Talks, Interviews & Podcasts

May 03, 2023 - Tania Singer talks about what her research into the cultivation of compassion has taught her and how we can use it to build a world that's based on compassion. more

March 13, 2023 - In this Interview with Paul Gilbert, Tania Singer talks about her research on compassion. more

November 17, 2022 - Tania Singer together with Richard Davidson took part in the Special Session Discussion on Altruism as a Source of Inner Strength as part of the Global Joy Summit, Nov. 13 – 16. more

August 03, 2022 - In an IMD interview Tania Singer talks about compassionate leadership. more

July 29, 2022 - In the 4th episode of the podcast by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe, Tania Singer talks about research. (German only) more

May 25, 2022 - As part of the Meng-Wu Lecture Series Tania Singer talks about the Neuroscience of Motivation, Care and Compassion. more

March 22, 2022 - In this interview featured by the BBC, Tania Singer talks about the difference between empathy and compassion. more

March 24, 2022 - In the Podcast World of Wisdom Tania Singer and Amit Paul talk about Neuroscience, Caring Economics and the Brain Plasticity of Human beings. more

March 14, 2022 - Tania Singer in conversation with Gesine Bocherd as part of the LAS exhibition of Robert Irwin Light and Space. (German only) more

January 31, 2022 - In an interview by Valerie Zöllner and Barbara Abrell for Max Planck Forschung magazine, Tania Singer answers Five Questions about mental health in times of Corona and the CovSocial project. (German only) more

October 22, 2021 - Tania Singer and Sarita Silveira present on resilience and social cohesion during the 11th Empathy Conference, organized by the German American Institute (DAI), Heidelberg.

October 20, 2021 - In this livestream talk, Tania Singer shares accessible, evidence-based tools to reduce stress and improve your mental health. more

July 11, 2021 - Tania Singer gives a lecture on the neurobiology of empathy and compassion at the SWR Teleakademie. (German only) more

June 19, 2021 - At the Academy of Neuroscience Education's 12th Science Forum, "The Best of Neuroscience," Tania Singer talks about how to train the heart and brain. more

June 01, 2021 – Tania Singer and Elise Bialylew have a conversation on the research background of Tania Singer and how mental training can improve empathy and compassion. more

May 28, 2021 - Tania Singer gives a keynote lecture at the Boston Internationa Trauma Conference and talks about the results of the ReSource project. more

April 27, 2021 - In a presentation invited by the European Commission, Tania Singer talks about the different impact of mental training and the results of the ReSource project. She also reports on the CovSocial project and the according research on social cohesion within the Berlin population.

March 03, 2021 - In the tabularasa podcast, Tania Singer talks about the results of the ReSource project. She also discusses the social and psychological effects that a week-long lockdown could have in times of COVID-19. The challenges and necessary measures to make digitization socially acceptable. (German only) more

January 17, 2021 – This podcast is based on a recording of Tania Singer's keynote talk at the 10th Empathy Conference in December 2020. In this podcast, Tania Singer provides an overview on the difference between compassion and empathy and the important role of compassion in economics. (German only) more

December 19, 2020 - The 10th Empathy Conference of the DAI Heidelberg in the framework of Geist Heidelberg took place with the title: "Empathy under pressure? How we experience empathy in crises and conflicts". In her presentation Tania Singer talks about empathy and compassion. Can mindfulness and social skills be trained? How do empathy and compassion differ? (German) more

November 19, 2020 - Tania Singer gives a keynote on how to reduce burnout, stress, and depression by mental training. She emphasizes how this is even more important during turbulent times and how it relates to business leaders and organizations. (English) more

June 25, 2020 - Tania Singer talks about the growing importance of mental health and what research has shown how mental training can help increase resilience and teamwork in teams. (English) more

May 29 2020 - Tania Singer talks about novel forms of intersubjective mental training formats performed with another partner aiming at boosting social closeness and interconnectedness. more

April 24, 2020 - Tania Singer was interviewed by Ilios Kotsou from Emergence about the relevance of compassion and care in times of Covid-19 pandemics and how to apply her findings to help healthcare workers with everyday workplace challenges. (French) more

March 20, 2020 - Tania Singer and Edwin Rutsch (Empathy Circle) discuss the topic of how empathetic listening can improve communication. Tania talks about the use of regular contemplative dyads and the affects on social anxiety and feeling connected. more

December 03, 2019 - In this Podcast Tania Singer and Traci Ruble talk about the ReSource Project and how heart-centered listening makes us more compassionate than pure mindfulness. They discuss how altruism and social stress only shift if you do relation based practices. more

August 16, 2019 - Lisa Rauschenberger, Tania Singer, Jamila Tressel and Alan Posener discuss whether school systems are able to face current challenges of the changing society. They discuss possible directions of knowledge transfer that may include the communication of values such as responsibility, empathy and courage. (German) more

July 03-05, 2019, Berlin, Germany - "Training the mind and the heart from a social neuroscience perspective" (English). Tech Open Air (TOA) is Europa's leading Technologie Festival. More than 150 people shared their visions for the development of the world in the areas of technology, art, and science. more

June 21-28, 2019 - Beyond Mindfulness: A Social Neuroscience Perspective on How to Cultivate Mind and Heart. Tania presents results of the ReSource Project and effects of mindfulness-based as compared to socio-affective and socio-cognitive practices. She critically discusses findings with regard to their relevance to contemplative neuroscience and society. more

December 03, 2018 - The human being — a selfish being that only things about itself and its own wellbeing? In a world where only power and money rules it can be difficult to believe in something else. But more and more studies from psychology, neurosciences and primate research show that acting out of selfless motivation is a key human element. more

