Explore every episode of the podcast Birth of a Parent
Dive into the complete episode list for Birth of a Parent. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.
Rows per page:
50
1–7 of 7
Title
Pub. Date
Duration
Ep. 4 - The Connected Mind (with Vicky Leong)
29 Jul 2026
00:40:20
Sometimes a child is looking right at you and seems completely elsewhere, and sometimes they're completely with you. Developmental neuroscientist Vicky Leong studies those moments of connection, uncovering how parents and children synchronize their minds and get ready to learn from one another.
Natural Pedagogy Theory by Gergely & Csibra is a foundational theory proposing that humans are uniquely adapted to teach and learn through social signals such as eye contact, infant-directed speech and shared attention.
Browse Vicky Leong's research on parent–infant synchrony, learning and early brain development.
Three quarters of animal species undergo metamorphosis. Why are we so sure humans don't? Historian of science Oren Harman takes us from butterflies to starfish in search of an answer, and toward a surprising way of thinking about what happens when a baby turns someone into a parent.
Long before founding psychoanalysis, a young Sigmund Freud spent weeks dissecting hundreds of eels in an unsuccessful search for their reproductive organs at the Zoological Station in Trieste.
Oren reflects on Ludwig Wittgenstein's famous proposition: "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent," from Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.
Ep. 2 - The Mom Brain Revolution (with Susana Carmona)
22 Jul 2026
00:38:00
For centuries, scientists studied what pregnancy does to the body. Almost nobody studied what it does to the brain. Neuroscientist Susana Carmona helped change that, uncovering evidence that motherhood reshapes the human brain in ways scientists are only beginning to understand.
Shownotes:
Susana's book A Mother’s Brain brings together the latest research on how pregnancy and motherhood reshape the brain, body and identity.
Susana leads the NeuroMaternal Lab in Madrid, where much of the research discussed in this episode is conducted.
Browse Susana's scientific publications on pregnancy, the maternal brain and parental neuroplasticity.
One of the world's largest biomedical databases, the UK Biobank, was used in studies showing that pregnancy leaves measurable, long-term signatures in the brain.
Several of Susana's findings relate to changes in the brain's Default Mode Network, a network involved in self-reflection, memory and understanding other people.
The London Taxi Driver Study is the classic neuroscience study showing that the adult brain changes in response to experience.
Why would evolution redesign a man's body after he has children? Anthropologist Lee Gettler helped uncover a surprising answer. His research on hormone changes including testosterone suggests that fatherhood doesn't just change how men think and feel, it changes their biology too.
The Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (CLHNS) is one of the world's longest-running birth cohort studies, following thousands of families in the Philippines. Many of Lee's landmark findings on fatherhood are based on this dataset.
Ruth Feldman's pioneering research on oxytocin, caregiving and parent–infant bonding is discussed during the episode.
Explore Lee Gettler's research on fatherhood, hormones and human development.
When a baby is born, a parent is born too. But what if that's more than a metaphor? Birth of a Parent explores the emerging science of how parenthood transforms the human mind. Host Michael Feigelson speaks with leading scientists, writers, and thinkers to investigate whether becoming a parent is one of life's most profound – and least understood – developmental stages.
By following the podcast, you support our message and never miss an episode.
The first episodes will be available from 22 July. Follow the podcast here so you never miss an episode.
Ep. 5 - The Rituals That Hold Us Together (with Dimitris Xygalatas)
05 Aug 2026
00:31:46
Why does a bedtime routine feel so important? Anthropologist Dimitris Xygalatas studies rituals, from firewalking ceremonies to family traditions. His work reveals why humans return to rituals whenever life becomes uncertain, and why parenthood may be one of the most ritual-filled experiences of all.
Dimitris also discusses the Bayesian brain, the influential theory that the brain continuously predicts what will happen next and updates those predictions when reality surprises us – a framework that helps explain why rituals can reduce uncertainty.
Dimitris leads the Experimental Anthropology Lab at the University of Connecticut, where he studies rituals using tools from psychology, neuroscience and physiology, often in real-world settings rather than laboratory experiments.
Many of the ideas discussed in this episode build on the work of anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski, whose observations of the Trobriand Islanders – published in Magic, Science and Religion – helped establish the idea that rituals become especially important during moments of uncertainty.
To explore more of Dimitris' work on ritual, cooperation and human behaviour, browse his publications.
Ep. 6 - The Illusion of Knowing (with Lulu Miller)
12 Aug 2026
00:41:27
The human brain loves a good explanation. Parenthood has other plans. Science journalist and Radiolab host Lulu Miller explores why we are so determined to make sense of the world, and what happens when life refuses to fit the story.
Shownotes:
Much of today's conversation draws on Lulu Miller's bestselling book Why Fish Don't Exist, a meditation on our deep human desire to impose order on the natural world, and why embracing uncertainty may ultimately be more liberating.
Lulu reflects on the life of David Starr Jordan, the pioneering ichthyologist whose lifelong quest to classify every species of fish became the starting point for Why Fish Don't Exist. His story ultimately led Lulu to explore the promises – and dangers – of our desire to impose order on a messy world.
Lulu also reflects on The Eleventh Word, her essay for The Paris Review, in which she explores how her son's first words reshaped the way she thinks about language, parenthood and our illusion of understanding the world.
Many of the ideas in this episode continue in Terrestrials, Lulu's award-winning podcast for children, where science, storytelling and play invite young listeners to stay curious about the natural world. For Father's Day, Lulu teamed up with Michael Feigelson for a special episode exploring the surprising diversity of fatherhood in the animal kingdom – from seahorses and poison dart frogs to owl monkeys – and what these stories can teach us about human dads.