General Visit Steven’s website, which includes information about all his books, including his latest, ‘Rationality’, and how to purchase them: https://stevenpinker.com/ Follow Steven on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sapinker Timestamps 00:00 Opening and introduction. 2:17 The conventional wisdom that humans are irredeemably irrational is wrong: rationality is actually prevalent and innate. Iona reads passages from Steven’s newest book ‘Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters’ about the “scientific mindset” of hunter-gatherers. 8:09 The evolution of human rationality - our “environmental/ecological rationality.” The “premature consensus” that humans are fundamentally irrational. But why are we so bad at dealing with logical problems in the modern world? How to reconcile this apparent paradox - a new conceptualisation of human rationality: we become expert logicians when logical problems are presented in concrete, human-relevant ways and when we are pur...
General Visit Mark’s website, where you can find out more information about his books, including how to purchase them: https://www.markschatzker.com/ Follow Mark on Twitter: https://twitter.com/markschatzker References Mark’s paper, co-authored with Jeffrey Brunstrom, on micronutrients and food choice: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666322001465 Timestamps 0:00 Opening and introduction. 2:02 Mark reads a passage from his book ‘The End of Craving: Recovering the Lost Wisdom of Eating Well’. 5:20 Pellagra and how it differently influenced American and Italian cuisine and understandings of food. 15:08 ‘Delicious’/‘hyper-palatable’ food v deeply pleasurable eating experiences. 20:00 Micronutrients, food choice, and our innate nutritional wisdom. 39:33 A critique of the keto diet. 42:33 The set point theory of weight: how the brain deals with food. And why it is perilous to meddle with this process. 50:43 If set point theory is correct, why don’t people s...
General Follow Matt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattjj89 Some of Matt’s previous writing and speaking about Ukraine: https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium-forget-nato-ukraine-s-problem-is-russian-imperialism-1.10576686 https://areomagazine.com/2022/02/25/putins-pointless-war/ https://www.callin.com/episode/matt-johnson-how-to-view-the-war-in-ukraine-MVpYFsdASZ https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/why-tucker-carlson-hates-ukraine-so-much-1.10746934 References Two for Tea episode featuring Matt, Daniel, and Ben Burgis on Christopher Hitchens: https://soundcloud.com/twoforteapodcast/113-about-chris-hitchens Some of Taras Bilous’s writings from the frontlines of the war: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/a-letter-to-the-western-left-from-kyiv/ https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/self-determination-and-the-war-in-ukraine https://twitter.com/ahatanhel/status/1517440088879284224?s=20&t=yZ9bkeaWalWYIKSClWy3Eg Timestamps 00:00 Opening and introduction. 2:05 Iona reads a passage from Matt’s Areo essay ‘Putin’s Pointless War’ on the origins and causes of the Ukraine war. 5:00 Matt discusses the history and ideology behind the invasion of Ukraine. 7:10 Matt discusses the more immediate background to the Ukraine war, from 2013 on: Ukraine’s desire for closer relations with the EU, the Revolution of Dignity, the annexation of Crimea, and more. Why Putin is a 19th-century leader. 10:38 The religious aspect of the war and Putin’s warped view of history. Why so many fail to understand that Putin is just an imperialist and miss the mark by talking about Russian security interests and NATO expansion. 15:22 Wouldn’t the US be angry if Mexico joined a Chinese version of the Warsaw Pact? Why blaming NATO expansion for the war is wrong. 20:00 What the Glenn Greenwald-style anti-imperialist left and the Tucker Carlson-style isolationist right get wrong about Ukraine and why (and how they overlap). 25:44 Isn’t Ukraine corrupt and authoritarian? Aren’t Russia and Ukraine just as bad as each other? Isn’t Zelensky illiberal? 28:58 What about the Azov Battalion? Isn’t Ukraine riddled with fascism and neo-Nazism? 31:40 How the usual suspects on the anti-imperialist left deny agency to Ukrainians, who want arms. Plus: The Ukrainian socialist Taras Bilous, on the frontlines and for western arming of Ukraine. Could Ukraine be a turning point for the left? 38:01 The war and the news cycle. What’s actually happening on the ground now? What does the future of the war look like? 42:24 Has Putin lost his edge? Has the invasion backfired on him? Has he united the west again? And if so, how long will that unity last? Has the western reaction to Russian expansionism come too late? Should the west’s aim be to degrade Russia’s capability to wage such wars? Is a Ukrainian victory possible? 51:23 What should the west be doing about Ukraine? Will Europe put up with skyrocketing energy costs to help Ukraine? Will this lead to an upsurge in support for politicians like Le Pen? 53:31 Could Putin use nukes? Might he escalate the war? 58:18 A strange question about elites from Twitter for Matt. 1:03:08 The effects of the war on energy in Europe and attitudes to nuclear power. The war as an advertisement for nuclear power. Plus: the intransigence and greed of the oil companies and OPEC countries. 1:06:16 An aside: the grotesque mystery of America selling its soul to Saudi Arabia. 1:08:00 Is there anything Matt didn’t get the chance to say but wanted to? Yes! Matt on the flaws of realism in the study of international relations: why political culture matters. 1:12:10 Last words and outro.
