Here We Are

Here We Are turns 8 years old! To celebrate, I decided to do record a solo episode talking about how I got into science and comedy, feeling out of place throughout my childhood/early adulthood, and why I started the Here We Are Podcast.   Thank you for watching and being an inquisitive being. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week I am speaking with Associate Professor of Economics at The University of Tennessee Knoxville, Charles Sims. We discuss the economics of covid-19, climate change, carbon taxes, and the uncertainties that come along with major decision making. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today I speak with evolutionary biologist and author, Henry Gee. We discuss the writing process, the replication crisis, the origin of the Universe and life on Earth, and what human extinction might look like.  You can purchase Henry's new book, "A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth" and learn more about his work at https://averyshorthistoryoflifeonearth.blogspot.com/ Learn more about your ad c...

On this week's episode of Here We Are, I am talking with Gregory Zuckerman. Greg is a Special Writer at The Wall Street Journal. He's an investigative reporter who writes about business and investing topics. He's also the author of A Shot to Save the World: The Inside Story of the Life-or-Death Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine. We talk about the history of vaccine research, pharmaceutical companies, an...

This week I'm speaking with authors of The Knowledge Illusion, Steve Sloman and Phil Fernbach.  Steven Sloman is a cognitive scientist at Brown University who studies how people think. Phil Fernbach is a cognitive scientist and professor of marketing at the University of Colorado, Boulder. The book explores why we think we know so much more than we do, and the profound implications for individuals...

In celebration of Halloween I'm speaking with Mathias Clasen, a scholar of horror fiction and associate professor in literature and media at Aarhus University in Denmark. Clasen’s research integrates horror study with the natural and social sciences, in particular human behavioral biology and evolutionary and cognitive psychology. In this episode we talk about classic horror tales, why we love fee...

This week I talk with Nicholas Coles, A research scientist at Stanford University. Nicholas is an experimental psychologist who conducts research in affective science and the emerging field of meta-science. In affective science, Nicholas seeks to understand the social, cognitive, and physiological processes that underlie the conscious experience of emotion. In this episode we talk about what emoti...

Today I am speaking with Coltan Scrivner, who is a researcher at The University of Chicago in the Department of Comparative Human Development and a Fellow at the Institute for Mind and Biology. We talk about horror, anxiety, why some people enjoy scaring themselves for fun, and I take Coltan's Morbid Curiosity Test! Find out how morbidly curious you are! https://www.coltanscrivner.com/morbid-curio...

Today I'm speaking with Adam Willcox from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His lab focuses on the human dimensions of biodiversity conservation, endangered species management, and protected areas management. Adam also serves with the Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture. We discuss changing social and environmental norms, the cost of meat consumption, conserving biodiversi...

Today I'm speaking with Sean Doody, who studies reptiles and conservation biology theory! We talk about the evolution of reptiles, the difficulty with studying reptiles' bizarre, yet surprisingly active social lives, and what we could learn from lizards' unique limb regeneration abilities. Sean co-wrote the book "The Secret Social Lives of Reptiles" with Gordon M. Burghardt who was also recently o...

How much of our personality is bound to our genetic makeup, and how much can we actually change about ourselves? Is there any hope for the notoriously unconscientious personalities in the world? What can we learn about the evolutionary motivators built-in to our goal-directive behaviors? Dr. Colin DeYoung, associate professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota, joins the show to discuss...

Emily Willingham joins me today to talk all about the evolutionary pressures that lead to the variety of penis designs we find in nature. Her new book, "Phallacy: Life Lessons from the Animal Penis" is available to purchase along with her other fascinating books on her website at http://www.emilywillinghamphd.com/ Thank you for watching and being an inquisitive being. Learn more about your ad choi...

Today I'm speaking with returning guest, Rob Brooks! Rob is a Scientia Professor of Evolution at the University of New South Wales. He studies human mating preferences how cutting edge technologies are manipulating our evolved human nature and impacting culture. We also talk about political polarization, status and inequality, the conflict between societal and biological influences, creativity, an...

