She specialises in human memory, legal psychology and criminal behaviour, and is widely known for translating complex psychological research into clear, compelling insight for public audiences. Her work as a social science futurist looks at AI from a social science perspective looking at how tech is changing the fabric of reality, from society, to the justice system, to our everyday perception. She is spending the summer of 2026 embedded with Gov AI a non-profit organisation which helps decision-makers navigate the transition to a world with advanced AI.
Julia has hosted podcasts and radio series including Experts on Trial is about the secret world of expert witnesses and The Human Subject, co-hosted by Dr Adam Rutherford, is about the dark history of modern medicine. Between 2020 and 2024 she wrote and hosted the award-winning BBC Sounds podcast Bad People alongside co-host comedian Sofie Hagen, then journalist Amber Haque. In 2022 also co-hosted the BBC series The Kidnapping of Stephanie Slater alongside journalist Andy Whittaker.
On television, Julia is a trusted expert contributor across factual and current-affairs programming. In 2024, Dr Shaw co-hosted the BBC2 true crime comedy series The Misinvestigations of Romesh Ranganathan where Julia and Romesh investigated the deaths of Tupac, Jimi Hendrix and Nancy Spungen. She is also the host of ITVx/ AMC documentary series Killers Caught on Camera and the spin off series Murder in Mind.
Julia was born in Germany (but grew up in Canada) where she still works regularly including hosting the German language show TVNOW documentary “Mörderische Frauen” and was the expert consultant for the German TV drama “The Witnesses” (8 Zeugen). The protagonist of the series, played by the famous German actress Alexandra Maria-Lara, is based on Dr Shaw.
As a keynote speaker Julia captivates audiences all over the world speaking in English and German on topics such as human memory and memory hacking as well as AI, workplace harassment and cyber security. Julia’s keynotes change perception on memories, humanity’s dark side and diversity. Her work helps organisations understand human behaviour and how better insight into memory bias and decision making can build safer and more open and accountable cultures. Building on her work with Gov AI and as a social scientist she asks how can we adapt our human-critical skills to keep up with advancing technology?
Julia is the author of three internationally acclaimed books, including The Memory Illusion, a bestseller on false memory translated into more than 20 languages, Evil: The Science Behind Humanity’s Dark Side, and Bi: The Hidden Culture, History and Science of Bisexuality. She has also written extensively for BBC Science Focus Magazine, Scientific American and Psychology Today.
Alongside her academic and media work, she is also the co-founder of the workplace reporting platform Spot which uses artificial intelligence to help individuals document and report inappropriate workplace behaviour which is used by major companies worldwide.
