Nicholas Christakis

Howie and Harlan are joined by Nicholas Christakis, director of Yale's Human Nature Lab, to discuss his research on social networks, human connection, and the forces that help societies cooperate and endure. Harlan discusses promising phase 3 results for retatrutide, Eli Lilly's experimental "triple G" obesity drug; Howie provides an update on the fast-growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Show notes: Obesity Drugs "Lilly's triple agonist, retatrutide, delivered powerful weight loss in pivotal Phase 3 obesity trial" "Triple–Hormone-Receptor Agonist Retatrutide for Obesity—A Phase 2 Trial" Bariatric surgery Nicholas Christakis Human Nature Lab Nicholas Christakis: Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society Free rider problem Phenotype Stephen Pinker The Enlightenment Nicholas Christakis on YouTube: For the Love of Science Nicholas Christakis: "The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network Over 32 Years" Social contagion Altruism Wet lab vs. dry lab Microbiome Communicable vs. non-communicable diseases Nicholas Christakis: "The Collective Dynamics of Smoking in a Large Social Network" Nicholas Christakis on YouTube : "Learning in a Time of War" Tymofiy Mylovanov The president of the Kyiv School of Economics, who invited Christakis to lecture in Ukraine. Ebola CDC: Ebola Disease 2026 CDC: Ebola Disease Basics "The Ebola virus spreading in Congo is a rare species with no vaccines or treatments" Hypertension Watch last week's episode on YouTube. In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program , you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time. Ya

Your networks shape you more than you know. Nicholas Christakis joins Vasant Dhar to reveal how machines inserted into human groups quietly rewire the way people cooperate, coordinate, and trust — and why a little artificial noise might be exactly what we need. Useful Resources: 1. Nicholas Christakis 2. Human Nature Lab 3. The spread of obesity in a large social network over 32 years - Nicholas Christakis and James H Fowler 4. Widowhood Effect 5. The Effect of Widowhood on Mortality by the Causes of Death of Both Spouses - Felix Elwert and Nicholas Christakis 6. Locally Noisy Autonomous Agents Improve Global Human Coordination in Network Experiments - Hirokazu Shirado and Nicholas Christakis 7. ETH Global Lecture, Social Artificial Intelligence 8. Graph Colouring 9. Vulnerable robots positively shape human conversational dynamics in a human–robot team - Margaret L. Traeger , Sarah Strohkorb Sebo, Malte Jung and Nicholas Christakis 10. Hirokazu Shirado 11. Chicken, The Game 12. Emergence and collapse of reciprocity in semiautomatic driving coordination experiments with humans - Shunichi Kasahara , Hirokazu Shirado and Nicholas Christakis 13. Traffic Patterns in Seattle and Hyderabad: Immediate and Mediate Transactions - Paul G. Hiebert 14. Brian Scassellati 15. Iyad Rahwan 16. Machine Behaviour - Iyad Rahwan 17. A Randomised Controlled Trial of Social Network Targeting to Maximise Population Behaviour Change - David A Kim , Alison R Hwong , Derek Stafford , D Alex Hughes , A James O'Malley , Nicholas Christakis , <a href= "https://en.wikip

Episode 40 - Nicholas Christakis - Technology and Contagion Dr. Nicholas Christakis is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University and the Director of the Human Nature Lab. His research sits at the intersection of the social, biological, and computational sciences, exploring how our evolutionary biology and social network structures shape human behavior, health, and society. His groundbreaking work on "social contagion," demonstrates how everything from obesity and smoking to happiness and cooperative behavior spreads through human networks. Most recently, his work has focused on the emergence of "hybrid systems" of humans and machines, examining both the Burkean risks of how AI might degrade our interpersonal social graces and the technoprogressive potential of using "dumb bots" to optimize human coordination. Show Notes: The Human Nature Lab at Yale University An overview of Dr. Christakis's current research on social networks, computational social science, and the biology of social interactions. Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society , by Nicholas Christakis. His 2019 book detailing how evolution has biologically pre-wired humans for a "good society" based on love, friendship, and cooperation. Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives , by Nicholas Christakis His 2009 book exploring the "three degrees of influence" rule and how social contagion dictates our behavior. Dr. Christakis on Bluesky - @nachristakis.bsky.social For the Love of Science Vlog As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

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)

o que torna uma sociedade, uma organização, um grupo mais justo, mais digno e mais humano? Nicholas Christakis analisa a história, compara diversas culturas, explora Big Data e cria plataformas digitais para nos sugerir os caminhos mais promissores para o florescimento social. aqui estão alguns links úteis: Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society by Nicholas A. Christakis https://a.co/d/il55ohd History for Tomorrow: Inspiration from the Past for the Future of Humanity by Roman Krznaric https://a.co/d/6w4VlUg Nicholas Christakis: From Social Networks to AI | Special Thanksgiving Podcast https://youtu.be/ZZGY-OkccVY?si=KMSSBjaaGzZA3S-6 Nicholas Christakis Professor at Yale University https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-christakis-07a01ba5/ descubra outros livros maravilhosos no leiavaleapena.com !

