Episode Details

For science news, professor Jesse Rogerson covers the following stories: Newly identified green star leaves astronomers amazed; The mechanics of a bee stinger up close like you've never seen it before; Scientists and military personnel war-gamed dimming the Sun, and it went even worse than you think; and Axolotls have a surprisingly clever cognitive ability, even in complete darkness. Media and literature professor Mathias Clasen goes over the psychology of horror movies, how they provide an imaginative context in which people can play with fear, and explains why bringing horror into the classroom might be a good idea. Primatologist Cat Hobaiter and anthropologist Nate Dominy reveal how storytelling around ancient campfires may have shaped human language. For Therapy Thursdays on a Wednesday, therapist and social worker Gary Direnfeld explains why the things that once made us happy can suddenly stop bringing us joy, and what we can do about it. Fish sexuality expert and Royal Society PhD student Kathryn Bullough outlines what male and female green swordtail fish find attractive in the opposite sex. (Spoiler: the little swimmers aren't too different from us.)

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Segments:

• (00:00) Introduction
• (01:11) Jesse Rogerson pt. 1
• (10:00) Jesse Rogerson pt. 2
• (20:00) Mathias Clasen pt. 1
• (30:00) Mathias Clasen pt. 2
• (39:50) Cat Hobaiter & Nate Dominy
• (49:50) Gary Direnfeld pt. 1
• (59:50) Gary Direnfeld pt. 2
• (1:09:50) Kathryn Bullough
• (1:19:11) Sign-off

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