From Silicon Valley innovator to neuroscience educator, Ellen Petry Leanse explores what happens when we stop separating creativity from analytical thinking and begin using the full capacity of the human mind.
In this episode of the Ronderings podcast, Ron Rapatalo speaks with Ellen about her unusual path from a curious child interested in both science and art to a decade-long career at Apple during the company’s early years. She reflects on how curiosity, unstructured time, and even frustration with traditional schooling shaped her lifelong interest in the brain and human behavior.
Drawing on more than 35 years of studying neuroscience with thinkers such as Dr. Iain McGilchrist and Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, Ellen explores how the brain’s hemispheres shape the way we pursue goals and make sense of the world. She also reflects on how modern technology may be reshaping attention and cognition in what she calls “mental climate change.”
The conversation moves into leadership, habits, and intentional living. Ellen connects neuroscience with older traditions of wisdom, including Taoist philosophy and Indigenous perspectives, to explore how people can move beyond reactive thinking and develop a more integrated way of responding to challenges.
If you are interested in neuroscience, leadership, and the deeper questions of how humans think and create, this episode offers a thoughtful perspective.
Listen to the full conversation to hear how Ellen connects brain science, creativity, and lived experience to help us better understand ourselves and the world we are shaping.
Chapters:
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02:54 Ellen’s Story: Curiosity, the Brain, and an Apple Break
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33:07 What Neuroscience Teaches Us About Leadership
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36:16 Habits, Focus, and Training the Brain
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38:44 When Brain Science Meets Something Deeper
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43:29 From Heartache to Hope
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01:00:35 Ellen’s Big Idea: We Are More Than We Think
Episode 85
