This is a first episode about the Israel-Palestine conflict. Our guest, Dr. Steven David is a scholar of international relations and security studies, and he discussed the conflict with us. This conversation largely explores the conflict from an Israeli (specifically a progressive Zionist) perspective. There are many issues we did not discuss, but we will likely explore in future episodes. Note: The episode was recorded on 1/16/2024, and reflects the information that was available at the...

In this episode, Manny and Dylan chat with Dr. Daniel Yudkin, a social psychologist and researcher at the organization More In Common. We talk about how and why people fundamentally misunderstand Americans’ political viewpoints, and what we can do about this problem.  (So sorry about Manny's audio quality! There was a mic issue and we had to use his webcam mic for the episode.) Daniel’s Substack - The Partial Spectator The “Hidden Tribes” of America The Perception Gap quiz More In...

In this episode Dylan interviews Manny about his first first-author paper! The paper investigates how people’s socioeconomic status relates to health (it’s a bit more complicated!). Manny’s paper (not pay walled!): ⁠https://academic.oup.com/abm/article/57/11/929/7281567⁠ Kraus episode: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/29DVydMRzGb Muscatell episode: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/p6g2VKPRzGb Why does everyone think they are middle class (not pay-walled!)?...

Manny and Dylan chat with Dr. David Karp, Professor in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego. We talk about the concept of "restorative justice" and how it can be applied specifically to the ongoing problem of sexual misconduct in colleges and universities. We also talk about some of the challenges to scaling up restorative justice, and address some of the reservations people may have about it compared with the mainstream justice system. Notes: ...

As Manny mentioned at the top of our previous episode (#30) featuring Dr. Laura Edwards-Leeper, we continued the conversation a bit to discuss some topics related to gender dysphoric youth, as well as societal attitudes/prejudice towards transgender individuals. Manny and Dylan discuss how we can interpret polling data and what schools should do to support gender diverse students (and their parents). Support for sex change goes down:...

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Laura Edwards-Leeper, a pioneer in our understanding of youth gender transition. Dr. Edwards-Leeper is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in gender and Professor Emerita of the School of Graduate Psychology at Pacific University in Oregon. She works with gender diverse and transgender children, adolescents and adults. Dr. Edwards-Leeper was a member of the American Psychological Association Task Force that developed practice guidelines for...

We're back! We're kicking off a new season of episodes with an interview with Dr. Paul Bloom to discuss his new book Psych. We discuss science communication, the limits and value of psychology, whether researchers should be siloed in academia, the problem with empathy, if kids are little bigots, and if social psychology isn't paying enough attention to policy. Psych: The Story of The Human Mind Paul’s webpage (with links to other books), Substack “Small Potatoes” and Twitter Research...

In this episode we talk about Dylan’s newly published study about romantic infidelity in Ashley Madison users. We talk about the ethics of cheating and dishonesty, and whether someone can truly “love” their spouse while having sex with another person. We also talk about what it was like to survey Ashley Madison users about their affairs, and whether we can truly trust them.  This will be our last episode for a bit, while we take a Summer travel break. See you in August! Dylan’s Psychology...

In this episode we spoke with 2 experts on the topics of mental health, mindful self-compassion, and leadership. These are topics that are not only important for people’s general well-being, but also for how people function in their workplaces, and in other areas of life. On the research side, we have Dr. Remy Jennings and on the practitioner side, we have Janine Johnston. Dr. Jennings is an Assistant Professor in the College of Business at Florida State University. Janine Johnston is an...

In this episode we have a discussion with Dr. Erica Anderson about the consensus (and lack thereof) within the trans healthcare community. Topics include: conservative anti-trans legislation, ROGD, desistence, affirmative care vs explorative therapy, trans healthcare in Europe, and the ethics of debating trans healthcare in the popular press. Sources: WPATH statement opposing discussion in the lay press:...

Dylan and Manny chat with Dr. Chris Ferguson about the “social media hypothesis” of mental health. Dr. Ferguson is a clinical psychologist and professor at Stetson University. His research speciality is in media technology, and has co-written Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games Is Wrong. We talk about social comparison, suicide, moral panics, the “nocebo effect,” and more. The three of us push back against the popular view that social media use is causing poor mental health, but...

In this episode, we interview Stanford psychology professor, Dr. Greg Walton. We discuss: The successful ways that Greg has used "wise interventions" to address social problems like educational inequalities. The importance of social belonging and how feelings of belonging uncertainty can create a downward spiral. Most importantly: Greg's new paper in Science! We focus on what the social belonging intervention is, why it worked, how the effects are influenced by the social context, how...

