Podcast Episodes
Back to Search224. Bobby Duffy on The Generation Myth: Why When You're Born Matters Less Than You Think
Episode 224
Boomers are narcissists. Millennials are spoiled. Gen Zers are lazy. We assume people born around the same time have basically the same values. But, …
4 years, 10 months ago
223. Paul Bloom on the pleasures of suffering and the meaning of life
Episode 223
We go to movies that make us cry, or scream, or gag. We poke at sores, eat spicy foods, immerse ourselves in hot baths, run marathons. Some of us eve…
4 years, 10 months ago
222. Suzanne O'Sullivan on psychosomatic disorders and other mystery illnesses
Episode 222
Michael Shermer speaks with award-winning Irish neurologist Suzanne O'Sullivan about her work exploring the complexity of psychogenic illness affecti…
4 years, 10 months ago
221. Antonio Damasio — Feeling & Knowing: Making Minds Conscious
Episode 221
In recent decades, many philosophers and cognitive scientists have declared the problem of consciousness unsolvable, but Antonio Damasio is convinced…
4 years, 10 months ago
220. Charles Foster on Being a Human: Adventures in Forty Thousand Years of Consciousness
Episode 220
Drawing on psychology, neuroscience, natural history, agriculture, medical law and ethics, Charles Foster, in Being a Human, makes an audacious atte…
4 years, 10 months ago
219. In-Person Conversation (in Shermer's Home) with Steven Pinker on Rationality: What it is, Why it Seems Scarce, Why it Matters in Shermer's Home
Episode 219
In this conversation with Steven Pinker on his new book Rationality, the Harvard psychologist and Michael Shermer discuss how today humanity is reach…
4 years, 10 months ago
218. Craig Whitlock — The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War
Episode 218
Unlike the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 had near-unanimous public support. At first, the goals were straightforwa…
4 years, 10 months ago
217. Mary Grabar on the 1619 Project, Howard Zinn, Historical Revisionism, and Pseudohistory
Episode 217
Michael Shermer speaks with Mary Grabar about her books Debunking the 1619 Project: Exposing the Plan to Divide America and Debunking Howard Zinn: Ex…
4 years, 10 months ago
216. Kathryn Paige Harden — The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality
Episode 216
In recent years, scientists have shown that DNA makes us different, in our personalities and in our health — and in ways that matter for educational …
4 years, 11 months ago
215. Mary Eberstadt on God, Religion, Secularization, Sexual Revolution, and Identity Politics
Episode 215
In this conversation on two of the hottest social and cultural issues of our day — the decline of religion and the rise of identity politics, Mary Eb…
4 years, 11 months ago