September 24, 2018 - Excerpts from the Educating Our Future Meeting, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in which Fundación Vivir Agradecidos presented an educational model focused on individual and shared well-being. In this video, Tania talks about the education of emotions. more

June 26-27, 2018 - Tania speaks about her research during the workshop ‘Experimenting, Experiencing, Reflecting – Art and science at work in the public realm’, which was held at Studio Olafur Eliasson in collaboration between Olafur Eliasson, Andreas Roepstorff, Studio Olafur Eliasson, and the Interacting Minds Centre in Aarhus. more

June 21, 2018 - Tania shares some the differential effects of individual mindfulness-based practices as compared to contemplative dyad practices on outcomes such as attention, compassion, Theory of Mind, altruism, as well as social stress and autonomic body regulation. more

May 10-12, 2017, Paris, France - "Plasticity of Empathy and Prosocial Motivation: From Outgroup Hate to Ingroup Favouritism" (English). This conference addressed questions about the transformation of seemingly ordinary individuals into repeated agents of extreme violence in groups (syndrome E). more

April 03, 2017, 3Sat (TV) - Tania Singer talks to Gert Scobel about the ReSource Project. The long-term study on mental training investigates, among other things, whether empathy can be trained. (German only) more

September 09-11, 2016, Brussels, Belgium - On how power and care are two primary elements that may not be opposed but rather coexist as a condition of dynamic and constructive equilibrium. Discussion on the issue of “empowerment” as a component of engagement and care as an expression of responsibility for our planet and its civilisations. more

September 09-11, 2016, Brussels, Belgium - On the psychological and neuro-scientific bases of power and care. Humans are equipped with different “motives” that influence our behaviour and interaction with others. How can psychology and neuroscience contribute to the formulation of new models of global cooperation and responsibility? more

April 30, 2015, Paris, France - Tania and Dennis J. Snower talk at the Institute for New Economic Thinking conference session for Motivations, Emotions, Decisions on bridging neurosciences and psychology with macro economics and on using Caring Economics to conceive human prosperity in terms of deeper sources of durable human wellbeing. more

April 27, 2015, Lucerne, Switzerland - "You can learn to feel more". As part of the KKL Impuls series of talks, Tania Singer spoke with publicist Marco Meier about emotional networks in the brain, the outdated concept of homo economicus and how to learn to feel more. (German only) more

April 24, 2015, Goetzis, Austria - Many people feel that their fellow human beings are becoming more self-centered and inconsiderate. Tania talks about the ReSource and how empathy and compassion could be decisive feelings in transforming the world towards an economy based on solidarity, the careful use of resources and the fair distribution of wealth. more

January 21-25, 2015, Davos, Switzerland - "The Neuroscience of Compassion" (English). Tania Singer speaks at the World Economic Forum about the role of compassion in society and economy from the perspective of social neuroscience. more

January 21-24, 2014, Davos, Switzerland - "The Role of Human Nature in Economics" (English). The lecture is in Pecha Kucha format and lasts 5 minutes. Can we train our brains to make us less power hungry and more compassionate? Tania explains how we can learn how to move to a new cooperative caring economy. more

January 19-21, 2014, Munich, Germany - "How to Train Your Mind and Your Heart" (English). On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the DLD Conference, Tania Singer spoke about her research and about how the heart and mind can be trained. more

November 09, 2013 - Tania talks in the documentary "From Business to Being" by Hanna Henigin and Julian Wildgruber on Caring Economics — how altruism and compassion should be brought into the economy and using neurosciences and psychology to revise the outdated homo economicus model. more

September 19, 2013 - Tania talks about the process of bringing together a group of people working on compassion research to the 'Life is Space' symposium held at Studio Olafur Eliason in Berlin in 2011 and how these magical four days resulted in the 'Compassion' eBook. more

September 19, 2013 - Tania talks about what compassion and empathy are and what differences they have by definition and from what you can see in the brain. She elaborates on compassion and empathy training and the consequences of too much empathy without compassion. more

September 16, 2013 - A collection of informal conversations between neuroscientists, psychologists, and buddhist monks at the 2011 "How to Train Compassion" workshop on the public perception of compassion, experiences with compassion-training programs and promoting compassion-training in dealing with social and political issues more

September 16, 2013, Berlin, Germany - Tania Singer introduces the ebook which was realized as a follow up to the workshop "How to train Compassion". more

October 12, 2012 - "ZDF Nachtstudio: Das neue Menschenbild - trotz allem gut statt böse?" (German). Philosopher Thomas Metzinger and Tania talk about the implementation of mental training based on meditation in schools and how this is related to research on the plasticity of the brain through experiences. more

January 01, 2011, Berlin, Germany - Tania discusses compassion and the brain during the ‘Life Is Space’ symposium held at Studio Olafur Eliasson. ‘Life Is Space’ brought scientists, artists, scholars, dancers, theorists, spatial practitioners, and movement experts together with students at the Institut für Raumexperimente to share, discuss, present, and experiment. more

November 08-09, 2010, Berlin, Germany - "Breaking the Wall between People" (English). At the conference, Tania Singer talked about her research within social neuroscience and how compassion can be trained. more

April 09-11, 2010, Zurich, Switzerland - In a Mind & Life dialogue about altruism and compassion in economic systems, Tania explains two neural routes to understanding others’ minds, their relation to compassionate thoughts and feelings, and how meditation has been shown to help people who have deficiencies in comprehending their own feelings. more