If you’ve gotten goosebumps when hearing a story about a stranger’s selfless heroism, or you’ve felt your chest swell at a concert, when the audience’s voice and the musician’s instruments align, you have felt awe. And, according to professor Dacher Keltner, who has spent his life studying it, it’s one of humankind’s most unifying traits:

“There would be something very, very empty and meaningless about [a] sort of life with no problems.”

From neuroscience to philosophy, experts reveal why compassion may be the most important human skill we have.

“The idea is that we move from a place of wanting the world to conform to what we like [towards] not needing other people to be different from who they are.”

"We're living in an extraordinary moment in history. We are at a moment here in 2025 where we have world historic game-changing technologies now starting to scale."

If the people controlling AI are biased, the output will also be. Free speech scholar Jacob Mchangama makes the case for completely open-source AI.

“Deep down the natural endpoint of this whole goal of looking for planets is to answer the question: are we alone?”

“No matter what their gods were, what they did for a living, what they wore, the songs they sang, everything varies except love, and everybody loves.”

“The universe clicks along in perfect accord with the laws of physics forever.”

“It's certainly clear that the issues of boys and men haven't gone away in the last few years. If anything, they're getting even more attention, which is good when it's the right kind of attention.”

“As a reporter, you can look into the eyes of the people you're talking to and try to evaluate what they're thinking when they say what they say. But you are not really gonna get into their brain. There's only one artistic form that allows you to do that. “

Language is a huge part of human development, even the language we keep to ourselves. Three experts explain how words and beliefs can change our brains and our lives:

When Jesus was crucified, it led to even more followers. When books are banned, people flock to read them. Humans are fascinated by the forbidden, which is why censorship – especially in the digital age – doesn’t work. Jacob Mchangama explains.

Sleeping better helps you think better, which helps you live better. Three experts explain why quality sleep is imperative to brain function, problem solving, communication, and more.

“The media is 10x more likely to describe experiences of being alone as negative, as compared to positive.” Psychologist Ethan Kross shares how reframing the idea of loneliness can help us feel more peace when we’re on our own.

How can the brain — a piece of matter — love? Physics and chemistry explain the material world, but they can’t explain why it feels like something to be alive. This is the mystery of consciousness, according to these experts.

Free speech may be messy, but censorship is deadly. Founder of The Future of Free Speech Jacob Mchangama explains.

“The sexual excitation system is the accelerator or the gas pedal, and it notices all the sex-related information in the environment.”

A physician, a psychologist, and a mindfulness teacher explain what stress does to your body and mind, and how to use it to get smarter and stronger.

“There's research showing that people who are curious, who ask questions, are not just happier, they're not just more successful, they also live longer.”

“Fraud is a trillion dollar problem, about $5 trillion today with that number increasingly rising annually.”

Biologist Tyler Volk PhD, psychiatrist Bruce Greyson MD, and palliative care physician BJ Miller MD, reveal how confronting mortality can improve the way we live.

Free speech can amplify hatred, but it also protects the fight against it. Founder of The Future of Free Speech Jacob Mchangama explains.

"We're stuck at type zero. But what would it take to move between universes? What would it take to enter a black hole? What would it take to break the light barrier?"

A neuroscientist, a psychologist, and a psychotherapist discuss how emotions are stories built from old experiences.

“The idea of evolution by natural selection is, for me, probably the most beautiful idea in biology.”

Happiness researchers Robert Waldinger MD, Tal Ben-Shahar PhD, and Peter Baumann explain why the happiest people aren’t happy all the time.

“You can be aware of sadness from a point of view that is not merely sad, and you can be aware of fear from a point of view that's not merely afraid.”

Humans have always had religion. What does this say about our minds? Reza Aslan PhD, Lisa Miller PhD, and Rob Bell MDiv explain.

Many of us rely on emotional advice that doesn’t actually work. Psychologist Ethan Kross offers a smarter, science-backed approach to managing emotions with flexibility and perspective.