play perfectly became too much, and over time he lost his love of t…
Petra Mathers and Her Michael | From Death of an Artist [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:09
Here’s a preview of another Pushkin podcast, one that explores many of the topics we cover here on A Slight Change of Plans: grief, jealousy, anger, and awe. It’s called Death of an Artist. In February 2024, celebrated c…
What a Therapist Learned in Therapy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:17
Psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb built her career helping people question the stories they tell themselves. But when an unexpected heartbreak left her reeling, she found herself sitting in the patient’s seat – and discovere…
“I Have One Goal: Keep You Alive” [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:11
Stephanie Wittels Wachs and her younger brother Harris were best friends. So when he confided that he was struggling with opioid addiction, Steph believed they’d find a way through it together, like they always had. But…
Can Uncertainty Be a Gift? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:36
How can we find resilience, growth, and new possibilities within life’s more unpredictable moments? In this special episode from the podcast, TED Talks Daily, Maya joins journalist and author Simone Stolzoff to talk abou…
The Hidden Wounds of Moral Injury [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:47
While deployed to Afghanistan with the U.S. Air Force in 2014, psychologist Michael Valdovinos had an unexpected emotional breakdown. None of the diagnoses he knew best–like PTSD or depression–fit the crisis of conscienc…
Tenacity: Stories about perseverance | From The Story Collider [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:45
As the great Rocky Balboa once said about life: Iit will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.” But in this week’s episode from our friends at The Story Collider, two storytellers share sto…
A Realist’s Guide to Optimism [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:53
Deepika Chopra, a clinical psychologist, has a problem with the way optimism is often defined. Real optimism, she says, shouldn’t be about always expecting the best, because sometimes the bad thing will happen. Instead,…
Caitlin Lost the Voice in Her Head [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:55
Today we’re bringing you an episode from Proxy, a show built around a simple idea: Whatever you might be going through — no matter how specific or hard to explain – you’re not alone. There is someone else out there, some…
The Science of True Fun [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:13
As adults, it’s easy to think of fun as a luxury – something we’ll get around to after everything else is done. But science journalist Catherine Price says fun is essential to our wellbeing. On today’s episode, Catherine…