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You Are Not So Smart

You Are Not So Smart

300 episodes

You Are Not So Smart is a show about psychology that celebrates science and self delusion. In each episode, we explore what we've learned so far about reasoning, biases, judgments, and decision-making.

Episodes page 4 of 6

  1. 201 - Good Dog - Kate Leaver

    · 1 h 21 min

    In this episode we sit down with journalist and author Kate Leaver to explore her new book, Good Dog, which covers "the science and history of our extraordinary relationship with dogs and focusing on the role that dogs…

  2. 200 - Socks and Crocs (rebroadcast)

    · 1 h 37 min

    When facing a novel and uncertain situation, the brain secretly disambiguates the ambiguous without letting you know it was ever uncertain in the first place, leading people who disambiguate differently to seem iNsAnE.…

  3. 199 - Math Without Numbers - Milo Beckman

    · 56 min

    In this episode we explore the weirdness and wonder of Math Without Numbers with mathematician Milo Beckman who wrote a book about the math behind multiple infinities, strange topologies, and extra dimensions, all…

  4. 198 - Reflection and Insurrection

    · 52 min

    In this episode, we explore the psychological mechanisms that led to the the storming of the Capitol, an event that sprang from a widespread belief in a conspiracy theory that, even weeks later, still persists among…

  5. 197 - Conspiratorial Thinking

    · 1 h 24 min

    Over the last few years, this show has devoted many shows to the psychology behind what we saw in the Capitol in January 2021. So, in this episode, we re-listen to three interviews on conspiratorial thinking to gain…

  6. 196 - Art (rebroadcast)

    · 1 h 42 min

    Moira Dillon studies how “the physical world in which we live shapes the abstract world in which we think,” and in this episode we travel to her Lab for the Developing Mind at NYU to sit down and ask her a zillion…

  7. 195 - Clearer Thinking - Spencer Greenberg

    · 1 h 20 min

    In this episode we sit down with Spencer Greenberg to discuss how to be better critical thinkers using his FIRE method and other insights from his website, ClearerThinking.org Patreon:…

  8. 194 - Because Internet - Gretchen McCulloch

    · 1 h 42 min

    Our guest in this episode is Gretchen McCulloch, who is a linguist, but also, I’d say a MEME-ologist, evidenced by that the fact that in her New York Times Bestselling book, Because Internet: Understanding the New…

  9. 193 - Gossip

    · 1 h 12 min

    In this episode we sit down with psychologist Robb Willer to discuss the psychology of gossip: how much we do it, why we do it, its major functions, and what life would be be like without it. Patreon:…

  10. 192 - The Dunning-Kruger Effect (rebroadcast)

    · 57 min

    In this episode, we explore why we are unaware that we lack the skill to tell how unskilled and unaware we are. The evidence gathered so far by psychologists and neuroscientists seems to suggest that each one of us has…

  11. 191 - Livewired - David Eagleman

    · 1 h 14 min

    In this episode we sit down with neuroscientist David Eagleman to learn how brains turn noise into signal, chaos into order, electrical spikes into meaning, and how new technology can expand subjective reality in ways…

  12. 190 - Learned Helplessness (rebroadcast)

    · 43 min

    Stuck in a bad situation, even when the prison doors are left wide open, we sometimes refuse to attempt escape. Why is that? In this episode learn all about the strange phenomenon of learned helplessness and how it…

  13. 189 - The Vaccine

    · 1 h 44 min

    In this giant episode, experts on vaccines, epidemiology, psychology, and science communication explain how we created so much confusion about COVID-19, and how we can avoid doing it again when a vaccine is ready for…

  14. 188 - The Happiness Lab - Laurie Santos (rebroadcast)

    · 1 h 06 min

    In this episode, we welcome Yale psychologist Laurie Santos who discusses her new podcast, The Happiness Lab which explores how wrong and misguided we can be when we pursue the things we think will make us happy or…

  15. 187 - Bad Habits - Jud Brewer (rebroadcast)

    · 1 h 13 min

    In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer, a neuroscientist and addiction psychiatrist, discusses bad habits and how to change them. He is the author of The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love -- Why We Get…

  16. 186 - Maybe You Should Talk to Someone - Lori Gottlieb (rebroadcast)

    · 42 min

    In Lori Gottlieb's new book, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, she opens with a quote from James Baldwin that reads, "Nothing is more desirable than to be released from an affliction, but nothing is more frightening…

