On Wisdom

Charles Cassidy and Igor Grossmann•onwisdompodcast.fireside.fm

On Wisdom features a social and cognitive scientist in Toronto and an educator in London discussing the latest empirical science regarding the nature of wisdom. Igor Grossmann runs the Wisdom & Culture Lab at the University of Waterloo in Canada. Charles Cassidy runs the Evidence-Based Wisdom project in London, UK. The podcast thrives on a diet of freewheeling conversation on wisdom, decision-making, wellbeing, and society and includes regular guests spots with leading behavioral scientists from the field of wisdom research and beyond. Welcome to The On Wisdom Podcast.

Last refreshed: January 3rd, 2026 at 4:41 AM ⓘ

Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.

Follow on

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

RSS

Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app

Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episodes

Episode 7: Why We Tell Stories (with Nic Weststrate)

Why do we spend so much time telling stories - about ourselves, about each other, even about fictional characters? If storytelling isn’t simply about information exchange, what role does it really play in our lives? Why do older people feel compelled to share their hard-earned wisdom with younger people? And do the younger people actually get anything from these exchanges? Nic Weststrate joins Igor and Charles to pull apart the real reasons we share stories. We discuss exploratory and redemptive...

Aug 24, 2018•56 min•Ep. 7

Episode 6: Wisdom, Class & Inequality (with Michael Kraus)

If a typical white family in the US has 100 dollars, how many dollars does a typical black US family have? Wrong! Why are we so bad at guessing levels of inequality in society? How much of a role does your class play in preventing wise decision-making? Are upper and middle-class people especially bad at taking wise decisions? Why does more education equate to less wise reasoning in interpersonal affairs? And just how good are we at spotting someone’s class from their shoes or even eyes? Michael ...

Jul 16, 2018•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 6

Episode 5: The Foolish Sage (with Eranda Jayawickreme)

Do 'wise people' even exist? Do we have 'wise characters' or is our behaviour more influenced by 'wise situations'? And if so, what kinds of situations best support wise behaviour? Eranda Jayawickreme joins Igor and Charles to discuss the classic battle royale of the person-situation debate, whole trait theory and the ever-controversial Stanford Prison experiment. Igor outlines the actor-observer bias and suggests that westerners should be more sympathetic to grumpy waitstaff, Eranda considers t...

Jun 24, 2018•53 min•Ep. 5

Episode 4: Yoda vs Spock (with Stéphane Côté)

Are emotions simply bugs in the system that prevent us from taking wise decisions? Or do they play an essential role in guiding us towards the wisest path? In short, should we be like hyper-rational cool-headed Mr Spock, or more like the emotionally sensitive Master Yoda? How much can we even observe and guide our emotions as they unfold anyway? And are emotionally intelligent geniuses necessarily more moral than the rest of us? Stéphane Côté joins Igor and Charles to discuss the science of emot...

May 11, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 4

Episode 3: On Death (with Laura Blackie)

Why do we avoid thinking about our own death? How does contemplating our own mortality change our day-to-day behaviour? Why do drivers, when reminded of the fact that they will die, actually drive even faster? Whilst society typically hides death from us, might certain death reflection scenarios actually lead to the development of wisdom? Laura Blackie has considered these and many related questions, and joins Igor and Charles to discuss Terror Management Theory, Death Reflection, and the potent...

Apr 25, 2018•54 min•Ep. 3

Episode 2: The Paradox of Ageing

Does wisdom really come with age? Or is this an outdated myth from a bygone era? How might wisdom develop in a brain that's ageing? Or perhaps by 'age', are we really talking about 'experience'? If so, do all experiences lead to wisdom, or only bad ones? If old people can be foolish, can young people ever be wise? And how on earth do you even gather reliable evidence across generations? Igor brings sad news of declining brain function to anyone over 25 and cautions against seeking out traumatic ...

Apr 22, 2018•56 min•Ep. 2

Episode 1: Wisdom vs Intelligence

What's the difference between someone who's smart and someone who's wise? If you can you be intelligent without being wise, can you be wise without also being intelligent? If wisdom's so essential for taking good decisions, what's driving our exclusive obsession with intelligence? And which is really more helpful in our daily lives? Igor describes some surprising fighter-plane-based scenarios when wisdom is as useless as intelligence and Charles explains how open-ended questioning in the classro...

Apr 20, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 1

← Prev

For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android