Mind & Matter

Nick talks to biological anthropologist & neuroscientist Dr. Terrence Deacon, who is a professor of biological anthropologist at UC-Berkeley and a leading thinker on the evolution of language, consciousness and human cognition. They discuss: how end-directed systems, such as life, can emerge from non-life; how complexity evolves once life originates; the origins of sentience and a sense of self; t...

Nick talks to neuroscientist Dr. Kent Berridge, a professor of psychology & neuroscience at the University of Michigan. They discuss: the neurobiology of the brain processes rewards and generates pleasure & motivation; the difference between "liking" and "wanting"; hunger and whether food addiction is similar to drug addiction; emotion and consciousness; and more. * Click here to download audio, w...

Nick talks to Dr. Amir Englund, a psychopharmacologist at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College, London. Dr. Englund's research focuses on the effects of cannabis, medical marijuana and specific cannabinoids (e.g. THC, CBD, THCV) on human cognitive function. They discuss topics including: what is the addiction liability of marijuana? What are the acute & chronic...

Nick talks to molecular physiologist Dr. Dudley Lamming, a professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison whose lab studies how the body responds to the nutrient and calorie content of food. We discuss: how the protein and amino acid composition of food impacts metabolic health & aging; branched chain amino acids & disease; sex differences between males & females in how diet affects...

Nick talks with Dr. Anil Seth, a neuroscientist and professor of cognitive & computational neuroscience at the University of Sussex. The conversation is all about the neuroscience of consciousness, which is the subject of his Dr. Seth's book, “Being You: A New Science of Consciousness.“ They touch on everything from what consciousness actually is, whether or not neuroscientists can measure differe...

Nick talks to neuroscientist and writer Dr. Erik Hoel. Erik is a professor of biology at Tufts University. He received his PhD in neuroscience from the University of Wisconsin, where he studied under the sleep and consciousness researcher, Giulio Tononi. He did postdoctoral work at Columbia University, where he used information theory and other analytical tools to explore the biological basis of c...

Nick Jikomes talks to Dr. Steven Laviolette, a neuroscientist at the University of Western Ontario. They discuss how different types of drugs impact emotion, cognition, brain development and the development of psychiatric conditions  (e.g. addition, schizophrenia); drug interactions (THC + CBD, THC + L-Theanine, CBD + Omega-3 Fatty Acids), how drugs can affect brain development when consumed durin...

Nick talks to genetics researcher & writer Razib Khan. Razib did graduate work in genetics at the University of California-Davis and recently founded a genomics data startup. He also runs a Substack, "Unsupervised Learning," where he writes a lot of fascinating articles on the subjects of human evolutionary & population genetics, personal genomics, and more. Nick and Razib discussed: how the story...

Nick talks to Christian Lüscher, MD, PhD, a neuroscientist at the University of Geneva whose lab studies the cellular mechanisms that underlie drug reinforcement, dependence and addiction. Dr. Lüscher talks about the nature of addictive drugs in the brain, how ketamine works, and the latest research from his lab look at how ketamine's unique effects within the brain's reward circuitry enable it to...

Nick talks to neuroscientist Dr. David Anderson, a professor at Caltech whose lab studies the neurobiological basis of animal behavior and emotion. They discuss: technologies for understanding cause-and-effect in the brain; neurobiological basis of animal behavior, including aggression/fighting, mating, feeding, and social behavior; how hormones such as estrogen regulate behavior; emotions, feelin...

Nick talks to psychiatrist Dr. Joanna Moncrieff about depression. What causes it? How do SSRIs work? How well do antidepressants work? What are the risks & benefits of long-term antidepressant use? What is the evidence that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance (too little serotonin) in the brain? How is social media & technology influencing mental health? * Click here to download audio, wa...

Nick talks to journalist & documentary filmmaker Leighton Woodhouse. They discuss: homelessness & drug addiction; religion & ideology; sociology & social psychology; the social function of laws and norms; economic vs. cultural capital & the "overproduction of elites"; institutional science; civilizational decline & the future of American society. * Click here to download audio, watch video, or rea...