General Buy Katy and Jeremy’s book ‘Guilty Pigs: The Weird and Wonderful History of Animal Law’: https://www.amazon.com/Guilty-Pigs-Wonderful-History-Animal-ebook/dp/B09CGQDNGD Katy’s academic webpage: https://law.unimelb.edu.au/about/staff/katy-barnett Follow Katy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrKatyBarnett Jeremy’s academic webpage: https://law.unimelb.edu.au/about/staff/jeremy-gans Follow Jeremy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremy_gans Opinions on High, a legal blog that both Kate and Jeremy contribute to: https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/opinionsonhigh/ References Katy’s Areo article ‘Perverse Incentives in Academic Publishing’: https://areomagazine.com/2021/06/23/perverse-incentives-in-academic-publishing/ Timestamps 00.00 Opening and introductions (with a diversion on Katy’s “adventures in walking”). 5:24 Katy reads a passage from her and Jeremy’s book ‘Guilty Pigs: The Weird and Wonderful History of Animal Law’. 7:10 Jeremy reads a passage from ‘Guilty Pigs’. 9:46 How did Katy and Jeremy come to work together on this book and what initially sparked their interest in the subject? 13:21 How has the status of animals in law changed over time and in space and what does this tell us about our attitude to animals? 22:51 The Isbester dog case. 27:59 The ethical and legal issues raised by the Isbester case. Plus: other cases involving dogs. 35:08 Comparison of these cases with the Daniel Brighton case and discussion of the ethical/legal issues thrown up by it. 44:07 The 19th-century British case involving cattle that influenced the modern legal understanding of ‘animal cruelty’. Iona reads relevant parts of ‘Guilty Pigs’; discussion ensues. 48:50 The strange legal history of swans, queens, and nobles (and sturgeons). 53:07 On the legal eccentricties of bee-owning. Plus: Iona tells the Argentinian tomcat’s tale; and other troublesome felines. 1:01:14 Project Acoustic Kitty. 1:03:45 Crimesolving parrots? 1:06:13 Why you should never, ever pat a zebra. 1:07:35 The Toronto Ikea monkey. 1:11:20 The photographer octopus, the posing macaque and Happy the elephant. 1:19:43 How do Katy and Jeremy see animal law developing in the future and are there legal provisions that aren’t in place that they think should be (or provisions in place that should be abolished or altered)? 1:25:28 Closing words and outro.
