When I started watching Under the Banner of Heaven, I honestly had no idea it was a: true crime and b: MORMON AS HELL. (I had just wanted to watch Andrew Garfield in a thing...) Well, if you were left a little confused by the Mormon lore in this true-crime thriller, have we got the show for you! Bryce Blankenagel and Shannon Grover help us understand this very... bizarre religious history. And Shannon has a personal connection to the real case! Check out the excellent Glass Box Podcast !...
Jun 27, 2022•57 min
That's right, it's a crossover spectacular! Tom and Eli (and I) from Dear Old Dads are here to learn from Lindsey why no the f you should not spank your kids you a-hole! Science is clear. Don't do it. But Lindsey breaks it down and we make lottttts of jokes and hear more amazing dad stories! Subscribe to Dear Old Dads! Links: 2019 APA Resolution on Physical Discipline of Children by Parents , Gershoff and colleagues (2018) - Review on physical punishment and detrimental outcomes...
Jun 09, 2022•49 min
It's another science thingy subjected to the Lindsey treatment! A study purports to show that people in a position of privilege view any effort to promote equality as an attack on them. Does the study hold up? Will Lindsey talk methods to us? Find out! Stay tuned after for a special message from Andrew Torrez. Links: New Scientist Article , Brown et al study 2022...
Jun 01, 2022•1 hr 5 min
By popular request, Lindsey will be taking us through this fascinating science-thingy! Certain kinds of meditation can reduce feelings like guilt, sadness, etc. But is that good? Does it make people less likely to help others in different ways? Find out! Links: Mindfulness Meditation Reduces Guilt and Prosocial Reparation , popular coverage...
May 19, 2022•54 min
Our own Dr. Lindsey Osterman has had an abortion, does not regret it, and wants to tell us why this basic healthcare right matters not just for those in extreme circumstances. Then, we discuss the political situation and what can actually be done about it. Yelling may be involved.
May 05, 2022•50 min
There's possibly a new brand of centrist-IDW-know-it-all online, and it's called a "sensemaker." Or, is it a totally normal good thing? I don't know. So I brought in way-too-online-person Aaron Rabinowitz to explain just wtf is going on here. We ended up having a wide ranging discussion on the centristy-IDW manosphere and what makes it tick. And why Elon Musk blows.
Apr 30, 2022•1 hr 4 min
You've likely seen this study covered across the interwebs. Well, does it hold up to the SIO-Osterman treatment? Find out!
Apr 14, 2022•1 hr 4 min
Dr. Lindsey Osterman explains the rest of the persuasion review paper. This episode has a lot of good, practical info if you're wanting to try to change minds, for real! Links: Hussein & Tormala (2021) Undermining Your Case to Enhance Your Impact , Jost et al (2003) Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition , Jost et al (2007) Are Needs to Manage Uncertainty and Threat Associated With Political Conservatism or Ideological Extremity?...
Mar 13, 2022•50 min
With so many people in our country seemingly living in an alternate universe of facts, persuading people to change their mind has never been more important. But... how can we actually do that? What actually works? Dr. Lindsey Osterman is here to science us about it! Hussein & Tormala (2021) Undermining Your Case to Enhance Your Impact
Mar 09, 2022•45 min
That's the claim made by many right wing anti COVID restriction people. What's more, it seems to be based on a CDC report. So is there anything to it? Find out! Links: Yard et al (2021) CDC report , Popular press coverage of report 1 , 2 , 2020 CDC report (claiming that adolescent ED visits for mental health increased by 31% in 2020 compared to 2019) , CDC Reports on decline in total ED visits for March/April 2020 , Through March 2021 , Timing of State and Territorial COVID-19 Response , CDC Mor...
Feb 19, 2022•57 min
Yeah it's some commentary about the Joe Rogan controversy. I couldn't help it. People are being too wrong on the internet.
Feb 10, 2022•47 min
You might have seen the coverage recently of a study that claims to show that giving poor mothers cash payments changed their babies’ brain activity in ways associated with stronger cognitive development. So what is the study, and does it hold up to SIO science thingy scrutiny courtesy of Dr. Lindsey Osterman? Find out! Links: NYT write-up , Troller-Renfree and colleagues (2022) The Impact of a Poverty Reduction Intervention on Infant Brain Activity , Other publications from Baby’s First Years...
Feb 05, 2022•49 min
We had a number of questions from the November QnA that never happened to get to, as well as some new ones for January. Here's to getting back to regular on these!
Feb 03, 2022•50 min
What the saga around the subreddit r/antiwork says about our society and capitalism's death grip on us.
Jan 27, 2022•1 hr 3 min
It's time to give another viral thingy the Dr. Lindsey Osterman treatment! A viral tweet summarizing the findings of a political science study alleges that the people have "near-zero" impact on public policy. What is this study, what did it find, and was it good science? Find out! Links: Gilens & Page (2014) - Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens , Vox article on Gilens and Page and rebuttals , Bashir (2015) – Response to Gilens and Page , Enns...
Jan 21, 2022•59 min
The Facebook Whistleblower's testimony and interviews have made some alarming claims about social media and the harms it may cause. But do all of those claims hold up to scrutiny? Maybe not! Let's see what psychologist Dr. Lindsey Osterman has to say! Lindsay's billion links: Internal Report 1, Teen Mental Health Deep Dive , Internal Report 2, Hard Life Moments: Mental Health Deep Dive , Whistleblower Full Senate Hearing Transcript , Body image dissatisfaction in preadolescent children , Disorde...
