Podcast Episodes
Back to Search13. Dr. Walter Scheidel — The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the 21st Century
Episode 13
Are mass violence and catastrophes the only forces that can seriously decrease economic inequality? To judge by thousands of years of history, the an…
8 years, 10 months ago
12. Derren Brown — Magic, Happiness, and Skepticism
Episode 12
In this remote Science Salon, Michael Shermer talks with Derren Brown, a British magician and writer.
His TV show Derren Brown: Mind Control received…
8 years, 11 months ago
11. Dr. Andrew Shtulman — Scienceblind: Why Our Intuitive Theories About the World Are So Often Wrong
Episode 11
Why do we catch colds? What causes seasons to change? And if you fire a bullet from a gun and drop one from your hand, which bullet hits the ground f…
9 years ago
10. Dr. Carol Tavris — Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me)
Episode 10
Why is it so hard to say "I made a mistake"—and really believe it? Social psychologist Dr. Carol Tavris, one of the most influential thinkers and wri…
9 years, 2 months ago
9. Gary Taubes — The Case Against Sugar
Episode 9
Among Americans, diabetes is more prevalent today than ever; obesity is at epidemic proportions; nearly 10% of children are thought to have nonalcoho…
9 years, 3 months ago
8. Dr. Priyamvada Natarajan — Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas That Reveal The Cosmos
Episode 8
Dr. Priyamvada Natarajan is a cosmologist and theoretical astrophysicist from Yale University, specializing in dark matter, dark energy, and black ho…
9 years, 5 months ago
7. Dr. Benjamin Bergen — What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves
Episode 7
Dr. Benjamin Bergen is a professor of cognitive science at the University of California, San Diego, and in his new book he explains why profanity is …
9 years, 6 months ago
6. Dr. Stephon Alexander — The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link Between Music and the Structure of the Universe
Episode 6
In The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link Between Music and the Structure of the Universe, physicist and jazz saxophonist Dr. Stephon Alexander revisit…
9 years, 11 months ago
5. Dr. Janna Levin — Gravitational Waves, Black Holes and the Nature of the Cosmos
Episode 5
On Thursday, February 11, 2016, the National Science Foundation made a thrilling announcement: gravitational waves—first predicted by Einstein as par…
10 years ago
4. Dr. Sean B. Carroll — The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters
Episode 4
How does life work? How does nature produce the right numbers of zebras and lions on the African savanna, or fish in the ocean? How do our bodies pro…
10 years, 1 month ago