Podcast Episodes
Back to Search318. Suzie Sheehy — The Matter of Everything: How Curiosity, Physics, and Improbable Experiments Changed the World
Episode 318
Physics has always sought to deepen our understanding of the nature of matter and the world around us. But how do you conduct experiments with the fu…
3 years, 3 months ago
317. Dacher Keltner — Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life
Episode 317
Awe is mysterious. How do we begin to quantify the goose bumps we feel when we see the Grand Canyon, or the utter amazement when we watch a child wal…
3 years, 3 months ago
316. Daniel Akst on the Pacifists of the Greatest Generation Who Revolutionized Resistance
Episode 316
Pacifists who fought against the Second World War faced insurmountable odds — but their resistance, philosophy, and strategies fostered a tradition o…
3 years, 3 months ago
315. David Bernstein — Classified: The Untold Story of Racial Classification in America
Episode 315
Shermer and Bernstein discuss: the SCOTUS case on affirmative action and race preferences at Harvard and elsewhere • Elizabeth Warren (Cherokee ances…
3 years, 3 months ago
314. Martin Rees — Can Science Save Us?
Episode 314
Shermer and Rees discuss: existential threats • overpopulation • biodiversity loss • climate change • AI and self-driving cars, robots, and unemploym…
3 years, 4 months ago
313. Matthew Cobb — As Gods: A Moral History of the Genetic Age
Episode 313
Shermer and Cobb discuss: objections to genetic engineering (political, religious, cultural) • selective breeding • recombinant DNA • the ethics of g…
3 years, 4 months ago
312. Louise Perry — The Case Against the Sexual Revolution: A New Guide to Sex in the 21st Century
Episode 312
Ditching the stuffy hang-ups and benighted sexual traditionalism of the past is an unambiguously positive thing. The sexual revolution has liberated …
3 years, 4 months ago
311. Meghan Daum — The Problem With Everything: My Journey Through the New Culture Wars
Episode 311
Shermer and Daum discuss: unauthorized autobiography • Feminism (first, second, third wave, and beyond) • Was the sexual revolution good or bad (or b…
3 years, 4 months ago
310. Todd Kashdan — The Art of Insubordination: How to Dissent and Defy Effectively
Episode 310
For too long, the term insubordination has evoked negative feelings and mental images. But for ideas to evolve and societies to progress, it's vital …
3 years, 4 months ago
309. India Thusi on Sex Work, Critical Race Theory, and Moral Progress
Episode 309
Shermer and Thusi discuss: how she gained access to police and sex workers in Johannesburg • what it was like patrolling brothels in Johannesburg • w…
3 years, 4 months ago