The Michael Shermer Show

296. Stephen Bloom on Jane Elliott's Famous Experiment on Race and Brutality and What It Reveals About Today's Racial Divide

06 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This conversation explores the never-before-told true story of Jane Elliott and the "Blue-Eyes, Brown-Eyes Experiment" she made world-famous, using ey...

295. Marian Tupy & Gale Pooley — Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet

30 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Is it true that the world's rapidly growing population is consuming the planet's natural resources at an alarming rate that would require two Earths t...

294. Sabine Hossenfelder — Existential Physics: A Scientist's Guide to Life's Biggest Questions

23 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What is time? Does the past still exist? How did the universe begin and how will it end? Do particles think? Was the universe made for us? Why doesn't...

293. Konstantin Kisin — An Immigrant's Love Letter to the West

19 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer and Kisin discuss: growing up in Russia • "The Talk" Russian parents give their children • What is the "West" and how do Russians view it ...

292. Gary Marcus — Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust

16 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Despite the hype surrounding AI, creating an intelligence that rivals or exceeds human levels is far more complicated than we have been led to believe...

291. Rob Ashton — Silent Influence and the Science of Writing, Reading, and Communicating

09 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer and Ashton discuss: what it's like advising Google and Buckingham Palace on how to communicate • what makes writing appealing and effective ...

290. Anastacia Marx de Salcedo — Eat like a Pig, Run Like a Horse

02 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer and de Salcedo discuss: her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis at age 27 • her long-term psychological strategy for living with a serious illne...

289. James Kirchick — Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington

26 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is sponsored by Wren. Signup at wren.co/shermer and Wren will plant 10 trees in your name. Start a monthly subscription to fund climate s...

288. Lucy Cooke — Bitch: On the Female of the Species

19 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Since Charles Darwin, evolutionary biologists have been convinced that the males of the animal kingdom are the interesting ones dominating and promisc...

287. Bobby Azarian — Life, the Universe, and Cosmic Complexity

12 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this conversation based on his new book, The Romance of Reality, cognitive neuroscientist Bobby Azarian explains how for centuries the question Why...

286. Kevin McCaffree — How Societies Change and Why

09 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Since the dawn of social science, theorists have debated how and why societies appear to change, develop and evolve. Today, this question is pursued b...

285. Helen Joyce — Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality

05 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Biological sex is no longer accepted as a basic fact of life. It is forbidden to admit that female people sometimes need protection and privacy from m...

284. Yoram Hazony on Traditional Conservatism vs. Enlightenment Liberalism

28 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this conversation based on his new book, political theorist Yoram Hazony argues that the best hope for Western democracy is a return to the empiric...

283. Michael Strevens — The Knowledge Machine: How Irrationality Created Modern Science

25 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer and Strevens discuss: irrationality and how it drives science • the scientific method • the knowledge machine • irrationality • the re...

282. Anil Seth on the Hard Problem of Consciousness, the Self, and the Essence of Volition

21 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer and Seth discuss: "mind" and "consciousness" in context of understanding how molecules and matter give rise to such nonmaterial processes • ...

281. Moneyball For Your Life: Seth Stephens-Davidowitz on Using Data to Get What You Really Want

18 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Most people rely on their gut instinct to decide how to date, who to marry, where to live, what career path to take, how to find happiness, but what i...

280. Sam Rosenfeld on Party Polarization in the Postwar United States

14 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer and Rosenfeld discuss: why we have a duopoly • gerrymandering • voting restrictions • how we know all elections are not rigged • abort...

279. Ian Morris on Deep Time and Big History

11 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer and Morris discuss: the history of Big/Deep History • the US, UK, Europe and the West in the context of Russia and China and his book Why th...

278. "Big Historian" David Christian on Time, the Near and Far Future, Transhumanism, Interstellar Migrations, the Fate of Our Species, and the End of Time

07 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The future is uncertain, a bit spooky, possibly dangerous, maybe wonderful. We cope with this never-ending uncertainty by telling stories about the fu...

277. Michel Gagné — How to Think About Conspiracy Theories

04 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As we approach the sixtieth anniversary of the violent public assassination of President John F. Kennedy, over half of all Americans surveyed continue...

276. Andrew Yang — Not Left. Not Right. Forward.

31 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Shermer speaks with Andrew Yang about the Forward Party, the future of politics in a party duopoly, political partisanship, and how to bring a...

