The Science of Love (Episode 1)
The Science of Happiness
PRX and Greater Good Science Center
4.5 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 5 February 2026
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In a culture that often reduces love to romance, Geena Davis helps us explore the science of love across the lifespan—revealing how our bonds with parents, friends, partners, and communities shape our health, happiness, and survival.
Summary: Love is commonly understood as a feeling, yet scientific research increasingly points to its role as a core biological drive. In this episode of The Science of Love, we explore how love is expressed through caregiving, friendship, romantic attachment, and shared experience, and how these connections leave measurable effects on the brain, body, and even the microbiome.
Scroll down for a transcription of this episode.
Related The Science of Happiness episodes:
The Science of Love Series: https://bit.ly/TheScienceofLove
36 Questions to Spark Love and Connection: https://tinyurl.com/ktcpz78u
How 7 Days Can Transform Your Relationship: https://tinyurl.com/bdh2ezhr
Today’s Guests:
ANN DRUYAN is an author, activist, and documentary producer.
Learn more about Ann Druyan’s work here: https://tinyurl.com/5n8crkev
DANIEL LEVITIN is a neuroscientist, musician, and bestselling author.
Follow Daniel Levitin on IG: https://www.instagram.com/daniellevitinofficial
JESSICA EISE is a social and environmental scientist and is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health with Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington.
Learn more about Jessica Eise here: https://jessicaeise.com/
ANNA MACHIN is an evolutionary anthropologist who studies the evolution of love.
Learn more about Anna Machin here: https://annamachin.com/
FRANCESCO BEGHINI is a computational biologist at Yale University.
Learn more about Francesco Beghini here: https://tinyurl.com/knm4du4m
ILANA BRITO is a biomedical engineering professor at Cornell University.
Learn more about Ilana Brito here: https://tinyurl.com/mtnhw3yd
CONSTANCE BAINBRIDGE is a Communication PhD student at UCLA.
Learn more about Constance Bainbridge here: http://constancebainbridge.com/
SANDRA LANGESLAG is a cognitive and biological psychologist who studies romantic love.
Learn more about Sandra Langeslag here: https://tinyurl.com/523wc9wx
Message us or leave a comment on Instagram @scienceofhappinesspod. E-mail us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.
Help us share The Science of Happiness! Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap
Funding for this special was provided by the John Templeton Foundation, as part of the Greater Good Science Center's Spreading Love Through the Media initiative.
Transcription: https://tinyurl.com/bfave5wd
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, I'm Dacker Keltner. You're listening to a special series from our team at the Science of Happiness all about the science of love. |
| 0:08.0 | Hosted by award-winning actress, author, and activist Gina Davis, we explore what the research tells us about the many different kinds of love in our lives. |
| 0:17.5 | Enjoy the show. |
| 0:19.9 | What is love? |
| 0:24.1 | For centuries, philosophers, artists, and theologians have tried to define it. |
| 0:29.7 | Scientists are newer to the task. |
| 0:32.6 | Love is complex, messy, and hard to measure. |
| 0:36.0 | But that hasn't stopped them from trying. And they're |
| 0:38.8 | beginning to explore just how expansive love can truly be, a biological, cultural, and social |
| 0:46.1 | phenomenon. Hi, I'm Gina Davis, and this is The Science of Love by the Science of Happiness |
| 0:53.0 | podcast and PRX. Over the next three episodes of The Science of Love by the Science of Happiness podcast and PRX. |
| 0:55.7 | Over the next three episodes of the Science of Happiness, |
| 0:59.0 | we'll hear emerging science on why we love, how it develops, |
| 1:03.5 | and how it sustains us across many kinds of relationships, |
| 1:07.6 | beyond romance, into our friendships, our families, and even our non-human companions. |
| 1:13.6 | The Science of Love after this break. |
| 1:22.6 | Welcome to The Science of Love, a special by the Science of Happiness podcast. I'm Gina Davis. |
| 1:33.6 | Love isn't simply a feeling. Research suggests it's a core biological drive, essential for both |
| 1:41.3 | our happiness and our survival. And we know that it shows up in countless ways, |
| 1:47.0 | like with the love that shapes us from the start. |
| 1:50.0 | The love between a parent and a child is very, very ancient. |
| 1:53.0 | And romantic love. |
... |
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