Arianna Huffington

Mother. Sister. Yiayia. Founder & CEO @Thrive Global
On a mission to improve health outcomes and productivity
@HuffPost Founder

[Arianna Huffington @ariannahuff]

Even the most committed atheist can appreciate an amazing coincidence. As Monfort put it, "I have never been a believer or thought that anything was destined to occur, but I am beginning to have my doubts. This is beyond all reasonable explanations."

Maintaining a childlike sense of awe and curiosity is part of the fun and intense mystery of being alive. Coincidences connect us across time, to one another, to ourselves, and to an invisible order in the universe. We can't choose where or when they grace us with their presence, but we can choose to be open to their power.

Photo Credit: REUTERS/Jeenah Moon, AP Photo/Joan Monfort

[Arianna Huffington @ariannahuff]

I love coincidences — the combination of improbability, timing and felicity has a kind of magic power. So while the World Cup might be over (enhorabuena Spain!), the image that will stick with me is the photo of a 20-year-old Lionel Messi giving a bath to a 5-month-old Lamine Yamal.

The improbability defies comprehension: that Messi would be playing in Barcelona, that Yamal's mother would sign up for a raffle to appear in a calendar, that she would win the raffle, that Messi would be randomly assigned to Yamal, that Yamal would grow up to be a soccer star, that 39-year-old Messi would still be playing, and that their teams would advance to the World Cup final! The odds are…slim. More extreme than "one in a billion," as Joan Monfort, the photographer who took the photo, said.

[Arianna Huffington @ariannahuff]

But that's the point. Coincidences jolt us out of the ordinary, serving as a pathway to awakening wonder in our lives. In fact, if we're open to it, it's not just a pathway, but a fast track. To the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, coincidences were the "wonderful pre-established harmony" of the universe. To Carl Jung, they were "acts of creation in time." To author and journalist Arthur Koestler, they were "puns of destiny." Coincidences can be thought of as those moments when the invisible threads connecting and binding the timescape become fleetingly visible.

We don't have to know what coincidences mean, or arrive at some grand conclusion when we encounter them. But they serve as sporadic reminders to maintain our sense of wonder, to stop every now and again and allow ourselves to be fully present in the moment and open to life's mystery.

[Arianna Huffington @ariannahuff]

Would you rather fall back each year or spring forward permanently? In Washington, the House has passed a bill, the Sunshine Protection Act, that would make daylight saving time permanent. This would give us more daylight at the end of the day and less at the beginning.

And yet, as the Washington Post reports, research shows that this can be worse for our health because early morning sun is better for our circadian rhythms. Permanently changing that can lead to chronic circadian misalignment, which has been linked to sleep loss and a higher risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and mood disorders.

So how about you — do you prefer more sun in the morning or the evening? Would you rather:

1) Keep changing each year
2) Make daylight saving permanent
3) Make standard time permanent
4) Something else — share below

[Arianna Huffington @ariannahuff]

A trip through time with @BillMaher from the '90s to last month when he received the Mark Twain Award for American Humor. The big laughs have remained constant — thankfully the big hair and big shoulder pads have not!

You can watch the whole thing on @Netflix on July 21st.

[Arianna Huffington @ariannahuff]

At the @BHcityleaders Initiative, @MathiasDeClercq, the mayor of Ghent, Belgium, shared this about his health journey and his personal experience with exhaustion: "Burnout is not a personal failure; it is a signal. And listening to that signal is an act of strength, not weakness."

Read more here:
https://t.co/UcORh52O8B

[Arianna Huffington @ariannahuff]

What’s better than successfully treating disease? Not getting sick in the first place. On @TheEconomist podcast, @EliLillyandCo CEO Dave Ricks, whom the Economist calls “the man reinventing a trillion-dollar drugmaker,” talks about broadening the focus of the 150-year-old company as people are hungry to be empowered to take charge of their health.

“The healthcare system itself does a good job at treating sickness and not a very good job of preventing it,” says Ricks. “People are seeking improvements in their long-term health before they get a disease.”

You can listen here: https://t.co/yrkQYzEHpI

[Arianna Huffington @ariannahuff]

Thank you to @PattiHarris for the warm welcome, and to @MikeBloomberg, James Anderson, and the @Bloomberg Government Innovation program for inviting me to be part of this vital work.

And congratulations to the 46 mayors from 15 countries joining the class of 2027!

[Arianna Huffington @ariannahuff]

How can leaders stay grounded in their values and judgement and handle public scrutiny in this live media environment?

Loved this question from @Harvard @Kennedy_School Professor Dr. Kimberlyn Leary at the @BHcityleaders
Initiative, where we celebrated the class of 2027 Mayors Program and reflected on the initiative’s decade of impact. Over 447 mayors and over 3,000 senior municipal officials have participated.

[Arianna Huffington @ariannahuff]

As I shared with Kim, public officials and mayors operate in a live media environment. In the old days of TV, there was a light that was on in the studio when the show was live — the light is now on all the time — everything is always live.

And not just live, but an amplified version of live. As we all know, social media isn’t actually a truth machine. That’s not what it’s designed to do — it’s optimized for engagement, both good and bad. And the bad includes outrage, division and polarization — forces that make community, coming together and building coalitions to solve problems just that much harder.

[Dr. Vin Gupta @VinGuptaMD]

If you can smell wildfire smoke, your lungs are already paying attention.

