The future is (not entirely) digital - The notion that digital technology will overtake every existing aspect of our lives is an oversimplified assumption. The pandemic-induced revelations, alongside the growing affinity of a younger generation raised in a digital era towards analog media like vinyl records or books, provide compelling evidence to the intrinsic human longing for experiences that transcend the purely digital domain. David Sax is a Canadian journalist, award-winning writer for pub...
Jun 26, 2023•59 min•Ep. 297
Questions around the possibilities and potential dangers of Artificial Intelligence cover the headlines these days, but are these actually new questions? Computer scientist Peter Norvig has been writing about AI and the ethics of data science for years. Before he was a professor at Stanford University’s Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Institute, he worked for NASA and held a major consulting role at Google. His books, Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (4th Edition) and Data Scien...
Jun 23, 2023•54 min•Ep. 296
Conversation and communication with others is a natural human urge, as well as a skill that can be developed and honed like any other. The power of conversation has been long known in society, and still, there are regular efforts to preserve and maintain the spaces and opportunities for genuine conversation in today’s world of screens and distractions. Paula Marantz Cohen is the Dean of the Pennoni Honors College and a Distinguished Professor of English at Drexel University. She is also the auth...
Jun 21, 2023•55 min•Ep. 295
Courage is not a character trait that is limited to a select few but rather a skill that can be cultivated through deliberate practice. Unless we repetitively practice the high-stress, emotion-laden situations in which we aspire to be courageous, we will never magically become skillful in those moments. Jim Detert is a Professor in the Leadership and Organizational Behavior area at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business Administration and a Professor of Public Policy at ...
Jun 19, 2023•54 min•Ep. 294
When scientists game the system to get publishable results, it undermines the legitimacy of science.. Data can be interpreted many different ways and sliced into an infinite number of shapes, but specifically shaping your results to make them fit restrictions leads everyone down the wrong path. This is called torturing data, and it can look like cherry-picking participants or results for a study or getting your results first and then reverse engineering your hypothesis after the fact. Gary Smith...
Jun 16, 2023•53 min•Ep. 293
While it is commonly assumed that prevalent health issues like heart disease, obesity, and depression are uniquely human experiences, they exist across multiple species. Despite the undeniable connection rooted in our shared animal nature, a perceptible barrier remains between human and veterinary medicine and psychology, often driven by the notion of human exceptionalism. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz is a cardiologist, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at UCLA, a visiting profes...
Jun 14, 2023•59 min•Ep. 292
Life is all about solving problems—whether it’s what shirt to put on in the morning or how to solve a complex engineering question. And without problems, life wouldn’t have much meaning. But how do you master effective problem-solving skills? Bernard Roth is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University and is one of the founders of Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (also known as the d.school). It was at Stanford that he first noticed a correlation between problem-sol...
Jun 12, 2023•48 min•Ep. 291
Here’s the thing about evolution: It’s really complicated. And there’s so much about how humans have evolved and what causes certain behaviors that scientists are still figuring out. It’s those unknowns that fascinate Marlene Zuk, a professor of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. She’s written numerous books on animal behavior and evolution, with her most recent publication being Dancing Cockatoos and the Dead Man Test: How Behavior Evolves and Why It Matters. Marlen...
Jun 09, 2023•56 min•Ep. 290
How much did the religious beliefs of the Enlightenment Age influence the evolution of modern economic theory? Can widespread economic growth lead to an improvement in moral character across a vast population? Benjamin M. Friedman is a professor and former Chair of Economics at Harvard University. In his books Religion and the Rise of Capitalism and The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth, he explores the relationship between economic theory, religious thought, and views of moral progress. Ben...
Jun 05, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 289
It may be rational to be ignorant, and it might even be rational to be irrational! This is quite prevalent in our highly polarized and tribalized current political landscape. In fact, it is what gives politics its newfound religious flavor. In education it exists where we move everyone forward the same amount, no one has moved relative to each other, and it is considered progress. Bryan Caplan is an economist and a Professor of Economics at George Mason University. He is also an author whose lat...
