The Divided Brain with Dr Iain McGilchrist

In this episode of the Breaking Cycles of Conflict mini-series, XCEPT's Dr Nafees Hamid talks to Dr Iain McGilchrist – psychiatrist, philosopher, neuroscientist and author of The Master and His Emissary and The Matter with Things – about how the brain's left and right hemispheres attend to the world in fundamentally different ways. They explore how shifts in hemispheric dominance have shaped trust, institutions and the rise and fall of civilisations throughout history, and what this means for how governments, mediators and practitioners build, and lose, legitimacy in fragile and conflict-affected settings today. This research is part of XCEPT (Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends), a UK aid-funded programme. King's College London's contribution to XCEPT focuses on the factors that shape violent and peaceful behaviour in conflict-affected populations. Find out more about XCEPT at xcept-research.org.