Nicholas ChristakisEvery podcast appearance, updated as new ones drop

In this mind-bending episode of Inside AI, we dive into the fascinating world of human-AI hybrid systems. Forget your sci-fi dystopias — Marcel and Nicholas Christakis talk about bots that make us better humans. From robots that crack jokes to boost group morale, octopus's consciouness, and digital assistants that might be raising your kids (politely or not), we explore how social AIs can change the way we interact — with each other and with machines. Christakis also explains why your AI co-pilot should maybe come with flaws (on purpose), how simple bots can catalyze group cooperation, and why your emotional bond with ChatGPT might be more revealing than you think.

Are your choices really your own — or are they quietly shaped by the people around you? Nicholas Christakis joins Igor and Charles to reveal the hidden power of social networks, from the surprising spread of kindness and cooperation to the ripple effects that shape our health, decisions, and even our wisdom. Igor uncovers the invisible social forces influencing our daily lives, Nicholas shares how our deep-rooted instincts for love, friendship, and teaching have shaped human civilization, and Charles considers how tapping into these instincts could help us build stronger, wiser communities. Welcome to Episode 64. Special Guest: Nicholas Christakis. Links: Human Nature Lab | Yale University Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives (Book) | Nicholas Christakis Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society (Book) | Nicholas Christakis Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live (Book) | Nicholas Christakis The Hidden Influence of Social Networks (Ted Talk) | Nicholas Christakis ETH Global Lecture: Social Artificial Intelligence (2024) | Nicholas Christakis The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years - Christakis, Fowler (2007) Cooperative behavior cascades in human social networks - Fowler, Christakis (2010) Induction of social contagion for diverse outcomes in structured experiments in isolated villages - Airoldi, Christakis (2024) Gut microbiome strain-sharing within isolated village social networks - Beghini, Pullman, Alexander, Shridhar, Prinster, Singh, Juárez, Airoldi, Brito, Christakis (2025)

Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH, professor at Yale University, is a sociologist and physician who conducts research in the areas of social networks and biosocial science. He directs the Human Nature Lab . The author of four books and over 200 articles, Christakis was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2006 and was made a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2010 and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017. On this episode we are talking to Nicholas about his book, "BLUEPRINT: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society". In Blueprint , he introduces the compelling idea that our genes affect not only our bodies and behaviors, but also the ways in which we make societies, ones that are surprisingly similar worldwide. He brings some impactful questions related to grief to the table, like: Why do we have this capacity for grief? Why is it helpful for us as humans to have the experience of the emotions around grief? "Emotions are a very primitive form of communication that far preceded our capacity for language - it's a more sophisticated type of communication." Thank you for listening! Learn more about EB and the voices in this episode: Meet Dr. Nicholas Christakis Learn more about the book "Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society" EB in depth Meet the family behind Heroes for Hallie Grace Donate and Join the Fight Proudly hosted and produced by Dee Daniels Media

In April 2020, Yale University Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science Nicholas Christakis took part in the first SNF Dialogues webcast “Waiting to Connect”. It was the time of the first coronavirus lockdowns, during which the whole world was hoping to reconnect. Back then, Professor Christakis said that it would take two to four years for ‘normal’ to return, while some societal norms might never come back. Almost three years later, we revisit the topic in order to reconnect in the post-pandemic era. In a discussion with Phoebe Fronista, Professor Christakis talked about his book Apollo's Arrow, how accurate his predictions turned out to be, whether we’re better prepared for a new pandemic and, finally, whether a new “Roaring Twenties” era is here. // Τον Απρίλιο του 2020, ο Νικόλας Χρηστάκης, καθηγητής Sterling, κοινωνιολόγος και γιατρός στο Πανεπιστήμιο Yale, συμμετείχε στο πρώτο webcast των Διαλόγων με τίτλο «Σύνδεση σε Αναμονή». Ήταν η περίοδος του πρώτου lockdown, κατά τη διάρκεια του οποίου ολόκληρος ο κόσμος προσδοκούσε ένα είδος επανασύνδεσης. Τότε είχε δηλώσει ότι η κοινωνία μας θα χρειαστεί 2-4 χρόνια για να επανέλθει στην «κανονικότητα», καθώς κι ότι κάποιες κοινωνικές συνήθειες ίσως να μην επανέλθουν ποτέ. Σχεδόν τρία χρόνια μετά, επανερχόμαστε στο ίδιο θέμα, με σκοπό να επανασυνδεθούμε στη μετά Covid-19 εποχή. Σε μία συζήτηση με τη Φοίβη Φρονίστα, ο καθηγητής Χρηστάκης μίλησε για το βιβλίο του Το βέλος του Απόλλωνα, πόσο ακριβείς αποδείχτηκαν οι προβλέψεις του, εάν είμαστε καλύτερα προετοιμασμένοι για μία νέα πιθανή πανδημία και, τέλος, αναρωτηθήκαμε μήπως έχουμε φτάσει σε μια εποχή αντίστοιχη των “Roaring Twenties”. // *Οι απόψεις των συμμετεχόντων στις συζητήσεις Διάλογοι, είτε αυτοί συμμετέχουν ως εκπρόσωποι θεσμικών φορέων και οργανισμών είτε αυτοπροσώπως, σε αρθρογραφία ή άλλα οπτικοακουστικά μέσα εκφέρονται ελεύθερα, χωρίς πρότερη παρέμβαση ή υπόδειξη, εκφράζοντας την προσωπική τους γνώμη, κάθε φορά, αλλά όχι απαραίτητα τις θέσεις και τις απόψεις είτε του Ιδρύματος Σταύρος Νιάρχος (ΙΣΝ) είτε του iMEdD. *The opinions expressed by Dialogues participants, whether representing officially institutions and organizations or themselves, on events, articles, or other audiovisual media are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) or iMEdD. Speakers’ remarks are made freely, without prior guidance or intervention from the team.

