Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast)
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Is Evolutionary Psychology Bulls**t? | 20 May 2025 | 01:56:21 | |
Co-host David Pinsof explains how he discovered evolutionary psychology, why it might not be bulls**t, and why we hate status-seekers (most of the time). Since this is our first episode and it’s been a while, there may be other stuff in this episode, but we don’t remember what it is.
More about Evolutionary Psychology The Center for Evolutionary Psychology “Primer”
More about David Pinsof: https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/ https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski: https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski
Things mentioned this Episode: The Center for Evolutionary Psychology: Publication List https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/ Status is a Four-Letter Word Paper David’s Politics as Alliances Paper David’s Social Paradoxes Paper Dave & Annie Wertz’s Modularity Paper Music by David Pinsof Produced by Naomi Monahan-Miller | |||
| Basement Cults | 27 May 2025 | 02:09:33 | |
Co-host Dave Pietraszewski explains how he learned to love evolutionary psychology despite hating it at first, why attending basement cults as a child in upstate New York wasn’t all bad, really, and why he thinks understanding the human mind will require eventually understanding the evolutionary psychology of psychologists.
More about Evolutionary Psychology The Center for Evolutionary Psychology “Primer”
More about David Pinsof: https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/ https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski: https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski
Things mentioned this Episode: Dave & Annie Wertz’s Modularity Paper Dave’s How our intuitive psychology shapes our science paper Music by David Pinsof Produced by Naomi Monahan-Miller
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| Controversies in Evolutionary Psychology | 03 Jun 2025 | 02:01:28 | |
Dave and David plunge (or dip a toe) into the controversies surrounding evolutionary psychology and try to make a good-faith effort, while not suffering fools (or internet trolls) lightly. Listen through to the end of this one.
More about Evolutionary Psychology The Center for Evolutionary Psychology “Primer”
More about David Pinsof: https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/ https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski: | |||
| Mating with Daniel Conroy-Beam | 10 Jun 2025 | 01:58:11 | |
Guest Daniel Conroy-Beam (UCSB) explains why human mating has occupied the interest of evolutionary psychologists, what consequences this has had on science, and how things might be done better. If you want to understand the science behind why we prefer certain other people to bonk, don’t listen to this episode (we’re kidding, this is exactly what Dan studies).
More about Daniel Conroy-Beam:
Computational Mate Choice @ UCSB
https://psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/daniel-conroy-beam
More about David Pinsof:
https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/
https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski:
https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski
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| Friendship with Jaimie Krems | 17 Jun 2025 | 02:01:51 | |
Why is the study of friendship so lonely, and what makes Philadelphia Philly? Guest Jaimie Krems (UCLA) explains why friendship is a blindspot in science, and why she has no advice to give you if you’re feeling lonely (we’re only half-kidding). If you do want friends, don’t want friends, or have friends, you should listen to this episode. More about Jaimie Krems:
More about David Pinsof:
https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/
https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski:
https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski
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| Childhood in the Congo Basin with Sheina Lew-Levy | 24 Jun 2025 | 01:52:55 | |
Helicopter parenting is not a human universal! Guest Sheina Lew-Levy (Durham) explains what drew her to studying childhood among BaYaka foragers in the Congo Basin, and what parenting and childhood is like there and how this helps us understand who we are and what we need growing up. In this episode we also cover why field anthropologists are bad*ss and how, for David, “roughing it” involves staying at a 3-star hotel without room-service.
More about Sheina Lew-Levy:
https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/sheina-lew-levy/
https://sites.google.com/view/sheinalewlevy/home
More about David Pinsof:
https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/
https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski:
https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski
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| Examples of Good Evolutionary Psychology | 01 Jul 2025 | 02:18:36 | |
Dave and David move beyond the controversies to explain—and give examples of—evolutionary psychology done well. Topics covered include the science of racial categorization and why we get angry. If you’re looking for examples of novel insights in evolutionary psychology, this episode is for you.