275. The Disrupted Mind: Noga Arikha on What Happens to Identity When the Brain Is Assaulted by Disease and Injury

28 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer and Arikha discuss: what it means for a mind to be disrupted • dementia, senility, and Alzheimer's disease • mental illness and the labeli...

274. Frans De Waal on Sex and Gender Across the Primate Spectrum

24 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What is gender? How different are men and women? Are differences due to biological sex or to culture? How do they compare with what is known about our...

273. Cathy Young — The Russian Riddle Wrapped in a Ukrainian Mystery Inside an American Enigma

21 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer and Young discuss: Florida's "Don't say 'gay'" law • What is the appropriate age to discuss sex and gender issues with children? • sex, ge...

272. Stuart Vyse — The Uses of Delusion: Why It's Not Always Rational to Be Rational

17 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer and Vyse discuss: What is a delusion? • veridical perception • perceptual illusions and irrationalities • Kahneman vs. Gigerenzer: ratio...

271. Peter Ward — The Price of Immortality: The Race to Live Forever

14 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer and Ward discuss: religious immortality • Church of Perpetual Life in Florida • what it means to live forever • why lives have doubled i...

270. Surprising Power of Game Theory to Explain Irrationality (Moshe Hoffman and Erez Yoeli)

10 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer, Hoffman, and Yoeli discuss: the problems game theory was developed to solve • How rational or irrational an animal are we? • the evolutio...

269. Richard Dawkins — Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution

07 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Do you sometimes dream you can fly like a bird? Gliding effortlessly above the treetops, soaring and swooping, playing and dodging through the third d...

268. Douglas Murray on The War on the West: Race, Politics, and Culture

03 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer and Murray discuss: what it takes to become a successful writer • Is this "war" on Western civilization just a necessary course correction f...

267. Louis Theroux on Neo-Nazis, Jimmy Savile, UFO Cults, and Scientology

30 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer and Theroux discuss: how documentary films are made • religious fanaticism and why people believe • UFO cults, end-times sects, and cognit...

266. Jesse Singal on Why Fad Psychology Can't Cure Our Social Ills

26 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Michal Shermer and Jesse Singal discuss: how social scientists determine causality • Primeworld: cognitive priming and how it works (and doesn't wor...

265. Christopher Blattman on Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace

23 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer and Blattman discuss: Putin, Russia, and Ukraine • game theory and violent conflict • 5 Reasons for conflict and war • common elements o...

264. Adam Levin on Identity Theft and How to Protect Yourself from Scammers, Phishers, and Fraudsters of All Types

18 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Increasingly, identity theft is a fact of life: from fake companies selling "credit card insurance"; criminal, medical, and child identity theft; catp...

263. Dave Rubin — Left, Right, and Woke, based on his book Don't Burn This Country: Surviving and Thriving in Our Woke Dystopia

16 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this conversation, Shermer speaks with Dave Rubin: New York Times bestselling author, and creator and host of The Rubin Report. According to Rubin,...

262. Oliver Stone on Ukraine, Putin, and the Military-Industrial Complex

12 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In episode 262, Shermer speaks with Oliver Stone about: the relationship with truth in dramatic films vs. documentary films; how the world would be di...

261. Jim Al-Khalili on the Joy of Science

09 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this conversation with quantum physicist, New York Times bestselling author, and BBC host Jim Al-Khalili reveals how 8 lessons from the heart of sc...

260. Batya Ungar-Sargon — Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy

05 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Something is wrong with American journalism. Long before "fake news" became the calling card of the Right, Americans had lost faith in their news medi...

259. Ogi Ogas — Journey of the Mind: How Thinking Emerged from Chaos

02 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Why do you exist? How did atoms and molecules transform into sentient creatures that experience longing, regret, compassion, and even marvel at their ...

258. Jacek Kugler — Putin & Power Transition Theory: China, Russia, and Ukraine

29 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Shermer speaks with Professor of International Relations, Dr. Jacek Kugler, about his Power Transition Theory which states that an even distri...

257. Simon Conway Morris on Design in Evolution & the Possibility of Purpose in the Cosmos

26 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If extraterrestrial intelligences exist, will look anything like us? Are we alone in the cosmos? If we reran the tape of life, would humans appear aga...

