Hope for Cynics: How to Cultivate Kindness w/ Dr. Jamil Zaki

Raising Good Humans

Voicing Change Media

Education, Kids & Family, Parenting

4.7 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 26 September 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In today’s episode, I sit down with Dr. Jamil Zaki, a psychology professor at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab. We discuss the critical role of empathy and kindness in today's world, the importance of narrative in driving empathy, and the distinction between hope and optimism. We also explore how empathy can be a double-edged sword, leading to burnout if not managed properly. We then dive into temperament differences, the role of self-compassion, and even family practices like “positive gossip” that make kindness contagious. I WROTE MY FIRST BOOK! Order your copy of The Five Principles of Parenting: Your Essential Guide to Raising Good Humans Here: https://bit.ly/3rMLMsL Subscribe to my free newsletter for parenting tips delivered straight to your inbox: draliza.substack.com Follow me on Instagram for more: @raisinggoodhumanspodcast Sponsors: Great Wolf Lodge: Book your stay today at GreatWolf.com and strengthen the pack! Olly: Shop at OLLY.com or retailers nationwide. Bobbie: Bobbie is offering an additional 10% off on your purchase with the code:humans, visit hibobbie.com Visit LiveConscious.com today and use code HUMANS at checkout Life's too vivid to see it any other way than vibrant and clear. Get VisionMD now at 1MD.org, use code HUMANS, and start seeing the changes with 15% off your first bottle. iRestore: For a limited time only, our listeners are getting a HUGE discount on the iRestore Elite when you use code RGH at iRestore.com Merit Beauty: Head to meritbeauty.com and get their Signature Makeup Bag free with your first order Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode. Produced by Dear Media. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The following podcast is a Dear Media production.
0:10.2	Welcome to Raising Good Humans podcast. I'm Dr. Lisa Pressman, and today I'm here with Dr. Jamil Zaki,
0:17.7	who's a professor of psychology at Stanford University. He is the director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab, and he studies empathy and
0:26.3	kindness in the human brain, which is just so cool because empathy and kindness have been
0:33.4	on the decrease, but we know that it's so important, and especially in this age where we kind of
0:42.5	don't know our future and what the future holds for our children in terms of what jobs
0:48.7	they're going to do and what the world's going to look like through the lens of technology.
0:54.0	We know that kindness and
0:55.9	empathy are pretty important skills to grow, but we don't want to grow them in a way that is
1:00.6	inactive. And so we're talking about that. And we're also talking about even though there are
1:05.4	very real reasons to feel cynical about the world, how can we adjust to feel hopeful skepticism? So thinking like a scientist
1:16.3	who might be skeptical but open and hopeful versus someone who's kind of given up and is just
1:24.9	cynical because those associations with mental health are very,
1:29.0	very strong. And so these are things that are important to talk about. His research is pretty
1:34.1	incredible. So I really hope you enjoy this episode. And if you do, please write a little review
1:42.4	in Apple Podcasts. It's just so helpful to get this word out. Thank you for
1:46.9	listening. And as always, you can reach me on at Raising Good Humans Podcast on Instagram or my free
1:53.6	substack, Dr.alisa Pressman.substack.com. It sounds like, especially when you're thinking about
2:00.0	developing humans, even as old as
2:02.9	adolescents, and I know you also have research on adolescence and young adults, so I want to
2:06.9	hear about all of it. But is there a benefit to simply continuing to personalize people who are
2:15.2	not around us, like thinking about individual stories, like something that's far away
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