Podcast Episodes
Back to Search288. Lucy Cooke — Bitch: On the Female of the Species
Episode 288
Since Charles Darwin, evolutionary biologists have been convinced that the males of the animal kingdom are the interesting ones dominating and promis…
3 years, 9 months ago
287. Bobby Azarian — Life, the Universe, and Cosmic Complexity
Episode 287
In this conversation based on his new book, The Romance of Reality, cognitive neuroscientist Bobby Azarian explains how for centuries the question Wh…
3 years, 9 months ago
286. Kevin McCaffree — How Societies Change and Why
Episode 286
Since the dawn of social science, theorists have debated how and why societies appear to change, develop and evolve. Today, this question is pursued …
3 years, 9 months ago
285. Helen Joyce — Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality
Episode 285
Biological sex is no longer accepted as a basic fact of life. It is forbidden to admit that female people sometimes need protection and privacy from …
3 years, 10 months ago
284. Yoram Hazony on Traditional Conservatism vs. Enlightenment Liberalism
Episode 284
In this conversation based on his new book, political theorist Yoram Hazony argues that the best hope for Western democracy is a return to the empiri…
3 years, 10 months ago
283. Michael Strevens — The Knowledge Machine: How Irrationality Created Modern Science
Episode 283
Shermer and Strevens discuss: irrationality and how it drives science • the scientific method • the knowledge machine • irrationality • the replicati…
3 years, 10 months ago
282. Anil Seth on the Hard Problem of Consciousness, the Self, and the Essence of Volition
Episode 282
Shermer and Seth discuss: "mind" and "consciousness" in context of understanding how molecules and matter give rise to such nonmaterial processes • c…
3 years, 10 months ago
281. Moneyball For Your Life: Seth Stephens-Davidowitz on Using Data to Get What You Really Want
Episode 281
Most people rely on their gut instinct to decide how to date, who to marry, where to live, what career path to take, how to find happiness, but what …
3 years, 10 months ago
280. Sam Rosenfeld on Party Polarization in the Postwar United States
Episode 280
Shermer and Rosenfeld discuss: why we have a duopoly • gerrymandering • voting restrictions • how we know all elections are not rigged • abortion • i…
3 years, 10 months ago
279. Ian Morris on Deep Time and Big History
Episode 279
Shermer and Morris discuss: the history of Big/Deep History • the US, UK, Europe and the West in the context of Russia and China and his book Why the…
3 years, 10 months ago