More about Evolutionary Psychology
The Center for Evolutionary Psychology “Primer”
More about David Pinsof:
https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/
https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski:
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| Bonus: Dave & David (and guest Pat Barclay) Read Some Reviews | 03 Jul 2025 | 00:17:16 | |
Dave and David read a review of the podcast, and future guest Pat Barclay (Guelph) joins them for a second reading. Topics include why it may be good to be skeptical of high production values, and the tradeoff between focusing on basic research findings versus their broader implications. | |||
| Terrorism, Drag Queens, and International Humanitarian Law with Michael Moncrieff | 08 Jul 2025 | 01:53:49 | |
From offering the UN insights into the psychology of terrorists to interviewing victims of war-torn Croatia, guest Michael Moncrieff has seen a lot of life and yet remains hopeful. Dave wonders aloud why we are so blind to the civilian impacts of war and David and Michael discuss predatory rationality. Michael explains the history of the drag-queen phenomenon from an evolutionary psychological perspective.
More about Michael Moncrieff:
https://www.michaelmoncrieff.com/
More about David Pinsof:
https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/
https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski:
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| Disgust, Morality, and Kinship with Deb Lieberman | 15 Jul 2025 | 02:31:40 | |
Why do we appeal to disgust when we moralize, and why do we moralize what we find disgusting? Guest Deb Lieberman (UMiami) explains why our human propensity to gang up on others may be driving a lot of our moral sentiments, and why she gets uncomfortable when people appeal to disgust to argue for what is right and wrong.
More about Debra Lieberman: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=OhbXo2kAAAAJ&hl=en https://people.miami.edu/profile/820e96aef57fc53a0625013a86f7ecee https://www.amazon.com/Objection-Disgust-Morality-Debra-Lieberman/dp/0190491299
More about David Pinsof: https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/ https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski: | |||
| Egalitarianism in the Amazon with Chris Von Rueden | 22 Jul 2025 | 01:57:59 | |
Egalitarianism is not what you think it is! Guest Chris Von Rueden (URichmond) has wrapped his head around what egalitarianism is and shares his insights and what he’s learned living with and studying the Tsimane, hunter horticulturists in the Bolivian rainforest. TL;DR: How to make a more just society requires respecting the complexity of our evolved psychology. More about Chris Von Rueden: https://sites.google.com/site/chrisvonrueden/home Tsimane Health and Life History Project: https://tsimane.anth.ucsb.edu/ More about David Pinsof: https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/ https://www.kremslab.com/people More about Dave Pietraszewski: https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski
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| Thoughtful Warriors with Brenda Bowser | 29 Jul 2025 | 02:22:45 | |
Guest Brenda Bowser (CalState Fullerton) recounts a life spent studying conflict and politics in Canambo, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, with her late husband and colleague John Q. Patton. Brenda shares first and second hand accounts of incredible events (including death by phantasm), and how she thinks about status, violence, and conflict, and how these relate to our connections with others. One of our most memorable episodes!
More about Brenda Bowser: https://anthro.fullerton.edu/People/BrendaBowser.aspx https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/the-amazonian-house/
More about John Q. Patton: https://anthro.fullerton.edu/People/JohnPatton.aspx https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NkJttDkP2ZID-a7HSgUNzIfSOlMnQ51I/view?usp=drive_link
John Q. Patton Memorial Symposium: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KRRcx00RJmWI6VKcwGs8ms29lRNnP-5oY6VIPqeEkNg/edit?tab=t.0
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| Conspiracy Theories and Group Boundaries with Cristina Moya | 05 Aug 2025 | 02:01:04 | |
Guest Cristina Moya (UC Davis) is one of our favorite evolutionary behavioral scientists. In this episode, we discuss her work in Peru on ethnolinguistic group boundaries, why we all believe crazy things, and what the lay of the land is in the evolutionary behavioral sciences.