In this episode of the podcast we take a crash course on transgender identity and terminology, statistics on transition and stigma (and associated mental health issues) within the trans community, transition in adults and kids, gender-affirming care, and the difficulties faced by trans individuals who engage with the medical system to get care. Dr. McLamore is bursting at the seams with knowledge on the topic, so there are more citations than usual. We had a much longer conversation than we...

In this episode, we are joined by Andrew Devendorf to discuss mental health stigma and how--even among mental health professionals--people often have to hide their mental health conditions or receive social backlash for them. We discuss how this effects research, clinical work, youtube videos, and the broader culture. Suicidal ideation in non-depressed individuals: The effects of a chronic, misunderstood illness:...

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Beth Livingston to take a critical look at a recent paper that criticized "woke" DEI efforts. Waldman & Sparr - Rethinking Diversity Strategies: An Application of Paradox and Positive Organization Behavior Theories Thomason, Opie, Livingston & Sitzmann: “Woke” Diversity Strategies: Science or Sensationalism? Woke (Dictionary.com) Stop WOKE act was deemed unconstitutional Amy Wax says white culture is superior Chris Rufo's work is...

In this episode, we interview Dr. Adam Mastroianni. We discuss misperceptions about social progress and political hatred. We also have an extended discussion about the problems with the scientific system of peer review and what we can do to fix those problems. Adam's Blog: https://experimentalhistory.substack.com/ Adam's article on misperceptions about society: https://experimentalhistory.substack.com/p/youre-probably-wrong-about-how-things Adamn's article on political hatred:...

In this episode, we discuss the high profile case of Steven Robert's mistreatment at Perspective on Psychological Science (PoPS). We recorded an interesting and productive discussion with Steven, but he decided against publication of our conversation with him. We thought this topic was too important to not do an episode on, so we recorded our thoughts on the subject without Steven.  The episode includes: Steven's post-PoPS experiences (that he said we could share with the audience), our...

In this episode, Manny and Dylan talk with Dr. Jennifer Harman, Associate Professor of Psychology at Colorado State University. The discussion focuses on the topic of parental alienation, or when one parent turns their children against the other parent. When and why does this happen? What can it do to kids and what can we do about it?  Show notes: https://theconversation.com/parental-alienation-what-it-means-and-why-it-matters-60763 Parents behaving badly: Gender biases in the perception...

In this episode, Manny and Dylan chat with Dr. Kalynda Smith about her work on body image and health. Dr. Smith presents a nuanced view on this topic. We acknowledge that while obesity is a significant factor in physical health, at the same time we cannot judge people’s health just by looking at their bodies. Dr. Smith also advocates for focusing on behaviors such as eating healthy foods and exercise, rather than an oversimplified focus on body weight. Dr. Smith’s faculty webpage Dr....

In this episode, we dive into a discussion of anti-racism with Dr. Erec Smith. Dr. Smith is a Professor of English Language, Literacy and Rhetoric at York College of Pennsylvania. He is the author of several books, is a Writing Fellow for Heterodox Academy, and is a co-founder of Free Black Thought. Dr. Smith is an ardent critic of certain ideas relevant to DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) and anti-racism that have gained popularity and attention in liberal institutions. We have some...

We discuss Dr. Higginbotham's interesting approach to psychological research: using history as a guide. Specifically we discuss his paper which found that racially resentful White Americans were less supportive of gun rights when Black (vs. White) Americans showed greater use of their gun rights. The studies results harken back to how gun control legislation (Mulford Act of 1967) was used to undermine the gun rights of The Black Panther Party in California. Social Psychological Research on...

This is an episode we've been looking forward to since the inception of the podcast. We sat down and talked with Scott Barry Kaufman, one of the more famous living psychologists, about his work on self-actualization, coaching, education and intelligence, scientific controversies, and more. Check out Scott's new book! Choose Growth: A Workbook for Transcending Trauma, Fear, and Self-Doubt Center for the Science of Human Potential Scott's webpage @sbkaufman on Twitter and scottbarrykaufman...

In the beginning of the episode we discuss the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policy from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP): https://spsp.org/events/demonstrating-our-commitment-anti-racism-through-programming-and-events We reference a statement written by Jonathan Haidt and Lee Jussim complaining about this policy: https://unsafescience.substack.com/p/mandatory-diversity-equity-and-inclusion Finally, we quickly discuss a recent paper in the Proceedings of the...

Dr. Enders joined us to talk about his recent paper published in the journal Political Behavior which is called, Are Republicans and Conservatives More Likely to Believe Conspiracy Theories? It seems like your answer to that question is no. We discuss this paper and explore how political beliefs and conspiracy beliefs relate to each other.  Dr. Enders’s paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35909894/ The impact of economic inequality on conspiracy beliefs:...