Podcast Episodes
Back to Search278. "Big Historian" David Christian on Time, the Near and Far Future, Transhumanism, Interstellar Migrations, the Fate of Our Species, and the End of Time
Episode 278
The future is uncertain, a bit spooky, possibly dangerous, maybe wonderful. We cope with this never-ending uncertainty by telling stories about the f…
3 years, 10 months ago
277. Michel Gagné — How to Think About Conspiracy Theories
Episode 277
As we approach the sixtieth anniversary of the violent public assassination of President John F. Kennedy, over half of all Americans surveyed continu…
3 years, 11 months ago
276. Andrew Yang — Not Left. Not Right. Forward.
Episode 276
Michael Shermer speaks with Andrew Yang about the Forward Party, the future of politics in a party duopoly, political partisanship, and how to bring …
3 years, 11 months ago
275. The Disrupted Mind: Noga Arikha on What Happens to Identity When the Brain Is Assaulted by Disease and Injury
Episode 275
Shermer and Arikha discuss: what it means for a mind to be disrupted • dementia, senility, and Alzheimer's disease • mental illness and the labeling …
3 years, 11 months ago
274. Frans De Waal on Sex and Gender Across the Primate Spectrum
Episode 274
What is gender? How different are men and women? Are differences due to biological sex or to culture? How do they compare with what is known about ou…
3 years, 11 months ago
273. Cathy Young — The Russian Riddle Wrapped in a Ukrainian Mystery Inside an American Enigma
Episode 273
Shermer and Young discuss: Florida's "Don't say 'gay'" law • What is the appropriate age to discuss sex and gender issues with children? • sex, gende…
3 years, 11 months ago
272. Stuart Vyse — The Uses of Delusion: Why It's Not Always Rational to Be Rational
Episode 272
Shermer and Vyse discuss: What is a delusion? • veridical perception • perceptual illusions and irrationalities • Kahneman vs. Gigerenzer: rationalit…
3 years, 11 months ago
271. Peter Ward — The Price of Immortality: The Race to Live Forever
Episode 271
Shermer and Ward discuss: religious immortality • Church of Perpetual Life in Florida • what it means to live forever • why lives have doubled in len…
3 years, 11 months ago
270. Surprising Power of Game Theory to Explain Irrationality (Moshe Hoffman and Erez Yoeli)
Episode 270
Shermer, Hoffman, and Yoeli discuss: the problems game theory was developed to solve • How rational or irrational an animal are we? • the evolutionar…
3 years, 11 months ago
269. Richard Dawkins — Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution
Episode 269
Do you sometimes dream you can fly like a bird? Gliding effortlessly above the treetops, soaring and swooping, playing and dodging through the third …
3 years, 11 months ago