Don’t wait until you feel sick. Here are a few low-cost, evidence-based ways to protect yourself indoors.

[Anish Acharya @illscience]

https://t.co/BNnRp4EMsP

[Arianna Huffington @ariannahuff]

In American public life you can never overestimate the advantages of complete and total incomprehensibility. That was @BillMaher’s advice when I told him I was nervous about my accent the first time I did his show “Politically Incorrect” in 1993.

It was the beginning of a very long and deep friendship. So it was great to be one of the speakers at the Kennedy Center ceremony awarding him the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Bill’s been there for every milestone in my life. When he found out my divorce was about to be finalized, he said, “okay, the day it comes through, come do Politically Incorrect. We’ll go to dinner after and you won’t think about it.” And that’s what happened. That’s dinner with Bill — you forget all your problems and just laugh. Two hours later, I couldn’t remember why I was sad, or that I’d ever been married! The night at @TKCOfficial was no different. Plus you’ll hear from @WhitneyCummings, Louis C.K., @WoodyHarrelson, @StephenASmith, @TheMattFriend and @JayLeno.

You can watch the whole thing on @netflix on July 21st.

[Arianna Huffington @ariannahuff]

@Captsully's new act of service comes at a critical time as brain health is emerging as a new frontier in healthcare. Every day, there are new studies showing how our daily habits are a powerful tool to improve our brain health at every stage of life.

But awareness has not kept pace with the science. That’s why Sullenberger’s voice is so valuable. For too long there’s been a taboo about Alzheimer’s and cognitive decline. And by talking about it, Sullenberger can help break that taboo and continue to inspire people as he’s done for his entire career. “It is my hope,” he said, “that by sharing this, other families living in the shadows with this disease will feel they too can step forward.”

[Arianna Huffington @ariannahuff]

Seventeen years ago, @Captsully landed a US Airways flight in the Hudson River after a bird strike, saving all 155 people on board. Now he’s taking on a new challenge as he reveals his recent Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

And just as he used his platform after “The Miracle on the Hudson” to speak out about air safety, he’s now continuing to be of service. As he put it, “Over the years, when people would ask about the successful outcome of Flight 1549, I would say that ‘courage can be contagious,’ and on that day it helped everyone band together to get everyone off that airplane successfully. Now we need that courage to battle this disease. I am now part of a larger community with many of you, and we will be courageous together.”

[Arianna Huffington @ariannahuff]

If we’re going to steer AI in a direction that benefits humans, humans will need to co-evolve along with the technology.

“We Must Act Now” is the title of a letter by nearly 200 leading economists, researchers and tech leaders, including 15 Nobel Laureates.

The statement is just 88 words long and says that “AI may become radically more powerful over the next 10 years” and “drive an unprecedented transformation of our economy.” This could result in “large-scale job displacement,” but also raise living standards.

The letter concludes by urging leaders to act now and “build the incentives, guardrails, and institutions needed to steer AI in a direction that complements humans and benefits society.”

I agree, but also hope we can widen the discussion. So much of the AI debate is just about the AI side — investing the positive things AI does and putting guardrails up against the negative things. But what we’re missing is the need to spend just as many resources on people as we are on the machines.

Yes, we need to understand the economics of transformative AI, but while we build AI we can also build the capabilities of people by investing in humans at every level: in K-12 education, universities, the workplace, and healthcare.

Read more: https://t.co/jWLE3jK99I

[Arianna Huffington @ariannahuff]

A great lesson from Karolína Muchová, who lost in the Wimbledon final against her friend and Czech counterpart Linda Nosková.

Despite losing in three sets, Muchová was able to celebrate her friend’s win with grace and humor and express gratitude to all those who helped her make it to the final.

As she said, “I’ll be fighting. And I hope I’ll get a chance to get to the final again.”

[Arianna Huffington @ariannahuff]

The death of Senator Lindsey Graham on Saturday from a tear in his aorta due to “arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease,” according to the medical examiner, sent shockwaves through Washington, D.C. and beyond.

But lost in the political discussion about his death is a public health opportunity that can serve as a reminder for all of us of the basic questions we need to be asking ourselves and discussing with our physician:

• What is my blood pressure?
• Do I carry excess weight?
• Have I spoken with my doctor about whether a CT scan is an important screening test for me?
• What are my cholesterol levels? LDL? Or ApoB and Lp(a) if my physician recommends?
• What are my levels of the inflammation marker c-reactive protein (CRP)?

And how am I doing in the daily behaviors that are foundational to our health: How is my sleep, which is especially important if I’m traveling across multiple time zones? Am I eating a healthy diet? How am I managing my stress levels? Am I getting enough physical activity and exercise?

We have made tremendous progress in cardiovascular disease with reductions in deaths since 2000. Senator Graham’s unexpected death can be a collective teachable moment to help us accelerate the decline.

[Noema Magazine @NoemaMag]

“AI overtaking us in intelligence lays bare the massive category error we have made in increasingly defining ourselves by our intelligence.”

—@ariannahuff

https://t.co/k85j40nZWJ

[Arianna Huffington @ariannahuff]

We have survival, sex, & status. These three instincts we know well. But there is a fourth: our relentless drive for meaning, purpose, & self-discovery. It is the drive to connect with the transcendent & life's mystery, evolving into the full range of who we can be. AI can't answer that drive for us. It can only point us back to it. Read my latest piece in .@NoemaMag : https://t.co/Eut6loBEFX

Illustrated by Louise Girard