In this episode, have you ever felt that there is too much injustice in the world and you just can’t respond to it all? Have you ever found yourself making a compromise with your ethics just to make it through the day? I think we all have. My guest today has written a book looking at these tradeoffs. Hopefully it will help us all to be able to make moral choices and address the guilt we feel at not being able to help everyone. David Thesmar is the Franco Modigliani Professor of Financial Economi...
May 17, 2025•44 min•Ep. 236
In this episode I’m digging into a growing industrial segment that mines waste for precious metals. Often discarded systems contain higher precious metals fractions than the original ore they are mined from. Discarded computers and electronics, and in this case, catalytic converters can be recycled and thereby mitigate new mining operations and their environmental impact. Don Weatherbee, CEO of Regenx Tech, is a visionary in the clean tech sector, driving innovation in sustainable precious metal...
May 10, 2025•27 min•Ep. 235
In this episode I’m discussing energy, specifically hydrogen and nuclear with a leading environmentalist author. His recent book the Hype about Hydrogen (revised) highlights the seemingly intractable problems with a Hydrogen economy. He’s also publishing a whitepaper highlighting the high costs of SMRs and touting renewables as the cheapest solution. He suggests nuclear is uniquely dangerous in his assessment. I agree that any new SMRs will be costly, but the evidence suggests that nuclear is th...
Apr 19, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 234
Welcome to my Canadian election review podcast. As of the time of this episode Canada is just a couple weeks away and the Rational View is here to provide you with a rundown on the major parties. In Canada we have two major parties, the Liberals and the Conservatives who are the only parties who have ever won elections, plus a third party, the New Democrats (NDP) who usually manage to capture a smattering of seats. The last two terms were won by the Liberals under Justin Trudeau. The most recent...
Apr 12, 2025•35 min•Ep. 233
Life is chaotic right now, people are worried, all you hear on social media is conflict and crazy. Time to step back, relax, and go on a journey with me into philosophy of the mind. Let’s meditate a bit and disconnect from the reset of modern civilization. Why am I seeing the world only from within Al Scott’s head? Why am I me and not you? Why do you wake up in the morning as you and not as someone else? Is it because you are a soul that lives in your body? Look me up on YouTube and Facebook!...
Apr 05, 2025•26 min•Ep. 232
Miles Spencer is a father and a mentor of tech founders. He says the similarities in those jobs are remarkable. He founded, financed, built and exited three digital media companies. Prior to that, he was a Venture Principal at Capital Express , and hosted MoneyHunt on PBS. In his spare time he is a painter and an adventurer who has hiked through the Saudi desert and lived to write a book about. A Line in the Sand ended up an Amazon Bestseller in the Middle East. Come join me on Facebook--let me ...
Mar 29, 2025•34 min•Ep. 231
Donald Trump has fawned over authoritarians and dictators and strives to emulate them. What do dictators do? They expoit weaker countries and expand their territory. Hitler had the Aunschlus where he annexed Austria, Putin has Ukraine, and Trump wants Canada and Greenland. The international community allowed Putin to take Crimea with little repercussions. Could Trump be interested in doing the same thing to Canada? What is the evidence? Do I have Trump Derangement Syndrome? Is he just joking? Is...
Mar 23, 2025•31 min•Ep. 230
In this episode I’m following up on a tip from a listener who suggested that I should speak with David Bernstein. David was on Michael Shermer’s podcast discussing civil liberty, free speech, and constitutional law issues. In the current situation of highly polarized public debate it is critical that we listen to both sides of the argument and don’t fall victim to bias. This is a job for The Rational View! David E. Bernstein holds a University Professor Chair at George Mason University's Antonin...
Mar 15, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 229
In this episode I’m interviewing a thoughtful kindred spirit to the Rational View. Someone who has made it her mission to bridge polarizing gaps in society and work for the greater good. Please excuse my deep bass FM radio voice as I’m getting over a nasty virus. Juliana Tafur is the director of the Greater Good Science Center ’s Bridging Differences program at UC Berkeley. She is now leading a Campaign for Connection to bridge political and cultural divides using resources rooted in science. Sh...
Mar 08, 2025•50 min•Ep. 228
This episode is providing a rational review of events to the south in the new republican administration. There is a lot of concern on the left over the activities of Musk and Trump. There is a huge pile of propaganda that both sides are producing. What are the facts? Should we be worried? Appearing in the Oval Office and addressing the nation whilst Trump looks on bored and confused, Musk hoists his young son on his shoulders. Lately he has not been out in public without a human shield after the...
