Adventurous Minds

Have you ever thought about what viewing a beautiful piece of art, natural landscape or face does to your brain? It turns out, aesthetic experiences actually impact the chemistry in your brain, and can be used to help ease anxiety and stress. What are the evolutionary reasons behind this appeal for beauty? How does "beauty" vs imperfection embed itself into our biases? And how can beauty...

Did you think Latin is an ancient language? Well what about the languages that came before that? Tocharian is a language pre-dating Latin and a branch to the ancestor of the Latin language. Michael Weiss, professor of historical linguistics at Cornell University, joins the podcast to discuss how languages have evolved through history, decoding ancient extinct languages and more. Follow us on insta...

The Amazon rainforest is one of the most magical places on Earth. Once thought to be too wild for human civilization to flourish, advancements in technology have revealed signs of ancient cities once thriving in the rainforest. Our guest, Dr. Glenn Shepard, has spent over 20 years in the Amazon as an ethnobotanist, studying the intersection of Amazonian cultures and the plants they use. Listen as...

Effective altruism is the philosophy and social movement that uses evidence and reasoning to determine the most effective ways to benefit others. Luke Freeman is Executive Director of Giving What We Can , a global community dedicated to giving effectively. We discuss how to stay connected to charitable giving when the world seems full of despair, human psychology, optimism and what he's learne...

Food plays a big role in your every day life. It turns out, food has played an even big role in shaping the world as we know it. From the American Revolution, to the conditions that have led us to a 40-hour work week, food (and drink) has played a pivotal role in the evolution of humanity for thousands of years. Hear legends of man-eating birds protecting rare spices, the truth about classic regio...

Are we designed to die? Is there a evolutionary need to die? And more importantly, what does our body do to survive? In our latest episode, we explore the impact of genetics vs lifestyle, our key biological functions and other key factors in the science of longevity. Today's guest is Professor Coleen Murphy, Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University, Director of Lewis-Sigler Insti...

Can a computer ever really achieve consciousness? What role should AI play in human lives? And what comes next? In the latest episode of Adventurous Minds, we're joined by Terry Winograd, professor emeritus of Stanford University and Founder of the Stanford Human–Computer Interaction Group. Professor Winograd has spent his career working, researching and teaching about AI and HCI, including ad...

A star map created as a gift for astronomers in the year 3,000, a Renaissance-era group chat between the most famous scientists of the age and centuries of scientific rivalries. The history of scientific cooperation is a complicated and fascinating story worth understanding as world powers struggles to cooperate today on some of our most crucial goals. On our latest episode, I'm joined by Prof...

Who am I? If you've ever thought about this fundamental question, you're in the right spot. It turns out, understanding your personal identity is crucial to your overall health and wellbeing. It also may be the hardest time in human history to figure it out. To help us understand, I'm joined by Dr. Jeffrey Arnett, Professor and Senior Research Scholar at Clark University, Founder of Th...

What happens to a monk's brain when meditating? How did religion help early humans survive? Is there a scientific connection between the religious experiences people self-report and something beyond the brain? In our inaugural episode of Adventurous Minds, we are joined by Dr. Patrick McNamara, Department of Psychology at National University, Associate Professor of Neurology at Boston Universi...

A new passion project from my mind to yours. Adventurous Minds is a podcast hosted by someone who thinks about a lot, but knows a little. The universe is a vast place and we’re all just a small part of it. Everyone is caught up in their day to day lives, but this podcast is for those that enjoy the abstract, thought experiments, societal changes and what makes us human. In a world with infinite po...