A Bit More Complicated

We welcome Dr. Michael Kraus to the podcast to talk about his research on the psychology of racial inequality. We discuss the fact that people can't solve a problem if they don't know it exists, and strategies to help people see the ways in which inequality manifests. We also talk a bit about sports and research on physical touch in basketball (Dr. Kraus is a Warriors fan).  Episode 2 featuri...

In this episode, we revisit the research on abortion and mental health in light of some listener feedback. We also critique some of the commentaries on the Turnaway study. (Note: Manny's audio was a bit wonky and couldn't be fixed, the audio issues should be fixed by next episode!) Pipette Pen statement : http://www.thepipettepen.com/swac-board-statement-on-abortion-and-the-overturning-of-roe-v-wa...

In this episode, Manny and Dylan speak with Dr. Haider Warraich about one of his recent publications on voting behavior and mortality rates in counties across the USA. His research found that overall, American mortality rate is going down (which is a good thing–we’re living longer!) but that the rate of mortality rate decline is higher in Democratic counties than in Republican counties. Manny sugg...

In this episode continued the conversation about abortion that we began in episode 8. To help us understand the link between abortion and mental health, we were joined by Dr. Julia Steinberg, a professor and researcher at the University of Maryland’s school of Public health. Dr. Steinberg studies whether abortion (and lack of abortion access) is linked to mental health problems and how mental heal...

A quick note at the top of the episode here. What follows is a quick addendum to our episode with Dr. Kristen Mark where we discussed sex education. Dylan wrote an article on his blog where he elaborated on false polarization on the topic of sex education. So we got on a call and chatted about that topic for a few minutes. This addendum was recorded after the episode on attitudes about abortion, b...

In the wake of the leaded Supreme Court decision to essentially overturn Roe v. Wade, we decided to do an episode on the science of abortion attitudes. Manny and Dylan discuss Americans’ attitudes towards abortion with Dr. Kristen Jozkowski, who is the William L. Yarber Endowed Professor in Sexual Health at Indiana University Bloomington. She has written extensively on the topic of public opinions...

In this episode, Dylan and Manny chat about sex education with Dr. Kristen Mark. Kristen is the Joycelyn Elders Endowed Chair in Sexual Health Education and a tenured Professor at University of Minnesota Medical School. She is the Director of Education in the Institute for Sexual and Gender Health in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, and also an Affiliate Research Faculty at...

In this episode, we interview Jake Womick and Tom Costello about psychological similarities and differences between liberals and conservatives. Jake is a postdoctoral scholar working with Dr. Kurt Gray at UNC. Tom is working with David Rand at MIT & Gordon Pennycook at University of Regina. We hope you enjoy this conversation. Manny and Jake's article on this topic. Evidence that conserva...

In this episode, Manny interviews Dylan (no, not a typo) about his research on the psychology of dreams. We talk about how dreams are a social phenomenon, how they connect with daily experiences and ongoing concerns, as well as personality traits such as attachment style. Dylan talks about some formative personal experiences he had which inspired his research. We also talk about how dreams are con...

The conclusion of our interview with Dr. Nicolè Ford on the war between Ukraine and Russia. If you haven't yet, listen to Part 1 of this interview first (Ep. 3).  Dr. Nicolè Ford’s webpage & Twitter Dr. Ford’s recent article Dr. Sam Greene’s twitter thread on EU & a rticle Peer reviewed pub by Kari Roberts on NATO & Crimea invasion Interview w John Mearsheimer about Putin’s aggres...

In this episode, Manny and Dylan interview Dr. Nicolè Ford, who holds a Ph. D. in political science and whose specific area of expertise is on Ukraine and Russia. In the episode, we dive into a deep understanding of this horrible war. Dr. Ford schools us on the historical context, NATO, Putin’s ambitions, and more. We really appreciate Dr. Ford’s knowledge and insight into this topic. Dr. Nicolè F...

In this episode, Manny and Dylan talk about a recent high-profile tenure decision involving Michael Kraus, a psychologist and Associate Professor at the Yale School of Management. Do Ivy League schools promote from within? Are tenure decisions based on merit, or based on ideological preferences of senior faculty? Then, we highlight some of Kraus’s influential research, and specifically do a deep d...

[UPDATED AUDIO] In this episode, Manny and Dylan chat with Will Blakey, a post-bac researcher at UNC. Will, along with social psychologist Kurt Gray, recently published a Substack article about our changing perceptions of evil in the world, and a psychological phenomenon known as “concept creep.” Why do we see more villains in the world now compared to 30 years ago? Notes: Will and Kurt’s Substack...

Manny and Dylan launch a podcast! Here is a brief introduction to the podcast.