Today, we talk about the science of fear. Fear is a theme that unsurprisingly comes up a lot on this podcast, as it is so closely associated with risk and uncertainty. We get to discuss fear in a great way with our guest Eva Holland, author of the book Nerve – A Personal Journey Through the Science of Fear. Eva is a freelance writer based in Whitehorse in the Yukon territory of Northern Canada. She is a correspondent for Outside magazine and has had her work published in the likes of Wired, Bloomberg and National Geographic News.

In 2015, Eva was forced to face her greatest fear when her mother sadly passed away suddenly from a stroke. After her grief subsided, Eva began to explore how her fears may have limited her, and whether or not it was possible to move past them. This led to a deep dive into the science of fear, including where phobias come from, how they differ from trauma or anxiety, and whether we can find better ways to feel afraid.

We get into all of that in this episode. We discuss the different types of fear, what Eva learned, some insights into what happens to people who have a rare disease that prevents them from feeling fear, how people like rock climber Alex Honnold process fear, and much more.