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nicholas Christakis about cooperation, social networks, and tribalism. They discuss how humans are more cooperative and have a propensity for good than many people emphasize. They talk about the social suite and examples of unintentional, intentional, and artificial communities. They discuss positive and negative aspects of cooperation, punishment, and social networks. They discuss friendship, in-group tribalism, social learning, teaching, and culture. They also provide a brief update on where COVID-19 is at the moment and what we can expect in the next few years. Nicholas Christakis is a physician and sociologist who conducts research at his Human Nature Lab at Yale University on social networks. Currently, he is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science, Internal Medicine, & Biomedical Engineering at Yale University. He has his MPH and MD from Harvard University along with his PhD in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. In 2009, he was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He is the author of Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives , Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of A Good Society , and Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live . You can find his lab here . Twitter: @nachristakis Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

Debbie Weil brings Nicholas Christakis back on the show for an update on all things COVID. Their conversation one year ago was one of the most popular episodes of Season 3. Nicholas is a Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale. He's a physician, a sociologist, and a public health expert and he's the bestselling author of several books, including, most recently, Apollo's Arrow, about the coronavirus pandemic. The book is out in paperback, with a new Preface and a new Afterword. Debbie wanted to ask Nicholas where are we now with the COVID-19 pandemic, where are we going, and what does this all mean in an historical context. She could listen to Nicholas all day as he weaves together the history, the science, the epidemiology, the psychology and the sociology of pandemics, or plagues as he calls them. Not surprisingly, he's an in-demand expert for commentary about the coronavirus pandemic. Vaccines were widely available when the two spoke a year ago. Debbie, like many others, thought that meant the beginning of the end of the pandemic. Not quite, Nicholas said at the time. He was spot on in his predictions, saying that not until 2024 would the pandemic be behind us. A year later, he says we are finally through phase one of the pandemic. He expects we'll reach herd immunity several months from now. He and Debbie discuss Long COVID, whether we should still be wearing masks, the continuing importance of getting thrice vaccinated, what metric to pay the most attention to (number of deaths per day), addressing disinformation around this pandemic, and more. He notes that historically there has been a confluence of disasters associated with plagues, including war, famine, and climate change. When the war against Ukraine erupted, he was astounded but also not surprised. World War I accompanied the 1918 pandemic. This time, Ukraine and climate change are the accompanying global disasters. Nicholas ends by reminding us that plagues are not rare and may continue to become more present in our lifetime – but that we have the tools and technology to get through them. Tune in for a fascinating conversation about where we are now with the COVID pandemic. About Nicholas Christakis Wikipedia Twitter Yale University Ted Talks Human Nature Lab at Yale Mentioned in this episode or useful: New paperback edition: Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live by Nicholas Christakis (Little, Brown Spark, Oct. 2021) [B]OLDER S3-EP21: Nicholas Christakis on How the Pandemic Will Affect Your Life Until 2024 COVID Will Reshape Humanity (interview with Amanpour & Co., Dec. 21, 2021) Note from Debbie If you've been enjoying the podcast, please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts. It takes less than two minutes and it really makes a difference. It makes me feel loved and it also attracts new listeners. Subscribe to my newsletter and get my free writing guide: https://bitly.com/debbie-free-guide .</

