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The Michael Shermer Show

Michael Shermer

300 episodes

The Michael Shermer Show is a series of long-form conversations between Dr. Michael Shermer and leading scientists, philosophers, historians, scholars, writers and thinkers about the most important issues of our time.

Episodes page 2 of 6

  1. Why the Same Childhood Doesn't Affect Everyone the Same Way

    · 1 h 38 min · Episode 589

    For decades, developmental psychologist Jay Belsky has focused on one of the biggest questions in human development: how do early experiences shape the lives we go on to live? In this conversation with Michael…

  2. Who Gets to Edit Culture? Sensitivity Readers & Censorship in Book Publishing

    · 1 h 31 min · Episode 588

    Publishing likes to imagine itself as a marketplace of ideas with a strong immune system: good arguments win, bad ones fade, and editors act as principled gatekeepers. In practice, it's also an industry with thin…

  3. Filming Corey Feldman & "Corey's Angels": The Weird World Behind the Curtain

    · 1 h 33 min · Episode 587

    Documentary filmmaker Marcie Hume (BBC alum; Magicians: Life in the Impossible) joins Michael Shermer to talk about her new verité film Corey Feldman vs. the World—shot over a decade, starting in the "Corey's Angels"…

  4. Can a Skeptic Believe in God?

    · 1 h 17 min · Episode 586

    Christopher Beha grew up Catholic in Manhattan, walked away during the New Atheist era, and spent years trying to build a secular worldview sturdy enough to live inside. It didn't hold. So he kept reading—Hume, Kant,…

  5. Shermer Says 6: Jeffrey Epstein and Me

    · 15 min · Episode 585

    Michael Shermer recounts the moment he discovered his name in the Jeffrey Epstein files and uses it as a jumping-off point to tell a few unforgettable stories about con men he's encountered over the years, and how…

  6. The Evolutionary Roots of Love, Sex, and Jealousy

    · 1 h 33 min · Episode 584

    Why do people risk everything for love but treat sex like it's no big deal? Why is intimacy the most expensive thing in a brothel? And why do jealousy, infidelity, and heartbreak push otherwise rational people into…

  7. Truth Still Matters (And Here's Why)

    · 56 min · Episode 583

    In this episode, Michael Shermer walks through the core ideas behind his new book Truth: What It Is, How to Find It, and Why It Still Matters, breaking down how humans confuse meaning with reality, stories with facts,…

  8. Shermer Says 5: What Went Wrong in Minnesota? Protests, Panic, and Personal Responsibility

    · 28 min · Episode 582

    In this solo episode of The Michael Shermer Show, Michael Shermer responds to the shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old healthcare worker who was killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis during protests…

  9. Government Transparency & UFOs: Inside Military Programs and Classified Briefings

    · 1 h 11 min · Episode 581

    Michael Shermer sits down with attorney and bestselling author Kent Heckenlively for a tense, thoughtful, and surprisingly cordial conversation about UFOs, government secrecy, and the idea of "catastrophic disclosure."…

  10. The Hardest UFO Cases to Dismiss: Something Is Flying Around and We Don't Know What It Is

    · 1 h 24 min · Episode 580

    In this episode, Michael Shermer talks with filmmaker James Fox, whose work has helped push UFOs, now often called UAPs, out of the tabloid shadows and into congressional hearings, radar logs, and sworn testimony. Fox…

  11. Why Survival Isn't Enough: The Deep Human Need to Matter

    · 1 h 22 min · Episode 579

    What if the deepest human drive isn't happiness, survival, or even love, but the need to matter? Philosopher and MacArthur Fellow Rebecca Newberger Goldstein joins Michael Shermer to discuss The Mattering Instinct,…

  12. Shermer Says 4: Venezuela, ICE in Minnesota, UFOs & UAPs, and Social Norms Around Single-Sex Spaces

    · 52 min · Episode 578

    In this unscripted solo episode, Michael Shermer reflects on a dizzying start to the year and what it reveals about truth, power, and public judgment. From events in Venezuela and the limits of exporting democracy to a…