  17. 185 - Masks

    · 1 h 31 min

    In this episode we explore the psychology behind why some people don't want to wear masks, why they get angry at the idea, and why they sometimes take to the streets and city council meetings to voice that anger. Four…

  18. 184 - The Blind Spots Between Us - Gleb Tsipursky

    · 1 h 13 min

    Our guest in this episode is Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, a disaster-avoidance expert who has spent more than 20 years training businesses how to de-bias themselves. He is the author for Never Trust Your Gut and he is here to…

  19. 183 - Black Lives Matter

    · 1 h 13 min

    In this episode, members of the Association of Black Psychologists gather in a roundtable discussion to explore Black Lives Matter and the social movement taking place right now in The United States. Patreon:…

  20. 182 - The A/B Effect (rebroadcast)

    · 1 h 27 min

    So, you might think that, in general, as an idea, as a practice, the A/B test would be beloved, supported, and encouraged as a way to test out policies and practices and drugs and treatments, but new research shows…

  21. 181 - Pluralistic Ignorance (rebroadcast)

    · 1 h 26 min

    There are several ways to define pluralistic ignorance, and that’s because it’s kind of a brain twister when you try to put it into words. On certain issues, the majority of the people believe that the majority of the…

  22. 180 - Meltdown - Chris Clearfield

    · 1 h 48 min

    In this episode we sit down with Chris Clearfield, author of Meltdown: Why Our Systems Fail and What We Can Do About It Patreon: http://patreon.com/youarenotsosmart Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See…

  23. 179 - The Memory Illusion - Julia Shaw

    · 1 h 19 min

    Our guest on this episode of the You Are Not So Smart Podcast is Dr. Julia Shaw, the author of The Memory Illusion, Julia is famous among psychologists because she was able to implant false memories into a group of…

  24. 178 - Behind the Curve (rebroadcast)

    · 1 h 22 min

    In this episode, we sit down with the director and producers of the documentary film, Behind the Curve, an exploration of motivated reasoning and conspiratorial thinking told through the lives of people who have formed…

  25. 177 - COVID - 19

    · 2 h 02 min

    Flatten the curve. That idea has spread through the population faster than COVID-19 ever could. That’s the power of culture, of human psychology, of brains interacting with brains. Of course, culture and human…

  26. 176 - Socks and Crocs - Part Two

    · 1 h 07 min

    Priors are what neuroscientists and philosophers call the years of experience and regularity leading up to the present. All the ways a ball has bounced, all the ways a pancake has tasted, the way the dogs in your life…

  27. 175 - Socks And Crocs - Part One

    · 37 min

    Back in 2015, before Brexit, before Clinton vs. Trump, before weaponized Macedonian internet trolls, one NPR affiliate called The Dress, “The debate that broke the internet,” and The Washington Post referred to it as…

  28. 174 - Bad Advice - Paul Offit (rebroadcast)

    · 1 h 07 min

    In this episode, we sit down with vaccine expert Dr. Paul Offit to discuss his new book, Bad Advice or Why Celebrities, Politicians, and Activists Aren't Your Best Source of Health Information. Offit has been fighting…

  29. 173 - Rule Makers, Rule Breakers - Michele Gelfand

    · 1 h 13 min

    In this episode, we sit down with psychologist Michele Gelfand and discuss her new book: Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our World. In the book, Gelfand presents her research into norms,…

  30. 172 - Team Human - Douglas Rushkoff (rebroadcast)

    · 1 h 11 min

    In this episode of the You Are Not So Smart Podcast we sit down with one of the original cyberpunks, the famed journalist, documentarian, media theorist, all-around technology superstar and weirdo, Douglas Rushkoff.…

  31. 171 - Partisan Brains

    · 1 h 28 min

    Jay Van Bavel studies “from neurons to social networks...how collective concerns -- group identities, moral values, and political beliefs -- shape the mind and brain,” and in this episode we travel to his office at NYU…

  32. 170 - Mark Sargent

    · 1 h 02 min

    In October of 2019 I sat down with prominent Flat Earther Mark Sargent in Stockholm, Sweden at the Gather Festival to try and understand the reasoning behind his beliefs, and non-beliefs, that run counter to the…

  33. 169 - Art

    · 1 h 44 min

    Moira Dillon studies how “the physical world in which we live shapes the abstract world in which we think,” and in this episode we travel to her Lab for the Developing Mind at NYU to sit down and ask her a zillion…

