Curious Apes

** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with ⁠ Singularity ⁠ ** This week our guest is William Von Hippel, a social psychologist who teaches at the University of Queensland in Australia, and author of the 2018 novel, the ⁠Social Leap: The New Evolutionary Science of Who We Are, Where We Come From, and What Makes Us Happy⁠ . We explore how the challenges of our evoluti...

** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with ⁠ Singularity ⁠ ** This week our guest is Meghan O'Gieblyn, who has written regularly for entities such as Wired, The New York Times, and The Guardian, in addition to authoring books such as Interior States and her latest book: God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning. Interestingly,...

** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with ⁠ Singularity ⁠ ** This week my guest is professor of neuroscience at University College London, Karl Friston. Viewed by many as one of the world’s most influential neuroscientists, Friston rose to prominence when he pioneered one of the key techniques that allows neuroscientists to analyze brain activity. And as if that wa...

** This is a partnership episode originally recorded in collaboration with Singularity ** Chris Ryan is well known for exploring the evolution of human society and behavior through his books, Sex at Dawn and Civilized to Death.  In this episode, we take a candid tour through the many misconceptions and misunderstandings of early hunter-gatherer lifestyles and how an alternative view could benefit...

Lasana is an associate professor of experimental psychology at the University College London where he runs the boundaries of social cognition lab. In addition to exploring the content of his 2017 book, Invisible Mind: Flexible Social Cognition and Dehumanization, we also explore how these concepts are in play in modern society, especially as it relates to the culture wars and societal issues.  **...

Pixel describes herself as "a reformed childhood spy, ex ballet dancer, Neopets millionare and forensic psychology degree holder" who makes "average opinionated political/current event/educational content."  In this episode, we dive into Pixel's opinions are and what it's like to be one of the small percentage of people in the world who make their living on Twitch (and...

Today my guest is Vaush, a self-described left-wing Youtuber known for his advocacy for libertarian market socialism and debates with other YouTubers. Our discussion centers heavily around 3 keys topics: the culture wars, our current political discourse, and capitalism--its failures, its strengths, and its alternatives (eg: anarcho-syndicalism).  Vaush has an incredibly popular Youtube that can be...

I recently wrote an essay exploring " How Ideological Extremists Are Undermining Their Own Goals" and I thought for this episode I would try something a little different, exploring this essay as a solo podcast.  The main focus of that essay (and therefore this episode) is dedicated to showcasing how the hostility of the "us" vs "them" dynamic that is currently dominat...

In this episode we sit down with Eric Kuafmann, a professor of politics at Birkbeck College, University of London who commonly writes on the dynamics of demographic change. In this episode we discuss these ideas as they relate to his 2018 book White Shift, which explores how immigration and populism will play out as we navigate a future where white people steadily become the minority. This natural...

In this episode, I'm joined by Colin Wright, who is an evolutionary biologist and the managing editor at Quillette--the online magazine dedicated to free thought. We discuss the sex and gender debate currently dominating much of social justice zeitgeist, which includes exploring the legal and cultural ramifications of those who seek to step outside society’s traditional definitions of male and...

In this episode, my good friend Donovan returns to answer questions randomly selected from a list of philosophical questions we found online. This takes us on a meandering tour through topics such as self-deception, self-actualization, immortality, suffering vs meaning, religion's place in the world, the downfall of human civilization, binary thinking, climate change, the failures of our gover...

In this episode, I'm joined by one of my favorite contemporary thinkers, John Vervaeke, a professor at the University of Toronto where he lectures on psychology, cognitive science, and Buddhism. John has a phenomenal series on Youtube called ' Awakening From the Meaning Crisis ,' where he explores how science and spirituality have lessons of ancient wisdom and knowledge that can help u...

(Originally recorded in the Spring of 2020) In this episode we sit down with social scientist and political theorist, Justin Murphy, who spent five years as a lecturer at the University of Southampton before realizing that academia was ironically stifling his ability to be a truly creative and productive freethinker. Upon this realization, he set his focus on online content creation. This resulted...

(Originally recorded in the Spring of 2020) On this episode, we're joined by Aella, previously one of the world's top-paid cam girls who is now a prominent figure in the online intellectual community. We enjoy an incredibly playful conversation surrounding her background, social dynamics, authenticity, and enlightenment. Follow Aellas work via her website Knowingless and on her Twitter . *...

(Originally recorded in the Spring of 2020) On this episode I'm joined by the ever-articulate scholar, Erik Davis, who wrote one of my favorite non-fiction books of all time: Techgnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information (seriously, it's remarkable). Erik also recently released a new book, High Weirdness, that explores the psychedelic spirituality of Robert Anton Wilson,...

In this episode, I'm joined by Donovan James and Jay Mutzafi, two friends who I meet with several times a month for challenging and thought-provoking conversations. You can expect to see them as frequent guests on the show discussing myriad topics, but this time around we focus on climate change, basic income, and longevity. This takes us through many subtopics of relevance, such as veganism,...

In this episode, I sit down with my dear friend, Donovan James, who kicks off the conversation by asking me why I decided to start this podcast. This takes us on a massive tour through many of the current controversies and challenges facing our society, but ultimately focuses on one key idea: we absolutely need to embrace the discomfort of nuance and dialogue between opposing factions if we are go...

Welcome to Curious Apes. In this episode, I provide a brief (5min) overview, the topics we'll commonly be discussing, and why such conversations are crucial to our well-being as individuals and as a society.