Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchJoshua Howe and Alexander Lemons "Warbody: A Marine Sniper and the Hidden Violence of Modern Warfare" (W. W. Norton & Company, 2025)
A friendship between an environmental historian and a chronically ill US Marine yields a powerful exploration into the toxic effects of war on the hu…
10 months, 2 weeks ago
Laura Otis, "Banned Emotions: How Metaphors Can Shape What People Feel" (Oxford UP, 2019)
Who benefits and who loses when emotions are described in particular ways? How do metaphors such as "hold on" and "let go" affect people's emotional …
10 months, 3 weeks ago
Jan Borowicz, "Perverse Memory and the Holocaust: A Psychoanalytic Understanding of Polish Bystanders" (Routledge, 2024)
Episode 267
Today I interviewed Jan Borowicz about Perverse Memory and the Holocaust: A Psychoanalytic Understanding of Polish Bystanders (Routledge, 2024).
"The…
10 months, 4 weeks ago
Chani Getter, "Mapito: Embrace Yourself" (BookBaby, 2025)
In Mapito: Embrace Yourself (BookBaby, 2025), Chani Getter presents both a collection of stories and a personal guide to becoming your most authentic…
11 months ago
Nicole C. Nelson, "Model Behavior: Animal Experiments, Complexity, and the Genetics of Psychiatric Disorders" (U Chicago Press, 2018)
Episode 388
Mice are used as model organisms across a wide range of fields in science today--but it is far from obvious how studying a mouse in a maze can help u…
11 months ago
Brain Rot: What Our Screens Are Doing to Our Minds (8)
Episode 247
In Episode 8, Dr. Messina and Dr. Gill, the host and co-host of this podcast, talked about the emotional toll that is associated with lost time---tim…
11 months ago
Uljana Feest, "Operationism in Psychology: An Epistemology of Exploration" (U Chicago Press, 2025)
Episode 370
About 100 years ago, prominent psychologists Stanley Smith Stevens, Edward Tolman and Clark Hull spearheaded the idea of linking psychological concep…
11 months, 1 week ago
Sandra Matz, "Mindmasters: The Data-Driven Science of Predicting and Changing Human Behavior" (HBRP, 2025)
Episode 142
A fascinating exploration of how algorithms penetrate the most intimate aspects of our psychology—from the pioneering expert on psychological targeti…
11 months, 1 week ago
Psychoanalytic Defenses and the Battle Over America's Classrooms
Episode 267
This episode delves into the intense conflicts surrounding race, history, and education in America, asking why classrooms have become such volatile b…
11 months, 1 week ago
Brain Rot: What Our Screens Are Doing to Our Minds (7)
Episode 246
Drs. Messina and Gill discussed the concept of technoference, which refers to the interference of technology with human connection and its impact on …
11 months, 1 week ago