One of the most fascinating concepts in human health is the idea of social contagion, meaning that emotions, behaviors, and health outcomes can spread through social networks, much like infectious diseases. Examples in the medical literature abound: if a person becomes obese, their friends have a significantly higher chance of becoming obese — even their friends of friends have increased odds of becoming obese. Similarly, someone who quit smoking is likely to create a ripple effect through their social networks, influencing many more people to quit smoking. Social contagion affects life and death itself — after the death of a spouse, the surviving partner's mortality risk increases, and conversely, strong social networks are protective against early death. Much of the groundwork of our understanding of the powerful health effects of social networks laid by Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH , a physician-turned-social scientist who is the author of multiple best selling books, including Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus On the Way We Live (2020) in Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society (2019). In this episode, Dr. Christakis shares his remarkable path to medicine and sociology, beginning from witnessing his mother's struggle through serious illness, to his foray into palliative medicine, and finally to his life's work on the social, economic and evolutionary determinants of human welfare. We discuss the mechanisms by which social contagion functions, why modern medicine does a disservice to patients by atomizing their medical problems, how the COVID-19 pandemic illustrates the effects of social networks on public health, the philosophical implications of living an interconnected life, and why human beings are wired to build good societies through our capacity for love, friendship and cooperation. In this episode, you’ll hear about 3:17 - Dr. Christakis’s path to medicine through witnessing his mother’s serious illness 15:05 - How Dr. Christakis became passionate about studying the effects of social networks 24:43 - How social networks affect an individual’s health 31:28 - The negative effects that COVID-19 restrictions had on patients and their loved ones 38:58 - The central thesis of Dr. Christakis’s 2019 book Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society 50:38 - Dr. Christakis’s thoughts on how to live a meaningful life Dr. Nicholas Christakis can be found on Twitter/X at @NAChristakis . Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com . Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024

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

“We're not attempting to invent super smart AI to replace human cognition. We are inventing dumb AI to supplement human interaction. Are there simple forms of artificial intelligence, simple programming of bots, such that when they are added to groups of humans – because those humans are smart or otherwise positively inclined - that help the humans to help themselves? Can we get groups of people to work better together, for instance, to confront climate change, or to reduce racism online, or to foster innovation within firms? Can we have simple forms of AI that are added into our midst that make us work better together? And the work we're doing in that part of my lab shows that abundantly that's the case. And we published a stream of papers showing that we can do that.” Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH, is a social scientist and physician who conducts research in the areas of biosocial science, network science and behavioral genetics. He directs the Human Nature Lab at Yale University and is the co-director of the Yale Institute for Network Science. Dr. Christakis has authored numerous books, including Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society published in 2019 and Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live published in 2020. In 2009, Christakis was named by TIME magazine to their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Nicholas Christakis: humannaturelab.net/people/nicholas-christakis Human Nature Lab: humannaturelab.net Yale Institute for Network Science : yins.yale.edu sociology.yale.edu/people/nicholas-christakis Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live TRELLIS - Suite of software tools for developing, administering, and collecting survey and social network data: trellis.yale.edu. The Atlantic: “How AI Will Rewire Us: For better and for worse, robots will alter humans’ capacity for altruism, love, and friendship” www.creativeprocess.info www.oneplanetpodcast.org

Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH, is a social scientist and physician who conducts research in the areas of biosocial science, network science and behavioral genetics. He directs the Human Nature Lab at Yale University and is the co-director of the Yale Institute for Network Science. Dr. Christakis has authored numerous books, including Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society published in 2019 and Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live published in 2020. In 2009, Christakis was named by TIME magazine to their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. “We're not attempting to invent super smart AI to replace human cognition. We are inventing dumb AI to supplement human interaction. Are there simple forms of artificial intelligence, simple programming of bots, such that when they are added to groups of humans – because those humans are smart or otherwise positively inclined - that help the humans to help themselves? Can we get groups of people to work better together, for instance, to confront climate change, or to reduce racism online, or to foster innovation within firms? Can we have simple forms of AI that are added into our midst that make us work better together? And the work we're doing in that part of my lab shows that abundantly that's the case. And we published a stream of papers showing that we can do that.” Nicholas Christakis humannaturelab.net/people/nicholas-christakis Human Nature Lab: humannaturelab.net Yale Institute for Network Science yins.yale.edu sociology.yale.edu/people/nicholas-christakis Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live TRELLIS - Suite of software tools for developing, administering, and collecting survey and social network data: trellis.yale.edu. The Atlantic : “How AI Will Rewire Us: For better and for worse, robots will alter humans’ capacity for altruism, love, and friendship” www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/04/robots-human-relationships/583204/ www.creativeprocess.info www.oneplanetpodcast.org

