Podcasts by Rationally Speaking Podcast

Is cash the best way to help the poor? (Michael Faye) from 2021-12-23T16:02:14

The idea of giving poor people cash, no strings attached, is "very unappealing" for most donors, admits economist Michael Faye -- but it's still one of the best ways to help the poor. Michael an...

Humanity on the precipice (Toby Ord) from 2021-12-10T20:18:14

Humanity could thrive for millions of years -- unless our future is cut short by an existential catastrophe. Oxford philosopher To...

Dangerous biological research - is it worth it? (Kevin Esvelt) from 2021-11-30T19:54:11

Kevin Esvelt, a scientist at MIT, argues that research intended to prevent pandemics is actually putting us in a lot more danger. Also discussed: Kevin's own research on engineering wild animal ...

Why we're polarized (Ezra Klein) from 2021-11-05T15:30:44

Ezra Klein explains how Republican and Democrats in the US became so different from each other, ideologically and demographically, and why that trend + our institutions =  political gridlock. Qu...

The genetic lottery (Kathryn Paige Harden) from 2021-10-15T14:28:30

Kathryn Paige Harden, author of “The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality” explains what scientists have learned about how our genes affect our educational success. Why is this r...

How to reason about COVID, and other hard things (Kelsey Piper) from 2021-09-14T01:02:04

Journalist Kelsey Piper (Future Perfect / Vox) discusses lessons learned from covering COVID: What has she been wrong about, and why? How much can we trust the CDC's advice? What does the eviden...

"Price gouging" in emergencies from 2021-08-19T02:31:47

Every time there’s an emergency, the prices of certain goods skyrocket -- like masks and hand sanitizer during COVID --  and the public gets angry about price gouging. In this episode, two econo...

How to be a data detective (Tim Harford) from 2021-06-10T17:40:57

When you see a statistic reported in the news, like "10% of University of California Berkeley students were homeless this year," how do you evaluate it? You shouldn't blindly accept every statis...

Are Uber and Lyft drivers being exploited? from 2021-04-09T20:26:28

How much do Uber and Lyft drivers really earn, after expenses? Are they getting a raw deal by being classified as 'independent contractors' instead of employees? I explore the debate over these ...

Unfair laws / Why judges should be originalists (William Baude) from 2021-03-19T16:34:39

Is there any justification for seemingly unjust laws like "qualified immunity," which allows cops to get away with bad behavior? William Baude, a leading scholar of constitutional law, explores ...

Intellectual honesty, cryptocurrency,&more (Vitalik Buterin) from 2021-03-04T22:22:49

Julia and guest Vitalik Buterin (creator of the open-source blockchain platform Ethereum) explore a wide range of topics, including: Vitalik's intellectually honest approach to leadership, why p...

Understanding moral disagreements (Jonathan Haidt) from 2021-02-18T12:44:51

Julia and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt (The Righteous Mind) discuss his moral foundations theory and argue about whether...

The case for one billion Americans,&more (Matt Yglesias) from 2021-02-03T20:12:41

Matt Yglesias talks about One Billion Americans, his book arguing that it’s in the United States’ national interest to dramatically boost its population, by expanding immigration and having more...

What’s wrong with tech companies banning people? (Julian Sanchez) from 2021-01-20T17:31:21

Companies like Twitter and Facebook are increasingly willing to ban users -- and even if you agree with their decisions, is it worrying that a few companies have so much power? Julia discusses w...

The case for racial colorblindness (Coleman Hughes) from 2021-01-05T22:18:33

Coleman Hughes explains why he favors a "colorblind" ideal and why the "race-conscious" camp disagrees with him. Coleman and Julia also discuss whether reparations are just, and what counts as r...

Are Democrats being irrational? (David Shor) from 2020-12-22T16:21:50

Data scientist David Shor discusses some of the bad choices made by Democratic political campaigns. What's the cause of the errors? Is it irrationality, coordination problems, or something else?...

The moral limits of markets / The problem with meritocracy (Michael Sandel) from 2020-12-08T04:23:42

Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel argues with Julia about human dignity, consensual cannibalism, and the case in his new book, The Tyranny of Merit, that meritocracy is to blame for re...