Once named amongst Time magazine’s 100 most influential people, Nicholas Christakis is now the director of Yale’s Human Nature Lab; a position that puts his diverse range of skills to good use. With expertise in several fields including sociology, ecology, medicine, and evolutionary biology, the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science has a track record of groundbreaking research. In this interview, Christakis discusses his latest book, Apollo’s Arrow, with IMD Affiliate Professor of Leadership, Katharina Lange. Highlights include the profound and enduring impact of coronavirus, and what we can learn from plagues of the past. Read our new magazine, I by IMD, here . Discover IMD's leadership programmes here . Host: Katharina Lange Guest: Nicholas Christakis Produced by: JohnJo Devlin

COVID vaccine misinformation has been a major issue, but how do we fight it? Today's guest is Yale professor Nicholas Christakis who has been on the ground floor of the COVID pandemic since before it came to the United States. From day one, he's been tracking the pandemic and even wrote one of the first books about our response to COVID and what we could have done better. In this episode, we discuss where we've been and where we're headed, and we also discusses the balance between vaccine misinformation and free speech. Follow Nicholas on Twitter @NAChristakis Get a copy of Apollo's Arrow Get a copy of Blueprint Get a copy of Connected Visit HumanNatureLab.net Get your free books by Chris here: https://bit.ly/3vkRsb6 Follow @TheRewiredSoul on Twitter and Instagram Support The Rewired Soul: Get books by Chris Support on Patreon Try BetterHelp Online Therapy (affiliate) Donate The Rewired Soul is a reader-supported publication. To early podcast episodes and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. I’m currently writing a book about how we’re manipulated by the news, social media, technology, advertisers, and each other. It dives into the psychological history of manipulation, our biases, tribalism, and more. To stay updated follow me on Twitter and Instagram @TheRewiredSoul and subscribe to the Substack. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit therewiredsoul.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Notes COVID vaccine misinformation has been a major issue, but how do we fight it? Today's guest is Yale professor Nicholas Christakis who has been on the ground floor of the COVID pandemic since before it came to the United States. From day one, he's been tracking the pandemic and even wrote one of the first books about our response to COVID and what we could have done better. In this episode, we discuss where we've been and where we're headed, and we also discusses the balance between vaccine misinformation and free speech. Follow Nicholas on Twitter @NAChristakis Get a copy of Apollo's Arrow Get a copy of Blueprint Get a copy of Connected Visit HumanNatureLab.net Become a paid Substack subscriber at TheRewiredSoul.Substack.com and get early access to episodes! Get your free books by Chris here: https://bit.ly/3vkRsb6 Follow @TheRewiredSoul on Twitter and Instagram Subscribe to The Rewired Soul Substack Support The Rewired Soul: Get books by Chris Support on Patreon Try BetterHelp Online Therapy (affiliate) Donate

How do diseases and information spread? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice discover the history of pandemics, how social networks impact spread, and the hidden math behind it with sociologist Nicholas Christakis. NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://www.startalkradio.net/show/social-networks-and-ending-the-pandemic-with-nicholas-christakis/ Thanks to our Patrons Stephanie Nina Pitsirilos, bj Avent-Farmer, Bryce Irving, Heavily Sedated, Aaron Moss, Rudy Amaya, and Jan Erik Bergli for supporting us this week. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of StarTalk Radio ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus .

Nicholas A. Christakis , MD, Ph.D., MPH, is a sociologist and physician who conducts research in the areas of social networks and biosocial science. He directs the Human Nature Lab at Yale University. He is the NYT bestselling author of Connected , Blueprint , and Apollo's Arrow . Nicholas Christakis Book Recommendations: The Illiad - Homer The Last Days of Socrates - Plato Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen Man's Search for Meaning- Viktor Frankel Stumbling on Happiness - Dan Gilbert The Better Angels of Our Nature - Steven Pinker About The Inquiring Mind Podcast: I created The Inquiring Mind Podcast in order to foster free speech, learn from some of the top experts in various fields, and create a platform for respectful conversations. Learn More: https://www.theinquiringmindpodcast.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theinquiringmindpodcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theinquiringmindpodcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/StanGGoldberg TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdKj2GeG/ Subscribe to the Inquiring Mind Podcast: Spotify: http://spoti.fi/3tdRSOs Apple: https://apple.co/3lGlEdB Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/3eBZfLl Youtube: https://bit.ly/3tiQieE