256. Imagining the Future with Reality Game Designer and Futurist Jane McGonigal

22 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer speaks with world-renowned future forecaster and game designer, Jane McGonigal, about her book Imaginable in which she draws on the latest sci...

255. David Chalmers — Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy

19 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer speaks with University Professor of Philosophy and Neural Science and codirector of the Center for Mind, Brain and Consciousness at New York U...

254. Ravi Gupta on the Lost Debate: Whatever Happened to Reasoned Discussion and Respectable Disagreement?

15 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer speaks with Ravi Gupta, the Founder and CEO of Lost Debate, a new non-profit media company that launched in October 2021 to fight polarization...

253. Jennifer Sciubba on Putin, Russia, Ukraine, National & Global Security, and How Population Demographics Shape Our Future

12 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer speaks with political demographer, former demographics consultant to the United States Department of Defense, and author of The Future Faces o...

252. John Mueller on Putin's War: Russia, Ukraine, and NATO

08 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this conversation with the renowned Ohio State University political scientist John Mueller, author of The Stupidity of War, Retreat from Doomsday: ...

251. Kelly Weill on Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People Will Believe Anything

01 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Since 2015, there has been a spectacular boom in a nearly 200-year-old delusion — the idea that we all live on a flat plane, under a solid dome, rin...

250. Will Sanctions Work? War in Ukraine.

25 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

An analysis of Russia's war on Ukraine. Will sanctions work? This episode is a reading from Michael Shermer's post on Substack entitled: "Putin's Prob...

249. Barbara F. Walter on How Civil Wars Start and How to Stop Them, including in the United States

22 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Political violence rips apart several towns in southwest Texas. A far-right militia plots to kidnap the governor of Michigan and try her for treason. ...

248. Elizabeth Weiss on Woke Archaeology and Erasing the Past

15 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer and anthropologist Elizabeth Weiss discuss: fossil ownership; how anthropologists draw conclusions about past peoples through their study of s...

247. Jacob Mchangama on Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media

08 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Hailed as the "first freedom," free speech is the bedrock of democracy, and it is subject to erosion in times of upheaval. Today, in democracies and a...

246. Nick Pope on UAPs, UFOs, Conspiracies, and Cover-ups

01 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer speaks with author, journalist, and TV personality Nick Pope about: what it was like working for the Ministry of Defense as their UFO expert; ...

245. Frank Sulloway on How Lives Turn Out: Genes, Environment, Pluck, and Luck

29 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer and Sulloway discuss: relative roles of genes, environment, hard work, and luck in how lives turn out; 60s and 70s Harvard culture; his relati...

244. Johnjoe McFadden — Life is Simple: How Occam's Razor Set Science Free and Shapes the UniverseMcFadden — Life is Simple: How Occam's Razor Set Science Free and Shapes the Universe

25 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Centuries ago, the principle of Ockham's razor changed our world by showing simpler answers to be preferable and more often true. In Life Is Simple, s...

243. Sally Satel on Addiction, the Opioid Crisis, Deaths of Despair, and How Psychiatry Has Gone Woke

22 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer and Satel discuss: how political correctness has corrupted medicine; how wokeness and social justice activism has corrupted psychiatry; what i...

242. Jonathan Gottschall — The Story Paradox: How Our Love of Storytelling Builds Societies and Tears Them Down

18 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Humans are storytelling animals. Stories are what make our societies possible. Countless books celebrate their virtues. But Jonathan Gottschall, an ex...

241. Jeff Maurer — I Might Be Wrong

15 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Shermer speaks with writer, comedian, and five-time Emmy winning Senior Writer for John Oliver's Last Week Tonight, Jeff Maurer, about the nat...

240. Leonard Mlodinow — Emotional: How Feelings Shape Our Thinking

11 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

xtraordinary advances in psychology and neuroscience have proven that emotions are as critical to our well-being as thinking. In this conversation, Sh...

239. Richard Firth-Godbehere — A Human History of Emotion: How the Way We Feel Built the World We Know

04 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We humans like to think of ourselves as rational creatures, who, as a species, have relied on calculation and intellect to survive. But many of the mo...

238. Brian Klass — Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How it Changes Us

28 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Does power corrupt, or are corrupt people drawn to power? Are entrepreneurs who embezzle and cops who kill the result of poorly designed systems or ar...

237. David Wengrow on The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

21 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike — either free and equal innocents, or thuggish and warlike. Civiliza...

