The Oprah Podcast· Folge 61

Your Brain on Revenge with Oprah and James Kimmel, Jr.

Dienstag, 20. Januar 2026 · 1 h 04

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Is revenge the root of all forms of violence? Oprah sits down with James Kimmel, Jr., a revenge and violence researcher and lecturer in the psychiatry department at the Yale University School of Medicine and the bestselling author of the eye-opening book, The Science of Revenge: Understanding the World’s Deadliest Addiction - and How to Overcome It. From bullying to school and mass shootings to terrorism and even war, James Kimmel Jr’s 20-year research argues that the root cause of all human aggression and violence in the world is the one universal human emotion: revenge. After being bullied as a teenager, James Kimmel, Jr shares the horrific moment he almost became a mass shooter himself, and why that became the catalyst for his life’s work. James Kimmel Jr shares a research study that could reveal just how prone you might be to seeking revenge. He has also created The Non-Justice System & The Miracle Court App, a 5-step scripted virtual courtroom where a person who has been wronged can play all the roles in a simulated trial - victim, defendant, judge, jury, and warden. Oprah and James Kimmel Jr also hear searing stories from the audience including a woman whose neighbor shot and killed her dog, a woman who got revenge on a boyfriend who cheated on her, a wife and mother whose intense revenge addiction landed her in the hospital. And how a mother, who lost her precious 6-year-old son to gun violence at Sandy Hook Elementary, came to forgive her son’s killer.

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The Science of Revenge
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- Welcome James Kimmel, Jr. author of “The Science of Revenge”
- James Kimmel share his story of revenge
- Lawyers sell revenge to the masses
- How revenge is an addiction
- Understanding how revenge leads to crimes
- When revenge becomes addiction
- Woman shares her desire for revenge
- Types of forgiveness
- How can we speed up forgiveness
- How this man resisted getting revenge
- Mother of son killed at Sandy Hook
- Recovering revenge addict
- The motive is revenge
- The power of forgiveness

Additional Resources:
revengeanonymous.org
The Non-justice System: miraclecourt.com
What's Your Revenge Score? jameskimmeljr.com/quiz
Connecticut Violence Intervention and Prevention - ctintervention.org
Choose Love - chooselovemovement.org

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