My guest today is Nicholas Christakis. Nicholas is a physician, a sociologist, and a professor at Yale University. He'll be known to some of you as the professor who kept his composure in front of a mob of students screaming about Halloween costumes back in 2015 or he may be known to you as the author of many books, including "Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social networks and How they shape our lives", "Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society" and "Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live", which will be the focal point of our conversation today. Nicholas and I talk about how the polarized media has harmed our ability to deal with COVID. We talk about the end goal of herd immunity. We talk about whether the incredible speed of the rollout of the vaccine is suspicious. We talk about the ethics of requiring or strongly pressuring people to get the vaccine. We talked about the ethics of encouraging booster shots when many around the world have yet to get their first vaccination. We also discuss Ivermectin and much more. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the middle of the pandemic, Dr. Nicholas Christakis released a sweeping book, called “Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live”. In it, he drew on scientific, medical, and sociological research, and assessed the transmission of the virus, responses worldwide, and prognosis for the pandemic’s end, including some bold predictions. The paperback edition is just out with some new material.

In this “additional” episode, Andy and Akhil switch roles and put the US Constitution aside for an hour, as they take a deep dive into the governance and politics of their beloved alma mater. Yale recently initiated a scandal when their trustees abruptly eliminated most of the democratic elements whereby alumni participated in the governance of the University. Andy was a candidate for election to the Yale Corporation, and he leads us through the weeds “inside Yale.” Meanwhile, Nicholas Christakis, a Sterling Professor at Yale and an official of Yale’s Faculty Senate, joins us; he and Akhil offer a unique faculty-oriented perspective on events. Anyone who cares about Yale will want to learn the facts behind this outrage. And how does John Adams, a Harvard man, sneak his way in?

Elemental human capacities like friendship and love, teaching and learning, have tremendous, constant, practical force. We don’t think of these in terms of what has given our species the grit to endure through hard times and even evolve in the long run. They’re lived social intelligence, part of the everyday, and so can be hard to see as serious amidst the high tumult of our age. But these kinds of human qualities are what sociologist Nicholas Christakis studies from his Human Nature Lab at Yale and his life generously lived. He offers a wide lens, a broad perspective, that deepens and refreshes. Nicholas Christakis — is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University, where he’s also the director of the Human Nature Lab and co-director of the Institute for Network Science. He’s the author of Connected: How Your Friends’ Friends’ Friends Affect Everything You Feel, Think, and Do and Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society . In October 2020, he published Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live . This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode "Nicholas Christakis — How We’re Wired for Goodness." Find the transcript for that show at onbeing.org . This show originally aired on March 5, 2020. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Nicholas Christakis is an unusual academic—a physician, a sociologist, and more. He is also a champion of free speech. Christakis is a Greek American, who grew up in both countries. He has a lofty position at Yale: Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science. He has written a book about the pandemic, “Apollo’s Arrow.” He talks about this, both knowledgeably and movingly. He and Jay discuss a... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Dr. Nicholas Christakis discusses the future course of COVID-19 and the world it will leave behind. It's been a little over a year now since the novel coronavirus was declared a pandemic and normal life in America -- and around the world -- came to a screeching halt. Since then, vaccines have been developed and deployed, but uncertainty remains. Variants of the virus are helping to drive spikes in infection rates in some areas while vaccine hesitancy remains a barrier to herd immunity. And then there is the question of lasting impacts and how they will ultimately change humanity. Dr. Christakis has been attempting to bring clarity to this uncertain process throughout the pandemic, including in his book “Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live.” For the latest episode of the Crosscut Talks podcast, he provides some insight into what the future holds for this virus and the society it has reshaped. --- Credits Host: Mark Baumgarten Event producers: Jake Newman, Andrea O'Meara Engineers: Resti Bagcal, Viktoria Ralph

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nicholas Christakis about the COVID-19 global pandemic. They discuss how he wrote his latest book, Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live, while the pandemic was happening in real time. They discuss the basic facts about the COVID-19 virus along with the lethality and infectious rates. They briefly consider if there is any validity that the virus is the result of a lab leak. They also present an overview of vaccine history and how the current mRNA vaccines work. They stress the importance of everyone getting a vaccine sooner than later and how the current vaccines appear to defend well against the virus variants. They also discuss herd immunity and what the timeline towards a return to normal looks like. Nicholas Christakis is a physician and sociologist who conducts research at his Human Nature Lab at Yale University on social networks. Currently, he is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science, Internal Medicine, & Biomedical Engineering at Yale University. He has his MPH and MD from Harvard University along with his PhD in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. In 2009, he was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He is the author of Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of A Good Society, and Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live. You can find his lab here . You can find the app mentioned in this episode here . Twitter: @nachristakis Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of The Mission, Ravi is joined by social scientist, physician and author, Nicholas Christakis, to talk about the three stages of the pandemic, how propaganda machines thrive when the world is distracted and why we're heading towards a second Roaring Twenties.