236. Fernanda Pirie on The Rule of Laws: A 4,000-Year Quest to Order the World

18 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rulers throughout history have used laws to impose order. But laws were not simply instruments of power and social control. They also offered ordinary...

235. Thomas Sowell: The Life and Work of the Legendary Social Theorist (Jason Riley)

14 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Shermer speaks with Jason Riley about Maverick — the first-ever biography of Thomas Sowell, one of the great social theorists of our age. In a caree...

234. Matt Ridley on the Search for the Origin of COVID-19

11 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A new virus descended on the human species in 2019 wreaking unprecedented havoc. Finding out where it came from and how it first jumped into people is...

233. Goodbye Pat Linse, Skeptic Co-founder and My Best Friend…

07 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Shermer shares his thoughts on life and death, in an emotional remembrance of his friend and business partner of 30 years, Pat Linse (1947–2...

232. Amishi Jha on Learning How to Pay Attention to Your Attention

04 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Research shows we are missing 50 percent of our lives because we aren't paying attention. Many of us often feel mentally foggy, scattered, and overwhe...

231. Jason Hill on What White Americans Owe Black People

30 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this conversation with Jason Hill based on his book What do White Americans Owe Black People? Racial Justice in the Age of Post-Oppression, Shermer...

230. Bart Ehrman — Did the Christmas Story Really Happen? The Birth of Jesus in History & Legend

27 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Shermer speaks with renowned biblical scholar and historian, Bart Ehrman, about: how we know Jesus existed and was crucified; how these questi...

229. Fritjof Capra on Patterns of Connection: Is there a Tao of physics? Is life a web? Is humanity at a turning point?

23 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Shermer speaks with scientist, educator, activist, and accomplished author, Fritjof Capra, about the evolution of his thinking over five decad...

228. Steven Koonin on what climate science tells us, what it doesn't, and why it matters, based on his book Unsettled

20 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

According to Steven Koonin, when it comes to climate change, the media, politicians, and other prominent voices have declared that "the science is set...

227. Richard Nisbett on Thinking & Reason

16 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this wide-ranging conversation Shermer and Nisbett discuss Nisbett's research showing how people reason, how people should reason, why errors in re...

226. Suzanne Nossel on defending free speech for all, based on her book Dare to Speak

13 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Online trolls and fascist chat groups. Controversies over campus lectures. Cancel culture versus censorship. The daily hazards and debates surrounding...

225. Nancy Segal — Deliberately Divided: Inside the Controversial Study of Twins and Triplets Adopted Apart

09 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the early 1960s, the head of a prominent New York City Child Development Center and a psychiatrist from Columbia University launched a study design...

224. Bobby Duffy on The Generation Myth: Why When You're Born Matters Less Than You Think

06 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Boomers are narcissists. Millennials are spoiled. Gen Zers are lazy. We assume people born around the same time have basically the same values. But, d...

223. Paul Bloom on the pleasures of suffering and the meaning of life

02 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We go to movies that make us cry, or scream, or gag. We poke at sores, eat spicy foods, immerse ourselves in hot baths, run marathons. Some of us even...

222. Suzanne O'Sullivan on psychosomatic disorders and other mystery illnesses

30 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Shermer speaks with award-winning Irish neurologist Suzanne O'Sullivan about her work exploring the complexity of psychogenic illness affectin...

221. Antonio Damasio — Feeling & Knowing: Making Minds Conscious

26 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In recent decades, many philosophers and cognitive scientists have declared the problem of consciousness unsolvable, but Antonio Damasio is convinced ...

220. Charles Foster on Being a Human: Adventures in Forty Thousand Years of Consciousness

23 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Drawing on psychology, neuroscience, natural history, agriculture, medical law and ethics, Charles Foster, in Being a Human, makes an audacious attem...

219. In-Person Conversation (in Shermer's Home) with Steven Pinker on Rationality: What it is, Why it Seems Scarce, Why it Matters in Shermer's Home

19 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this conversation with Steven Pinker on his new book Rationality, the Harvard psychologist and Michael Shermer discuss how today humanity is reachi...

218. Craig Whitlock — The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War

16 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Unlike the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 had near-unanimous public support. At first, the goals were straightforwar...