General Arvid’s website: https://arvidagren.com/ Buy Arvid’s book ‘The Gene’s-Eye View of Evolution’: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-genes-eye-view-of-evolution-9780198862260?cc=us&lang=en Follow Arvid on Twitter: https://twitter.com/arvidagren References Daniel’s Areo review of Arvid’s ‘The Gene’s-Eye View of Evolution’: https://areomagazine.com/2022/02/28/selfish-genery-j-arvid-agrens-the-genes-eye-view-of-evolution/ Two for Tea episode featuring Sean B. Carroll: https://soundcloud.com/twoforteapodcast/77-sean-b-carroll-revolutionising-our-understanding-of-evo-biology?in=twoforteapodcast/sets/evolutionary-biology-on-two Timestamps 00.00 Opening and introductions. 4:59 Why Arvid wanted to write his book ‘The Gene’s-Eye View of Evolution’. 5:57 Daniel reads a passage from Arvid’s book. 9:00 The sociological aspects of the gene’s-eye view. How did Arvid become interested in evolutionary biology and the gene’s-eye view? Evolutionary biology’s links with history and philosophy. 13:50 Similarities between Richard Dawkins and Arvid’s background interest in evolutionary biology. Arvid outlines the selfish gene theory and its intellectual history. 18:47 Are some of the arguments over the gene’s-eye view terminological rather than substantial? What if ‘The Selfish Gene’ had been called ‘The Immortal Gene’? 19:58 Stephen Jay Gould vs. Dawkins: critiques of selfish genery. What questions were Gould and Dawkins separately interested in, and what does this tell us about their disagreements? 27:18 Evolutionary developmental (evo devo) biology and its relationship to selfish gene theory. 31:01 Is the evo devo/selfish gene binary really valid? E.g. Dawkins’ contributions to evo devo. 33:21 What are the most compelling critiques of the selfish gene view? What does Arvid think of the alternative ways - evo devo, the extended synthesis, etc - of looking at evolution? Why is the selfish gene view valuable? In which senses is the selfish gene view incomplete? Pluralism and preferences in science. 44:38 The empirical consequences of the gene’s-eye view: extended phenotypes and selfish genetic elements. Plus: Salman Rushdie and W.D. Hamilton’s “eternal disquiet within.” 58:40 Why should scientists study the history of ideas? 1:01:37 The role of metaphorical thinking in science. 1:06:32 The sociological reception of the selfish gene view. 1:10:04 What is the current standing and future of the gene’s-eye view? 1:14:30 The extended evolutionary synthesis: is the Modern Synthesis outdated? 1:19:32 Is there something Arvid would have liked to say but didn’t get the chance to? 1:20:31 Last words and outro.
General Visit Simon’s website for information about him and to buy his book ‘SPEECH! How Language Made Us Human’: https://www.simonprentis.net/ Follow Simon on Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/memesovergenes References Two for Tea interview with Sean B. Carroll: https://soundcloud.com/twoforteapodcast/77-sean-b-carroll-revolutionising-our-understanding-of-evo-biology The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (linguistic relativity): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_relativity Simon’s Areo article on Ukraine and the United Nations: https://areomagazine.com/2022/03/25/ukraine-why-arent-we-talking-about-the-un/ Timestamps 00.00 Opening and introduction. 2:25 Simon reads from his book ‘SPEECH! How Language Made Us Human’. 13:00 Animal sounds vs. human language. Simon’s theory of the key to and origins of language: the “digitisation of noise.” 17:25 The evidence for Simon’s theory. 22:07 Nature and language as digital; an analogy with DNA and evo devo. 26:04 The revolutionary power of language for humanity. Iona reads from Simon’s book—language as an act of transportation, both connecting us with others and distancing us from the immediate basis of experience. Plus: the dangers of being trapped by language (“the trap of identity”, “the trap of culture”, etc.) and a Babylonian diversion. 37:27 Japanese enka music and Jero, the black American enka singer: a cautionary tale against feeling one’s culture is special and unique. This is true at the individual level, too. This is an illusion caused by language. Further discussion and examples of this illusion and how it (sometimes dangerously) misleads and divides us. The artificiality of culture: our natures are all calibration, stemming from language and culture. Simon’s Japanese experience. 49:48 Simon’s views on the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (linguistic relativity). 55:01 The power of music and its (lack of?) relation to language. Did language drive the growth of the brain? 1:04:36 Do books offer a kind of vicarious experience? Can we really communicate experience and thought to others via language? Is the world headed in the direction of a universal culture (but not a monoculture!)? 1:07:06 Using language and argument instead of violence. Is democracy an evolutionarily stable strategy? How do we apply this at the global level, not just the national level? Why the United Nations fails at this. 1:14:04 Last words and outro.
