Media - Justin Zorn

THE BOSTON GLOBE
A new book considers what silence is and how it can enrich us
By Christina Tucker

There was part of me that didn’t want to read “Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise,” didn’t want to hear what disservice I was doing myself by insulating myself in a semi-permanent cocoon of sound. But pushing through that type of resistance and discomfort is what this column, devoted to self-help books, is for. So I settled in, tried to move my skepticism to the side, and started to read. Spoiler: I loved it.

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HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
How to Build a Culture That Honors Quiet Time
by Justin Zorn and Leigh Marz

Across our society today, norms of noisiness run deep. Demands like constant connectivity and maintaining a competitive advantage still prevail in most office cultures. Few organizations prize or prioritize pristine human attention. But there are simple strategies we can employ in order to find our own personal sanctuaries and to shift broader cultures. By reclaiming silence in the workplace, we can create the conditions for reducing burnout and enhancing creative problem solving.

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TIME
How Listening to Silence Changes Our Brains
By Justin Zorn and Leigh Marz

It’s not just your imagination. The world is literally louder right now than it’s been at any time in known history. Even if COVID shelter-in-place orders brought a fleeting decline in decibel levels, the arc of modern life seems inescapable: more cars, helicopters, buzzing drones, pinging gadgets, ringing hospital monitors, blaring TVs in waiting rooms, and constant conversation in open-plan offices.

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NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Even New Yorkers deserve quiet in their lives
By Justin Zorn and Leigh Marz

Everybody knows New York is noisy. Screeching subways, roaring garbage trucks, revving packs of dirt bikes, chopping helicopters, loud parties, barking dogs, jackhammers, police sirens and warnings to “stand clear of the closing doors” are baked into the identity of the city. At a time of so many glaring challenges — from the rising cost of living to extreme weather — it’s hard to regard excessive decibel levels as a top-tier concern.

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SALON
By Mary Elizabeth Williams

Is noise bad for us? The authors of "Golden" on why silence is good for your brain.

While Justin Talbot Zorn and Leigh Marz's fascinating new book, "Golden: The Power of Silence In a World of Noise", does explore the physical and emotional toll of living in our noisy modern world, it understands that moving to a nice, quiet cave is not really an option for most of us. Instead, they explore the value of learning first to turn down the volume inside our own heads.

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99% INVISIBLE
Mini-Stories: Volume 15: Resounding Cities with Leigh Marz

One way to get a sense of the ambient baseline noisiness of a city is to measure changes in emergency sirens. After all, for a siren to work, it has to cut through the noisiest sounds around it. Leigh Marz wrote a book titled Golden in which she explores this phenomena and other virtues of silence in an increasingly noisy world.

Justin Zorn and Leigh Marz talk with Roman Mars, host and creator of the 99% Invisible podcast. They discuss their new book, Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise.

TWENTY THOUSAND HERTZ PODCAST

In a noisy, tumultuous world, how can we find inner peace? This episode features two stories about the transformative power of silence. In the first, the Lieutenant Governor of Washington State abandons politics to become a Jesuit novice, and takes a temporary vow of silence. In the second, a death row inmate at San Quentin discovers Buddhist practices that help to calm his mind, and embrace compassion. Featuring Cyrus Habib, Jarvis Jay Masters, Leigh Marz, and Justin Zorn.

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NEW DIMENSIONS RADIO

Moving Beyond the Noise to Pristine Attention with Leigh Marz and Justin Zorn. We spend a bulk of our time in a very boisterous world of noise. We are in a constant deluge of information and chat whether it is from our email and social media, or the 24-hour news cycles with its constant announcements of breaking news. Even our households can be filled with noise. Despite 40 years of mindfulness trainings, we’ve yet to be successful in getting beyond the noise in our own heads.

