All Episodes

#462 David Papineau: The Metaphysics of Sensory Experience

Apr 29, 2021

Dr. David Papineau is Professor of Philosophy at King's College London, having previously taught for several years at Cambridge University where he was a fellow of Robinson College. He was President of the British Society for Philosophy of Science for 1993-5, President of the Mind Association for 2009-10, and President of the Aristotelian Society for 2013-14. He’s also the author of 9 books, including Philosophical Naturalism, Thinking About Consciousness, and Knowing the Score. His new book is The Metaphysics of Sensory Experience. More»
#461 David Buss When Men Behave Badly: The Hidden Roots of Sexual Deception, Harassment, and Assault

Apr 26, 2021

Dr. David Buss is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. He’s one of the founders of the field of evolutionary psychology. His primary research focus is on strategies of human mating. He’s the author of many books, including The Evolution of Desire, and the first textbook in Evolutionary Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind. His most recent book is When Men Behave Badly: The Hidden Roots of Sexual Deception, Harassment, and Assault. More»
#460 Steven Gangestad: Ovulatory Shifts, Physical Attractiveness, and Psychological Adaptations

Apr 23, 2021

Dr. Steven Gangestad is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of New Mexico. His research interests include social behavior; interpersonal relationships; social/personality psychology; psychopathology; and health related behavior, as informed by Evolutionary Psychology. More»
#459 Bear Braumoeller - Only the Dead: The Persistence of War in the Modern Age

Apr 22, 2021

Dr. Bear F. Braumoeller is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at Ohio State University. He previously held faculty positions at Harvard University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is or has been on the Editorial Boards of five major journals or series, and he is a past Councilor of the Peace Science Society. In the summer of 2016 he was a Visiting Fellow at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway. Dr. Braumoeller’s research is in the areas of international security and computational social science. His current research focus is on the relationship between international order and international conflict. He is the author of The Great Powers and the International System (winner of the 2014 International Studies Association Best Book Award and the 2014 J. David Singer Book Award) and Only the Dead: The Persistence of War in the Modern Age (Oxford University Press, 2019). More»
#458 Lesley Newson & Peter Richerson - A Story of Us: A New Look at Human Evolution

Apr 19, 2021

Dr. Lesley Newson is honorary post-doc at University of California, Davis. She studies the cultural evolutionary process known as “modernization” which most human populations are now experiencing. Her first degree was in biology. After that she worked for over 20 years as a science writer and television producer before getting a PhD in psychology. More»
#457 Michael Strevens - The Knowledge Machine: How Irrationality Created Modern Science

Apr 16, 2021

Dr. Michael Strevens is Professor of Philosophy at New York University. He works on the philosophy of science, where his interests include explanation, complex systems, probability, confirmation, the social structure of science, and causation; the psychology of concepts; and the philosophical applications of cognitive science. He is the author of The Knowledge Machine: How Irrationality Created Modern Science. More»
#456 Henry Greely - CRISPR People: The Science and Ethics of Editing Humans

Apr 15, 2021

Dr. Henry Greely is currently the Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law and Professor by courtesy of Genetics at Stanford University, and also an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He specializes in the ethical, legal, and social implications of new biomedical technologies, particularly those related to neuroscience, genetics, or stem cell research. He is a founder and president of the International Neuroethics Society; a member of the Multi-Council Working Group of the NIH’s BRAIN Initiative, whose Neuroethics Working Group he co-chairs; a member of the Committee on Science, Technology, and Law of the National Academies; and chair of California’s Human Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee. He’s also the author of The End of Sex and the Future of Human Reproduction, and more recently, CRISPR People: The Science and Ethics of Editing Humans. More»
#455 Barbara Tversky - Mind in Motion: How Action Shapes Thought

Apr 12, 2021

Dr. Barbara Tversky is a Professor Emerita of Psychology at Stanford University and a Professor of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Tversky specializes in cognitive psychology. She is an authority in the areas of visual-spatial reasoning and collaborative cognition. Dr. Tversky’s research interests include language and communication, comprehension of events and narratives, and the mapping and modeling of cognitive processes. She is the author of Mind in Motion: How Action Shapes Thought. More»
#454 Edward Westermann - Drunk on Genocide: Alcohol and Mass Murder in Nazi Germany

Apr 9, 2021

Dr. Edward Westermann is Professor of History at Texas A&M University (USA), where he teaches courses related to Modern and Contemporary European History. Dr. Westermann is the recipient of various awards and fellowships. In 2016, Southern Methodist University awarded him with the Clements Center-DeGolyer Library Research Grant (USA). He has also been a Fulbright fellow at the Free University of Berlin in 1995 and a German Academic Exchange Service fellow on three occasions (Germany). His most recent book is Drunk on Genocide: Alcohol and Mass Murder in Nazi Germany. More»
#453 Giuliana Spadaro: Trust, Cooperation Between Strangers, and the Bystander Effect

Apr 8, 2021

Dr. Giuliana Spadaro is Visiting Fellow in the Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She is interested in conducting experimental research on prosocial and cooperative behavior. Her PhD project captured this interest, and focused on understanding the relation between institutions, trust, and cooperation among strangers. More»