All Episodes

#605 Frank McAndrew: Evolutionary Psychology, Gossip, Namesaking, and Aggression

Mar 28, 2022

Dr. Francis McAndrew is the Cornelia H. Dudley Professor of Psychology at Knox College. He studies human social behavior from an evolutionary perspective. He is especially interested in understanding the psychology of everyday life. Why do we enjoy gossip about celebrities? Why do some people name their children after themselves while others do not? His current research projects are concerned with aggression, gossip, and creepiness, and he writes a blog for Psychology Today Magazine titled "Out of the Ooze: Navigating the 21st Century with a Stone-Age Mind." Dr. McAndrew is also interested in environmental psychology, which is the study of the relationship between people and their physical environments, both natural and human-made. He has written a successful textbook in this area, Environmental Psychology. More»
#604 George Sher - A Wild West of the Mind; The Morality of Nasty Thoughts

Mar 25, 2022

Dr. George Sher is Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Humanities and Professor of Philosophy at Rice University. In recent years, his research has centered on two main topics: responsibility and distributive justice. He is the author of several books, the most recent one being A Wild West of the Mind. More»
#603 Daniel Kreiss: Digital Media, Political Campaigns, Journalism, and Partisan Identity

Mar 24, 2022

Dr. Daniel Kreiss is Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media. Dr. Kreiss’ research explores the impact of technological change on the public sphere and political practice. He is the author of books like Taking Our Country Back: The Crafting of Networked Politics from Howard Dean to Barack Obama, and Prototype Politics: The Making and Unmaking of Technological Innovation in the Republican and Democratic Parties, 2000-2014. More»
#602 Sean Carroll - A Series of Fortunate Events: Chance and the Making of the Planet, Life, and You

Mar 21, 2022

Dr. Sean Carroll is Balo-Simon Professor and Endowed Chair of Biology at the University of Maryland. He is also Professor Emeritus of Genetics and Molecular Biology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Dr. Carroll was an HHMI investigator from 1990 to 2010. In September 2010, he became vice president for science education at HHMI. He is the author of several books, including A Series of Fortunate Events: Chance and the Making of the Planet, Life, and You. More»
#601 Henrik Høgh-Olesen - The Aesthetic Animal

Mar 18, 2022

Dr. Henrik Høgh-Olesen is Professor of Psychology at Aarhus University. His research interests include Evolutionary psychology, Comparative psychology/Ethology, Primatology, Aesthetics, Psychology of religion, and History of psychology. He is the author of 13 scientific books, including The Aesthetic Animal. More»
#600 Katherine Freese - The Cosmic Cocktail: Three Parts Dark Matter

Mar 17, 2022

Dr. Katherine Freese is a professor of physics at the University of Texas at Austin, where she holds the Jeff and Gail Kodosky Endowed Chair in Physics. She is known for her work in theoretical cosmology at the interface of particle physics and astrophysics. She is the author of The Cosmic Cocktail: Three Parts Dark Matter. More»
#599 Joshua Tucker: Social Media, Politics, Echo Chambers, and Organizing Political Action Online

Mar 14, 2022

Dr. Joshua Tucker is a Professor of Politics, an affiliated Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies, and an affiliated Professor of Data Science at New York University. He is the Director of NYU’s Jordan Center for Advanced Study of Russia, a co-director of the NYU Center for Social Media and Politics (CSMaP) and the Social Media and Political Participation (SMaPP) lab, and a co-editor of the award-winning politics and policy blog The Monkey Cage at The Washington Post. For most of his career, he studied comparative politics with an emphasis on mass politics, including elections and voting, the development of partisan attachment, public opinion formation, and political protest, as well as how social media usage affects all of these types of political behavior. More recently, he has been spending a lot of time working on studying the relationship between social media, politics, and political participation. More»
#598 Chris Letheby: Philosophy of Psychedelics

Mar 11, 2022

Dr. Chris Letheby is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Western Australia, and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Adelaide. Dr. Letheby is a philosopher of mind and cognitive science, working on issues arising from the use of psychedelic drugs in psychiatry and neuroscience. His doctoral research, conducted at the University of Adelaide, presented the first systematic analysis of psychedelic experience within the framework of 21st century philosophy of cognitive science. He is the author of Philosophy of Psychedelics. More»
#597 Talya Miron-Shatz - Your Life Depends on It; Medical Decision-Making

Mar 10, 2022

Dr. Talya Miron-Shatz is an author, consultant, speaker, and researcher, who studies medical decision-making in a humanistic way, aiming to guarantee that people understand, and are genuinely part of, their care. She has a Ph.D. in psychology and is an internationally acclaimed expert in medical decision-making, with notable experience in both academia and in the healthcare industry, which has led to significant public outreach. She is the author of Your Life Depends on It: What You Can Do to Make Better Choices About Your Health. More»
#596 George Zarkadakis - Cyber Republic: Reinventing Democracy in the Age of Intelligent Machines

Mar 7, 2022

Dr. George Zarkadakis is a writer of fiction and non-fiction, a science communicator, an Artificial Intelligence engineer, a futurist, and a digital innovation professional. He writes fiction and non-fiction books, and he’s also working with private and public organizations to reimagine business and democratic institutions in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He views the arts, the humanities, the natural sciences and engineering not as discrete disciplines but as a continuum, a wonderful canvas continuously enriched by human creativity and imagination. He is the author of several books, including Cyber Republic: Reinventing Democracy in the Age of Intelligent Machines. More»