Stanford Psychology Podcast

Tamar Schapiro, an MIT philosophy professor and author of Feeling Like It, explores why children and adults are treated differently, when adult authority is justified, and how childhood shapes self-governance. They discuss paternalism, children’s freedom, technology’s impact on adulthood, and whether reactivity lies at the root of immoral action. Schapiro also shares practical wisdom for slowing down and resisting impulsive responses.

This week, Katia Kriakova has a conversation with William Damon, a professor at Stanford University. He is one of the world's leading researchers on human development across the lifespan and has pioneered the scientific study of purpose in life. In this conversation, we explore how we can make our own lives more purposeful and expand purpose beyond ourselves.William Damon’s book on purpose: The Path to Purpose: How Young People Find Their Calling in LifeWilliam Damon’s paper: The Psychology of Purpose: A Comprehensive ApproachWilliam Damon’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamdamon/Katia Kriakova’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiakriakova/  Podcast Contact: [email protected] Podcast Twitter: @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack: https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/ Podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanford-psychology-podcast/

This week, Katia has a conversation with Bill Burnett, an adjunct professor at Stanford University. He is the co-founder of Stanford's Life Design Lab and also the co-author of Designing Your Life and How to Live a Meaningful Life.  In this conversation, Bill shares how we can live in alignment with our values and compass, how prototyping can help us embrace uncertainty, and how to design a life that is more meaningful to us. Designing Your Life Website: https://designingyour.life/ Bill Burnett’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-burnett-4225401/  Bill Burnett’s Books:Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful LifeHow to Live a Meaningful Life: Using Design Thinking to Unlock Purpose, Joy, and Flow Every DayKatia’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiakriakova/  Podcast Contact: [email protected] Podcast Twitter: @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack: https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/ 

Nomisha Kurian, Assistant Professor in Education Studies and researcher on children’s safety and developmentally aligned AI. She explores how AI toys create powerful emotional bonds, offers a framework for child-centered design, and discusses anthropomorphism, research methods with kids, policy implications, and why we should hold a stance of cautious, critical hope about children’s AI futures.

Andrew Lampinen, a researcher now at Anthropic who studied rapid learning at Stanford, talks about moving between academia and industry. He discusses how cognitive science frameworks inform AI, why industry teams and priorities differ from academic labs, and what skills and career paths look like for research scientists. The conversation covers transfer learning, in‑context learning, and how commercial AI reshaped research priorities.

Cynthia Osborne, a professor and director who turns developmental science into state policy for infants and toddlers. She talks about why the prenatal-to-three window is crucial. She explains the importance of state-level policy and the PN-3 roadmap. She describes translating research for lawmakers and building a team that connects data, research, policy, and communications.

This week, Enna chats with Dr. Julia Nolte, Assistant Professor of Economic Psychology at Tilburg University. Julia’s research examines how information management, risk perception, and decision-making change across adulthood. She is particularly interested in what keeps people, especially older adults, from making well-informed and high-quality decisions, and how we can better support people in making choices that align with their goals and values.In our conversation, Julia discusses how her early interest in theater sparked her interest in psychology, how she came to study aging and decision-making, and what her work can teach us about information avoidance, decision-making, and the very human challenge of choosing between imperfect options.Julia’s Website: https://www.julianolte.org/ Julia’s X: @Dr_Julia_NolteJulia’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-nolte-8aa02b158/ Julia’s Paper: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0361073X.2025.2473849 Enna’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ennayuxuanchen/ Enna’s X: @EnnaYuxuanChenPodcast Contact: [email protected] Podcast Twitter: @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack: https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/ Podcast Contact: [email protected] 

Alison Gopnik, UC Berkeley psychologist and author known for work on cognitive development, reflects on childhood as an evolutionary strategy for exploration. She explains the explore–exploit trade-off, play as a learning mechanism, and how apprenticeship, elders, and cultural contexts shape when we explore versus exploit. Short, sharp, and curiosity-driven conversation.

Elizabeth Bonawitz, Professor of Learning Sciences at Harvard who studies curiosity, play, and how children learn. She discusses why children reveal how humans learn so much from so little. They cover shifts toward computational models, how prior beliefs shape classroom instruction, and the role of play, humor, and neuroscience methods in studying development.

Nicholas Epley, behavioral scientist at the University of Chicago and author of A Little More Social, explores why people often avoid connection. He discusses undersociality, how habits and expectations shape social choices, surprising moments of meaningful contact, when socializing can go too far, and practical practices and design ideas to encourage more real connection.