Author Talk: James Kimmel, Jr. - The Science of Revenge

About this event

Author and educator James Kimmel, Jr. discusses his 2025 nonfiction book, The Science of Revenge: Understanding the World's Deadliest Addiction—and How to Overcome It , as part of the City-Wide Friends of the Boston Public Library's Talks for Better Living series.

There is a hidden addiction plaguing humanity right now: revenge. Researchers have identified retaliation in response to real and imagined grievances as the root cause of most forms of human aggression and violence. From vicious tweets to road rage, murder-suicide, and armed insurrection, perpetrators almost always see themselves as victims seeking justice. Chillingly, recent behavioral and neuroimaging studies of the human brain show that harboring a personal grievance triggers revenge desires and activates the neural pleasure and reward circuitry of addiction. Although this behavior is ancient and seems inevitable, by understanding retaliation and violence as an addictive brain-biological process, we can control deadly revenge cravings and save lives. In The Science of Revenge: Understanding the World's Deadliest Addiction—and How to Overcome It , Dr. Kimmel uncovers the truth behind why we want to hurt the people who hurt us, what happens when it gets out of hand, and how to stop it. He shines an unsparing light on humanity’s pathological obsession with revenge throughout history; America’s growing addiction to revenge as a special brand of justice; his own struggle with revenge addiction that almost led to a mass shooting; and the startlingly similar addictive behaviors and motivations of childhood bullies, abusive partners, aggrieved employees, sparring politicians, street gang members, violent extremists, mass killers, and tyrannical dictators responsible for millions of deaths. He also reveals the amazing, healing changes that take place inside your brain and body when you practice forgiveness. Stressing the necessity of proven public health approaches and personal solutions for every level of revenge addiction, he offers urgent, actionable information and novel methods for preventing and treating violence.

James Kimmel, Jr., JD, is an attorney, an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and the founder and co-director of the Yale Collaborative for Motive Control Studies. As a breakthrough scholar on the intersection of neuroscience and human violence, he pioneered the Behavioral Addiction Model of Revenge and the Brain Disease Model of Revenge Addiction. His research establishes public health and psychiatric frameworks for preventing and treating violence as a compulsive behavioral disorder driven by retaliatory brain cravings. His work has been widely featured in elite scientific and mainstream media, including NPR’s Book of the Day, Oprah, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of multiple books on revenge and forgiveness.

To learn more about Professor Kimmel and his work visit: https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/jame