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AWAKIN with PAVI MEHTA
Silence isn’t just the absence of noise

It’s a presence that brings us energy, clarity, and deeper connection. Leigh Marz, a confessed naturalist and leadership coach, and Justin Talbot Zorn, a policymaker and meditation teacher on Capitol Hill, explore the meaning of silence in a wide range of contexts—from the West Wing of the White House to San Quentin’s death row; from Ivy League brain research laboratories to rock concerts and underground psychedelic circles.

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ALUMNI LEARNING CONSORTIUM
Getting Beyond the Noise: A Non-Meditator’s Guide to the Power of Silence

Do you ever crave a moment of silence from the constant notifications and technology interruptions? How do we move beyond the noise that is all around us? In this deep-dive webinar, co-authors of Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise, Leigh Marz and Justin Zorn, take us on an unlikely journey—from the West Wing of the White House to San Quentin’s death row; from Ivy League brain research laboratories to underground psychedelic circles; from the temperate rainforests of Olympic National Park to the main stage at a heavy metal festival—to explore the meaning of silence and the art of finding it in any situation.

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ACHIEVE GREAT THINGS

Many of us working to make change in the world spend a lot of time thinking about how to “break through the noise” of today’s hyperactive media environment. Our organizations are struggling to “be heard” above the din of news, politics, marketing and more that bombard our eyes and ears all day, every day. In this episode of Achieve Great Things, we’ll talk about something completely different: The sound of silence. We’ll learn from the authors of a provocative book with powerful lessons we can apply in our personal lives and our professional work. It’s called Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise. The book makes the bold claim that we can “repair our world by reclaiming the presence of silence in our lives.” Join us for a quiet conversation with Justin Zorn and Leigh Marz to learn how you can use the power of silence to achieve great things.

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PROFILES IN LEADERSHIP

Justin has served as both a meditation teacher and a senior policymaker in the US Congress. He is a Harvard-and-Oxford trained specialist in the economics and psychology of wellbeing, who has written for The Atlantic, Washington Post, The Guardian, Harvard Business Review, Foreign Policy, Wired, Time, CNN and others.

Leigh is a leadership and collaboration consultant with organizations including Harvard, Google, and IKEA. She has led a multi-year program teaching experimental mindsets to multigenerational teams at NASA. Leigh is also a longtime student of pioneering researchers and practitioners of the ritualized use of psychedelic medicines in the West.

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REBEL HUMAN RESOURCES

Silence isn’t just the absence of noise. It’s a presence that brings us energy, clarity, and deeper connection. With vital lessons for individuals, families, workplaces, and whole societies, Golden is an engaging and unexpected rethinking of the meaning of quiet. Marz and Zorn make the bold and convincing argument that we can repair our world by reclaiming the presence of silence in our lives.

We discuss:

The economics and psychology of why there's so much noise today—in our ears, on our screens, and in our heads
The neuroscience of why silence is essential for our bodies and minds
New and accessible approaches to getting beyond the auditory, informational, and internal noise of the modern world, as well as finding deeper immersion in silence
How to honor silence in workplaces
Building a society that honors silence—including the transformation of the attention economy

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THE ELEGANT WARRIOR PODCAST
with Heather Hansen

What is the deepest silence you’ve ever known? Justin Zorn and Leigh Marz discuss the world's loudness and how silence and stillness can bring clarity and peace into our lives, why silence isn’t just an absence of noise, but a presence that brings energy, clarity and deeper connection. They also explore why silence can be a good alternative to meditation and mindfulness, how the impact of noise falls disproportionately on those with a lower income, and how to create pockets of silence throughout the day in order to rejuvenate yourself.

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CBC RADIO: ENRIGHT ESSAYS

A new book sets out to clinically examine our increasingly noisy world and plots a way to find its opposite — silence. Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise, by Justin Zorn and Leigh Marz, is both a warning and a prescription. But the authors agree that finding a welcoming silence is an uphill struggle. They trace the quest for silence back more than 2,500 years to the days of Pythagoras, who urged his students: "Learn to be silent. Let your quiet mind listen and absorb." To Pythagoras, silence was the key to wisdom.