  13. Mental Health: More Diagnoses, Fewer Answers?

    · 1 h 30 min · Episode 577

    What if the way we approach mental health is quietly making things worse? Psychiatrist and psychotherapist Sami Timimi joins Michael Shermer to examine some of the core assumptions behind modern psychiatry. Why have…

  14. What Makes You "You" When Everything Is Just Atoms?

    · 1 h 50 min · Episode 576

    What is consciousness, really? Why does it not simply switch on at a single moment? Neuroscientist Niko Kukushkin explains how even single cells can show primitive forms of memory and agency, why the human mind is not…

  15. Rethinking the Discovery of DNA

    · 1 h 22 min · Episode 575

    Francis Crick is best known as one of the figures behind the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA, but the familiar story leaves out as much as it explains. Historian of science Matthew Cobb looks closely at…

  16. How One Black Man Dismantled the KKK, One Conversation at a Time

    · 1 h 05 min · Episode 574

    What do you do when someone believes you shouldn't exist? Daryl Davis didn't protest. He didn't shout. He sat down, asked questions, and kept showing up. Over decades, that approach has led more than 200 Ku Klux Klan…

  17. The Collapse of Open Inquiry: Sacred Victims and Forbidden Questions

    · 1 h 30 min · Episode 573

    Open inquiry depends on the ability to ask uncomfortable questions and follow evidence wherever it leads. Eric Kaufmann argues that this norm is now under strain. Drawing on history, survey data, and political theory,…

  18. The Future of Brain Implants: Restoring Speech, Regaining Mobility, Treating Pain

    · 1 h 00 min · Episode 572

    Brain-computer interfaces are moving out of the lab and into real medical use. In this episode of The Michael Shermer Show, Michael Shermer talks with Dr. Matt Angle, founder and CEO of Paradromics, a neurotechnology…

  19. The Original Alien Craze: When People Believed in Martians

    · 1 h 26 min · Episode 571

    At the turn of the 20th century, millions of Americans, including elite scientists, major newspapers, and cultural icons, were convinced that Mars was home to an advanced civilization. In this episode, Michael Shermer…

  20. How AI Sees Science Differently Than We Do

    · 2 h 08 min · Episode 570

    What if the great discoveries of science came in the "wrong" order? The Laws of Thermodynamics were discovered well after the creation of algebra, classical physics, and chemistry, but are perhaps much more important…

  21. Can You Spot a Killer? The Dangerous Fantasy of Criminal Profiling

    · 1 h 14 min · Episode 569

    Criminal profiling promises certainty in the face of horror: this is what a killer looks like, this is how they think, this is how we stop them. But what if that promise is mostly an illusion? In this episode, Michael…

  22. Why Wars Last Longer Than Experts Predict

    · 1 h 02 min · Episode 568

    For nearly two centuries, international relations have been premised on the idea of the "Great Powers." As the thinking went, these mighty states—the European empires of the nineteenth century, the United States and…

  23. The Emergent Mind: From Ant Colonies to Human Thought to Artificial Intelligence

    · 1 h 45 min · Episode 567

    In this episode of The Michael Shermer Show, Michael sits down with two giants of mind and machine science: Jay McClelland, one of the founders of modern neural networks, and Gaurav Suri, computational neuroscientist…

  24. Are We Meant to Leave Earth? Why Humanity May Have No Choice but to Go to Space

    · 1 h 34 min · Episode 566

    Astrobiologist Caleb Scharf joins Michael Shermer for a wide-ranging conversation about the past, present, and future of our relationship with space. Drawing on his new book The Giant Leap, Scharf explains why human…

