All Episodes

#468 Andreas Elpidorou: How Boredom, Frustration, and Anticipation Lead us to the Good Life

May 13, 2021

Dr. Andreas Elpidorou is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Louisville. He specializes in the philosophical study of the mind and has published extensively on the nature of emotions (especially, boredom), consciousness, and cognition. He is best known for his work on the function and value of boredom. He is the co-author of Consciousness and Physicalism: A Defense of a Research Program (Routledge, 2018), the co-editor of Philosophy of Mind and Phenomenology: Conceptual and Empirical Approaches (Routledge, 2016), and the author of the recent book, Propelled: How Boredom, Frustration, and Anticipation Lead us to the Good Life. More»
#467 David Barash - Threats: Intimidation and Its Discontents; Nuclear Deterrence

May 10, 2021

Dr. David P. Barash is Professor of Psychology Emeritus at the University of Washington. He has written, edited or co-authored 40 books, including ones on human aggression, peace studies, and the sexual behavior of animals and people. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and has been the recipient of several honors. His books include “Homo Mysterious – Evolutionary Puzzles of Human Nature”, “Buddhist Biology: Ancient Eastern Wisdom Meets Modern Western Science”, “Approaches to Peace: A Reader in Peace Studies”, and “Through a Glass Brightly: using science to see our species as we really are”. His most recent book is “Threats: Intimidation and Its Discontents”. More»
#466 Bart Wilson - The Property Species: Mine, Yours, and the Human Mind

May 7, 2021

Dr. Bart J. Wilson is the Donald P. Kennedy Endowed Chair in Economics and Law at Chapman University. He is a founding member of the Economic Science Institute and founding member and Director of the Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy. His research uses experimental economics to explore the foundations of exchange and specialization and the origins of property. Another of his research programs compares decision making in humans, apes, and monkeys. In 2019 he co-authored with Vernon Smith a Cambridge University Press book entitled, "Humanomics: Moral Sentiments and the Wealth of Nations for the Twenty-First Century." He is the author of The Property Species: Mine, Yours, and the Human Mind. More»
#465 Gabrielle Principe: Memory Development, False Memories, and Eyewitnesses

May 6, 2021

Dr. Gabrielle Principe is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at the College of Charleston. Her research has been federally funded by the National Institutes of Health and she has published her research in numerous scientific journals including Psychological Science, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, and Cognition and Development. She has a lifelong fascination with the implications of evolutionary ideas on cognitive development and a serious interest in translating the latest scientific research about human development into information that parents and teachers can use to better rear and educate children. She is the author of Your Brain on Childhood: The Unexpected Side Effects of Classrooms, Ballparks, Family Rooms, and the Minivan (Prometheus, 2011). More»
#464 Brent Roberts: Continuity and Change in Personality, Conscientiousness, and Narcissism

May 3, 2021

Dr. Brent W. Roberts is a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Social and Behavioral Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Roberts's research has focused on determining the replicable patterns of continuity and change in personality traits across adulthood, the life experiences associated with changes in personality traits over time, and the significance of these changes for individual functioning. Dr. Roberts also conducts research on psychometric issues, in particular how to measure the traits of conscientiousness and narcissism, and more recently, how to best assess socio-emotional skills. More»
#463 Musa al-Gharbi: Academic Freedom, Trump and the 2016 Elections, and Political Polarization

Apr 30, 2021

Dr. Musa al-Gharbi is a Paul F. Lazarsfeld Fellow in the Department of Sociology, and a Mellon-Sawyer Fellow on Trust and Mistrust of Experts for the Interdisciplinary Center on Innovative Theory and Empirics (INCITE), in partnership with the American Assembly, at Columbia University. His research explores how knowledge is produced, transmitted, evaluated and put to use (or not) — and how people’s thinking is shaped by the social contexts they find themselves in. He applies these lenses to a range of topics including race, inequality, social movements, extremism, policing, national security, foreign policy — and more recently — U.S. political elections. More»
#462 David Papineau: The Metaphysics of Sensory Experience

Apr 29, 2021

Dr. David Papineau is Professor of Philosophy at King's College London, having previously taught for several years at Cambridge University where he was a fellow of Robinson College. He was President of the British Society for Philosophy of Science for 1993-5, President of the Mind Association for 2009-10, and President of the Aristotelian Society for 2013-14. He’s also the author of 9 books, including Philosophical Naturalism, Thinking About Consciousness, and Knowing the Score. His new book is The Metaphysics of Sensory Experience. More»
#461 David Buss When Men Behave Badly: The Hidden Roots of Sexual Deception, Harassment, and Assault

Apr 26, 2021

Dr. David Buss is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. He’s one of the founders of the field of evolutionary psychology. His primary research focus is on strategies of human mating. He’s the author of many books, including The Evolution of Desire, and the first textbook in Evolutionary Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind. His most recent book is When Men Behave Badly: The Hidden Roots of Sexual Deception, Harassment, and Assault. More»
#460 Steven Gangestad: Ovulatory Shifts, Physical Attractiveness, and Psychological Adaptations

Apr 23, 2021

Dr. Steven Gangestad is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of New Mexico. His research interests include social behavior; interpersonal relationships; social/personality psychology; psychopathology; and health related behavior, as informed by Evolutionary Psychology. More»
#459 Bear Braumoeller - Only the Dead: The Persistence of War in the Modern Age

Apr 22, 2021

Dr. Bear F. Braumoeller is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at Ohio State University. He previously held faculty positions at Harvard University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is or has been on the Editorial Boards of five major journals or series, and he is a past Councilor of the Peace Science Society. In the summer of 2016 he was a Visiting Fellow at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway. Dr. Braumoeller’s research is in the areas of international security and computational social science. His current research focus is on the relationship between international order and international conflict. He is the author of The Great Powers and the International System (winner of the 2014 International Studies Association Best Book Award and the 2014 J. David Singer Book Award) and Only the Dead: The Persistence of War in the Modern Age (Oxford University Press, 2019). More»