Episode Details

Psychology professor Diletta Barbiani⁠⁠ reports the surprisingly real results that fake (placebo) medicine has on the memory and stress levels of older adults⁠⁠. On Therapy Thursdays on a Wednesday, therapist Gary Direnfeld⁠⁠ fittingly celebrates National Volunteer Week⁠⁠ on the wrong week, and discusses the power volunteering can have on you. For Conspiracy Corner, political science professor Lee Kuhnle brings up a forgotten Cold War-era conspiracy theory about scientists disappearing to build a colony on Mars – and tells David how it's still applicable today. (Pre-order Lee's upcoming book Uncover Up: How to Think Clearly in an Age of Conspiracies here⁠⁠⁠⁠.) Psychological scientist Andy Luttrell⁠⁠ explains how certainty in your feelings toward your partner predicts relationship happiness and mental well-being⁠⁠. (Listen to Andy's podcast Opinion Science here⁠⁠.) Professor of transportation Jeff Casello⁠⁠ outlines the interesting ways that AI traffic lights can be use to ease congestion. Computer science professor Dongwook Yoon⁠⁠ reveals how AI chatbots can be extremely addictive, and their design may be partly to blame⁠⁠.

Segments:

• (00:00) Introduction
• (01:15) Diletta Barbiani
• (10:00) Gary Direnfeld pt. 1
• (20:00) Gary Direnfeld pt. 2
• (30:00) Lee Kuhnle pt. 1
• (39:50) Lee Kuhnle pt. 2
• (49:50) Andy Luttrell
• (59:50) Jeff Casello
• (1:09:50) Dongwook Yoon
• (1:18:59) Sign-off

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices