Episode 1: The Science of Racism

Описание: Welcome to the first episode of The Mindbridge Podcast: Where Science Meets Human Rights! This podcast invites human rights defenders to teach and learn from brain and behavioral scientists about how we can all use science to do human rights work that is more efficient and impactful.

This week, we are joined by Dr. Keon West and Dustin Ward - two experts in the field of racial justice.

Keon West (https://www.lse.ac.uk/PBS/People/keon...) is a Professor of Social Psychology (Visiting professor; London School of Economics, Honorary professor: University College London), with a doctorate from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He is an expert on identity, prejudice, DEI, representation, and body image and currently works as the Head of Research at the Runnymede Trust. He has published over 80 empirical papers which have been cited about 3000 times in the wider scientific literature.

His research, teaching, media engagement (https://x.com/profkeonwest?lang=en) , and social activism have earned him numerous international awards. He has presented programs for BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4 and Channel 4 TV as well as appearing as a contributor for newspapers, on radio and on television (including BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service, Channel 4, and the Discovery Channel) discussing his research and area of expertise.

A truly international academic, he was born in Trinidad, grew up in Jamaica, and studied in the USA and France before finally studying at Oxford and settling in the UK.

Keon is the author of the internationally highly acclaimed book The Science of Racism: Everything you Need to Know But Probably Don’t Know – Yet (https://store.abramsbooks.com/product...) (2025 - UK; Picador: USA; Abrams: France; Belfond) and co-author of the original audiobook Skewed - How Bias Distorts Our View of Other People and How to Make It Stop (https://www.nokillmag.com/articles/sk...) (2022: Howes).

Raised in Presque Isle, Maine-based Dustin Ward currently resides in New Gloucester with his wife and two boys who have lived in the area since 2015. Dustin now holds both a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Divinity. His focus is two-fold, as an “Equity and Reconciliation Advocate,” being the President and Founder of It Is Time …, LLC (https://www.itistime.me/team) , and a "Golf Entrepreneur", starting Tee Time LLC in October of 2024. Both businesses look to uplift equity and inclusion in various ways throughout communities in Maine and New England. Most recently he has been a Select Board Member of New Gloucester, along with being an Honorary Member and previous Implicit Bias Educator for Mindbridge (https://www.mindbridgecenter.org/) and President of the Board of Atlantic Black Box (https://atlanticblackbox.com/the-crew/) .

Mindbridge is the nation’s leading non-profit using brain and behavioral science to empower human rights defenders. We conduct programming, support partnerships, and direct research at the intersection of psychological science and human rights. Through these efforts, Mindbridge is growing a science-driven community that gives human rights defenders access to the hearts and minds of those they serve.


To learn more about how we use brain and behavioral science to empower human rights defenders, find us at mindbridgecenter.org (https://www.mindbridgecenter.org/) , and follow us on social media.