'The Next Big Idea Daily': Your Brain on Revenge

The Next Big Idea

Next Big Idea Club

Self-improvement, Arts, Books, Society & Culture, Education

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 30 June 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Let’s talk about revenge. Not the juicy, action-movie kind with flaming cars and dramatic showdowns, but the kind that quietly simmers in your brain long after someone cuts you off in traffic or sends a snarky email. According to Yale psychiatry lecturer and lawyer James Kimmel, revenge isn’t just an emotion. It’s an addiction. A hit of dopamine here, a rumination there, and suddenly we’re hooked on the fantasy of payback. But what if we could quit cold turkey? In his new book, ⁠The Science of Revenge⁠, James explains how to rewire our minds, embrace forgiveness, and break free from the cycles of grievance that keep us stuck. 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea Daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen 📩 Want more bite-sized insights from the best new nonfiction delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for our Book of the Day newsletter

Transcript

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0:00.0	Michael Cognott, how's it going, man?
0:02.7	Hey, Rufus, nice to hear from you.
0:05.1	I'm doing pretty well, you know, keeping busy working on my intros for The Next Big Idea Daily.
0:09.9	What an enviable job you have, Michael.
0:12.3	I love it. What do you have in store for us this week?
0:14.6	Well, this week we're going to hear some key insights from what our team considers the best new nonfiction books, including a look at what
0:22.2	it really takes to create and scale a startup, and also how you can achieve more by learning less.
0:29.3	Who would have thought? I've been doing it all wrong. Yes, we both have, I think. And then there's
0:33.9	also today's episode. Today we're going to hear from a Yale psychiatry professor
0:38.7	who argues that one of America's, actually one of the world's biggest problems right now, is a cycle of revenge.
0:46.7	Oh, yes, revenge. It's a little too sweet and irresistible. Too much is not a good thing.
0:52.8	Yeah, sort of on an interpersonal level and also
0:55.3	on a sort of political and international level. It's kind of a problem. And James Kimmel is the name of
1:00.9	this author. His book is called The Science of Revenge, Understanding the World's Deadliest Addiction,
1:06.9	and how to overcome it. And I'll give you a little spoiler. Apparently, the way to overcome it is through forgiveness.
1:14.2	I appreciate the spoiler, and it has not stopped me from wanting to hear this episode.
1:18.9	All right.
1:19.3	Well, we're about to hear it.
1:20.9	First of all, listeners, though, if you're not already subscribed to the next big idea daily,
1:25.3	make sure you do so by clicking the link in the episode notes.
1:29.0	Now, here we go.
1:29.7	Here's today's show.
	...

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