  34. 168 - Not a Scientist (rebroadcast)

    · 41 min

    Our guest in this episode of the You Are Not So Smart Podcast is Dave Levitan, a science journalist with a new book titled: Not a Scientist: how politicians mistake, misrepresent, and utterly mangle science. In the…

  35. 167 - How to Talk to People About Things (rebroadcast)

    · 1 h 42 min

    In this episode, we sit down with negotiation expert Misha Glouberman who explains how to talk to people about things -- that is, how to avoid the pitfalls associated with debate when two or more people attempt to come…

  36. 166 - Prevalence Induced Concept Change (rebroadcast)

    · 27 min

    In this episode we explore prevalence induced concept change. In a nutshell, when we set out to change the world by reducing examples of something we have deemed problematic, and we succeed, a host of psychological…

  37. 165 - The Friendship Cure (rebroadcast)

    · 1 h 23 min

    On this episode, we welcome journalist Kate Leaver to talk about her new book The Friendship Cure in which she explores the crippling, damaging, life-threatening impact of loneliness and the severe mental health…

  38. 164 - Meetings - Steven Rogelberg

    · 51 min

    You probably hate meetings -- most people do -- and much of their awfulness feels inevitable which makes meetings seem unnecessary, but psychologist and organizational scientist Steven Rogelberg says that neither of…

  39. 163 - The Happiness Lab

    · 1 h 06 min

    In this episode we welcome Yale psychologist Laurie Santos who discusses her new podcast, The Happiness Lab which explores how wrong and misguided we can be when we pursue the things we think will make us happy or…

  40. 162 - The Elaboration Likelihood Model (rebroadcast)

    · 45 min

    In this episode we sit down with psychology legend Richard Petty to discuss the Elaboration Likelihood Model, a theory he developed with psychologist John Cacioppo in the 1980s that unified the study of attitude change…

  41. 161 - Bad Habits

    · 1 h 13 min

    In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer, a neuroscientist and addiction psychiatrist, discusses bad habits and how to change them. He is the author of The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love -- Why We Get…

  42. 160 - Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

    · 44 min

    In Lori Gottlieb's new book, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, she opens with a quote from James Baldwin that reads, "Nothing is more desirable than to be released from an affliction, but nothing is more frightening…

  43. 159 - Uncivil Agreement (rebroadcast)

    · 1 h 17 min

    In this episode, we welcome Lilliana Mason on the program to discuss her new book, Uncivil Agreement, which focuses on the idea: “Our conflicts are over who we think we are, rather than reasoned differences of…

  44. 158 - The AB Effect

    · 1 h 19 min

    So, you might think that, in general, as an idea, as a practice, the A/B test would be beloved, supported, and encouraged as a way to test out policies and practices and drugs and treatments, but new research shows…

  45. 157 - Pluralistic Ignorance

    · 1 h 27 min

    There are several ways to define pluralistic ignorance, and that’s because it’s kind of a brain twister when you try to put it into words. On certain issues, the majority of the people believe that the majority of the…

  46. 156 - Selfie (rebroadcast)

    · 1 h 24 min

    In this episode, we sit down with author Will Storr to talk about his new book -- Selfie: How We Became so Self-Obsessed, and What it is Doing to Us. The book explores what he calls “the age of perfectionism” -- our…

  47. 155 - Live in New York - Post Truth

    · 2 h 04 min

    You Are Not So Smart, live in New York, at The Bell House, in Brooklyn -- David McRaney and three experts and a bunch of YANSS fans got together for a deep dive into how we turn perception into reality, how that…

  48. 154 - The Marshmallow Replication (rebroadcast)

    · 52 min

    The marshmallow test is one of the most well-known studies in all of psychology, but a new replication suggests we've been learning the wrong lesson from its findings for decades. -- Show Notes at: youarenotsosmart.com…

  49. 153 - Happy Brain (rebroadcast)

    · 1 h 29 min

    • Live Show Tickets: www.eventbrite.com/e/you-are-not-s…ets-58457802862 What makes you happy? As in, what generates happiness inside the squishy bits that reside inside your skull? That's what author and neuroscientist…

  50. 152 - Status Quo Rationalization (rebroadcast)

    · 42 min

    • Live Show Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/you-are-not-so-smart-with-david-mcraney-tickets-58457802862 When faced with an inescapable and unwanted situation, we often rationalize our predicament so as to make it…

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