Marcy Souza is an Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Veterinary Medicine. We talk about the rapidly changing world of agriculture, zoonotic diseases of exotic animals, how to get people interested in epidemiology, the mislabeling and overuse of phrases such as "free range" and "organic", disease spillover, and tons more!  Marcy J. Souza: https://publichealth....

Gordon Burghardt studies comparative behavior and psychology in animals. We talk about the evolution of 'play', anthropomorphism and anthrodenialism, thrill-seeking behavior, embodied cognition, and what he learned from raising bears! "The Secret Social Lives of Reptiles" https://amzn.to/3xlCrFH https://eeb.utk.edu/people/gordon-burghardt/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...

Astrobiofuturist and designer, Billy Almon is joining me today! Billy is an inventor who aims to reach the next generation of inventors, designers, scientists and engineers and showing them how to design the future they wish to see. In addition to speaking and hosting workshops, Billy also co-hosts the “Little Giants” show on Animal Planet. We talk about biomimicry, circular economies, space farmi...

Today I'm speaking with one of my favorite Standup Science guests, Clive Wynne, Director of the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University. We talk about the complex minds of dogs, the history of the human-to-dog relationship, and the unique hypersocial skills of domesticated dogs. Is the popular training style we often see on TV really the best way to have a mutually beneficial rela...

Today I speak with returning guest, Athena Aktipis, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University and co-Director of The Human Generosity Project. We talk about how viruses can hijack behavior, the diversity of cancers, and what a real apocalypse could look like.  http://www.athenaaktipis.org/ Listen to Athena's podcast :https://www.zombified.org/ Read Athena's ne...

In this first ever 4-person episode of Here We Are, I get to geek out all about cicadas with Barrett Klein (who is a good friend of mine and very popular Here We Are guest), Joseph Yoon (Executive Director of Brooklyn Bugs), and Gene Kritsky (Entomologist and cicada expert). We discuss the origin of cicadas, the cultural aversion to eating insects in West, the interesting relationship cicadas have...

In this episode of Here We Are, Shane gets the latest on vaccine information and reopening after the pandemic from returning guest, Jessica Brinkworth. Jessica Brinkworth is an assistant professor in the department of anthropology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research addresses the physiological consequences of the human experience and evolutionary past, particularly those t...

Today I'm speaking with returning guest, Denita Hadziabdic Guerry. Denita's research focuses on population genetics of fungal plant pathogens, population biology, forest health, forest pathology, and diversity and conservation efforts of native plants. We discuss the importance of accurate science communication, what's going on with wood prices around the world, and Thousand Cankers Disease comple...

Today I speak with returning guest, Kari Nixon, who is the author of the brand new book "Quarantine Life from Cholera to COVID-19: What Pandemics Teach Us About Parenting, Work, Life, and Communities from the 1700s to Today". Dr. Kari Nixon is an assistant professor of English at Whitworth University. She teaches medical humanities, Victorian literature, and is forever interested in death, disease...

Jordan Ellenberg is a mathematician and author of the new book "Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else". He shares how mathematical thinking can help make elections more fair and how we can use math to better plan for pandemics. Mentioned formula: Infected tomorrow = Infected today + (0.2) x infected (today) x Susceptible(today)/Total populatio...

This week I learn all about what happens to your body after you die! Environmental microbiologist, Jennifer DeBruyn, researches microbiomes at the "body farm" of the University of Tennessee. Should you get cremated, turned into a tree, or fall over and let maggots eat your eyes? https://utianews.tennessee.edu/jennifer-debruyn-presented-with-agresearch-mid-career-faculty-research-excellence-award/...

In this episode, I talked with the authors of the book "Blindsight: The (Mostly) Hidden Ways Marketing Reshapes Our Brains". Prince Ghuman has taught consumer science, behavioral economics, and experiential marketing as a professor of neuromarketing. Matt Johnson is a consumer neuroscience professor at Hult International Business School. Their website https://www.popneuro.com/ makes learning and i...