217. Mary Grabar on the 1619 Project, Howard Zinn, Historical Revisionism, and Pseudohistory

12 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Shermer speaks with Mary Grabar about her books Debunking the 1619 Project: Exposing the Plan to Divide America and Debunking Howard Zinn: Exp...

216. Kathryn Paige Harden — The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality

09 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In recent years, scientists have shown that DNA makes us different, in our personalities and in our health — and in ways that matter for educational...

215. Mary Eberstadt on God, Religion, Secularization, Sexual Revolution, and Identity Politics

05 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this conversation on two of the hottest social and cultural issues of our day — the decline of religion and the rise of identity politics, Mary E...

214. Tom Nichols — Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault From Within on Modern Democracy

02 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Democracy is in trouble. Why? In Our Own Worst Enemy, Tom Nichols challenges the current depictions of the rise of illiberal and anti-democratic movem...

213. Mike Rothschild — The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything

28 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Shermer speaks with Mike Rothschild, a journalist specializing in conspiracy theories, about QAnon and its followers. On October 5th, 2017, Pr...

212. Gale Sinatra & Barbara Hofer — Science Denial: Why It Happens and What to Do About It

25 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Shermer speaks with Gale Sinatra and Barbara Hofer about the key psychological explanations for science denial and doubt that can help provide...

211. Ashley Rindsberg — The Gray Lady Winked: How the New York Times's Misreporting, Distortions and Fabrications Radically Alter History

21 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Shermer speaks with Ashley Rindsberg about his book The Gray Lady Winked in which he pulls back the curtain on the the world's most powerful n...

210. Leidy Klotz on doing more with less, based on his book Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less

18 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We pile on "to-dos" but don't consider "stop-doings." We create incentives for good behavior, but don't get rid of obstacles to it. We collect new-and...

209. Heather Heying & Bret Weinstein on Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life, Based on Their New Book a Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century

14 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We are living through the most prosperous age in all of human history, yet people are more listless, divided and miserable than ever. Wealth and comfo...

208. The Truth About 9/11 and Terrorism

10 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this special episode of the podcast Michael Shermer honors the 20th anniversary of 9/11 with a commentary on the truth about that event and how it ...

207. John Petrocelli — The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit

07 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Bullshit is the foundation of contaminated thinking and bad decisions that leads to health consequences, financial losses, legal consequences, broken ...

206. Nichola Raihani — The Social Instinct: How Cooperation Shaped the World

04 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Cooperation is the means by which life arose in the first place. It's how we progressed through scale and complexity, from free-floating strands of ge...

205. Richard Dawkins on evangelizing for evolution, science, skepticism, philosophy, reason, and rationality, based on his book Books Do Furnish a Life: Reading and Writing Science

01 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In episode 205, Michael Shermer speaks with Richard Dawkins, the author of The Selfish Gene, voted The Royal Society's Most Inspiring Science Book of ...

204. Carole Hooven on T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us

28 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In episode 204, Michael Shermer speaks with codirector of undergraduate studies in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University,...

203. Lee McIntyre — How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason

24 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Climate change is a hoax — and so is coronavirus." "Vaccines are bad for you." These days, many of our fellow citizens reject scientific expertise ...

202. Julia Galef — The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't

21 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When it comes to what we believe, humans see what they want to see. We have what Julia Galef calls a "soldier" mindset: a drive to defend the ideas we...

201. Michael Shermer on Evolution, I.D. Theory, Consciousness, Morality, Gullibility, and Nothing (AMA # 7)

18 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this AMA Dr. Michael Shermer answers your questions about evolution and creationism, intelligent design theory, the hard problem of consciousness, ...

200. Philip Zimbardo on the Nature & Nurture of Good & Evil

15 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

August 15 marks the 50th anniversary of day one of the Stanford Prison Experiment — one of the most controversial studies in the history of social p...

199. David Potter — Disruption: Why Things Change

10 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This conversation takes a deep dive into disruptions. How do things change? The question is critical to the historical study of any era but it is also...

198. Bernardo Kastrup on the Nature of Reality: Materialism, Idealism, or Skepticism

07 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this expansive conversation, Michael Shermer speaks with Bernardo Kastrup, the executive director of Essentia Foundation. His work has been leading...

197. Yaron Brook on Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, and Objectivism

03 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Shermer speaks with entrepreneur, writer, and activist Yaron Brook about Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, Objectivism; individualism vs. collectivism...