The Human Petri Dish | Understanding Each Other | Dating & Relating

Building Relationships | Sustainable Healthy Relationships

Building Relationships | Sustainable, Healthy Relationships 
Welcome to the Lab, and, in this episode of The Human Petri Dish, host Andrew Boyton invites you into the lab to explore how sustainable, healthy relationships are built, not found. Meet the R-Model: a practical framework that puts reciprocity, repair, and resilience at the centre of connection.
This is for leaders, partners, teams, parents and anyone curious about how human bonds actually hold up under pressure. We keep the tone playful and the ideas rigorous: expect laughter, insight, and useful experiments you can try in real life.
In This Episode
What makes a relationship sustainable over months and years.
An accessible walk-through of the R-Model: reciprocity, repair, resilience.
Practical steps to practise repair after conflict and to strengthen relational habits.
Applications for leadership, teams, couples and family life — real examples, not theory alone.
Why Listen?
If you want relationships that survive real life, messy meetings, missed expectations, big emotions, this episode gives you a framework and tools to build connection intentionally. It’s less about perfection and more about practice.
Listen & Act
Listen now: hit play, subscribe, and tell a friend who cares about connection. If this episode helps you, please like and leave a review — it really helps us reach more curious humans.
Share: recommend this to a colleague, a partner, or a parent — relationships are a community experiment.
Links
The Relationship Lab | Website
The Relationship Lab | LinkedIn Page
Andrew Boyton | LinkedIn Profile
Join the Experiment!
Want to discuss the R-Model or share a relationship experiment? Join our WhatsApp community and bring your curiosity straight to the lab.
#HumanPetriDish #RModel #BuildingRelationships #SustainableRelationships #Reciprocity #Repair #Resilience #RelationshipScience #Leadership #TeamCulture #AndrewBoyton #TheRelationshipLab
Episode keywords: Building relationships, sustainable healthy relationships, R-Model, reciprocity, repair, resilience, relationship podcast.

Building Relationships | Reciprocation

Building Relationships | Reciprocation
“Welcome to The Human Petri Dish — the space where ideas grow, mutate, and sometimes become something unexpected.”
In today’s episode, we drop our culture into a curious mix of Reciprocation and AI. Andrew (a.k.a. Drew) brings his relational model of contracting into the dish, and Jericho steps in to confront, challenge, and play with it. Together, they swirl around the question of essence, what it means, how it shifts, and whether it can survive in the age of machines.
So, step into the lab with us. The lid’s coming off, and the conversation’s about to get interesting.
In This Episode
What “reciprocation” really means in human and digital relationships.
Can AI understand the give-and-take of connection?
Andrew’s relational contracting model — explained, challenged, and stretched.
Jericho’s take: when essence meets evolution.
Why You’ll Love It
Because sometimes philosophy needs a petri dish. And because human connection even when filtered through code, is still messy, magical, and a little bit wild.
Listen, Like & Share
Hit play and let your curiosity culture grow. Like the episode, subscribe for more mind-bending conversations, and share with friends who love a bit of human experimentation (the safe kind).
Links
The Relationship Lab | Website
The Relationship Lab | LinkedIn Page
Andrew Boyton | LinkedIn Profile
Join the Experiment!
Want to mix your thoughts into the conversation? Join our WhatsApp community — where curiosity is contagious and the dialogue never stops.
#HumanPetriDish #Reciprocation #Relationships #AI #Humanity #RModel #Contracting #PhilosophyOfConnection #AndrewBoyton #Relationship #TheRelationshipLab #Podcast
Episode keywords: reciprocation podcast, AI and relationships, contracting and communication, human connection, relationship psychology, The Human Petri Dish.

Building Relationships | Trust

Join us as we delve into the power of raw, open conversations in this cross-continental dialogue between friends. From Leamington Spa in the UK to Indianapolis, USA, we explore the intricacies of human relationships, authenticity, and the concept of the 'R model'. Discover how recording these candid discussions not only helps in modeling relationships but also sustains our own friendship, making our experiences accessible to a wider audience. In this episode, we tackle various topics from early morning fire alarms and weekend rejuvenation to the philosophical notions of data, authenticity, and the digital interface impacting human connections. Through engaging narratives and thought-provoking discussions, we also contemplate how digital advancements like AI are shaping communications in the modern world, while pondering on returning to our analog roots for genuine human interactions. If you’re curious about how relationships evolve and are nurtured through a blend of curiosity, communication, and care, this episode offers fresh insights and an intimate glimpse into the unfolding journey of understanding one another through the Relationship Lab.