General Follow Arjun on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juicemoorthy The Factual: https://www.thefactual.com/?lp=new References Matthew Walker’s ‘Why We Sleep’: https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Sleep-Unlocking-Dreams/dp/1501144324/ Timestamps 00.00 Opening and intro. The Factual: credibility grading of news articles/stories. 2:33 The Factual’s history, its mission and ethos, its process of evaluating articles/stories, and the technology behind it. 6:25 Iona on Areo and the foundation of all good commentary—the facts. Opinion/commentary vs. news reporting. Arjun: The Factual’s algorithm and AI tries to ensure that commentary is scored according to how well-grounded in fact it is. 9:00 How the technology behind The Factual works and the methodology of assigning rankings to the four different categories that The Factual rates to come up with an overall credibility score for a piece. 13:51 The conflation of credibility with popularity in science and news. The “herd mentality” in news. Plus: why The Factual’s algorithm can’t tell you if something is true or false, only if a piece has characteristics that mark it as credible and factual—it provides a rubric, with rules of thumb, applicable with or without the algorithm. Ultimately: no easy answers to big issues in the news. 19:59 A discussion of the adversarial nature of politics—does this give it an advantage over (mostly popular) science because everything is “subjected to a ferocious scrutiny” (Iona) by political opponents with vested interests? Pros and cons of this. Challenging popular narratives in science and politics. Adversarialism in politics and journalism. 24:49 Arjun’s father and the simple, core principle of The Factual’s algorithm: read multiple sources/viewpoints. Give people the tools to decide for themselves. The Factual’s commenting methodology. How to cure polarisation. 29:42 The perils of internet discourse in the social media age: Facebook comments and the end of friendships and the flaws of the Twitter algorithm. An age of polarisation and bitter division, online and offline. How can The Factual help us move beyond this? 34:20 Why are people interested in the news? Why is knowing the news and reading good journalism good for people? Where did Arjun’s interest in the news come from? Why reading the news should be enjoyable rather than anxiety/anger-inducing. Why news shouldn’t take over your life. The Factual’s business model. 41:23 Metric obsession and how The Factual is different. 45:21 Arjun’s colleague Alex and the importance of double-checking and questioning the algorithm. 47:07 The erosion of free speech—big tech algorithms, social media, and censorship. How we all engage in curation and why curation is better than censorship. How best to deal with cranks and mis/disinformation—and how the tech giants get it wrong. The poisoning of discourse by cancel culture and how social media enables cancel culture. 1:00:34 Polarisation and the continual subdivision of people into smaller and smaller groups and the effects of all this on public discourse. Twitter is NOT representative of the world. Why a multiplicity of platforms is good and why we must learn how to best use them. 1:04:43 How does Arjun think news might be consumed in the future, or how does he hope it will be consumed? 1:09:09 Last words and outro.
Visit Oliver’s website: https://www.oliverburkeman.com/ Follow Oliver on Twitter: https://twitter.com/oliverburkeman Oliver’s most recent book ‘Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals’: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Thousand-Weeks-Management-Mortals/ Oliver’s book ‘The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking’: https://www.amazon.com/Antidote-Oliver-Burkeman-author/ Oliver’s book ‘HELP!: How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done’: https://www.amazon.com/HELP-Become-Slightly-Happier-More-ebook/ References Samuel Johnson’s 1751 essay on procrastination, ‘Idleness and anxious and miserable state’: https://www.johnsonessays.com/the-rambler/no-134-on-procrastination/ Iona’s Letter correspondence with Nir Eyal on technology and distraction: https://letter.wiki/conversation/266 Nir’s book ‘Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life’: https://www.amazon.com/Indistractable-Control-Your-Attention-Choose/ Vis...
