Dr. Helen Fisher knew a thing or two about love, sex, and the brain. A biological anthropologist by training, Dr. Fisher applied her academic talents to one of the most basic of human phenomena — the romantic, sexual, and loving relationships that bind us together. A senior research fellow at the Kinsey Institute of Indiana University and a member for the Center for Human Evolutionary Studies in the Department of Anthropology at Rutgers University, Dr. Fisher studied love and relationships in all their forms. Parent-child love, friendship, long-term marriage, sexual attraction — Dr. Fisher explored all of them with genuine curiosity, intellect, and humor.
I greatly enjoyed talking with her about love and the brain, and I think she enjoyed our conversations as well. She was a guest on my podcast five times, talking about the brain’s role in romantic relationships, about lust, about the evolving styles of dating, and even about how our love lives changed during the pandemic. She was an academic, a scholar, a researcher — but above all, she was a delightful conversationalist and a smart, witty woman who truly excelled at explaining our complicated feelings to us. I liked and respected her personally, and I greatly appreciated her candor about love and how it worked in her own life. Dr. Fisher, who died this weekend at age 79, will be sorely missed by friends, family, and all of those who appreciated her wisdom and insight.
I revisited Dr. Fisher's episodes after hearing of her passing. I hope you enjoy listening to them, or revisiting them, as much as I did. All five of her charming and insightful episodes are embedded below. New York Times subscribers can read her obituary here.
