About this episode

James Kimmel, Jr. discusses the psychological aspects of revenge and forgiveness, exploring how grievances can become addictive.

This is our unabridged interview with James Kimmel, Jr. There's a grievance that keeps coming back to you: in the shower, in traffic, at two in the morning. You replay it, win the argument again and settle the score again. It feels like justice, but it never quite satisfies. James Kimmel Jr. spent decades trying to understand that pull. At seventeen, he came within seconds of committing a mass shooting, then drove away and devoted his life to the question of why he had wanted it so badly. Now on the faculty of Yale's medical school, he makes a startling, evidence-backed claim: revenge is a literal addiction. A grievance activates the pain network in your brain, and your brain reaches for the dopamine hit of payback. It's why mass shooters are "grievance collectors," and why social media, in his words, has become a grievance transmission machine. But there's a second half to the story. Forgiveness, he argues, is a wonder drug we're already hardwired to take, one that stops the pain rather than masking it and asks nothing of the person who wronged you. Lee is invited to try it on the spot during the interview, and you can hear what happens. Listen as they discuss James’ new book…

People in this episode

Host: Lee C. Camp

Guest: James Kimmel, Jr.

Topics covered

• revenge
• forgiveness
• psychology
• grievance
• addiction
• social media

Keywords

• revenge
• forgiveness
• grievance
• psychology
• dopamine
• mass shooting
• social media

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Yale's medical school

Books & works: The Science of Revenge: Understanding the World's Deadliest Addiction - and How to Overcome It

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