More about Cristina Moya: https://sites.google.com/site/cristinasolermoya/pubs?authuser=0 https://anthropology.ucdavis.edu/people/cristina-moya
More about David Pinsof: https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/ https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski: | |||
| Cooperation with Pat Barclay | 19 Aug 2025 | 01:55:07 | |
Pat Barclay (Guelph) joins us to discuss his work solving the mysteries of the evolution of cooperation. Pat is a wonderful human being and an exceptional scientist, whose work is at the forefront of understanding how and why we solve the problem of cooperation as a species. More about Pat Barclay: More about David Pinsof: https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/ https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski: https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski
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| Drugs, Delusions, and Depression with Ed Hagen | 12 Aug 2025 | 02:00:20 | |
Why would a mind ever be delusional or depressed, and can we understand these as functional or maladaptive outcomes? Why do humans take drugs, and why do plants make them in the first place? (And why might the answer to the second question also answer the first?) Join us on a fun, wide-ranging conversation with guest Ed Hagen (Washington State, Vancouver) one of evolutionary psychology’s most encyclopedic minds.
More about Ed Hagen: https://anthro.vancouver.wsu.edu/people/hagen/
Evolutionary Psychology FAQ: https://grasshoppermouse.github.io/evpsychfaq/
More about David Pinsof: https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/ https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski: https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski | |||
| The Evolutionary Psychology of Humor | 02 Sep 2025 | 01:45:51 | |
Humor is one of the great puzzles of evolutionary psychology. Co-host David Pinsof (UCLA) presents the coordinating “mix-up” hypothesis of humor, in which….well, you’ll have to listen to find out. By Dave’s account, it is one of the best accounts of the psychology of humor out there (but what do we know?) Content warning: this episode does contain humor (or at least attempts at it).
More about David Pinsof: https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/ https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski: | |||
| Plants, Infants, and the Evolution of Social Learning with Annie Wertz | 26 Aug 2025 | 01:58:02 | |
Plants are mini chemical weapon factories! Learning and evolution are not opposed! This week, Annie Wertz (UCSB) joins us to describe her groundbreaking world on the evolutionary psychology of what babies know about plants, and how infants selectively use social information to guide their interactions with them. A lovely example of how adopting an evolutionary perspective inspires new areas of research, and a good example of how evolution builds learning mechanisms.
More about Annie Wertz: | |||
| Language and Communication with Thom Scott-Phillips | 09 Sep 2025 | 01:38:25 | |
What do the lindy hop, ostensive communication, and the evolution of language all have in common? Thom Scott-Phillips! In this episode, we discuss if language is an adaptation, why art museums have that certain vibe, the theory crisis in the behavioral sciences, the state of scientific publishing, and why Thom loves the lindy hop.
More about Thom Scott-Phillips: https://www.thomscottphillips.com/
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| Cooperative breeding with Karen Kramer | 30 Sep 2025 | 01:16:14 | |
How are humans able to sustain large families? What is our "true" reproductive strategy as a species? Are kids designed to raise younger children? And is it unnatural for us to live in such strongly age-segregated societies? In this episode, we talk to Karen Kramer (U of Utah) where we discuss our (possibly unique) ability to live with and raise one another.
More about Karen Kramer: https://www.sapiens.org/authors/karen-l-kramer/ https://profiles.faculty.utah.edu/u0839608/about https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2tP1330AAAAJ&hl=en | |||
| Belief with Dan Williams | 23 Sep 2025 | 01:54:16 | |
Why do we believe what we believe? And our we aware of why we believe what we believe? And what is a belief anyway? And what should we think of people like Jordan Peterson? We tackle these questions and more in this episode with Dan Williams (Sussex): our first guest representing evolutionary approaches to philosophy.
More about Dan Williams: https://danwilliamsphilosophy.com/ https://www.conspicuouscognition.com/
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| The Evolution of Human Longevity with Mike Gurven | 16 Sep 2025 | 01:52:34 | |
Did we evolve to live long lives? Is heart disease a human universal? In this episode, we talk to Mike Gurven (UCSB), who has run a number of large-scale studies on the life and health of non-Western populations (among much, much more). And now, he has a new book out (Seven Decades: How We Evolved to Live Longer) summarizing the big picture of what we've learned so far!
