THE PODCAST

Psychiatrist Dr. Amy Wallace and cohosts Joplin Wallace and Savannah Osgood examine the remarkable, notorious, and psychologically complex figures who shaped history.

 

About The Show

History under Examination

Some names evoke a reaction before their stories are even told. Shrinking Heads explores the personalities, experiences, beliefs, and psychological struggles behind history’s most unforgettable figures.  Drawing on historical research and modern psychiatric knowledge, each episode asks how a person’s inner world may have influenced the life they lived and the legacy they left behind.

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Featured Episodes

Hostings

Lord Byron

Lord Byron was the first modern celebrity poet: dazzling, scandalous, magnetic, self-destructive, and unforgettable. This episode explores the life and mind of George Gordon Byron through the lens of modern psychiatry, examining whether the poet’s legendary intensity may reflect patterns consistent with bipolar disorder, narcissistic traits, and mood instability rooted in both genetics and environment.

Hostings

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin transformed biology, but internally, certainty never came easily. Darwin’s greatest strength may have been his inability to settle. This episode explores how persistent doubt, intellectual caution, and a need for certainty drove one of the most consequential theories in history—and how those same traits mirror modern understandings of obsessive thinking.

Hostings

Georgia O'Keeffe

Known for her iconic flowers, desert landscapes, and groundbreaking modernist vision, American artist Georgia O'Keeffe overcame profound personal and professional challenges, including a debilitating depressive episode that nearly ended her career. This episode examines the psychological forces that shaped her creativity, the complex relationship with photographer and promoter Alfred Stieglitz, and the remarkable role that environment may have played in her recovery.

Dr. Wallace's Upcoming Book

Meet the Team

Amy Wallace, MD, MPH

Psychiatrist, author, and cohost

 

Dr. Wallace is a child and adolescent psychiatrist. She is widely published with more than sixty articles spanning clinical psychiatry, rural health, and healthcare economics. Her perspective combines clinical expertise, public health insight, and a storyteller’s voice shaped by years of observing how individual choices ripple outward through families, communities, and history itself. The Gravity of One is her first major nonfiction book project, synthesizing history, biography, and psychology into a narrative that explores how single individuals have tilted the course of the world. Beyond her professional work, Dr. Wallace is the mother of six now grown kids and divides her time between Texas and New Hampshire.

Joplin Wallace

Podcast editor, storyteller, and cohost

 

Joplin - Dr. Wallace's fifth child - lives in Burlington, Vermont, with his fiancé, Casey. Beyond preparing and planning for their wedding, Joplin and Casey spend their free time hiking, enjoying restaurants and breweries, and spending quality time with family.

 

Joplin is deeply proud of his mom for her ability to interpret and thoughtfully convey the psychological dimensions of historical figures. He hopes you enjoy the podcast.

Savannah Osgood

Podcast editor, website builder, and cohost

 

Savannah - Dr. Wallace's third child and only daughter - has a B.A. in Psychology and is currently a medical sonography student. As a military spouse, she has lived in 8 states in the past 15 years. She currently lives in Fayetteville, NC, with her loving husband and two young sons.  She enjoys gardening, listening to audiobooks, and spending time with her family.

 

Atticus Wallace

Podcast theme music composer