Episode #72
072 | Your Brain on Art: Creative Health & Neuroaesthetics with Susan Magsamen & Ivy Ross (EN)
In this episode, I sit down with Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross , co-authors of the New York Times bestseller Your Brain on Art . This conversation has been a long time coming, and honestly, it feels like a reward for a journey that started back in 2022 when I first began having these conversations out loud. What You'll Learn in This Episode: Why Neuroaesthetics is best understood as "Creative Health" — a pillar of wellbeing just like exercise, nutrition, and sleep, not a luxury or a talent reserved for a few. Why we are feeling beings who learned to think, rather than thinking beings who learned to feel How Susan and Ivy's collaborative process mirrors weaving — bringing together science and design Why humans are physiologically wired to be both makers and receivers of art How our thoughts act like magnetic particles within one shared field — and what that means for the world we're collectively creating. About the Guests Susan Magsamen is the founder and executive director of the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she studies how our brains and bodies transform when we engage with the arts. She is also the creator of the Impact Thinking model and co-director of the NeuroArts Blueprint project with the Aspen Institute. Ivy Ross is the Vice President of Design for Hardware at Google, leading the design language behind Google's hardware products. Before her work in tech, she built a career as an acclaimed jewelry designer, with pieces held in the permanent collections of museums including the Smithsonian and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Together, Susan and Ivy wrote Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us , making the case, backed by real science, for why the arts aren't a luxury, but a biological necessity. Follow For Workshops & Events If this resonated with you, follow Modern Creativity and leave a short review — it truly helps me keep sharing content. Join us for our next 3-hour Reflection & Direction Workshop on Resistance — August 29th in Berlin. A guided space to pause, reflect, and find your next direction. Spots are limited. Website Instagram LinkedIn Substack Thank you for being here. Stay open, stay kind, and keep creating from the heart.
