Unlikely Collaborators Sponsors Free Speaker Event in Santa Monica: "Are You a Spectator to Reality? Or Are You Its Creator?" with Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Unlikely Collaborators will host a Spark Salon featuring neuroscientist, psychologist and best-selling author Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD, on December 10, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. PT / 10:00 p.m. ET. In Are You a Spectator to Reality? Or Are You Its Creator?, Dr. Barrett invites audiences to rethink everything they believe about perception, emotion, and the nature of reality itself. Drawing from her groundbreaking research, she reveals that we do not perceive a fixed, objective world. Instead, the brain actively constructs every moment of experience, shaping meaning through culture, context, and memory.
Through vivid examples, from a falling tree to a racing heart, Dr. Barrett illustrates how signals from the world and the body carry no inherent meaning until the brain interprets them. What we call "reality" is a story our brains are continually writing. Ultimately, she challenges audiences to recognize their agency: we are not passive observers of the world but its architects, with the power to reshape meaning and reimagine what it means to be fully human.
The Spark Salon will be held in person at Unlikely Collaborators' Santa Monica headquarters and livestreamed online. Attendance is complimentary, but registration is required. In-person attendees will receive a complimentary copy of Dr. Barrett's books How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain and Seven And A Half Lessons About The Brain.
Doors open at 6:00 p.m. for a reception. The program begins promptly at 7:00 p.m., followed by a book signing and reception at 8:00 p.m.
This Spark Salon is an invitation to question long-held assumptions about how we think, feel, and perceive—and to explore how expanding our awareness of the brain's role in shaping reality can transform our sense of possibility, connection, and agency.
Register now to secure your spot:
Event Details
What: Spark Salon – Are You a Spectator to Reality? Or Are You Its Creator? with Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD
When: Wednesday, December 10, 2025. Doors open 6:00 p.m., Program 7:00 p.m. PT
Where: Unlikely Collaborators Headquarters, Santa Monica, CA + livestream
Cost: Free (registration required)
About Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD
Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD, is among the top 0.1% most cited scientists in the world for her revolutionary research in psychology and neuroscience. She is a University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University. She holds research appointments in the Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she is also Chief Science Officer for the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior.
In addition to the books Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain and How Emotions Are Made, which have been translated into 22 languages, Dr. Barrett has published over 280 peer-reviewed, scientific papers appearing in Science, Nature Neuroscience, Neuron, and other top journals in psychology and neuroscience. She writes regularly about science in the popular press, including The New York Times, The Guardian, Scientific American, BBC Science Focus Magazine, Popular Science, Nautilus, Big Think, Cosmopolitan, Time Magazine, MIT Technology Review, and more (see full list). Her popular TED talk has been viewed over 8 million times.
Dr. Barrett received a National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award for her revolutionary research on emotion in the brain. These highly competitive, multimillion-dollar awards are given to scientists of exceptional creativity who are expected to transform biomedical and behavioral research. She also received a Guggenheim Fellowship in Neuroscience in 2019, the APS Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2018, the APA Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award in Psychology in 2021, and the APS William James Fellow Award in 2025.
Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Barrett has testified before Congress, presented her research to the FBI, consulted to the National Cancer Institute, appeared on Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman and The Today Show with Maria Shriver, and been a featured guest on public television and podcast and radio programs worldwide. She was president of the Association for Psychological Science in 2019 and– 2020 and co-founded the Society for Affective Science. She is also an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the Royal Society of Canada.
Colleagues have called Dr. Barrett "the deepest thinker on [the nature of emotion] since Darwin" and "the William James of our time."
See a more detailed biography at affective-science.org.
About Spark Salons
Spark Salons are a signature program of Unlikely Collaborators, the nonprofit founded by Elizabeth R. Koch. These gatherings bring together grantees, researchers, artists, and collaborators for conversations that challenge perspectives and deepen connections. Past speakers have included illusionist Harris III, psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman, PhD, nutrition therapist Kim Shapira, MS, RD, mythologist John Bucher, Harvard Business School professor and author Michael Norton, PhD, visionary violinist Vijay Gupta, chef and entrepreneur Ellen Bennett, artist Candy Chang, digital workplace expert, author Alexandra Samuel, PhD and grief experts Brennan Wood & Dr. Donna L. Schuurman.
Watch the Spark Salons Trailer
About Unlikely Collaborators
Unlikely Collaborators is a nonprofit dedicated to helping people see themselves and the world more clearly. Founded by Elizabeth R. Koch, the organization is built on the Perception Box™ framework, which explores how our unconscious lens shaped by our experiences, beliefs, fears, and identities affects the way we interpret the world. By becoming aware of our Perception Box, we can take the first step toward real change.
SOURCE Unlikely Collaborators
Share this article