Jun 02, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 288
From the Silent Generation to Gen Z, different generations have distinct behaviors, values, and attitudes that were shaped by the events during their formative years. However, the most significant factor influencing generational differences is technology. While technological progress has led to more individualism, it also can have negative impacts on mental health, leading to depression and suicide. Jean M. Twenge is a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, consultant, public spe...
May 31, 2023•52 min•Ep. 287
The science of economics can be an intimidating topic to understand, but it can be broken down into basic motivations and forces that are understandable to anyone. Supply, demand, and trade-offs are a part of everyone’s daily life and should be identifiable in any industry or market. Matthew Hennessey is a journalist who is the Deputy Op-Ed Editor for the Wall Street Journal. He is also an author, and his latest book is titled Visible Hand: A Wealth of Notions on the Miracle of the Market, which...
May 29, 2023•51 min•Ep. 286
Is it a bad day that puts someone in a bad mood, or could it be the room they’re sitting in? The environments we place ourselves in function as much more than just mere backdrops, and the way spaces are designed can greatly influence how the people in them feel and react. A simple window can mean the difference between health and sickness, and the height of a ceiling may unlock creativity. Sarah Williams Goldhagen is an architecture critic and an author. Her latest book, Welcome to Your World: H...
May 26, 2023•53 min•Ep. 285
Most Americans have had to do it at some point: check the box that most closely describes how you identify your race or ethnicity. But those categories can be limiting. How did America settle on the specific categories that are in use? And what does it mean for how the country works on a sociological level and a legal one? David E. Bernstein is a law professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. He’s written several books and scholarly articles dealing with legal history...
May 24, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 284
Throughout history, new advances in science, such as the advent of electricity, nuclear power, genetic engineering, or artificial intelligence, have often been met with fear and uncertainty. While novel scientific developments offer countless possibilities for improving our lives, they also come with ethical considerations and sometimes unintended consequences that must be carefully navigated. Matthew Cobb is a professor of zoology at the University of Manchester, where his research focuses on t...
May 22, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 283
Innovation is both extremely important to the life of a corporation and also extremely tricky to regularly achieve and maintain. There are certain strategies that tend to yield higher innovation, but at its heart are the people, the corporate explorers that drive things forward. Andrew Binns is the co-founder and manager of Change Logic, an advisory firm, and the author of several articles and books. His latest book, Corporate Explorer: How Corporations Beat Startups at the Innovation Game, co-w...
May 19, 2023•55 min•Ep. 282
Over the course of history, as human civilization has developed and advanced, so have our microbial enemies. This has led to a vast and diverse disease pool dating all the way back to the last Ice Age. Kyle Harper is a professor of Classics and Letters at the University of Oklahoma. In his books, Plagues upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History and The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire, he examines the history of disease and its impact on the human race. Kyl...
May 17, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 281
Money is a mirage, and the harder and deeper you look into it, the hazier it can become. It is a human construct, a tool that we have all agreed to hold value in so that we can exchange it with each other for goods and services, but what is it really? How did we all come to agree on this abstract thing together, and where does it go from here? Frederick Kaufman is a journalist, professor of English and Journalism at the City University of New York, and an author. His latest book is called The Mo...
May 15, 2023•57 min•Ep. 280
Is law an instrument of the state? Or is it broader than that? Fernanda Pirie is a professor of law and anthropology at the University of Oxford. Through her books like, The Anthropology of Law and The Rule of Laws: A 4,000-Year Quest to Order the World , she makes the distinction that law is a particular type of custom that doesn’t necessarily need a governmental system to exist. In this episode, Fernanda and Greg discuss the earliest iterations of legal systems in history, Fernanda’s view on w...
May 12, 2023•49 min•Ep. 279
Museums are centers for culture, for art, and for conversation. They are places where the far ends of the earth come together in the same place and expose people of all ages to things from across space and time. They also draw the past into the present and become centers for experiencing and understanding humans and humanity. Daniel H. Weiss is an art historian and president of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in New York City. He is also an author, and his latest book is called Why the ...
