Opinion Science

#122: Our Complicated Desire for Honesty with Emma Levine

Emma Levine is a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. One of the main things she studies is the ever-present tension bet

BONUS: "Should I Say Something?" with Vanessa Bohns

On a special bonus episode, we welcome back Dr. Vanessa Bohns, professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University. She recently released her second book, "Should

#121: Cultural Evolution with Joshua Conrad Jackson

Dr. Joshua Conrad Jackson uses a bunch of creative research tools to tackle big questions about psychology, culture, and history. By examining historical records, modern

#120: Supporting versus Opposing with Rhia Catapano

Rhia Catapano studies what happens when people think of an opinion in terms of what they support versus what they oppose. It turns out that this simple difference carries

#119: The Power of Confident Uncertainty with Demi Oba

Demi Oba is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Harvard Business School. He studies the nature of communication. In our conversation, Demi shares some recent research

#118: Making Moral Arguments with Jae-Hee Jung

Jae-Hee Jung is an assistant professor at Rice University, where she studies party politics, political behavior, and political psychology in Western democracies. Her rese

#117: Happiness As a Tool for Behavior Change with Liz Dunn & Jiaying Zhao

Elizabeth Dunn and Jiaying Zhao are professors at the University of British Columbia, where they study social psychology and climate behavioral science, respectively. Tog

#116: Change Beliefs, Change Opinions? with Yamil Velez

Yamil Velez is an assistant professor of political science at Columbia University, where he studies what makes political opinions hard to shift. He’s been using innovativ

#115: Raising Color-Conscious Kids with Sylvia Perry

Sylvia Perry is a social psychologist and Associate Professor at Northwestern University, where she directs the Social Cognition and Social Identity Lab. She studies the

#114: Making Immigration Popular with Alex Kustov

Alex Kustov studies public opinion about immigration—why it’s so durable, why it becomes so politically explosive, and what (if anything) can make it more popular. We tal

Introducing Mind Games

I'm excited to share a preview of a new podcast I think you’d enjoy: Mind Games. What if you could hypnotize yourself into a better you? Or.... secretly hypnotize o

#113: Psychology in the Age of AI with Steve Rathje

Steven Rathje is a postdoc at New York University and an incoming assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He studies the psychology of technology, which includ

#112: Thinking Categorically with Greg Murphy

Greg Murphy studies the psychology of concepts. How do we use language to understand things, and how do we sort the world into categories? In our conversation, we conside

#111: You Don't Know What You Like with Paul Eastwick & Eli Finkel

Paul Eastwick and Eli Finkel are two social psychologists who study the gears and levers of romantic relationships. What do people find attractive in a partner? How do re

#110: The Value of Entertainment with Sara Grady

Sara Grady studies the function of entertainment—why we watch, play, and listen to the media that fill our lives. She's an assistant professor of Communication at Oh

#109: The Realities of Political Persuasion with David Broockman

David Broockman is a political scientist at UC Berkeley who digs into one of democracy’s core questions: can political messages really change minds? He’s spent his career

SciComm Summer #26: Lulu Miller on Leading with Story

Lulu Miller has done a lot of things and done them very well. She is currently the co-host of Radiolab and its family-friendly spinoff, Terrestrials. She also co-created

SciComm Summer #25: Sarah McAnulty on Art and Community in Science Communication

Sarah McAnulty is a squid biologist and a science communicator. She's come up with all sorts of creative ways to bring science to the people, especially through loca

SciComm Summer #24: Joe Palca on NPR Science Reporting

Joe Palca reported on science for NPR for years. He found his sweet spot, capturing people's interest and filling them in on curious new findings in just a few minut

SciComm Summer #23: Alison Fragale on Giving Keynote Talks

Alison Fragale is an organizational psychologist who gives keynote talks and leads workshops outside academia. She talks frankly about what it takes to book speaking enga