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Crosscurrents

Can We Teach Empathy? Stanford Neuroscientist Says We Can.

The Lavin Agency
Jamil Zaki, Lab Director at the Stanford Social Neuroscience Labratory.

Sometimes it may feel like our society lacks empathy for other points of view, especially in politics, but also when we talk about race, gender, or even sports — we can discount the feelings and experiences of people who are different. 

Though it seems that's just the way society is, there may be a solution. Teaching empathy. Jamil Zaki heads Stanford's Social Neuroscience Labratory and has been studying empathy. His research shows that, contrary to prior thinking, empathy is not a fixed trait. It's a skill we can learn. He writes about it in his new book "The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World."

Click the play button above to listen to the interview, or listen to the extended version below.

WEB_Empathy_LONG.mp3

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Crosscurrents Race & Ethnicity
Hana Baba is host of Crosscurrents, KALW's weeknight newsmagazine that broadcasts on KALW Public Radio in the San Francisco Bay Area.