More about Mike Gurven: https://www.anth.ucsb.edu/people/michael-gurven
More about the book (Mike is the real deal, so we are happy to plug his book!): https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691231990/seven-decades Enter code (PUP30 for a discount) https://www.target.com/p/seven-decades-by-michael-d-gurven-hardcover/-/A-94306245 https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Decades-Evolved-Live-Longer/dp/0691231990/ref=sr_1_1
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| Horror and Morbid Curiosity with Coltan Scrivner | 07 Oct 2025 | 02:06:05 | |
Grab some candy (or brains): Halloween is here! This week, we talk to Coltan Scrivner about why we can't look away from the macabre, what exactly the "horror" genre is, and why a self-dose of fear and horror may be good for anxiety. If you are curious about horror, true crime, cobwebs, zombies, great white sharks, Jurassic Park, or whether its good for kids to experience gross or scary things, this episode is for you! Also, today, Coltan's book, Morbidly Curious, comes out: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/705578/morbidly-curious-by-coltan-scrivner-phd/ More about Coltan Scrivner: https://www.coltanscrivner.com/ https://www.morbidlycuriousthoughts.com/
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| Evolutionary Psychology and the Law with Keelah Williams | 14 Oct 2025 | 01:45:14 | |
Motive? Intent? Case closed! In this episode, Keelah Williams (JD, PhD, Hamilton) runs us through our bar exam prelims, explaining how our evolved psychology influences legal decision-making, and what consequences this may have on truth, justice, and much else... If you are interested in how evolutionary approaches inform legal issues, this episode is for you. Bonus: Keelah also discusses her ground-breaking work on ecology stereotypes. More about Keelah Williams: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=42lmiPwAAAAJ https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/evolution-and-human-behavior/vol/44/issue/3
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| Shame, Pride, and Guilt with Daniel Sznycer | 21 Oct 2025 | 02:04:30 | |
Why do we feel shame? Is it a useless emotion? Our guest, Daniel Sznycer (Oklahoma State) has been studying "self-conscious" emotions from a functional/evolutionary perspective. If you're curious about why we feel things like shame, pride, guilt, or how an evolutionary approach can she light on understanding our emotions, this episode is for you. More about Daniel Sznycer: https://sites.google.com/view/sznycerlab/sznycer-lab https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AKHl_vwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao Other links:
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| Inter-group Relations with Anne Pisor | 28 Oct 2025 | 01:46:57 | |
Are group boundaries solid, impermeable, and red in tooth-and-claw? Is animosity between groups inevitable? In this episode, we talk to Anne Pisor ( Penn State) about all things inter-group from an evolutionary perspective, including the forging of relationships across group boundaries as a way to deal with uncertainty and risk, and the circumstances that increase or decrease inter-group antagonism. More about Anne Pisor: https://www.socialitylab.org/ https://anth.la.psu.edu/people/anne-pisor/ https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Qav4JJ4AAAAJ&hl=en | |||
| Leadership with Zach Garfield | 11 Nov 2025 | 01:46:02 | |
Are mothers the evolutionary crucible of leadership psychology? And is leadership more misunderstood and cryptic than we might think? In this episode, we talk to Zach Garfield (UM6P, Morocco) about all things lead-y and follow-y, and the new and amazing Omo Valley Research Project. More about Zach Garfield: https://zhgarfield.github.io/ The Omo Valley Research Project (with Luke Glowacki) https://www.omovalleyresearchproject.org/
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| Cultural Dynamics with Bret Beheim | 04 Nov 2025 | 02:04:34 | |
What is cultural diffusion, why do need models of cultural change and distance, and what is on Bret's whiteboard? In this episode, we do a deep on how cultural change and distance are measured and studied with Bret Beheim (Max Planck for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig). Other topics include the local norms surrounding red lights and the evergreen game of "go".
More about Bret Beheim: https://www.eva.mpg.de/ecology/staff/bret-beheim/ https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=V6Ea-MkAAAAJ&hl=en
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| Polygamy with Brooke Scelza | 18 Nov 2025 | 01:51:22 | |
Are humans designed to be monogamous? Polygamous? In this episode, we talk to Brooke Scelza (UCLA) about her work with the Himba and the complex web of social norms at play in that society and what it can teach us about our evolved psychology. Other topics include parental investment, the state of cross-talk between evolutionary anthropology and psychology, and the sometimes perverse incentives in science and the resulting replication crisis. If you think you do (or do not) understand mating markets and social norms, then this episode is for you.