Mar 01, 2025•48 min•Ep. 227
In this episode I’m going to play devil’s advocate and look at the flaws on the left of the political spectrum. I am always trying to challenge my biases and poke holes in my positions by listening to opposing opinions. I have been butting heads with a UK professor over social media on several issues recently as he has been posting what I would consider biased right wing positions and I have been challenging him. We are both in agreement on many issues, however, that may come as a surprise to th...
Feb 15, 2025•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 226
In this episode I am exploring the divergence between productivity and wages in western economies since 1970. This was covered in one of my first podcasts and is a striking failure of society that has derailed post-war successes and led to the current situation of inequity and unrest. It puts us in the strange position that robotics and AI are going to make the vast majority of the world poorer and further behind. Dean Baker is the co-founder and a senior economist at the Center for Economic and...
Feb 08, 2025•50 min•Ep. 225
In this episode I’m reviewing the scientific evidence on the safety of new mRNA vaccines. There has been a flurry of misunderstandings and misinformation posted online with the result being spreading vaccine hesitancy and a growing public health emergency. The WHO highlighted vaccine hesitancy as a major global health risk. Just this morning I heard announcements of Measles outbreaks. Vaccines have saved millions of lives. They’ve eliminated smallpox and we are on the brink of eliminating polio....
Feb 01, 2025•34 min•Ep. 224
In this episode I am continuing to cast a lens into the presence of inequity in society. The Rational View is about using evidence-based practices to promote justice for all. Over the years we, as a society, have made great progress in addressing inequality, but unscientific biases still abound. Many folks would say that we’ve already equalized opportunities. Many would say great gulfs remain to be bridged. What does the data say? Nilanjana Dasgupta is Provost Professor of Psychology and foundin...
Jan 26, 2025•51 min•Ep. 223
In this episode I’m interviewing a researcher who studies equality in the workplace. Her work stands out as being heavily influenced by quantitative studies on the effectiveness of various interventions aimed at leveling the gender gap in the workplace. I hope we can gain some insights into what is good and what does not work to promote fairness in the workplace. Siri Chilazi is a senior researcher at the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School whose life’s work is to advance g...
Jan 18, 2025•49 min•Ep. 222
Happy New Year. Welcome to 2025! You made it! I’m glad to be able to share this with you. Today I want to talk about a health fad called Earthing, or Grounding. You’ve probably heard of it. Is it supported by science or is it snake oil? This calls for The Rational View. If you like my program please send money to patron dot podbean dot com slash THERATIONALVIEW If you don't like my program come to my RationalView Facebook group and give me your best counter argument
Jan 11, 2025•27 min•Ep. 221
In this episode I’m interviewing a scientist turned science fiction author who has written a book that takes the reader on a journey around the solar system to the many remote places we’ve visited with our space probes. I’m eager to learn what he thinks about space exploration. Dr John Moores is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science at York University. He is a member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, a recipie...
Dec 21, 2024•33 min•Ep. 220
In this episode I’m interviewing someone with firsthand knowledge of the replacement of democracy with an authoritarian populist regime. What does this mean? Take, for example, the case of Hungary under the leadership of Viktor Orbán, the populist prime minister of Hungary since 2010. In 2022, European parliament declared that Hungary could no longer be considered a democracy. MEPs are concerned about several political areas concerning democracy and fundamental rights in Hungary. Some of the mai...
Dec 07, 2024•49 min•Ep. 219
In this episode, I’m exploring the topic of the Outrage Industry. Who else is growing inured to over-the-top tirades of outrage and offense? This seems to be a relatively new phenomenon whereby click-bait memes generating outrage are monetized by social media networks into clicks. Let’s explore how this impacts society and what we can do to counter it. Richard Thompson Ford is a Professor at Stanford Law School. He has written about law, social and cultural issues and race relations for The New ...
Nov 26, 2024•34 min•Ep. 218
In this episode I’m interviewing a researcher who has been studying the impacts of methane on the greenhouse effect, and trying to assess whether burning natural gas is helping or hurting the climate. His most recent paper suggests that it should not be considered an improvement over coal. Robert Howarth is an Earth systems scientist and ecosystem biologist with a Ph.D. jointly from MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He joined the faculty of Cornell University in 1985 and was appo...
