Dr. Jamil Zaki is a professor of psychology at Stanford University and the director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab. Jamil trained at Columbia and Harvard, studying empathy and kindness in the human brain, and I’ve been a mega-fan for years, after interviewing him for his first book, The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World, in 2019. His latest book, Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness, is a must-read. It’s a love letter of sorts, a collaboration through the veil with his late colleague Emile Bruneau, who also studied compassion, peace, and hope. 

I would love for every single person to read this book as it paints a more accurate, data-driven portrait of who we are, which is mostly good, and mostly aligned in our vision for the future. Jamil explains what happens to us when fear and cynicism intervene and the way we come to see each other through a distorted lens. He busts some other significant myths as well, namely that we glorify cynicism as being “smart”—you know, no dupes allowed—but cynicism actually makes us cognitively less intelligent. Yes, you heard that right. I loved this conversation, which we’ll turn to now.




MORE FROM JAMIL ZAKI, PhD:

Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness

The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World

Follow Jamil on X and Instagram

Jamil’s Lab’s Website




RELATED EPISODES:

Amanda Ripley, “Navigating Conflict”

"Calling In the Call-Out Culture with Loretta Ross"



Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Jamil Zaki is a professor of psychology at Stanford University and the director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab. Jamil trained at Columbia and Harvard, studying empathy and kindness in the human brain, and I’ve been a mega-fan for years, after interviewing him for his first book, <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/17662/9780451499257">The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World</a>, in 2019. His latest book, <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/17662/9781538743065">Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness</a>, is a must-read. It’s a love letter of sorts, a collaboration through the veil with his late colleague Emile Bruneau, who also studied compassion, peace, and hope. I would love for every single person to read this book as it paints a more accurate, data-driven portrait of who we are, which is mostly good, and mostly aligned in our vision for the future. Jamil explains what happens to us when fear and cynicism intervene and the way we come to see each other through a distorted lens. He busts some other significant myths as well, namely that we glorify cynicism as being “smart”—you know, no dupes allowed—but cynicism actually makes us cognitively less intelligent. Yes, you heard that right. I loved this conversation, which we’ll turn to now. MORE FROM JAMIL ZAKI, PhD:<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/17662/9781538743065">Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness</a><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/17662/9780451499257">The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World</a>Follow Jamil on <a href="https://x.com/zakijam?lang=en">X</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/warforkindness/">Instagram</a>Jamil’s Lab’s <a href="https://www.ssnl.stanford.edu/">Website</a> RELATED EPISODES:Amanda Ripley, “<a href="https://eliseloehnen.substack.com/p/navigating-conflict-amanda-ripley?utm_source=publication-search">Navigating Conflict</a>”"<a href="https://eliseloehnen.substack.com/p/calling-in-the-call-out-culture-loretta?utm_source=publication-search">Calling In the Call-Out Culture with Loretta Ross</a>" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a>

Writer Elise Loehnen explores life’s big questions with today’s leading thinkers, experts, and luminaries: Why do we do what we do? How can we understand and love ourselves better? What would it look like to come together and build a more meaningful world?

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Writer Elise Loehnen explores life&rsquo;s big questions with today&rsquo;s leading thinkers, experts, and luminaries: Why do we do what we do? How can we understand and love ourselves better? What would it look like to come together and build a more meaningful world?
Sales and Distribution by Lemonada Media <a href="https://lemonadamedia.com/" data-stringify-link="https://lemonadamedia.com/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">https://lemonadamedia.com/</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;

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