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NEW DIMENSIONS RADIO

Justin Zorn has served as a senior advisor for Policy and Strategy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. He has also served as a meditation teacher in the U.S. Congress and is a Harvard-and-Oxford-trained specialist in the economics and psychology of wellbeing. Leigh Marz is a collaboration consultant and leadership coach for major universities, nonprofit coalitions, and federal agencies. Marz and Zorn are the cofounders of Astrea Strategies whose purpose is to help businesses, nonprofits, and leaders find creative and enduring solutions in living beyond the noise. They are the co-authors of Golden: The Power of Silence in A World of Noise.

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SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW

The world is noisy and getting noisier. We have noise coming at us from everywhere as well as from inside our own head. And all that noise can be trouble. The antidote? Silence! That’s according to Leigh Marz, a consultant and coach who is coauthor of a book called Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise. Listen as she discusses the negative effects of noise that are sometimes hard to notice. She also has some great ways you can turn the volume down on that noise to enjoy the experience of silence and the benefits that result.

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LESSONS FROM LEADERS
with Brian Beckcom

ilence is one of the most powerful forces in the world. And yet, in a world that is constantly filled with noise and distractions, it's easy to overlook the importance of silence. In this episode, Justin, Leigh, and Brian explore the many ways in which silence can be a valuable tool for personal growth and development, why silence is so important, and how sitting and just daydreaming is a superpower. So sit back, relax, and let's dive into the power of silence.

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HAPPY SPACE PODCAST
with Clare Kumar
Episode 11 – Silence is Golden – especially for HSPs

Noise can be one of the biggest challenges for sensitive people causing us to startle, experience significant stress and lose our focus. I have lived this acutely hence my passion (and longer than usual preamble) to my discussion with Justin Zorn and Leigh Marz, the authors of Golden - The Power of Silence in a World Full of Noise. Leigh and Justin bring to life their examination of not only our relationship to sound and how society often undervalues silence, but also practical ways to successfully engage with this top stressor.

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THINK BUSINESS with JON DWOSKIN

Leigh Marz is a leadership coach and collaboration consultant who has led diverse initiatives, including a training program to promote an experimental mindset among multi-generational teams at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and a decade-long cross-sector collaboration to reduce toxic chemicals, in partnership with the Green Science Policy Institute, Harvard University, IKEA, Google Green Team, and Kaiser Permanente. She is the co-founder of Astrea Strategies. Leigh lives in Berkeley, California, with her husband and daughter.

Leigh’s co-author, Justin Talbot Zorn has served as both a policymaker and a meditation teacher in the US Congress. A Harvard-and-Oxford-trained specialist in the economics and psychology of wellbeing, Justin has written for The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Harvard Business Review, Foreign Policy, and other publications. He is co-founder of Astrea Strategies, a consultancy that bridges deep visioning with impactful communications and action. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his wife and three children.

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THE BOARDROOM BRAIN
with DR. LAUREN COOK

Leigh Marz’s energy is magnetic—in the most quietly powerful way. Featuring her book, Golden, with co-author Justin Zorn, in the Brain Health Book Club for January 2023. Leigh shares how we can find more moments of quiet, both in the workplace and at home. We break down how silence and awe come not in the perhaps expected “quiet” moments—in fact, she helps us redefine how we can find the “golden” moments of peace we all need. Listen to this episode when you need grounding and join us once more at the end of the month when Leigh joins our book club meeting.

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RELATIONSHIP MATTERS

Across this 3-part special, Katie talks with Justin Zorn & Leigh Marz co-authors of Golden The Power of Silence in a World of Noise. The book reveals how to go beyond the ordinary rules and tools of mindfulness. It’s a field guide for navigating the noise of the modern world—not just the noise in our ears but also on our screens and in our heads. Drawing on lessons from neuroscience, business, spirituality, politics, and the arts, Marz and Zorn explore why auditory, informational, and internal silence is essential for physical health, mental clarity, ecological sustainability, and vibrant community.

FEATURED MEDIA

PART 1 | PART 2

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MORE REVIEWS & COVERAGE

PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE