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Cultivating Awe & Emotional Connection in Daily Life | Dr. Dacher Keltner

2026-04-06 Science & Technology
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Andrew Huberman
Andrew Huberman
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Description

Dr. Dacher Keltner, PhD, is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a leading expert on the science of emotions and human connection. We discuss the science of awe—what evokes it and how to access it. Dr. Keltner explains how awe helps us frame our experience of life and who we are both as individuals and collectively. We also discuss the role of humor in social bonding, dispel common myths about the biology of emotions and review the lesser-known factors that strengthen or inhibit relationships and communities. Show notes: https://go.hubermanlab.com/JzXwTdS Thank you to our sponsors AG1: ⁠https://drinkag1.com/huberman Joovv: ⁠https://joovv.com/huberman Helix Sleep: ⁠https://helixsleep.com/huberman Function: ⁠https://functionhealth.com/huberman Our Place: ⁠https://fromourplace.com/huberman Huberman Lab Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hubermanlab Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hubermanlab X: https://x.com/hubermanlab Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hubermanlab TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hubermanlab LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-huberman Website: https://www.hubermanlab.com Newsletter: https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter Dacher Keltner Website: https://www.dacherkeltner.com Academic profile: https://psychology.berkeley.edu/people/dacher-keltner Greater Good Science Center: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu Lab: https://bsil.studentorg.berkeley.edu Awe (book): https://amzn.to/4sfQKYI Science of Happiness (podcast): https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/podcasts/series/the_science_of_happiness Other Books: https://www.dacherkeltner.com/books Publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=oqw_lMkAAAAJ Timestamps 00:00:00 Dr Dachner Keltner 00:01:55 Emotions, Awe; Facial Expressions & Culture 00:08:11 Sponsors: Joovv & Helix Sleep 00:11:05 Emotion, Motor Movement & Language 00:15:36 Measuring Emotion; Studying Awe 00:24:10 Horizons, Small to Vast, Shifting Perspective 00:29:27 Tool: Awe Walk 00:33:53 Time Perception, Tool: Space-Time Bridging Meditation; Chimps, Vastness 00:42:13 Sponsor: AG1 00:43:37 Consciousness, Collective Experiences & Brain Synchronization 00:50:04 Music, Concerts & Awe; Sparring, Transcendence 01:01:28 Joe Strummer 01:06:04 Inhibitors of Awe, Self-Focus & Narcissism 01:12:41 Sponsor: Function 01:13:52 Sports, Collective Effervescence 01:19:03 Social Media & Online Life, Social Community 01:29:51 Designing Cities & Places for Awe 01:34:29 Sponsor: Our Place 01:35:44 Embarrassment, Teasing; Collective Values 01:43:05 Male Friendship, Teasing 01:47:50 Isolation, Loneliness, Reemergence of Community 01:54:33 Psychedelics, Awe, Treating Trauma; Microdosing 02:01:18 Looking Forward, Awe Design 02:08:36 Campfires, Connection, Red Light 02:13:34 Life After Death; Acknowledgments 02:17:19 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow, Reviews & Feedback, Sponsors, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter #HubermanLab #Science #EmotionalConnection Disclaimer & Disclosures: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer

Top Comments (10)

@jopo7996 2026-04-06

If experiencing awe makes us healthier, then seeing Dr. Keltner's hair is like taking a multivitamin.

52 4 replies
@unitygreen6284 2026-04-06

Why do you spoil me and answer ALL of my questions ALL the time? How long does it take to make a podcast? Because I feel like you make podcasts just for me. 😂 Thank you Andrew. Love you man. You are appreciated.

44 3 replies
@hubermanlab 2026-04-06

Thank you for watching this episode with Dr. Dacher Keltner. Please click the subscribe tab and then the "bell" icon to subscribe to our channel here on YouTube and get notified when new content is posted. And thank you for your interest in science! -- Andrew

24 1 replies
@robertalockaby6093 2026-04-07

The discussion of music brought back a memory. When my son was about 3, I invited a colleague visiting from the Netherlands to come over with her 3 year old son for a ‘play date’. Before they arrived, I explained to my son that the boy who was coming to play with him did not speak English. My 3 yo son immediately replied ‘well, I bet he likes music!’

17 1 replies
@Sarahdawna 2026-04-06

This guy's laughter and smile are contagious. I found myself smiling throughout the entire episode

16 1 replies
@drinkapavlovic 2026-04-06

My Berkeley teacher! Thank you so much! I got a book! Regards from Berlin🙏

14
@ReelikaKull 2026-04-07

I'm estonian and we have a long lasting sauna tradition. It's often more of a social event: we go to sauna with good friends, but newcomers are also welcome. I remember how one one my friends explained the "magic" of sauna to a foreigner I took with me. He told him that going to sauna is very bonding because when you're in a small hot room naked, you cannot lie 😃

6 1 replies
@deborahann9474 2026-04-06

This is what I've been talking about....cool, so glad to have caught this. I am in awe everyday by doing the things spoke of in the beginning.

5
@missredflower 2026-04-07

What an AWEsome episode. Thanks ❣ Whenever I feel stuck in a seemingly predictable world, I think about the universe, and about how everything that we perceive as solid is mostly empty space and that everything is made of the same basic building blocks. That to me always brings back total awe and mystery.

3
@aimeecalexander 2026-04-06

Oh my goodness the section about how self-focus destroys awe and the way Dr. Keltner said “it’s perverse… it’s taken as a default… but it’s a corruption of our minds.” So well put. This is a really interesting conversation. Thank you both!

3

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