David Eagleman + Harlan Coben

“This suspense is terrible, I hope it will last”

—Oscar Wilde

What makes suspense so agonizing and so thrilling? How does our perception of time change during moments of heightened anticipation? Acclaimed thriller writer Harlan Coben (Tell No One) joins the neuroscientist and Brainwave curator David Eagleman in an investigation into what keeps us enticed by mystery and why we continually seek that perfect combination of pleasure and fear.

The program will be followed by a book signing.

Brainwave is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

About the Speakers

David Eagleman is a neuroscientist and the New York Times bestselling author of Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain and Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives. He is the writer and host of the Emmy-nominated PBS television series The Brain. Eagleman is an adjunct professor at Stanford University, a Guggenheim fellow, and the director of the Center for Science and Law. He has written for the New York Times, Discover Magazine, The Atlantic, Slate, Wired and many others, and he appears regularly on National Public Radio and BBC.

With over 70 million books in print worldwide, Harlan Coben is the perennial #1 New York Times author of 30 novels including Tell No One and Don’t Let Go. His books are published in 43 languages in over 100 countries.

Harlan is the creator and executive producer for several television shows including the upcoming Netflix original drama Safe starring Michael C. Hall, as well as The Five, a ten-episode British drama, now streaming on Netflix. Harlan’s thriller Tell No One was turned into the renowned French film Ne le dis à personne, directed by Guillaume Canet and starring Francois Cluzet.