next week! I will be in conversation with Rebecca Saxe from MIT about ideas from my new book, ORIGINAL SIN. In-person and free at Harvard Book Store.
It's publication day for ORIGINAL SIN! On Substack, I wrote about my pub day jitters, and what my 3-year-old has to teach me about making art:
kathrynpaigeharden.substack.com/p/i-have-alr...
Prepping for our next interview on @bigbiology.bsky.social…great read on a great Florida day, @kph3k.bsky.social !
ORIGINAL SIN comes out on Tuesday!
If you’re in the US & want a signed copy, order from Black Pearl Books in the next week. Just be sure to note that you want it signed (& any instructions about the inscription) in the order notes at checkout.
shop.blackpearlbookstore.com/item/ymASTSS...
GENETICS: @kph3k.bsky.social from @universityoftexas.bsky.social highlighted a major gap in psychiatric genetics: conduct disorder is common, serious, and moderately heritable, yet has been dramatically understudied.
#AGBTGM26
I had fun talking with the "Love Factually" boys about Fatal Attraction, the 1987 movie in which every main character commits some act of violence. Whose violence is the audience rooting for? Whose violence did they want to see punished? And what can that teach us? podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...
Boston-area folks: I will be presenting on ORIGINAL SIN at Harvard Book Store on March 19. Come say hi & ask me questions! www.harvard.com/event/kathry...
4/ With such a large and diverse sample, we identified many genes associated with externalizing: Across 1,294 genomic loci and 647 fine-mapped SNPs, we pinpointed 961 effector genes, including known biology (e.g., CADM2, BDNF) and novel discoveries (e.g., SLC17A6, NRN1)!
Our multi-ancestry GWAS of EXTernalizing conditions (ADHD, substance use...) in ~4M people reveals neurodevelopmental risk, drug-repurposing targets, and yields one of the strongest psychiatric polygenic indices yet! 🧬🎉 doi.org/10.64898/202...
Lastly, if you want a different introduction to the book's themes and topics, I put together a very eclectic book-related playlist as I was writing:
open.spotify.com/playlist/0YR...
If you're looking for someone to appear on your podcast or in your class, this is an excellent time to ask me!
If you're considering buying Original Sin, please consider supporting my beloved local bookstore, Reverie Books: bookshop.org/shop/reverie...
My new book will be released in less than 1 month! On Substack, I describe a letter I received that radically reshaped the book: A man in prison for a sexually violent crime asked me, "What makes a child go bad--nature or nurture?"
kathrynpaigeharden.substack.com/p/what-makes...
📢🧬 Call for Papers — 5th ESSGN Conference
📍 Bologna, May 21–22, 2026
I’ll be co-organising the 5th ESSGN conference in Bologna together with Nicola Barban, Stephanie von Hinke, Paul Hufe, and Niels Rietveld @essgn.bsky.social
📄 Submit here: forms.gle/fmVDUrQqQYju...
🗓 Deadline: 1 March 2026
Goodreads is giving away 10 free copies of my new book, ORIGINAL SIN (and nearly 1000 people have already signed up!). Enter here for your chance to get a free book, ahead of publication day:
www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...
European colleagues who don't want to travel to the US for PAA should come to Finland for @invest-flagship.bsky.social instead!
Join us in Turku, Finland for the 3rd @invest-flagship.bsky.social conference; May 6-8, 2026. This year's topic is "Building equal societies: from scientific findings to societal transformation" with excizing and timely keynotes by Prof. Harden @kph3k.bsky.social and Prof. Cohen @philipncohen.com
surest sign that we need to get the pipes wrapped and the generator ready
AGBT General Meeting Featured Speaker: Dr. Kathryn Paige Harden (kph3k.bsky.social), Professor of Psychology at @utaustin.bsky.social & author.
At AGBTGM26, she’ll explore how moral beliefs shape science, and how transcending the “moral vs. biological” divide can open new paths for discovery.
I talked with the great @kph3k.bsky.social about her fascinating new book, Original Sin, and whether we're doomed (or blessed!) to turn out just like our parents substack.com/home/post/p-...
“police use lies—both in their work and in the court of public opinion—to deploy a set of strategic narratives that bolsters their budgets, powers, and quest to be seen as the only means of safety available“
Comments on this article show how evidence of biology’s role in a behavior doesn’t *erase* moral beliefs about that behavior, but rather interacts w/ moral beliefs in complicated ways
See eg Interesting paper by Sydney Scott: ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jobhdp...
These articles revlea people's uniquely twisted/nasty views about weight & health. Have been reading an early copy @kph3k.bsky.social book on the "genetics of sin" (order it!), & I am convinved we need to confront people's gut instincts about health, it matters and is weaponised (see vaccines).
advance copies of my new book are now out in the world! pub day is on 3.3.26 & preorders are a love language ❤️
SF folks! I'm going to be talking to @pauleastwick.bsky.social about his EXCELLENT new book on Feb 13 at the Commonwealth Club. Come to hear the *real* science of relationships (not the manosphere pseudoscience), stay for a Valentine's Day dance party
www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2026-...
SF folks! I'm going to be talking to @pauleastwick.bsky.social about his EXCELLENT new book on Feb 13 at the Commonwealth Club. Come to hear the *real* science of relationships (not the manosphere pseudoscience), stay for a Valentine's Day dance party
www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2026-...
Thank you!
reposting for the Monday crowd—
This week in my newsletter I discussed the “Have your best baby” campaign by Nucleus Genomics as an example of what @gaiaghirardi.bsky.social and @arnovanhootegem.bsky.social have called “commodification on steroids”
open.substack.com/pub/kathrynp...
I wonder about these questions a lot! I can also see a very logical extension to GLP-1s - as a fat person who is not interested in those medications, I’m starting to see subtle shifts from pity to confusion about my size (if she has money and health care, why ISN’T she on a GLP-1?).
Thank you for sharing this insight -- yes, clear parallels with the tensions I describe in this piece but I hadn't thought of the GLP-1 connection!
& your argument might be right— I am very uncertain about what the long term net effects of such a policy would be