Deaths of despair / Effective altruism (Angus Deaton) from 2020-11-24T02:29:43

Economist and Nobel Laureate Angus Deaton discusses the rise in “deaths of despair” in the U.S. – deaths from drugs, alcohol or suicide. What's causing it, and how do we know? Also, Julia and An...

Are Boomers to blame for Millennials' struggles? from 2020-11-09T18:46:24

Rationally Speaking returns from hiatus with a look at a clash between two generations: Millennials, and their parents' generation, the Baby Boomers.

Faced with stagnant wages and rising ...

Rationally Speaking #244 - Stephanie Lepp and Buster Benson on "Seeing other perspectives, with compassion" from 2019-11-30T21:00

This episode features a pair of interviews on a similar topic: First, Stephanie Lepp (host of the Reckonings podcast) discusses what she's learned from interviewing people who had a serious change ...

Rationally Speaking #243 - Bryan Caplan on "The Case for Open Borders" from 2019-11-12T01:00

The idea of open borders -- letting people move freely between countries, taking a job wherever they can find a job they want -- is still a pretty fringe position, politically speaking. But economi...

Rationally Speaking #242 - Keith Frankish on "Why consciousness is an illusion" from 2019-10-29T01:00

Philosopher of mind Keith Frankish is one of the leading proponents of "illusionism," the theory that argues that your subjective experience -- i.e., the "what it is like" to be you -- is a trick o...

Rationally Speaking #241 - Thibault Le Texier on "Debunking the Stanford Prison Experiment" from 2019-10-15T01:00

The Stanford Prison Experiment is one of the most famous psychology experiments in history. For decades, we've been told that it proves how regular people easily turn sadistic when they are asked t...

Rationally Speaking #240 - David Manheim on "Goodhart's Law and why metrics fail" from 2019-09-17T01:00

If you want to understand why things go wrong in business, government, education, psychology, AI, and more, you need to know Goodhart's Law: "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to become a ...

Rationally Speaking #239 - Saloni Dattani on "The debate over whether male and female brains are different" from 2019-09-03T01:00

Several recent books have argued there's no difference between male and female brains. Saloni Dattani, a PhD in psychiatric genetics, discusses some of the problems with the argument, and what we r...

Rationally Speaking #238 - Razib Khan on "Stuff I've Been Wrong About" from 2019-08-20T01:00

It's rare for public intellectuals to talk about things they've gotten wrong, but geneticist Razib Khan is an exception. He recently published list of 28 things he's changed his mind about in the l...

Rationally Speaking #237 - Andy Przybylski on "Is screen time bad for you?" from 2019-08-06T01:00

It's common wisdom that spending a lot of time on your smartphone, or checking social media like Facebook and Twitter, takes a psychological toll. It makes us depressed, insecure, anxious, and isol...

Rationally Speaking #236 - Alex Tabarrok on "Why are the Prices So D*mn High?" from 2019-07-23T01:00

Over the last two decades, the prices of consumer goods like toys and electronics have gone way down, but the prices of health care and education have gone up roughly 200%. Why? In this episode, ec...

Rationally Speaking #235 - Tage Rai on "Why people think their violence is morally justified" from 2019-06-25T01:00

We typically think of violence as being caused by a lack of control, or by selfish motives. But what if, more often than not, violence is intended to be morally righteous? That's the thesis of the ...

Rationally Speaking #234 - Dylan Matthews on "Global poverty has fallen, but what should we conclude from that?" from 2019-05-28T01:00

The global poverty rate has fallen significantly over the last few decades. But there's a heated debate, between people like psychologist Steven Pinker and anthropologist Jason Hickel, over how to ...

Rationally Speaking #233 - Clive Thompson on "The culture of coding, and how it’s changing the world" from 2019-05-13T23:00

Technology writer Clive Thompson discusses his latest book, Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World. Topics Clive and Julia cover include: - Why coders love efficiency so mu...

Rationally Speaking #232 - Tyler Cowen on "Defending big business against its critics" from 2019-04-30T01:00

Economist Tyler Cowen discusses his latest book, "Big Business: A love-letter to an American anti-hero." Why has anti-capitalist sentiment increased recently, and to what extent is it justified? Ho...

Rationally Speaking #231 - Helen Toner on "Misconceptions about China and artificial intelligence" from 2019-04-16T01:00

Helen Toner, the director of strategy at Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), shares her observations from the last few years of talking with AI scientists and policymak...