Nick talks to anthropologist Dr. Michael Winkelman, who was a professor at Arizona State University for many years, where he studied topics related to shamanism as practiced by early hunter gatherer societies, and other topics related to human cultural evolution. He is now retired and conducts independent research from Brazil, where he now lives. They discuss: what shamanism is & the core features...

Nick talks to pharmaceutical microbiologist Dr. Dirk Hoffmeister, who is professor at the Hans Knöll Institute in Germany. Professor Hoffmeister has a background in botany and mycology, the study of fungi. His lab studies various aspects of fungal biochemistry & molecular biology, including the biochemistry and molecular genetics of psilocybin production in magic mushrooms.  We spoke about various...

Nick talks to climatologist Dr. Judith Curry, the former chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research interests have included hurricanes, atmospheric modeling, air-sea interactions, and a variety of other areas in climate science. She runs Climate, Etc., an online blog focused on climate science. She is also writing a new book called, “...

Nick talks to Dr. David Cohen, a professor at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. His research looks at psychoactive drugs (prescribed, licit, and illicit) and their desirable and undesirable effects as socio-cultural phenomena “constructed” through language, policy, attitudes, and social interactions. They discuss: prescription psychiatric drugs, including SSRIs, benzodiazepines and stimula...

Christian Lüscher, MD, PhD is a neuroscientist and neurologist who runs a research lab at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Dr. Lusher's lab studies the mechanisms that underlie drug reinforcement and addiction in the brain and he is an expert in the neuroscience of drug addiction. Christian Lüscher talks to Nick Jikomes about: what is addiction is and what some key parts of the brain and n...

* Download .WAV audio version * Watch video version * Show notes & episode transcripts Nick talks to Dr. Shruti Naik, assistant professor of pathology & medicine at the NYU Langone. Her lab studies the interactions between immune cells, epithelial cells, and microbes in barrier tissues that interface with the environment (e.g. skin, lungs & gut). They discuss: inflammatory memory; how cells store...

Nick talks to neuroscientist Dr. Margaret McCarthy, whose lab at the University of Maryland studies the origins and mechanisms of sex differences in the brain, the endocannabinoid system, and neural basis of animal behavior. They discuss: the nature of sex differences observed in the mammalian brain, including differences in the susceptibility to various diseases and disorders of the brain; differ...

Nick talks to science writer Matt Ridley, who most recently published the book, "Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19" together with molecular biologist Dr. Alina Chan. They discussed what is known and still unknown about the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the latest developments in that mystery which have come to light in the past few months; the relationship between institutional scien...

Nick talks to medicinal chemist Sam Banister, who is co-founder and Chief Science Officer at Psylo, a biotech startup focused on developing next-generation psychedelic medicines. They discuss: the past, present, and future of psychedelic science; Sam's journey from academia to biotech startup co-founder; Alexander Shulgin; psychedelics like psilocybin, DMT, and others; and psychedelics & society. ...

Nick talks to neuroscientist & geneticist Dr. Kevin Mitchell about: 'Nature vs. Nurture,' the genetics of brain development, autism & schizophrenia, human brain and psychological variation, synesthesia, agency & free will, and more. * Click here to download audio, watch video, or read show notes & transcripts. * If you enjoy my content and want to further support M&M, please read this . This is a...

* Download .WAV audio version * Watch video version * Show notes & episode transcripts Nick talks to neurologist & neuroscientist Michael Fox, MD, PhD about his recent work mapping out an "addiction remission network" in the brain. They discuss addiction, brain networks involved in addiction, neurotechnologies like Deep Brain Stimulation and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Parkinson's Disease,...

Nick talks to physiologist and neuroscientist Dr. Dominic D'Agostino about human metabolism & nutrition; fats, carbohydrates, sugar, and protein; ketogenic diet, ketosis, BHB supplementation; inflammation and polyunsaturated fats; personal health and metabolism monitoring; and general questions related to the quality of the nutritional information we receive from our institutions. * Click here to...

Nick talks to anthropologist Dr. Dimitris Xygalatas, who is an associate professor at the University of Connecticut. His research interests center around human ritual behavior and the interaction between cognition and culture. They discuss his new Book, " Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living ." Topics covered: Rituals vs. habits; the psychological purpose of ritual; ritualis...