Man’s Best Friend: Exploring the science behind our deep connection with dogs

Name: Man’s Best Friend: Exploring the science behind our deep connection with dogs
Start: 2025-08-11T18:30:00-04:00
End: 2025-08-11T20:00:00-04:00
Location: WBUR CitySpace

Schedule

Mon Aug 11 2025 at 06:30 pm to 08:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

WBUR CitySpace | Brookline, MA

There’s a reason dogs are called “man’s best friend.” Studies show owning a dog can lower blood pressure, reduce stress and decrease risk for cardiovascular disease. Simply put - dogs are good for your heart! But what is the science behind our emotional connections and deep relationships with our canine companions? Join WBUR senior editor of audience engagement & platforms Meghan Kelly for a fascinating conversation with an expert panel on why we love dogs and they love us.
Panelists:
Marianne Leone — actress, screenwriter, essayist and author of “Five-Dog Epiphany"
Chris Cooper — actor
Alexandra Horowitz — professor, Barnard College at Columbia University, Senior Research Fellow, Dog Cognition Lab and author, “The Year of the Puppy” and “Inside of a Dog”
Peter Zheutlin — journalist and author, “The Dog Went Over the Mountain,” “Rescued,” “Rescue Road”
Copies of “Five-Dog Epiphany” will be available for purchase from our bookstore partner Brookline Booksmith and Leone will sign following the conversation.
CitySpace Tickets:
Premiere: $30.00 (includes reserved seating in the front of the theater)
General: $20.00
BU Faculty/Staff: $15.00 (must present a valid BU ID upon arrival)
Student: $10.00 (must present a valid student ID upon arrival)
Ways To Save:
WBUR’s Legacy Circle, Murrow Society, Sustainers and Members save $5.00 on tickets to this event. To apply the discount to your ticket purchase online, you’ll need to enter a promo code. You can get your code by emailing [email protected].
About “Five-Dog Epiphany”
In “Five-Dog Epiphany,” Marianne Leone writes about the joy that can be summoned after a great loss, "when you look into the eyes of another damaged creature and know that your happiness is a mirror and an echo and a prayer, and that the little soul reflecting all that energy is happy too, at last." This memoir is a moving and sometimes surprisingly funny exploration of grief and the mutual healing that can occur between rescue dogs and people who have experienced a soul-crushing loss. Leone and her husband, actor Chris Cooper, lost their only child suddenly in 2005. Jesse was seventeen, a straight-A student, and a brilliant poet, who was also quadriplegic and nonverbal except with the assistance of a computer.
When six-year-old Jesse miraculously blurted "dog" to Santa, Goody appeared on his bed on Christmas morning. Goody was followed by Lucky, Frenchy, Titi, and Sugar, all rescues adopted after Jesse’s passing. After Jesse’s death, Leone grew a tumor the size of her premature son at birth, her husband disappeared into dark acting roles (Breach, Married Life), and Leone fainted during the filming of a scene in The Sopranos where she is standing in front of her television son’s coffin.
This is the story of a bereaved couple and a pack of rescue dogs finding their way to a new life, everyone licking their wounds, both corporal and spiritual, and the rediscovery of joy.