Nov 16, 2024•34 min•Ep. 217
In this episode I’m interviewing the leader of a new Canadian political party, the Canadian Future Party. Their website has the following statement that I liked, “The CFP believes people from every corner of the country want to be united behind a common set of ideals: democracy, the rule of law, collective action, and individual rights. A country where you can live as you like, love who you want, and in exchange, you work hard, and we collectively agree on a common set of rules to let us live ou...
Nov 09, 2024•55 min•Ep. 216
In this episode I'm dipping my toes into a new topic a little bit outside my range, but we can still use the tools of science and evidence to assess. The economy and Modern Monetary Theory. It is a new idea that clashes with classical economics. It can be summarized as the idea that governments whose dollar is not linked to a gold standard don't need to worry about deficits. It encompasses the idea of guaranteed employment for all. The discussion will also explore the failure of the capitalism s...
Oct 12, 2024•57 min•Ep. 215
In this episode I am interviewing a neuroscientist and a writer who has done a lot of work on synesthesia, or the melding of sense perceptions. His most recent book delves into how we can take back control of our attention from addictive social media. This should be of interest to most of us, and especially to parents of young children and teenagers who don’t know what to do to help their kids put down the devices and engage with life. Dr. Richard E. Cytowic, a pioneering researcher in synesthes...
Oct 05, 2024•48 min•Ep. 214
In this episode I’m returning to the mysterious and challenging topic of consciousness and awareness, the elusive theory of mind that philosophers have chased for centuries, and is now coming to heel under the tools of neurobiology and the framework of modern physics. My guest today has performed experiments on rats that lend credence to the intriguing idea that quantum mechanics could play a basic role in the function of the mind. Are our brains quantum computers? This is a question for The Rat...
Sep 28, 2024•57 min•Ep. 213
In this episode we’re going to chat with someone who understands the value of a good civics education. This comes at a time when observers are rating the US as a flawed democracy, and a current presidential nominee has been indicted for insurrection. Gerrymandering of districts is rampant, voter suppression bills are common, and a significant minority of voters seem to feel this is just fine. Dr. Lindsey Cormack is an associate professor of Political Science and Director of the Diplomacy Lab at ...
Sep 21, 2024•36 min•Ep. 212
In this episode we’ll be discussing polarization and the idea of moral narcissism. My guest has published an article in a substack newsletter discussing this idea that people today are taking on absolute moral stancess in polarizing issues because of the status it gives them in their tribe, irrespective of the cost. In her blog she makes an analogy of a group who believes eating blue cheese is immoral so they outlaw it. As a result of their banning blue cheese, people start dying from eating unr...
Sep 14, 2024•51 min•Ep. 211
In this episode I’m going to be sharing with you an earlier interview with Dr. Micheal Levin that I found to be really mind bending. In it I wanted to explore the cellular basis of consciousness, and we delved into that a little bit, however the part that I found really interesting was his discussion of how cells work together and communicate to build macroscopic structures like bodies and hands, and maintain your shape over long time periods. I find it inspiring to realize how much we have yet ...
Sep 09, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 210
In this episode I’m continuing to look at consciousness and cognition and the working memory that sets humans apart from all other animals. Human working memory can be roughly quantified to hold about 7 items at once in a sequence and allow conscious manipulation, consideration, and attention to about 4 of them at a time. These numbers are surprisingly consistent across all humans. The size of working memory in humans is much larger than in our nearest relatives the great apes. The ability to re...
Sep 01, 2024•33 min•Ep. 209
In this episode I’m going back to look at consciousness and cognition, and specifically one aspect of our mental capacity that sets us apart from other animals. It’s our ability to recall items in a sequence, for those of you who are software buffs, basically we have a short term memory buffer that acts like a linked list. We can remember a list of numbers (about 7 or so), or letters, or items in a particular order over a short timespan if we are not too distracted. This capability is called wor...
Aug 25, 2024•53 min•Ep. 208
This episode is a rant about why people don’t have time to become better informed about the issues. It is about why people are rushed. It is about why people feel mistreated by the system. The Rational View is going to rant about inequity and highlight the growing resentment amongst the struggling middle class at the elite robber barons of capitalism. Capitalism is about greed. It is about gloves-off below-the-belt big-stack bullying that pretends it provides a level playing field. I’m no commun...
Aug 17, 2024•18 min•Ep. 207