More about Brooke Schelza: https://anthro.ucla.edu/person/brooke-scelza/ https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=v8E5934AAAAJ&hl=en
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| Exploitation with Hannes Rusch | 25 Nov 2025 | 01:57:03 | |
What is exploitation? Why does it happen? And how can we better understand what makes it more or less likely? In this episode, we talk to Hannes Rusch (Max Planck Crime, Security, & Law) about all things exploitation and group-y. Other topics include jobs, mopping, scapegoating, bravery, and how much people care about their group identities.
More about Hannes Rusch: https://csl.mpg.de/en/hannes-rusch
Shownotes: Metallica "Man Unkind": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUVr2xnGIEo Exploitation: Theory and Practice https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_3655768_1/component/file_3655769/content
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| Love and Regret with Cari Goetz | 02 Dec 2025 | 01:50:43 | |
What is love? What is regret? What are we missing in our understanding of mating? In this episode we talk to Cari Goetz (Cal State San Bernardino) about the (still largely unexplored) emotions surrounding romance, sex, commitment, and parenting. Topics include: the field's current overemphasis on the early stages of mating, the cultural propaganda surrounding love and related emotions, deliberate ignorance about infidelity, the rehearsal of the social consequences of dating earlier in development, mate ejection strategies, and what love might be at a functional/software level. More about Cari Goetz: https://www.csusb.edu/profile/cgoetz https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=BIKau3cAAAAJ&hl=en | |||
| Reasoning and Epistemic Vigilance with Hugo Mercier | 09 Dec 2025 | 01:37:54 | |
Is the evolved mind prone to believing misinformation? Are people gullible? What is reasoning, anyway? And what is it for? In this episode, we talk all things reasoning with Hugo Mercier (Institute Jean Nicod). If you have an opinion about whether people are reasonable (or not) this episode is for you.
More about Hugo Mercier: https://sites.google.com/site/hugomercier/ https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=b3o24EEAAAAJ&hl=en
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| Culture, Killing, and PTSD with Sarah Mathew | 16 Dec 2025 | 02:01:08 | |
How do evolutionary behavioral scientists think about the interplay between our psychology and culture? What causes some cultural norms to persist and spread? Do non-Western combatants in war have something like PTSD? In this episode, we explore all of these questions and more with Sarah Mathew (ASU), who talks about her work with the Turkana, and her long-term interest in the interplay between our evolved psychology of cooperation and violence, and the social norms and institutions that push and pull on our evolved psychology.
More about Sarah Mathew: https://search.asu.edu/profile/2208359 https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FqTZawEAAAAJ&hl=en
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| Evolutionary Social Sciences with Dan Nettle | 23 Dec 2025 | 01:44:44 | |
Poverty? Universal basic income? Do we really crave sugar because of evolutionary mismatch? How do you train for an 800meter and a 100K running race? We cover this and much more with Dan Nettle (Jean Nicod).
More about Dan Nettle: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rl3kkv4AAAAJ&hl=en | |||
| Moralizing Self-Control with Léo Fitouchi | 30 Dec 2025 | 01:50:04 | |
Why do we care about delaying gratification? Why do we judge others for moral failings that have no apparent consequences on us? In this episode, we talk to Lêo Fitouchi (IAST Toulouse) about all things moral, including guzzling french fries. More about Léo Fitouchi: https://sites.google.com/view/leofitouchi/home
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| Free Will with David Pietraszewski | 06 Jan 2026 | 02:02:48 | |
Free will: Do we really have it? And what is it, exactly? In this episode, co-host David Pietraszewski takes the role of guest and explains his recent evolutionary, adaptationist approach to the problem of free will, explaining what people are talking about when they talk about free will, why different people have different opinions about whether it really exists in light of science, and what an evolutionary approach has to say about how to study it in the first place. If you love or hate the study of free will--or think it is a forever-unsolvable mystery-- then this episode is for you!
