Podcast Episodes

January 16, 2025

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In this episode, Wendy speaks with psychologist and cognitive scientist Molly Crockett. Molly is a leader in studying moral cognition, with an emphasis on ethics, knowledge, and power in the digital age. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• the limits of quantitative (scientific) ways of knowing;
• the importance of narrative in shaping ideas and behavior;
• moral outrage on social media;
• who benefits from a culture of outrage;
• the role of scientists in our narratives about human nature;
• how artificial intelligence influences what we consider as human;
• using artificial intelligence for compassion;
• a Dalai Lama chatbot vs. the real Dalai Lama;
• the importance of embodiment in human communication;
• studying transformative experiences at Burning Man;
• technology and “Paleolithic” emotions;
• epistemic injustice;
• and the critical importance of valuing multiple ways of knowing.

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December 12, 2024

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In this episode, Wendy speaks with psychologist and affective neuroscientist Jim Coan. Jim is a leading researcher on how social connection impacts our minds, brains, and bodies, and he’s also pushing the boundaries of impactful science communication. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• studying relationships and emotions in the brain;
• how a confusing research finding changed his career;
• how holding hands impacts our bodies and minds;
• understanding energy regulation and prediction;
• social baseline theory;
• the prefrontal cortex and self-regulation;
• implications for the default mode network;
• social support as energetic resources for the body;
• effects of hand holding on pain processing;
• introversion and social support;
• the two things all his students must memorize;
• the costs and benefits of social interactions;
• implications for loss of relationship;
• sense of self, belonging, and the importance of supporting others;
• communicating science through comics;
• and surviving—even flourishing—through climate change.

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November 14, 2024

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In this episode, Wendy speaks with psychiatrist and mental health researcher Chuck Raison. Chuck’s work centers on understanding how ancient practices can change our conscious experience. He’s a leader in studying the links between inflammation, stress, and depression, and how meditation and other practices can influence those dynamics. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• ancient practices and conscious experience;
• Tibetan tummo practice;
• the role of inflammation in depression;
• sickness behavior;
• links between stress and inflammation;
• the placebo response;
• psychedelics as a novel treatment for depression;
• investigating the role of memory in transcendent experiences;
• body temperature and emotions;
• and the precious gift of awareness.

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October 17, 2024

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In this episode, Wendy speaks with contemplative researcher Quinn Conklin. Quinn’s research examines the interconnection of mind and body, and the effects of stress and meditation training on biomarkers of health and well-being. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• her interest in mind-body connection and how that led her into meditation research;
• understanding meditation retreats;
• advantages and challenges of studying meditation in a retreat context;
• how personality can influence the effects of meditation;
• telomeres and cell aging, and impacts of stress and meditation;
• creating safety and support for practice (on retreat);
• oxytocin and various theories of its function in social connection;
• effects of meditation retreat on oxytocin;
• allostasis and prediction;
• studying community responses to COVID and how meditation provides support;
• increasing diversity in contemplative science;
• and making research findings accessible.

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September 19, 2024

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In this episode, Wendy speaks with psychiatrist and contemplative researcher Zev Schuman-Olivier. Zev has been working for more than a decade to integrate mindfulness and compassion into health care, with a focus on addiction, depression, and chronic illness. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• weaving mindfulness and compassion into clinical settings;
• lessons from his own experience of chronic illness;
• the key role of behavior change in health;
• balancing individual responsibility for health with systemic factors;
• mindfulness and addiction;
• making interventions trauma-informed, inclusive, and broadly accessible programs;
• how signals from the body help motivate action and emotion;
• how mindfulness enhances trust in the body and changes the brain in depression;
• Internal Family Systems and the critical role of acceptance;
• and next steps for integrating mindfulness and compassion into complex healthcare systems.

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