Today, Debbie re-runs the single most popular of 100+ episodes of [B]OLDER. Exactly two years ago, in the spring of 2021, she asked plague expert Nicholas Christakis, a distinguished Yale professor and author, the burning question: when will the COVID-19 pandemic end? His answer: 2024. It startled her and burst her bubble of optimism. Vaccines were widely available by then and it seemed like the beginning of the end. Surely he was exaggerating how long it would take for the COVID pandemic to wind down? No, it was only the end of the beginning , he told her. Today that makes sense. And of course, it was prescient. Tune into a re-run of one of the most fascinating episodes of [B]OLDER. (Note that Debbie refers to it as The Gap Year Podcast, the name she gave the podcast during the height of the pandemic. It's now the [B]OLDER podcast. Same podcast; different name.) PHOTO CREDIT: Evan Mann ***** NEW! Subscribe to Debbie's Substack. Substack is the new home for Debbie's regular newsletter. She offers behind-the-scenes commentary on the latest episodes of the podcast. She also writes in more depth, from a personal perspective, about the land of the old : the positives, the negatives, and the surprises. ***** SHOW NOTES from the original interview with Nicholas Christakis (May 7, 2021) Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH , and a Sterling Professor at Yale, has been named to TIME magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. His fluency in explaining the intertwined science, epidemiology, psychology, sociology and history of pandemics - and his sense of humor - make this a compelling episode. You’ll hear why he chose to publish his latest book, Apollo’s Arrow, in the fall of 2020, before we knew the end of the story of COVID-19 How his childhood experiences with illness and death affected his career choices What the predictable three phases of a pandemic are (in 2021 we were still in the immediate phase) Why he thinks this pandemic won’t be over until 2024 They also talked about separating the biological vs. the psychological impacts of the pandemic What herd immunity actually means and whether we’ll get there And what the public health messaging around the pandemic should be Debbie asks him point blank: when is the next pandemic? The answer is unnerving – sooner than you might think. About Nicholas Christakis Wikipedia Twitter Yale University Ted Talks Human Nature Lab at Yale Books by Nicholas Christakis Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live by Nicholas Christakis (Little, Brown Spark 2020) Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society by Nicholas Christakis (Little, Brown Spark 2019) Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives by Nicholas Christakis (Little, Brown Spark 2009) Death Foretold: Prophe

This episode is with Nicholas Christakis. He is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University, where he directs the Human Nature Lab. He is also the Co-Director of the Yale Institute for Network Science. His research focuses on social networks and the socioeconomic, biosocial, and evolutionary determinants of behavior, health, and longevity. Here we talk about nature nurture, The social suite which includes seven core properties of any good society, The forbidden experiment in sociology, and morality. Guest info: Website: https://humannaturelab.net/people/nicholas-christakis Twitter: https://twitter.com/NAChristakis Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3ANicholas+A.+Christakis+MD++PhD&s=relevancerank&text=Nicholas+A.+Christakis+MD++PhD&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1 Episode links: Website: https://www.reasonwithscience.com/home/the-evolutionary-origins-of-a-good-society-with-nicholas-christakis Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61-cE2z-aWI Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2WjOykglFgmydegQ18QajI Apple podcast: https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/my-podcasts/show/reason-with-science/407cd478-4271-4319-8318-fc378d4e7ccb/episode/the-evolutionary-origins-of-a-good-society-|-nicholas-christakis-|-reason-with-science-|-psychology/904d4179-7dc4-4a6f-b8c2-a5c13e520d7c Google podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9iMjMyNDZlOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw/episode/NDQ0NmFiMDUtMDI5ZS00NzAxLWFhNjYtMjQ3MjgxNTQ0YzBi?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwjor4S5ybP9AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQQw Follow Reason with Science: Website: https://www.reasonwithscience.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/reasonwithscience Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5qFLGsPWjL4GAGidmF2nKh Apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reason-with-science/id1641776894 Google podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9iMjMyNDZlOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw Timestamps: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:03 Major questions about human societies 00:07:16 Importance of human social networks 00:09:58 Nature- nurture debate 00:14:15 The social suite 00:16:06 Importance of the social society in creating a human society 00:22:17 Going beyond the social suite in a society 00:24:25 Extended phenotype and Exo-phenotype 00:29:36 Exo-phenotype and Darwinian evolution 00:30:30 Importance of an individual in a society 00:34:48 In-group bias 00:44:56 How much we can change 'In-group bias'? 00:47:03 Robert Sapolsky's 'Categorical thinking' 00:53:05 Life on Mars 00:54:11 Importance of Mild hierarchies 00:55:49 Mentorship over Narcissism 01:01:39 Love in human societies 01:06:15 Morality 01:09:11 Thank you!

Howie and Harlan are joined by physician, sociologist, and thinker Nicholas Christakis to talk about how humans have evolved to form powerful connections. Howie provides updates on concussions among high school athletes and the use of Ivermectin for COVID, and Harlan remembers Dr. Barry Zaret, an important figure in cardiology at Yale and beyond. Links: In Memoriam: Barry L. Zaret, MD Yale News: "Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society" Steven Pinker: "The Better Angels of our Nature" "The Moral Life of Babies" Nicholas Christakis: "The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years" Nicholas Christakis: "Algorithms for seeding social networks can enhance the adoption of a public health intervention in urban India" "Concussions are a bigger problem for kids' football than the NFL" "Effect of Ivermectin vs Placebo on Time to Sustained Recovery in Outpatients With Mild to Moderate COVID-19" "These Doctors Admit They Don't Want Patients With Disabilities" Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.