  25. Cosmology, Creation, and the Evidence for God

    · 1 h 16 min · Episode 565

    In this episode, Michel-Yves Bolloré lays out his case for why modern cosmology, fine-tuning, and the limits of materialism point toward a creator. Drawing on physics, thermodynamics, probability, and philosophy, he…

  26. Why Eastbound Flights Are Faster, and Other Strange Things About Wind (Simon Winchester)

    · 1 h 21 min · Episode 564

    Have you ever thought about the science and history of … wind? In this episode, Simon Winchester explains why eastbound flights are usually faster than flying west, and how the discovery of the jet stream was almost…

  27. Logic, Creativity, and the Limits of AI: How Humans Think in Ways Machines Never Will

    · 1 h 50 min · Episode 563

    In this episode, Angus Fletcher explains why the human brain doesn't work like a computer and why our deepest strengths come not from logic or data processing but from imagination, emotion, and the ability to invent…

  28. The Psychology of War: Could YOU Make a Moral Choice in Wartime?

    · 1 h 27 min · Episode 562

    War begins in the human mind long before it unfolds on the battlefield. In this episode, Michael Shermer sits down with Nicholas Wright, a neurologist, neuroscientist, security strategist, and advisor to the Pentagon,…

  29. Tribes, Teams, and Cults: How Groups Shape What We Believe

    · 1 h 36 min · Episode 561

    Why do smart people join dangerous cults, follow bad leaders, or stay silent when they know something's wrong? In this episode, Michael Shermer talks with organizational psychologist Colin Fisher about the science of…

  30. Shermer Says 3: Weird Experiences, the Meaning of Dreams, and What Mark Twain Knew About Reality

    · 32 min · Episode 560

    In this episode, Michael Shermer explores anomalous experiences through personal anecdotes and historical examples. He reflects on how to balance healthy skepticism with open-mindedness, and how to reckon with the very…

  31. A Former Spy Explains How AI is Changing Espionage

    · 1 h 08 min · Episode 559

    A former senior intelligence officer explains how espionage is evolving in the age of AI and amid rising global tensions with China, and why the mass harvesting of data affects not just nation-states, but all of us.…

  32. Did Lost Civilizations Really Exist? An Archaeologist Explains

    · 1 h 39 min · Episode 558

    Archaeologist Ken Feder sheds light on how archaeology separates evidence from wishful thinking and entertaining storytelling. He explains what rock art, radiocarbon dating, and DNA can really tell us about the first…

  33. Charles Murray: Why I'm Taking Religion Seriously

    · 1 h 44 min · Episode 557

    Michael Shermer sits down with Charles Murray (author of The Bell Curve, Coming Apart, and now Taking Religion Seriously) for a riveting 100-minute conversation about Murray's late-life turn from Harvard-bred…

  34. The Myth of Human Exceptionalism: Why Humans Aren't as Special as We Think

    · 1 h 03 min · Episode 556

    In this episode, Harvard primatologist Christine Webb challenges one of our deepest beliefs: that humans stand apart from the rest of nature. She traces the roots of human exceptionalism from Aristotle and Descartes to…

  35. Shermer Says: Why Secularists Are Turning to Religion, The Substitution Hypothesis, Sleep Paralysis

    · 43 min · Episode 555

    Are we entering a Fifth Great Awakening—a cultural swing back toward religion? An increasing number of books and articles are calling for a religious revival. "We need religion to keep our society functioning."…

  36. The Serial Killer Era of the 70s/80s: Lore, Patterns, and Plausible Explanations

    · 1 h 36 min · Episode 554

    Pulitzer-winner Caroline Fraser maps the lives and crimes of Ted Bundy and his infamous peers—the Green River Killer, the I-5 Killer, the Night Stalker, the Hillside Strangler, and even Charles Manson—and explores an…

  37. Shermer Says: Debate Skills, 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, Autism, Vaccines, ANTIFA, Bari Weiss & CBS News

