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October 7, 2021 57 mins

We love Dean Burnett: neuroscientist, comedian, author, journalist and general spreader of wisdom. On the pod we talk to him about the neuroscience of grief, which became a major focus when he lost his father to Covid


Hearing how he had to say goodbye over the phone to his unconscious Dad will leave you in bits (or at least it got to me). What makes Dean such a great guest is that he can switching between exploring the deep pain, to discussing a key academic finding, and then he'll throw in a joke.


We discuss:


  • Socially distant funerals
  • The importance of funerals in grieving
  • The power of grief journals
  • The death of Robin Williams
  • Separating science writing from politics


More about Dean:

Dean Burnett is a Welsh neuroscientist and author. He is best known for writing the book ‘The Idiot Brain’, which was shortlisted for the 2016 Goodreads Best Science & Technology Book Award. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages.


He began his writing career as a result of his satirical science column ‘Brain Flapping‘ at the Guardian, which ran from 2012 to 2018 which was the most read on the Guardian science network, with over 15 million views since 2012. The blog now runs at the Cosmic Shambles network.


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