More about David Pietraszewski: https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rGFYm8AAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
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| Consciousness with Michael Graziano | 20 Jan 2026 | 02:09:15 | |
Consciousness: is it really that hard of a problem? In this episode, we talk to our favorite mechanistically-minded (and possibly clearest) thinker about consciousness we've had the pleasure to stumble across, Michael Graziano (Princeton). Topics include why consciousness has been so hard to study, what it is, and what future (evolutionary) work on consciousness would look like. More about Michael Graziano: https://grazianolab.princeton.edu/ https://pni.princeton.edu/people/michael-graziano https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Graziano https://www.press53.com/michael-s-a-graziano https://www.amazon.com/stores/B.-B.-Wurge/author/B001JS4X0U? | |||
| Peace with Luke Glowacki | 13 Jan 2026 | 01:53:14 | |
The evolution of war has occupied science. But what about the evolution of peace? In this episode, we talk to Luke Glowacki about his framing of peace as requiring just as much, if not more, explanation, than the evolution of war, and how it comes about via cultural technology interacting with our evolved psychology. Other topics include the distribution of conflict, the Omo valley research project, and how to think about our own species through the lens of other species--including mongeese (mongooses?) More about Luke Glowacki: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=DaCQ-UIAAAAJ&hl=en https://www.bu.edu/anthrop/profile/luke-glowacki/
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| The Behavioral Immune System with Josh Tybur | 03 Feb 2026 | 02:17:58 | |
It stinks to be sick. Our guest, Josh Tybur (VU Amsterdam), is the one of the foremost experts on how our brain--or better yet, our "behavioral immune system"--helps us avoid pathogens while still navigating the necessities of social and physical life: eating, hugging, parenting, mating, and so on. Topics include whether pathogen avoidance actually drives attitudes towards social outgroups, how disgust, sex, and morality all interact (including David's pet theory of kinky sexual practices), and whether evolutionary mismatch is over-used and under-specified (or not). Oh, that whole world-wide pandemic thing. More about Josh Tybur: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Ash8oRMAAAAJ&hl=en
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| Selection with Paul Smaldino | 27 Jan 2026 | 02:04:12 | |
Intentions be damned! Whats matter is selection! In this episode, Paul Smaldino (UC Merced) takes us on a tour of his work on social signals, social identities, the perverse incentives of science, the stupidity and yet usefulness of models, and so much else. (Paul also shows us his small model of the solar system in the background). More about Paul Smaldino: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AwHfbP0AAAAJ&hl=en https://smalldinosaurs.bandcamp.com/album/dad-songs
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| Views of Mind with Clark Barrett | 10 Feb 2026 | 02:19:34 | |
In this episode, we talk to Clark Barrett (UCLA) about all the ways we understand the mind, and all the ways that that understanding may be weirder and wider that our intellectual inheritance would have it. Topics include: lies, hunting magic, predicting the future, spirituality, dreams, Freud, fish with two jaws, embodiment, art, physical intelligence, not discounting other views of the mind, Konrad Lorenz, and the music of the Shuar. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vIovbyUAAAAJ&hl=en https://www.geographyofphilosophy.com/
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| The Microbiome with Katrine Whiteson | 17 Feb 2026 | 01:56:44 | |
In this episode, we talk with Katrine Whiteson (UC Irvine) about her amazing work studying the human microbiome. We cannot stress enough how much we learned from this episode, from how to prevent your gut bacteria from becoming trashed by antibiotics, how to shop for food that will feed your healthy microbes and prevent blood sugar spikes. Other topics include: what's missing form our modern gut bacteria, the relationship between eating, cancer, and immune function, hunting for phages, and much more. A great example of using evolution to better understand our health. More about Katrine Whiteson: https://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=6103 https://kwhiteson.bio.uci.edu/ | |||
| Status and Personality with Patrick Durkee | 24 Feb 2026 | 02:19:43 | |
What is status? What is inspiration? What is personality? It all sounds simple and obvious, but in this episode with Patrick Durkee (CSU Fresno), we make "the familiar strange" and think through how an evolved mind may figure out how to invest our time and energy, what inspiration means, and what personality really is. More about Patrick Durkee: https://www.pdurkee.com/ https://csm.fresnostate.edu/about/directory/psych/durkee-patrick.html https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uj4K4rQAAAAJ&hl=en
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| Microchimerism with Amy Boddy | 03 Mar 2026 | 01:54:29 | |
Are we one, or do we contain multitudes? In this episode, we explore the bizarre and fascinating world of microchimerism with Amy Boddy (UCSB).
