Psychology professor Diletta Barbiani⁠⁠ reports the surprisingly real results that fake (placebo) medicine has on the memory and stress levels of older adults⁠⁠. On Therapy Thursdays on a Wednesday, therapist Gary Direnfeld⁠⁠ fittingly celebrates National Volunteer Week⁠⁠ on the wrong week, and discusses the power volunteering can have on you. For Conspiracy Corner, political science professor Lee Kuhnle brings up a forgotten Cold War-era conspiracy theory about scientists disappearing to build a colony on Mars – and tells David how it's still applicable today. (Pre-order Lee's upcoming book Uncover Up: How to Think Clearly in an Age of Conspiracies here⁠⁠⁠⁠.) Psychological scientist Andy Luttrell⁠⁠ explains how certainty in your feelings toward your partner predicts relationship happiness and mental well-being⁠⁠. (Listen to Andy's podcast Opinion Science here⁠⁠.) Professor of transportation Jeff Casello⁠⁠ outlines the interesting ways that AI traffic lights can be use to ease congestion. Computer science professor Dongwook Yoon⁠⁠ reveals how AI chatbots can be extremely addictive, and their design may be partly to blame⁠⁠. Segments: (00:00) Introduction (01:15) Diletta Barbiani (10:00) Gary Direnfeld pt. 1 (20:00) Gary Direnfeld pt. 2 (30:00) Lee Kuhnle pt. 1 (39:50) Lee Kuhnle pt. 2 (49:50) Andy Luttrell (59:50) Jeff Casello (1:09:50) Dongwook Yoon (1:18:59) Sign-off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.