May 10, 2023•59 min•Ep. 278
Mental health disorders have become an epidemic in today's society. Yet, we often fail to recognize the critical impact of early childhood adversity and our relationships with our parents, especially our mothers, on the mental and physical health of adolescents. Erica Komisar is a psychoanalyst and also a contributor, contributing editor at the Institute for Family Studies, journalist, and author. Her recent book “Chicken Little the Sky Isn't Falling: Raising Resilient Adolescents in the New Age...
May 08, 2023•49 min•Ep. 277
There are three necessary conditions for a fire to start – oxygen, heat, and fuel. The same can be said for financial bubbles. In order for them to happen, three conditions must be in place. In his book, Boom and Bust: A Global History of Financial Bubbles , economic and financial historian William Quinn lays out what those conditions are in what he calls, “the bubble triangle.” At Queen’s University Belfast, he’s a senior lecturer in finance and researches historical stock markets, stock market...
May 03, 2023•32 min•Ep. 277
What do financial bubbles and religious millenarianism have in common? They both involve collective delusion. When Charles Mackey wrote a book on the Madness of Crowds in the 19th century, he could not have imagined that religious and financial bubbles will continue to reappear, but as Willam Bernstein points out, the world has not gotten any saner. William Bernstein is an investment manager and the author of a number of books including, The Delusions Of Crowds: Why People Go Mad in Groups and T...
Apr 28, 2023•51 min•Ep. 275
Does a strong state mean a weak market? This is a common misconception amongst economists. Many view the state as either taxing and regulating the market too much or too little. However, the truth is that state capacity is just not well conceptualized in economic theory. James A. Robinson is a political scientist, economist, and professor at the University of Chicago. His recent book, co-authored with Daron Acemoglu, “The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty,” explores the...
Apr 26, 2023•49 min•Ep. 274
In order to make an impact in the political world, we need to understand the science of politics, which means setting aside emotion and designing general models of strategic behavior and equilibrium drawn from game theory. These models may not only explain the past but predict the future. Bruce Bueno de Mesquita is a political scientist, a professor at New York University, and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is also an author, and his latest work is titled, The Invention of Power: ...
Apr 24, 2023•38 min•Ep. 273
What are the limits to free speech in a university setting? And how does our society define what is permissible speech and what is not? When Ulrich Baer wrote What Snowflakes Get Right , his hope was to expand free speech on campuses and provoke a debate on the proper scope of conversation in the classroom. Ulrich is a professor of comparative literature at New York University and is the author and translator of multiple books of translation and criticism, including The Poet’s Guide to Life: The...
Apr 21, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 272
Philosophical problems are all around us. From economics to games and sports, most people in the world are philosophizing every day, maybe without even realizing it. David Papineau is a Professor of Philosophy of Science at the King’s College London. He’s written numerous books, including The Metaphysics of Sensory Experience and Knowing the Score: What Sports Can Teach Us About Philosophy (And What Philosophy Can Teach Us About Sports) . David is also a visiting professor at City University of ...
Apr 19, 2023•56 min•Ep. 271
What is attention, and how can we manage it? The new science of attention explores how our conscious and unconscious attention dictate how we interact with the world. With the proliferation of digital media and always being on digital devices, a proper understanding of attention is more important than ever. Gloria Mark is the Chancellor's Professor in the Department of Informatics at the University of California Irvine. Her new book, Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happi...
Apr 17, 2023•50 min•Ep. 270
Should we separate decisions related to love and money, approaching finance and career-related decisions solely in a rational way while relying more on our emotions in the personal domain? Perhaps it's time to start using both our heads and hearts together when making life's most significant decisions. Myra Strober is an emerita Professor at the Schools of Education and Business at Stanford University. She also sits on the board of the journal Feminist Economics and is the former president of th...
Apr 14, 2023•47 min•Ep. 269
In a world of either/or tradeoffs, it sometimes pays to explore the possibility of and/or. By changing our perspective and embracing paradox, we can see possibilities that were obscured by our tendency to see only tradeoffs. Wendy K. Smith is the Dana J. Johnson Professor of Business at the University of Delaware and co-founder of the Women's Leadership Initiative. She is also an author, and with Marianne Lewis their latest book is Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Tou...
Apr 12, 2023•51 min•Ep. 268
