Ep 67: Memory and the Human Mind - The Journey

We Love Science

Nikolay Kukushkin an author, neuroscientist and clinical associate professor at NYU shares with us the journey of his career path thus far. Niko grew up in Russia where the education curriculum requires students to specialize before college in their preferred subjects. Following the example of his parents, he decided to focus his studies on pursuing science. Although coming from a family of chemists, he is the sole biologist. He remembers having a wonderful childhood that was also very international–living in several countries around the world, after his family left at the fall of the USSR. Niko’s journey into publishing a novel began with a previous return trip to Russia as he was waiting to renew his visa and needed a way to pass the time. During that trip, he was invited by a friend who was a local science writer to illustrate her work. This then led to a side job in writing popular science for Russian media. From there, things happily snowballed into developing the concept for writing a novel–One Hand Clapping: The Origin Story of the Human Mind. And of course, he also brought his original illustrative style to the book. Looking back at his journey, from the time he spent at Saint Petersburg State University as a college student to his post doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School, Niko had countless mentors who shaped his approach to science and teaching. However, his most influential mentors will always be his parents, who instilled in him a genuine curiosity to explore the natural world from day one. The best advice he would give his younger self is “Keep calm and carry on.” He sees how things have turned out quite well on his journey so far and he is just at the very beginning of starting something interesting in his career journey. Even the regrets and setbacks along the way contributed to helping him grow and he would not do anything differently.

Tune into this episode to hear about Niko’s journey and:

• What big event he is preparing to celebrate with this friends
• How the international influence of his early childhood shaped his view of science
• How the doodles in his college notes eventually led to becoming an author

Reach out to Niko:

Website - https://www.nikolaykukushkin.com/

Substack - https://nikolaykukushkin.substack.com/

And look out for the release of his book, One Hand Clapping

If you enjoyed this episode, check out Niko’s previous episode

Ep 66: Memory and the Human Mind - The Work

And one more:

Ep 56: Once upon a time - Origin stories

Ep 40: The art of Science with Laura Canil - The Journey

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Chapters

1. Ep 67: Memory and the Human Mind - The Journey (00:00:00)

2. Did you have a science spark? (00:02:21)

3. How did your career plans evolve over time? (00:06:20)

4. What led to your decision to write a book? (00:08:30)

5. Did you have any influential mentors during your career journey? (00:12:03)

6. What advice would you give your younger self? (00:14:29)

7. Would you do anything differently? (00:15:27)

8. What's next for you? (00:17:00)

9. Life Lights - what brings you joy outside of your work? (00:18:05)