Unpacking Peanuts
Unpacking Peanuts
Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, Liz Sumner
With Neil Cohn - Author of Speaking In Pictures
1 hour 23 minutes Posted Jul 28, 2026 at 4:00 am.
Introducing Neil Cohn
Genesis of his book, "Speaking In Pictures"
Peanuts and Brain Science
The Visual Language of Comics
What about AI?
Strips Discussion
0:00
1:23:07
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Show notes
We talk with Neil Cohn, an Eisner-nominated cognitive scientist who looks at how our brains perceive comics. His latest book, Speaking in Pictures, challenges the conventional understandings of how pictures communicate, how people learn to draw, and the nature of language itself. And Peanuts was fundamental to his ground-breaking research. 
https://www.visuallanguagelab.com/@neilcohn.bsky.social@thevisuallinguist on Instagram
Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com
Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at UnpackingPeanuts.com/store.
Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark. 
For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.  
Thanks for listening.