All Episodes

#677 Mahtab Jafari: The Truth About Dietary Supplements

Sep 12, 2022

Dr. Mahtab Jafari is Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the School of Biological Sciences, and Director of the UCI Center for Healthspan Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. Her research interests include Healthspan Pharmacology: the impact of botanical extracts and dietary supplements on longevity and health; Anti-Aging Pharmacology; and Preventive Medicine. She is the author of The Truth About Dietary Supplements: An Evidence-Based Guide to a Safe Medicine Cabinet. More»
#676 Hector Qirko: Human Cooperation, Altruism, Kinship, and Institutions

Sep 9, 2022

Dr. Hector Qirko is Professor of Anthropology at the College of Charleston. His research interests include applied anthropology, organizational and institutional cultures, evolutionary theory and cultural patterning, and popular culture and identity. More»
#675 David Sloan Wilson: Religion, Multilevel Selection, Group Selection, and Designing Society

Sep 8, 2022

Dr. David Sloan Wilson is SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biology and Anthropology at Binghamton University. He applies evolutionary theory to all aspects of humanity in addition to the rest of life, both in his own research and as director of the Evolution Institute, a unique campus-wide evolutionary studies program that recently received NSF funding to expand into a nationwide consortium. His books include Darwin’s Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society; and This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution. More»
#674 Bianca Acevedo: Attachment, Romantic Love, and Sensory Processing Sensitivity

Sep 5, 2022

Dr. Bianca Acevedo is an Instructor at New York University. She is a social neuroscientist whose research focuses on the neural basis of attachment, caregiving, sensory processing sensitivity (and related disorders), and mind-body interventions. She conducted the first neuroimaging studies of long-term pair-bonding in humans for which she was awarded the 2012 International Women in Science Award. She joined the NRI in 2016 where she has been examining empathy in caregivers of ADRD individuals. Dr. Acevedo is interested in understanding the biological basis of human attachment and sensory processing sensitivity. In addition, her research examines the neural and behavioral outcomes associated with engaging in mind-body practices in clinical and normative individuals and dyads. More»
#673 Moshe Bar - Mindwandering; Mental Drift, Mood, and Creativity

Sep 2, 2022

Dr. Moshe Bar is Head of the Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at the Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center at Bar-Ilan University. He does research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Biological Psychiatry, NeuroImaging, and Learning and Memory. He is the author of Mindwandering: How Your Constant Mental Drift Can Improve Your Mood and Boost Your Creativity. More»
#672 Michael Grenke - Warspeak: Nietzsche's Victory over Nihilism

Sep 1, 2022

Dr. Michael Grenke is a Professor at St. John's College, with a BA from University of Chicago and PhD in Political Science and Government from Boston College. He has published numerous commentaries and translations on Nietzsche, and is a preeminent expert on that thinker. He wrote the Introduction to Warspeak: Nietzsche's Victory over Nihilism, authored by Dr. Lise van Boxel. More»
#671 Victor Kumar - A Better Ape: The Evolution of the Moral Mind and How it Made us Human

Aug 29, 2022

Dr. Victor Kumar is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Boston University. He is director of the Mind and Morality Lab. He is also a member of the interdisciplinary Moral Psychology Research Group. His primary philosophical interests are in ethics, cognitive science, and evolutionary theory. He also has interests in epistemology, philosophy of mind, feminist philosophy, and philosophy of race. He is the author (with Richmond Campbell) of A Better Ape: The Evolution of the Moral Mind and How it Made us Human. More»
#670 Steve Hamm - The Pivot: Addressing Global Problems Through Local Action

Aug 26, 2022

Steve Hamm is a freelance writer, journalist and documentary filmmaker. He is the author of The Pivot: Addressing Global Problems Through Local Action, and Bangalore Tiger, and co-author with John Kelly of Smart Machines. More»
#669 Stephen Darwall: Morality as Accountability, Moral Obligation, Rights, and Moral Psychology

Aug 25, 2022

Dr. Stephen Darwall is the Andrew Downey Orrick Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. He is deeply interested in moral philosophy and its history, and is focused on questions around the nature of moral obligation and well-being. More»
#668 Annie Wertz: How Children Learn About Plants; Core Knowledge, and Human Universals

Aug 22, 2022

Dr. Annie Wertz is Research Group Leader of the MPRG Naturalistic Social Cognition at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin. Her research investigates how infants and young children think about and learn from other people in naturalistic circumstances. Her work provided the first evidence that human infants do indeed possess behavioral and social learning strategies that are selective to plants (e.g., infants avoid plant dangers and selectively learn that some plants are edible). Her research provides a window into the complex interplay of evolutionary and developmental factors that allow human beings to learn from others and accumulate cultural knowledge. More»