Maya Shankar is a cognitive scientist and creator of the podcast A Slight Change of Plans, named "Best Show of the Year" by Apple. A Rhodes Scholar, she served as a senior adviser in the Obama White House and as the first Behavioral Science Advisor to the United Nations. Shankar has been profiled by The New Yorker, has been a guest on NPR, CBS Mornings, and the Today show, and is a neuroscience expert on Limitless with Chris Hemsworth. She is a former violin student of Itzhak Perlman at Juilliard. She lives with her husband in Mountain View, California.
This biography was last updated on 01/13/2026.
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