General Buy Matt and Alina Chan’s book ‘Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19’: https://www.amazon.com/Viral-Search-COVID-19-Matt-Ridley/dp/006313912X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1GSU5N0P40R26&keywords=matt+ridley&qid=1648046232&sprefix=matt+ridley%2Caps%2C253&sr=8-1 Matt’s website, where you can find out more about him and his other books and work: https://www.mattridley.co.uk/ Follow Matt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattwridley References Some of Michael Worobey’s work on the origins of Covid-19: https://twitter.com/MichaelWorobey/status/1497607313397481472?s=20&t=_ov6duwWi7DQZDRa5t9q4A Two for Tea episode with Azra Raza on fighting cancer: https://soundcloud.com/twoforteapodcast/64-azra-raza-a-better-way-to-fight-cancer Two for Tea episode with Brian D. Earp on circumcision: https://soundcloud.com/twoforteapodcast/13-brian-earp Iona’s Areo article on circumcision: https://areomagazine.com/2019/09/24/a-wrong-against-boys-an-impossible-conversation-about-circumcision/ Timestamps 00.00 Opening and introduction: the debate over the origins of Covid-19, the reception of and controversy over ‘Viral’, and why the origins debate matters for everyone. 8:40 Will the origins debate ever be settled? 18:58 What we know for certain plus some possible scenarios of how Covid-19 spread. Matt explains why the ‘lab-leak’ hypothesis is plausible. 25:28 Objections to the lab-leak hypothesis and Matt’s responses. 42:30 Here be technical scientific stuff: the cutting edge of knowledge in molecular biology—how furin cleavage sites work. Plus: the duties of writing about science. 49:25 More objections to the lab-leak hypothesis and Matt’s responses. 1:11:50 The benefits and risks of gain-of-function research. Plus: circumcision and the problems with the World Health Organization. 1:21:32 Does ‘Viral’ underestimate the dangers of zoonotic transmission of diseases? Plus: the deforestation/ecological argument about Covid’s origins. 1:24:31 Developments since the publication of ‘Viral’ and the plans for the paperback. 1:27:50 Last words and outro.
General Alex’s website: https://alexkorbphd.com/ Follow Alex on Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexkorbphd Buy Alex’s book ‘The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time’: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1626251207/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=gs2&linkId=TQYPHQ6B534LQ4PZ&creativeASIN=1626251207&tag=alexkorbphd-21&creative=9325&camp=1789 Buy Alex’s book ‘The Upward Spiral Workbook: A Practical Neuroscience Program for Reversing the Course of Depression’: https://www.amazon.com/Upward-Spiral-Workbook-Neuroscience-Depression/dp/1684032423/ref=sr_1_3?qid=1647360558&refinements=p_27%3AAlex+Korb&s=books&sr=1-3 References Iona’s book ‘Our Tango World Vol. 1’: https://www.amazon.com/Our-Tango-World-vol-1-Community/dp/1999755189/ref=sr_1_1?crid=33Z83DRW14VH6&keywords=iona+italia&qid=1647360598&s=books&sprefix=iona+itali%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C130&sr=1-1 Iona’s book ‘Our Tango World Vol. 2’: https://www.amazon.com/Our-Tango-World-vol-2-Milonga/dp/1999755197/ref=pd_sim_1/138-2548482-3504021?pd_rd_w=slzAZ&pf_rd_p=dee70060-7c6d-4721-a321-50a27281cd22&pf_rd_r=J6DTTMK1E0GSZSFYK31S&pd_rd_r=7df296cd-2d08-40e6-8586-2af4d7b9472c&pd_rd_wg=KEJIt&pd_rd_i=1999755197&psc=1 Timestamps 00.00 Opening and introduction. 1:57 How Alex became interested in neuroscience, addiction, and depression. 4:44 Alex’s own experiences with depression and the nature of depression. Depression, diagnosis, and the brain. 13:16 Why we should stop obsessing over the diagnosis of depression and start treating diagnosis as a starting-off point to do something about the issue. Depression as a continuum. Iona’s experiences of depression. 21:59 The artificial distinction between “real chemical depression” and “situational depression” and how life experiences affect you at the level of the brain. Why medication is just one of many ways to combat depression. 27:01 A discussion of the relationship between life circumstances and depression. 42:16 The small, positive steps one can take to overcome depression and find fulfilment. 45:11 Iona’s two different forms of pleasure/satisfaction (of doing and of having done) and ensuing discussion on how individuals’ brains differ. 52:37 On the tools and habits that will help you gain greater fulfilment (and a diversion on sharing the same lab as Sam Harris). 1:02:11 The benefits and hazards of faking it till you make it when it comes to depression. Taking actions rather than being hamstrung by feelings. 1:10:13 Some questions for Alex from listeners. Is depression evolutionarily adaptive? Does anti-depressant medication lead to long-term dependency? How would you reach out to a friend who has withdrawn into depression? 1:21:39 What does Alex think is the most underrated thing a person who is depressed can do to help themselves? 1:23:55 Last words and outro.