Converging Dialogues

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jenara Nerenberg about the complexities of neurodiversity. They begin by defining neurodiversity and highly sensitive people. They also talk about Jenara's critiques of psychiatry and psychology, specifically the diagnostic process. They discuss the curious evolution of diagnoses and the grey areas where people have challenges but not a full diag...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Marcelo Sanchez-Villagra about animal domestication. They define domestication and how it is a process. They talk about niche construction and the three pathways of domestication. They mention the impact of agriculture, wild and semi-domestication, hybridization and adaptive radiation, as well as the impact of globalization and urbanization. They...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with David McPherson about the virtues of limits. They discuss the six limiting virtues and 4 limits. They discuss the origins of virtues and the two stances of these virtues. They talk about the difference between virtues and values and the importance of worldviews. They also discuss various opinions about Nietzsche's ideas on values and engage about...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a discussion with Karl Friston about the Free Energy Principle, Bayesian Brain, and many neurobiological principles. They give an overview of the history of the models of the brain and discuss the evolutionary components of the brain. They also mention how important executive functioning and abstraction are for various organisms. They give an overview of the Bay...

In this special episode, Xavier Bonilla has an extended and wide ranging discussion about emotions, current state of psychology, and sexuality. They discuss emotions and their function, expression of emotions, fear as a spectrum and instinctual vs. learned fear. They discuss the history of substance abuse and challenges with the American Psychological Association (APA) such as their reduction in s...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Mel Cosentino about whales, their behavior and their communication. They give an overview of the taxonomy of whales, interactions between porpoises and orcas, and how whales communicate. They talk about memory and executive functioning in whales, how humans can understand how they communicate, and the environment in which they reside. They also t...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with William Dalrymple about the origins of the East India Company (EIC). They start by discussing his quartet of books on the EIC and his motivations for writing this history. They talk about the origins of the EIC, what was traded, and the large influence the company had in India. They discuss how the EIC went from trading to overthrowing the Mughal...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Ashley Ward about cooperation and the social lives of various animals. They talk about the importance of krill and how they cooperate, locusts and their exchange of serotonin, and the social lives of roaches. They also talk about inclusive fitness with bees, ant colonies, social connection of birds, and the adaptive flexibility of rats. They also...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Fredrik Logevall about the early life of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. They discuss why JFK's story is important for telling America's story. They mention the Irish immigrants that came to the United States and how his family gravitated to politics shortly after their immigration from Ireland. They provide the familial...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Meghan Daum about various aspects of culture and society. They discuss how the focus in society is about many cultural challenges. They talk about generational and technological shifts and the impact of fear and loneliness. They mention the new thought leaders, the ethics of podcasting, and much more.  Meghan Daum is an author and podcaster who h...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Monica Guzman on the power of curiosity. They discuss the main theses of her book on seeing the humanity of others by using curiosity. They talk about the three challenges of human nature (sorting, othering, & siloing). They mention the challenge of scaling individual interactions to the group level, us vs. them, and whether people change their o...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Neil Shubin about the building blocks of life over billions of years. They discuss why the fossil record is so essential for understanding the history of the earth and for understanding the history of past and present organisms. They talk about the importance of the discovery of Tiktaalik. They also talk about the four arches that make up all hea...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Daniel Sznycer about the theoretical and empirical data on anger and shame. They discuss the recalibration theory of anger and the place of social valuation of anger. They also mention some of the recent cross-cultural finding of anger. They discuss the global self in how shame is defined. They talk about the other-dependent aspects of shame and...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Daniel Lieberman about the evolutionary history of exercise. They discuss why evolution and adaptation are important to understand the human body, use of energy, myths of sitting, and how much sleep do we really need. They talk about why speed and endurance are important for humans, aggression, walking and running, the active grandparent hypothes...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jonathan Losos about convergent evolution. They begin by defining convergent evolution and what the role of the environment is for convergent evolution. They discuss the importance of phenotypes and behaviors, speciation, and adaptive radiation. They mention how evolution can work fast using examples from nature. They also talk about evolution in...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jennifer Raff about the genetic history of the Americas. They discuss why respect and care for the histories and cultures of indigenous groups should be respected when doing research. They talk about the Clovis peoples, diversification of early people groups, and coastal migration. They outline the earliest evidence of humans in the Americas, Ind...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a discussion with John Macready about many figures and concepts in continental philosophy. They begin the conversation by talking about the two camps of analytic and continental philosophy. They talk about Plato and his conception of reality, allegory of the cave, and the logos. They discuss Descartes' methodology, cogito, and free will. They mention Hume and hi...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Raghuveer Parthasarathy about four basic principles of the living world. They define what is the hybrid discipline of biophysics and why he chose the four physical laws he lays out in his book. They discuss the mechanics of self-assembly, regulatory circuits, browning motion, predictive randomness, and scale. They provide an overview of genes and...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Geoffrey West about scale and sustainability. They begin by discussing scale and how it is typically defined. They give an overview of the major relevant scaling laws including the logarithmic scale. They discuss the importance of metabolic rate and the magic number four. They talk about growth and scale and how these concepts are applied with ag...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Michael McCullough on cooperation and kindness with humans. They discuss his professional background and why he wrote his most recent book along with how one can understand kindness and cooperation. They discuss the four instincts of care, reciprocity, judgments, intentions, and character evaluation. They also discuss a taxonomy of emotions, comp...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Benjamin Lipscomb about four women philosophers in the early 20th century who revolutionized ethical studies. They discuss how he came to write this book and how these four women came to know each other and discuss ethics. They talk about how facts and values are different and the towering presence of Aristotle's philosophy. They describe the env...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Marie Favereau about the Horde and the Mongol empire. They discuss the Horde and the distinction between the Mongol empire and Mongol exchange. They talk about common misconceptions of the Mongols and the legacy and impact of the powerful figure in Chinggis Khan. They discuss the golden lineage and how the Mongols continued to be very organized a...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Bill Sullivan about genes and how they impact various aspects of humanity.  They define genes and DNA and the roles of genes within the environment. They also discuss the complicated dynamics of epigenetics. They talk about the genetics of taste and caffeine and how some genes are implicated in addictions to various substances. They also talk abo...

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with David Haig about evolution, causes, and the meaning of life. They discuss how bits of matter can help us understand purpose and value. They talk about the four causes of Aristotle, adaptation, group selection vs. cooperation, and the three types of genes. They discuss replicators and vehicles, types and tokens, memes, and the extended phenotype....

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Mark Atwood Lawrence about the foreign policy of the United States in the 1960s. They discuss why his book focuses on other foreign policy elements outside of Vietnam during the 1960s. They mention the political opinions of communism, how lower officials managed day-to-day foreign affairs, and why he used the term “third world.” They talk about t...