Podcast Episodes
Back to Search258. Jacek Kugler — Putin & Power Transition Theory: China, Russia, and Ukraine
Episode 258
Michael Shermer speaks with Professor of International Relations, Dr. Jacek Kugler, about his Power Transition Theory which states that an even distr…
4 years, 1 month ago
257. Simon Conway Morris on Design in Evolution & the Possibility of Purpose in the Cosmos
Episode 257
If extraterrestrial intelligences exist, will look anything like us? Are we alone in the cosmos? If we reran the tape of life, would humans appear ag…
4 years, 1 month ago
256. Imagining the Future with Reality Game Designer and Futurist Jane McGonigal
Episode 256
Shermer speaks with world-renowned future forecaster and game designer, Jane McGonigal, about her book Imaginable in which she draws on the latest sc…
4 years, 1 month ago
255. David Chalmers — Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy
Episode 255
Shermer speaks with University Professor of Philosophy and Neural Science and codirector of the Center for Mind, Brain and Consciousness at New York …
4 years, 1 month ago
254. Ravi Gupta on the Lost Debate: Whatever Happened to Reasoned Discussion and Respectable Disagreement?
Episode 254
Shermer speaks with Ravi Gupta, the Founder and CEO of Lost Debate, a new non-profit media company that launched in October 2021 to fight polarizatio…
4 years, 1 month ago
253. Jennifer Sciubba on Putin, Russia, Ukraine, National & Global Security, and How Population Demographics Shape Our Future
Episode 253
Shermer speaks with political demographer, former demographics consultant to the United States Department of Defense, and author of The Future Faces …
4 years, 1 month ago
252. John Mueller on Putin's War: Russia, Ukraine, and NATO
Episode 252
In this conversation with the renowned Ohio State University political scientist John Mueller, author of The Stupidity of War, Retreat from Doomsday:…
4 years, 1 month ago
251. Kelly Weill on Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People Will Believe Anything
Episode 251
Since 2015, there has been a spectacular boom in a nearly 200-year-old delusion — the idea that we all live on a flat plane, under a solid dome, ring…
4 years, 2 months ago
250. Will Sanctions Work? War in Ukraine.
Episode 250
An analysis of Russia's war on Ukraine. Will sanctions work?
This episode is a reading from Michael Shermer's post on Substack entitled: "Putin's Pro…
4 years, 2 months ago
249. Barbara F. Walter on How Civil Wars Start and How to Stop Them, including in the United States
Episode 249
Political violence rips apart several towns in southwest Texas. A far-right militia plots to kidnap the governor of Michigan and try her for treason.…
4 years, 2 months ago