Dr. Nicholas Christakis joins the salon to discuss his new book on COVID-19, extreme crisis, and what we can learn about the relationship between pandemics and human nature. Dr. Nicholas Christakis is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University. He is also Director of the Human Nature Lab and Co-Director of the Yale Institute for Network Science. His research focuses on topics such as biosocial science, behavior genetics, and network science. He is author of the newly-released Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live , in which he explores the impact of the pandemic on our institutions and what lessons it teaches us about our evolved social nature. The first half of the show is available to all our listeners. The full discussion is available to Palladium Members. Members also get to participate in the Palladium Community Salons, which the editorial podcasts are based on, as well as other benefits like the community chat. To become a Palladium Member, subscribe here .

APPLY FOR THE 2020 WISE AWARDS: https://bit.ly/2t5Vqsw ----------------------------------------------------- Author of Connected and Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of A Good Society, Nicholas Christakis joins us to discuss the human being's innate ability to teach and learn from one another, how societies are inherently good, and the negative externalities of emerging tech. Nicholas is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University. His work is in the fields of network science, biosocial science, and behavior genetics. He directs the Human Nature Lab and is the Co-Director of the Yale Institute for Network Science. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2006; the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2010; and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017. He was also a speaker for the WISE 2019 Summit. -------------------------------------------------- Related links Buy Blueprint: https://amzn.to/36rZlhZ Follow Nicholas: https://twitter.com/NAChristakis?s=20 Send your thoughts to: @wise_ceo --------------------------------------------------- Check out more WISE content! Website: www.wise-qatar.org Email: wisewordspod@gmail.com Twitter: twitter.com/WISE_Tweets Instagram: wiseqatar

APPLY FOR THE 2020 WISE AWARDS: https://bit.ly/2t5Vqsw ----------------------------------------------------- Author of Connected and Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of A Good Society, Nicholas Christakis joins us to discuss the human being's innate ability to teach and learn from one another, how societies are inherently good, and the negative externalities of emerging tech. Nicholas is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University. His work is in the fields of network science, biosocial science, and behavior genetics. He directs the Human Nature Lab and is the Co-Director of the Yale Institute for Network Science. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2006; the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2010; and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017. He was also a speaker for the WISE 2019 Summit. -------------------------------------------------- Related links Buy Blueprint: https://amzn.to/36rZlhZ Follow Nicholas: https://twitter.com/NAChristakis?s=20 Send your thoughts to: @wise_ceo --------------------------------------------------- Check out more WISE content! Website: www.wise-qatar.org Email: wisewordspod@gmail.com Twitter: twitter.com/WISE_Tweets Instagram: wiseqatar

Usually, on Blind Insights, we discuss frightening topics but this episode is very different: It will restore your faith in humanity. David and Tim interview Nicholas Christakis, author of Blueprint, a book that explains the cycles of human societies and instils or restores faith in humanity. Nicholas Christakis is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University. This title is awarded to Professor Christakis to recognise him as the best in the fields of network science; biosocial science; and public health, further proving the significance of his work. If you have any thoughts, questions, or want to present your argument, contact us and send us an audio clip at timwhiffen@auscastnetwork.com Support the show: https://auscast-network.myshopify.com/collections/blind-insights See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

History is rife with examples of people behaving badly, sometimes with truly evil intent. Yet noted scholar Nicholas Christakis argues that humans are actually wired for goodness. His recent book, "Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society," makes the case for what he calls a "social blueprint for goodness," which he discusses with Sam Wang and Julian Zelizer in this episode. A physician and sociologist, Christakis directs the Human Nature Lab at Yale University and is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science in the Departments of Sociology, Medicine, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Statistics and Data Science, and Biomedical Engineering. Nicholas was named one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World" and one of Foreign Policy magazine's "Top 100 Global Thinkers."