    · 29 min · Episode 553

    First installment of our new series Shermer Says. Topics covered: • Debate Skills • Nobel Peace Prize 2025 • Autism & Tylenol • COVID Vaccines & Myocarditis • ANTIFA • Bari Weiss & CBS News • New Skeptic Research…

  38. When Rationality Becomes Irrational

    · 1 h 28 min · Episode 552

    For many decision scientists, their starting point—drawn from economics—is a quantitative formula called Rational Choice Theory, allowing people to calculate and choose the best options. The problem is that this…

  39. The Science of Revenge: Why Getting Even Feels So Good

    · 1 h 29 min · Episode 551

    Why do we crave revenge? And why can't we stop? In this episode, James Kimmel explains the neuroscience behind one of our most destructive urges. Drawing from his new book, The Science of Revenge: Understanding the…

  40. Why No One Thinks They're in a Cult

    · 1 h 14 min · Episode 550

    What really defines a cult—and why do smart, well-intentioned people get caught up in them? In this episode, Michael Shermer sits down with cult intervention specialist Ashlen Hilliard to explore the psychology of…

  41. Was Benjamin Franklin America's First Scientist?

    · 1 h 29 min · Episode 549

    Michael Shermer sits down with economist and Franklin descendant Dr. Mark Skousen to explore the wit, wisdom, and modern relevance of Benjamin Franklin, the man who bridged science, politics, and philosophy like no…

  42. COVID-19: What We Learned (and Didn't) About Masks, Lockdowns, and Vaccines

    · 1 h 05 min · Episode 548

    The COVID-19 pandemic was a devastating global event, killing more than seven million people, straining the fabric of societies, and shaking the foundations of the world economy. And yet, as horrifying as the…

  43. The Power of Common Knowledge: Steven Pinker on Language, Norms, and Punishment

    · 1 h 36 min · Episode 547

    Common knowledge is necessary for coordination, for making arbitrary but complementary choices like driving on the right, using paper currency, and coalescing behind a political leader or movement. It's also necessary…

  44. Jim Lampley on Hosting the Super Bowl, Calling Tyson's Fights, and His Friendship with O.J.

    · 1 h 22 min · Episode 546

    Jim Lampley's story is a 50-year travelog of an unlikely career that catalogs the evolution of sports television—from his emergence as the first sideline reporter, through hosting and covering 14 Olympics, to working…

  45. The Assassination of Charlie Kirk: Shermer Reflects on Political Violence

    · 28 min · Episode 545

    In this solo commentary, Michael Shermer reflects on the assassination of Charlie Kirk and places it in the larger context of political violence, the psychology of radicalization, the dangers of false beliefs, and the…

  46. The Fate of Nations: Why Ignoring Human Nature Dooms Politics

    · 1 h 38 min · Episode 544

    Science writer Nicholas Wade explains how human nature continues to shape—and sometimes destabilize—modern civilization, and argues that ignoring the effects of human nature on politics is one of society's greatest…

  47. How to Protect Children from Social Media and AI

    · 31 min · Episode 543

    Parenting today often feels like an uphill battle, with technology invading every corner of our kids' lives. From the rise of social media addiction to the growing mental health crisis among children and teens, parents…

  48. The Future of Space Exploration Amid NASA Mission Shutdowns

    · 1 h 06 min · Episode 542

    In this episode of The Michael Shermer Show, Michael Shermer interviews Alan Stern, a prominent planetary scientist and astronaut. Stern discusses his recent suborbital flight, the differences between government and…

  49. Why Do Humans Speak?

    · 1 h 12 min · Episode 541

    In a radical new story about the birth of our species, evolutionary biologist Madeleine Beekman argues that it was not hunting, fighting, or tool-making that forced early humans to speak, but the inescapable need to…

  50. Depopulation: The Silent Global Emergency

    · 1 h 16 min · Episode 540

    Economist Dean Spears explains the forces driving global population change, from past fears of overpopulation to today's concerns about declining birth rates. He contrasts the perspectives of biologists and economists…

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