Circle of Willis

Welcome to Part 1 of my epic conversation with SUSAN JOHNSON , inventor of Emotionally Focused Therapy—EFT—which is an evidence-based therapy for couples, one focused on repairing and enhancing the kinds of emotional bonds that we all depend on for our health and well being. The author of numerous scientific articles, Sue has also written a bunch of books—some for practicing psychotherapists and s...

Welcome to the first annual Circle of Willis Halloween Special, THE WIDOWMAKER, in which I tell the story of almost dying recently of a particularly deadly heart attack. If you have a family history of heart disease, if you had a traumatic childhood, if you have been under a lot of stress, for a long period of time, if you work too much, especially in a sedentary job, if you’re overweight, if you...

Hi Everyone! My conversation with SUSAN JOHNSON —Episode 14—is coming soon, but it isn't quite ready yet. In this preview we talk about how Sue's work on the science and practice of couple's therapy has begun to expand to a general mission of giving away what she calls "the science of love" to the general public, with the goal of creating a more nurturing society. Lofty goals, for sure, but as I s...

Welcome to Episode 13, where I’m talking with NILANJANA DASGUPTA about how young women interested in STEM disciplines can benefit from women teachers and mentors. We also talk about Nilanjana’s fascinating family history that for generations has combined science and social activism. Nilanjana is Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she also serves as Directo...

Hi Everyone! My conversation with NILANJANA DASGUPTA —Episode 13—is coming soon, but it isn't quite ready yet. In this preview we talk about the origin of Dr. Dasgupta's work on the factors that encourage (or discourage) women from participating in the STEM professions. We'll talk more about this important work in Episode 13, where we'll also delve into her fascinating family history—a history tha...

In this special episode of Circle of Willis I talk with five developmental scientists about what may be happening to the children who are currently being separated from their parents as part of a policy to deter immigration and asylum seekers at the southern border to the United States. We discuss what happens to the private emotional lives of these children, but also what happens to their brains...

Welcome to Episode 12, where JAY VAN BAVEL and I discuss the effect of moralizing language on political debates, how scientists--how we all --use social media to settle disputes, and how a kid from Fox Creek, Alberta manages to become a renowned social scientist at New York University. Jay is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at New York University and an affiliate scholar at...

Hi Everyone! The JAY VAN BAVEL episode--Episode 12--is coming soon, but it isn't quite ready for release yet. In the meantime, here's a short clip from our conversation about what Jay discovered when he used data from Twitter to analyze the effect of what he calls "moralizing language." More soon! Jim

Welcome to Episode 11, where NICOLE PRAUSE and I discuss, among other things, the scientific study of orgasm, the pernicious effects of social discomfort about sex on those trying to study it, and her journey from sleepy little Beaumont, Texas to sparkly, cutting-edge Los Angeles. Life hasn’t always been easy for Nikky, but that’s just made her scrappy—a determined problem solver. Nikky Prause is...

Hi Everyone! The NICOLE PRAUSE episode--Episode 11--is coming soon, but it isn't quite ready for release yet. In the meantime, here's a short clip from our conversation about how Nicole actually, literally, stimulates research participants to orgasm in her laboratory. A warning:this preview contains a lot of genital talk. And apologies for my nervous giggling. I'm only human! More soon! Jim

John Cacioppo has died. I went through some of the material that got cut from our original conversation, and found this gem, which I wanted to share with everyone. Among other things, it includes this: "You want to be able to contribute a brick to the temple of science...but recognize that, whether you know it or not, by your death, or shortly after your death, that will be an anonymous brick...an...

Hey Everyone! This is not a full episode of my podcast Circle of Willis! Instead, this is bonus material related to Episode 10 , where I talked with DAVID SLOAN WILSON . I say "related to" because really this bonus material is not stuff I cut from the original interview with David, as all the other bonus episodes have been. Instead, for this bonus episode, David Sloan Wilson is interviewing me! I'...

Welcome to Episode 10, where I talk to DAVID SLOAN WILSON , Distinguished Professor of Biology and Anthropology at Binghamton University, about, well, a lot of stuff, from Skinnerian behaviorism to multilevel selection theory , to the behaviors that impede and facilitate scientific progress and even to what Wilson calls “the science to narrative chain,” which is the process by which scientists mig...

Hi Everyone! The DAVID SLOAN WILSON episode is coming soon, but it isn't quite ready for release yet. In the meantime, here's a short clip from our conversation about what David calls the "Science to Narrative Chain." More soon! Jim

Hey Everyone! This is not a full episode of my podcast Circle of Willis! What this is…this is BONUS MATERIAL from Episode 9 , where I talked with HAL MOVIUS . This is just Hal telling the story of his graduate school experience. I think it's super interesting, and hope you will, too! Jim

Welcome to Episode 9, where I talk to HAL MOVIUS , founder and president of Movius Consulting , about the nature of confidence, the ways in which confidence can both help us and hurt us when we’re working through a difficult negotiation. My conversation with Hal takes Circle of Willis in a bit of a different direction, since Hal isn’t currently a working scientist, per se, but is instead applying...

Hi Everyone! The HAL MOVIUS episode is coming soon, but it isn't quite ready for release yet. In the meantime, here's a short clip from our conversation about leaving academia, and the problem of confidence in difficult negotiations. More soon! Jim

Welcome to Episode 8, where I talk to SIMINE VAZIRE , Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Davis , about the stability of personality, our ability to know ourselves, and some of the nuances within the prescriptive advice of the Open Science Movement. Simine wears a number of different hats. In recent years, she’s been at or near the center of ongoing conversations a...

Hi Everyone! The SIMINE VAZIRE episode is coming soon, but it isn't quite ready for release yet. In the meantime, here's a short clip from our conversation about Simine's role in the movement to improve psychological science. More soon! Jim

Welcome to Episode 7, where Professor MARCO IACOBONI and I talk about the mirroring, mirror neurons, the science of empathy, and how we understand the minds of others. Marco is Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA , where he directs the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Laboratory within the Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center . Marco...

Hi Everyone! The MARCO IACOBONI episode is coming soon, but it isn't quite ready for release yet. In the meantime, here's a short clip from our conversation about mirror neurons. More soon! Jim

Hey Everyone! This is not a full episode of my podcast Circle of Willis! What this is…this is BONUS MATERIAL from Episode 6 , where I talked with JOHN CACIOPPO . This is material that might be a little tougher for some people—people who are not social psychologists or psychophysiologists… But if you are one of those people, or if you're comfortable doing a little google searching, there is some gr...

Welcome to Episode 6, where Professor JOHN CACIOPPO and I talk about inferring causal associations between mind and body, and how to be human is to care for others. John is the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor, and the founder and director of the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience , at the University of Chicago John’s contributions to the fields of Social Psycho...

SNEAK PREVIEW: JOHN CACIOPPO Hi Everyone! The JOHN CACIOPPO episode is coming soon, but it isn't quite ready for release yet. In the meantime, here's a short clip from our conversation. More soon! Jim

Hey everyone! This is not a proper episode of my podcast, Circle of Willis… It’s a BONUS EPISODE, sort of like the extras you get on a DVD or something like that. It's an extra bit of conversation recorded with LISA FELDMAN BARRETT What happened is: after Lisa and I recorded our first conversation , we got to chatting about how she started studying emotion and what it was like for her to go agains...