Polymath

If God is real, would He be able to tell with 100% accuracy what you will do in exactly ten years' time? Is your future behaviour already all mapped out by the unconscious machinations of your brain? And where in the brain might free will come from? You can choose to do what you want; but you can't choose what you want. Can a robot truly choose what they want? Can a cat? What about a worm? On toda...

They're terms we've all heard, but what actually are they? What do the left/the right want? What is leftism and what is rightism? Are you left, right, or in the middle? We'll be answering all these questions and more today, giving you objective information from lots of different disciplines for a well-rounded answer that fits snugly into 20 minutes. Introducing the first episode of Polymath Bites,...

Systemic discrimination 😍✨ what's that all about? And is it even real? The idea of systemic discrimination is a politically charged subject, and the Internet is full of people throwing their opinions at you about this. How about some objectivity? This episode is a colossal, three hour journey through the science of Social Identity Theory, which then applies the insights from this to looking at m...

'I don't want to f*ck Social Identity Theory...but it is beautiful.' (Wo)man is a social animal: we spend a lot of our time with- or thinking about- other people. But in fact the dynamics of what happens when individuals get together in groups is so vastly important that it shapes the entire world: it shapes our societies, our politics, our cultures, our friend groups, our day to day lives, and- i...

Hello everybody, this isn't in fact a normal Polymath episode but is a talk I did being interviewed by the @livglobalrelief podcast! It's a fascinating and important podcast about social-humanitarian issues going on around the world right now, and the Spotify link is https://open.spotify.com/show/3fiZdPwaJcIhwxcygBa8bX?si=dfe66237c40a4088 Thanks a lot Erin for having me on! This talk is all about...

‘maybe… 1200 to 1500 [civilians] a month, easy. If I am only 10% right, and believe me it’s lots more, then I am trying to tell you about 120-150 murders, or a My Lay [sic] every month' -Anonymous Sergeant to General Westmoreland, 1970, referring to 'Operation Speedy Express'. Nothing was done. This is not an episode of Polymath. CONTENT WARNING: This video contains very graphic descri...

How did we go from picking berries on the savannah to the world we live in now? What was it like to be a hunter-gatherer? Why did they start forming states? What did that journey look like? And was it a good - or bad - decision? Welcome back to Polymath, where we examine all these questions with facts and statistics- rather than 'hot takes'. This is a massive journey through how the world we take...

This is Polymath's first ever video episode, meaning that you can now both hear and see me yap! Join me as we go on a journey exploring human physiology, evolution, anthropology, and hairless chimpanzees. Spotify isn't letting me use my own custom thumbnail, so please enjoy this image of me looking silly with my undecorated NPC room in the background. Enjoy!

Is the world getting worse? Were you born in the wrong generation? Have we left the good old days? Let's find out! CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains graphic descriptions of physical, emotional, and sexual violence; cruelty; and brutality 👁👄👁 (wee lil hint that the past wasn't great) We'll be looking at the past- but not just a few generations back. We will examine the entire span of human ci...

Anarchism! What's it all about? More specifically: what even is it? What do anarchists want? How do they think? Is anarchism just chaos? How do rules get enforced? How does the economy work? Are anarchists terrorists? Are they Marxists? Communists? Has anarchism ever happened? We'll be answering all these questions, and we'll be doing it properly . This colossal episode sweeps away all the emotion...

Your national hero probably had some very questionable views. But are they morally culpable for them? Let's take a look! I gotta say, I almost feel bad for you- you're probably sodden with different influencers, politicians, and newspapers all sharting out their own opinions at you, all demanding your allegiance in the culture wars. But on Polymath, we examine questions with real, meaningful acade...

The obvious answer to a 90-minute video on this is to go and touch grass, but really: if the Harry Potter world genuinely existed, what would it look like? If there’s a wizarding world… is there wizarding communism? A wizarding Karl Marx? Was there a wizarding civil rights movement? Is there wizarding nationalism? Is Wizarding Russia currently attacking Wizarding Ukraine? The Harry Potter universe...

'Oof... messed up a little there' In 1933, Hitler got 43.9% of the vote- and it wasn't even close. What happened there? The good news is we can use some clever psychology to get right to the heart of the issue: what was actually happening in people's heads. The less fun news is that because human nature hasn't changed since- it CAN happen here. Let's find out why! This episode is a journey through...

Have you been watching the news recently and been thinking 'what the hell is happening here?' This episode is for you! We're exploring how intelligence has changed in people over time- and why. What kinds of intelligence is this change mostly happening in? How does cognition and intelligence work, anyway? Where in the brain does it come from? What's the difference between intelligence and wisdom?...

Has 'real' socialism ever been tried? What do socialists want? Who owns the 'means of production' and what are they? How does the economy work in socialism? Who's in charge? What's the difference between socialism in theory and socialism as has been practised? Today, we'll be answering all these questions and more as we use political science (+ some economics, history, and political philosophy) to...

What actually is capitalism anyway? What distinguishes the different kinds? What was the Golden Age of Capitalism and what caused it? What's laissez-faire capitalism, neoliberalism, the Nordic model, social capitalism, a mixed economy, state capitalism, the East Asian model, or economic planning? There's so many different models and variants of capitalism that it's easy to get lost, and difficult...

What does 'capitalism' really mean? What does it try and achieve? What actually are the means of production and what is a market? Does capitalism mean freedom and democracy? Is it left or right wing? In today's episode, we'll be answering all these questions and more. Today's episode is in fact the second part of a multi-episode special on this channel on political ideologies- but don't worry, you...

What actually is a political ideology and where do they come from? What's the current left-right polarisation all about? What is a liberal and what is liberalism? Where do modern democracy, politics, and morality come from? Why were historical societies so brutal and unfair? What is the purpose of civilisation? Welcome to the first episode in the first ever special on this show! This episode begin...

They're terms we've all heard, but what actually are they? Where do they come from, how should we use them, what do they stand for, and how can we break them down and understand them? In today's episode, we'll be answering all these questions and more using political science, history, economics, and political philosophy. Although the intro for this episode says that we'll also be exploring whether...

Hello everybody, today we're gonna be exploring the underlying causes behind the Industrial Revolution and why the West did it first- and came to rule the globe. We'll be answering questions like what actually was the Industrial Revolution, how did Western history lead up to it, why Britain in particular started it, and why didn't it happen/rapidly spread elsewhere outside the West? As always on P...

Excuse the brief lapse in sound quality at the start! In today's episode, we use evolutionary psychology (and some other important disciplines) to explore attractiveness: what determines what we find attractive, and why is attractiveness even a thing? We're gonna be exploring some key questions, like how do men and women differ in what they find attractive and why, what have humans evolved to find...

Exploring the nature and roots of morality using evolutionary psychology, anthropology, and a little bit of neuroscience. Enjoy!

My favourite episode yet, tune in for an episode on what causes countries to develop, why makes them stagnate, why the West rules (or at least ruled) the world, and why the Industrial Revolution occurred in Britain. Here we look at politics, economics, history, and of course development studies. Enjoy!

Tune in for an extremely useful and practical episode analysing the macroeconomics, political economics, and societal development of the world of Harry Potter. The world of Harry Potter as viewed through a non-12 year old lens, shockingly, does not make much sense. Enjoy!

The very first episode of Polymath, broadcasted live on Burst radio at 17/02/24! Human bodies tend to build fat, and it's difficult for them to burn it off again or build muscle. But why? In this episode, we use evolutionary biology and anthropology to explore this. Along the way, we touch on some nutritional advice, psychology, and sportscience.