More about Amy Boddy: https://www.anth.ucsb.edu/people/amy-boddy https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jnNIBc4AAAAJ&hl=en
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| Cultural Evolution with Rob Boyd | 10 Mar 2026 | 02:11:52 | |
Along with Pete Richerson, Rob Boyd (ASU) is one of *the* founders of cultural evolution, and one of the key figures in connecting human behavior with evolution. A very special episode with one of the greats! To top it off, we have Rob's former PhD student (and previous guest) Cristina Moya, in the role of guest host. More about Rob Boyd: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Boyd_(anthropologist) https://search.asu.edu/profile/1952328 https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YucHqSsAAAAJ&hl=en
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| Stress with Jen Byrd-Craven | 17 Mar 2026 | 01:32:39 | |
What is stress? Is it useful? What is the endocrine system? Why do we need it (and why isn't a brain enough)? In this episode, we talk to Jen Byrd-Craven (Oklahoma State) about all things stress and endocrine. Other topics include development, supposedly "over-active" stress responses, rage-bait, chilling out, obesity, parenting, status, teaching history, and much more. More about Jen Byrd-Craven: https://byrd-cravenpsychobiologylab.mystrikingly.com/ https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MYyZEL4AAAAJ&hl=en
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| Music and Acoustics with Greg Bryant | 24 Mar 2026 | 01:58:10 | |
What's up with music? Why do vibrating strings tug on our emotions? And why can't most animals keep a beat? In this episode, we talk to Greg Bryant (UCLA) all about things acoustic and musical. Other topics include: the evolutionary logic of distortion in rock, laughter (including in rats!), and the psychology of perfect pitch and jamming.
More about Greg Bryant: https://gabryant.scholar.ss.ucla.edu/ https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=urz-QfkAAAAJ&hl=en Greg's music: https://gbryant.bandcamp.com/album/soft-assembly-of-a-die-hard
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| The Origins of evolutionary psychology with Martin Daly | 31 Mar 2026 | 02:00:21 | |
Along with Margo Wilson, Martin Daly (McMaster) is one the founding pioneers of evolutionary psychology. In this episode, we get Martin's take on the history and the field. Topics include studying real-world phenomena (like homicide), inequality, and how evolutionary biologists like Williams and Hamilton supported the upstart approach (and whether it's really a different approach at all), and what happens when you give a lab-reared rat the kind of plant that it evolved to eat out in the wild, but has never seen before. More about Martin Daly: https://www.martindaly.ca/ | |||
| Founding Evolutionary Psychology with Leda Cosmides | 07 Apr 2026 | 02:03:51 | |
A guest who needs no introduction. Leda Cosmides (UCSB) talks about how she and John Tooby co-founded the enterprise "evolutionary psychology"---including the how's, when's and why's---and what she thinks about current work. Other topics include why it's good for science to not be a jerk, and how she's come to understand what the heck behavioral and experimental economists are up to. More about Leda Cosmides: https://psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/leda-cosmides https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=V1vCfTYAAAAJ&hl=en
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| Causality with Tadeg Quillien | 14 Apr 2026 | 02:07:17 | |
Causality is....well...causality...it's hard to explain. And that's exactly what Tadeg Quillien (Edinburgh) does: figure out what the heck causality is, and how our mind does it. Other topics include domain generality vs. specificity, counterfactuals, relevance, morality, beliefs and theory of mind, and what it means to be computational, and how David Hume was pretty cool. More about Tadeg Quillien: https://quillienlab.github.io/people/ https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7h0VM_kAAAAJ&hl=fr
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| Revenge and Forgiveness with Mike McCullough | 21 Apr 2026 | 01:52:25 | |
Revenge, forgiveness, morality. Join us and our guest Mike McCullough (UC San Diego) as we navigate the deep cost/benefit structure of the social world. Topics include what punishment really is, why we should respect revenge, why victims may sometimes not seek help, and why times heals all wounds.
More about Mike McCullough: https://www.michael-mccullough.com/ https://psychology.ucsd.edu/people/profiles/mmccullough.html https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZyAttkAAAAAJ&hl=en
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