Building Relationships | Are They Real? Part 1

Trust and Relationships, Part 1: Where To Place Trust
Welcome to the Lab! In this episode of The Human Petri Dish, host Andrew Boyton dives into the sticky world of trust. Not all trust is the same, are you trusting someone to care (trust-in) or just to get the job done (trust-on)?
Knowing the difference could change your relationships forever.
Discover how trust works in teams, families, friendships, and leadership. Hear real stories, expert insights, and practical tips that will make you rethink who (and what) you rely on.
Why Listen?
Understand trust-in vs trust-on and why it matters for every relationship.
Get quick, actionable insights to build stronger, more resilient connections.
Explore trust in a fun, quirky, and slightly experimental way — because science should be interesting!
Join the Experiment! Listen now, like, subscribe, and share with friends. Want to ask questions or discuss your own trust experiments? Join our WhatsApp community and bring your curiosity straight to the lab!
Tags: #HumanPetriDish #TrustInRelationshipsPodcast #Trust #Relationships #Leadership #Culture #TeamTrust
 

Building Relationships | Are They Real? Part 2

Virtual Relationships — Are Relationships Real? Part 2: Do They Exist in Time?
Welcome to the Lab… and Today: In this episode of The Human Petri Dish, we don our goggles and drop the petri‑dish lid on the question: Can a relationship exist in time — especially when it’s digital?
Hosted by Andrew Boyton (leadership theorist, relational researcher, psychotherapist‑in‑lab‑coat) we plunge into the slippery world of virtual connection, online attachments and “real‑time” vs “virtual‑time” relationships.
What’s on the Slide for You
Explore the query: “Are relationships real online?” — do they hold the same substance, texture, duration and resonance as their offline counterparts?
Investigate how time works (or doesn’t) in digital relationships — asynchronous chats, “seen” ticks, ephemeral stories, delayed responses.
Unpack the hidden forces: presence vs absence, physical proximity vs algorithmic proximity, continuity vs interruption.
Hear expert voices and lived‑experience stories that challenge assumptions, puncture myths, and raise new questions rather than tidy answers.
Why It Matters
In a world where we swipe, message, filter, ghost and double‑tap our way through connection, this episode asks: what is the reality of a relationship when time is flattened, fragmented or manipulated? Understanding this isn’t just curious—it’s essential for our personal lives, our leadership roles, our teams, and the culture of connection we’re building.
For You If…
You’ve ever found yourself wondering whether a late‑night DM counts as “relationship time”, you’ve felt the ghost of a video‑call linger, or you lead—or follow—others in hybrid, digital‑first environments that test how we connect, commit, and covenant.
Join the Experiment
Subscribe, rate & review this show wherever you listen. Follow the lab online. Share your own virtual‑connection stories and join the conversation with our hashtag community.
#HumanPetriDish #VirtualRelationships #OnlineConnection #TimeAndRelationships #DigitalLoveLab
 

Building Relationships | Are They Real? Part 3

Virtual Relationships | Are They Real? 
This was a question from Ali. We hope we answered it.
If you have any questions for us to discuss please join our listeners room in The Relationship Lab. 
https://chat.whatsapp.com/EmlWL03ItBq2AYRJDhcDUt
 

Trust and Relationships, Part 1: Where To Place Trust

Part 1 | Building Trust-in or Trust-on Relationships?
In this episode of The Human Petri Dish, Drew and Jericho take another close look at the building blocks of human connection.
This time, the experiment is trust. Do we build relationships on trust, as if it’s the foundation stone? Or do we build relationships designed to hold trust — flexible enough to contain moments of doubt, risk, and repair?
Join us as we explore the difference between trust-in and trust-on relationships, and what that means for how we live, love, and work with others.
 

Building Relationships | Quiet Cracking

Welcome to The Human Petri Dish — the space where we put human behavior, relationships, and culture under the microscope.
In today’s episode, we’re exploring Quiet Cracking: what it is, why it’s happening, and what can be done about it.
You’ve probably heard of burnout, quiet quitting, or even moral injury — but “quiet cracking” is something different. It’s that subtle, almost invisible breaking point where people stop holding it together, yet carry on as if nothing’s wrong. It’s not dramatic, it’s not loud, but it’s deeply disruptive.
 
So in this conversation, we’ll ask:
 
What does it really mean when someone is quietly cracking?
Why are so many individuals, teams, and even whole organisations experiencing it right now?
And most importantly — what practical steps can we take to notice it, name it, and respond with care?
Because in the end, understanding quiet cracking isn’t just about spotting fractures — it’s about learning how to create spaces strong enough to hold human vulnerability, before silence turns into collapse. 
 

Building Relationships | Exploring ChatBots | Phantasy and Phantoms with AI

Do Relationships Exist? | The Phantasy with a Phantom of AI

Building Relationships | Behind Closed Doors 1

Jericho and Drew  Behind Closed Doors 1