Nov 11, 2021•1 hr 5 min
Is it ghosts? Dave Chappelle's boring unoriginal transphobia, rat jacket fetishes, Democratic party bashing, and more! Here's that Grandpa Joe blackface post.
Oct 31, 2021•55 min
It's part 2 of our Littman breakdown, find out what her latest junk study says. This time it's about detransitioning and it suffers from many of the same problems as her first study we covered in part 1. Also, friend of the show Aaron Rabinowitz, host of Embrace the Void , dug up some of the questions Littman asked. Which ones were and were not included says a ton about what the answers must have been. Links: MacKinnon (2021) , Littman (2021) , Turban (2021)...
Oct 29, 2021•1 hr 12 min
Recently, a study by Lisa Littman has been making the rounds among the anti-woke. You may remember Littman mentioned in the amazing 2 part series debunking The End of Gender . She is the inventor of the transphobic bull shit concept "rapid onset gender dysphoria" which is science words for "kids these days." In this two part series, Dr. Lindsey Osterman breaks down both of her bogus studies and why they are terrible science thingies....
Oct 26, 2021•56 min
In a vital follow up to our police bias episodes, today we break down a new study that shows police killings were undercounted by MORE THAN HALF. This confirms what many of us have suspected about the "official data" on police violence, and it's only the tip of the iceberg. Links: Lancet article , Fatal Encounters , Mapping Police Violence , The Counted...
Oct 07, 2021•43 min
We've got some great questions as always! This time we start with some personal slash whimsical stuff including what song lyrics we have been wrong about. Other great segments include sex stuff and why Jordan Peterson is wrong about evo-psych. Or just... everything. Links: Dwulit & Rzymski (2019) - Associations of Porn Use with Sexual Dysfunctions
Sep 30, 2021•49 min
It's part 2 of our sex stuff series. Dr. Lindsey Osterman did a deep dive into porn related research. Either that or I caught her looking at porn and she proposed this series as an elaborate cover. But either way you're getting some great stuff! Does the anti-porn side of the argument have the weight of evidence on their side? Is porn actually totally fine? Find out! Links: Michael Hobbes, Human Trafficking , Cyber Civil Rights Initiative , Revenge porn laws by state , Fisher & Kohut (2017) ...
Sep 26, 2021•56 min
But don't take my word for it, Dr. Lindsey Osterman is here to break down the social science for us! And guess what, SURPRISE SURPRISE, it doesn't support the conservative war on porn and sex work. And it's not just conservatives, it's NYT's Nicholas D. Kristof, and prominent anti-porn feminists like Catharine MacKinnon . Listen as Lindsey explains why the war against sex work is bad for everyone. You're Wrong About: Sex Trafficking , The Butterfly Effect , Perry (2021) "Scientific authority, re...
Sep 16, 2021•53 min
Therese Chan, an actual vet (though not a horse doctor) is here to talk about Ivermectin. What is it, what does it do, what does it not do, why are so many people taking it, will it turn you into a horse, will it turn you back from a horse to a human, is this a simulation, no really is it, how is any of this real, and more!
Sep 09, 2021•47 min
It's that time again! Patrons asked some fantastic questions. Like, what's our favorite piece of visual art? Is Bari Weiss right about Amy Cooper? What are Lindsey's thoughts on tenure? Are morals taught or learned? When should people resign in protest vs. staying and fighting? And more!
Sep 01, 2021•1 hr 3 min
... AGAINST ANTI GAY ACTIVISTS. Yeah. It's a bad science thingy. But bad science thingies are a bat signal for Dr. Lindsey Osterman, who is here to break down this study for us! What does the study prove? What does it definitely not prove? Find out! Uzarevic et al. (2021) "Are Atheists Unprejudiced? ", Uzarevic et al. (2017) "Are Atheists Undogmatic? ", Speed & Brewster (2021) "Christians, but not Atheists, Show High In-Group Favoritism"...
Aug 26, 2021•1 hr 5 min
You might have seen the very scary headlines about a Massachusetts outbreak in which 74% of those infected were vaccinated. That sounds terrifying! But is it? What does actual science person Dr. Lindsey Osterman make of these numbers? The news is actually far better than you might think! Find out why! In a quick first segment, Lindsey gives us a hilarious recap of how thoroughly Sam Harris accidentally parodied the hell out of himself! Links: WaPo article on Provincetown Outbreak , Original CDC ...
Aug 12, 2021•48 min
After some thrilling haircut talk, we get to this month's questions! Topics this time include: choosing government by sortition, Manchin and Sinema ruining the country, who was the best movie president, vaccinating yourself vs. your children, a general strike , and neoliberalism!
Aug 05, 2021•1 hr
Continuing from the last episode, Lindsey backs up her claim that the bulk of the terrible science was yet to come. WOW. This study was complete garbage. You really ought to hear how terrible it is. Lindsey, as usual, did other people's homework for them. She got a hold of some of the data and did her own work with it, which revealed some interesting stuff. Here is the doc . Links: the study , the article , Moss & O’Connor (2020b; origin of White Identitarianism Scale) , Pew Poll, Political ...
Jul 30, 2021•1 hr 4 min
Holy both sides, Batman! Yeah no suspense on this one, Quillette is garbage and the study this article references is garbage. But how garbage and why exactly? Is there any truth to it? As usual, Lindsey is here to give us the breakdown! This is a part 1. In order to grab part 2 early, make sure to pledge on patreon ! Links: Moss & O’Connor (2020b; origin of White Identitarianism Scale) , Pew Poll, Political Polarization in the American Public , Master’s thesis (origin of the PC scales)...
Jul 22, 2021•52 min