Rationally Speaking #230 - Kelsey Piper on “Big picture journalism: covering the topics that matter in the long run” from 2019-04-02T01:00

This episode features journalist Kelsey Piper, blogger and journalist for "Future Perfect," a new site focused on topics that impact the long-term future of the world. Kelsey and Julia discuss some...

Rationally Speaking #229 - John Nerst on "Erisology, the study of disagreement" from 2019-03-19T01:00

This episode features John Nerst, data scientist and blogger at everythingstudies.com, discussing a potential new field called "erisology," the study of disagreement. John and Julia discuss why Twi...

Rationally Speaking #228 - William Gunn and Alex Holcombe on "Is Elsevier helping or hurting scientific progress?" from 2019-03-05T01:00

In the wake of the University of California's decision to end their contract with Elsevier, the world's largest scientific publisher, a lot of people have been talking about the effect that publish...

Rationally Speaking #227 - Sarah Haider on "Dissent and free speech" from 2019-02-18T01:00

This episode features Sarah Haider, the president of Ex-Muslims of North America. Julia and Sarah discuss why it's important to talk about the challenges of leaving Islam, and why that makes people...

Rationally Speaking #226 - Rob Wiblin on "An updated view of the best ways to help humanity" from 2019-02-05T01:00

If you want to do as much good as possible with your career, what problems should you work on, and what jobs should you consider? This episode features Rob Wiblin, director of research for effectiv...

Rationally Speaking #225 - Neerav Kingsland on "The case for charter schools" from 2019-01-21T01:00

This episode features Neerav Kingsland, who helped rebuild New Orleans' public school system after Hurricane Katrina, converting it into the country's first nearly-100% charter school system. Neera...

Rationally Speaking #224 - Rick Nevin on "The long-term effects of lead on crime" from 2019-01-07T01:00

This episode features Rick Nevin, an economist who is known for his research suggesting that lead is one of the main causes of crime. Rick and Julia discuss: how do we know the correlation between ...

Rationally Speaking #223 - Chris Fraser on "The Mohists, ancient China's philosopher warriors" from 2018-12-17T01:00

Not enough people know about the Mohists, a strikingly modern group of Chinese philosophers active in 479-221 BCE. This episode features Chris Fraser, expert on Mohism and professor of philosophy a...

Rationally Speaking #222 - Spencer Greenberg and Seth Cottrell on "Ask a Mathematician, Ask a Physicist" from 2018-12-03T01:00

This episode features the hosts of "Ask a Mathematician, Ask a Physicist," a blog that grew out of a Burning Man booth in which a good-natured mathematician (Spencer Greenberg) and physicist (Seth ...

Rationally Speaking #221 - Rob Reich on "Is philanthropy bad for democracy?" from 2018-11-14T01:00

This episode features political scientist Rob Reich, author of "Just Giving: Why Philanthropy is Failing Democracy, and How it Can Do Better". Rob and Julia debate his criticisms of philanthropy: D...

Rationally Speaking #220 - Peter Eckersley on "Tough choices on privacy and artificial intelligence" from 2018-10-28T10:30

This episode features Peter Eckersley, an expert in law and computer science, who has worked with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Partnership on AI. Peter and Julia first delve into some...

Rationally Speaking #219 - Jason Collins on "A skeptical take on behavioral economics" from 2018-10-15T03:00

In this episode, economist Jason Collins discusses some of the problems with behavioral economics: Why governments have started to rely too much on the field, and why that's bad; why it's suspiciou...

Rationally Speaking #218 - Chris Auld on "Good and bad critiques of economics" from 2018-10-01T03:00

In this episode, economist Chris Auld describes some common criticisms of his field and why they're wrong. Julia and Chris also discuss whether there are any good critiques of the field, and whethe...

Rationally Speaking #217 - Aviv Ovadya on "The problem of false, biased, and artificial news" from 2018-09-16T23:00

Aviv Ovadya, an expert on misinformation, talks with Julia about the multiple phenomena that get lumped together as "fake news." For example, articles that are straightforwardly false, misleading, ...

Rationally Speaking #216 - Diana Fleischman on "Being a transhumanist evolutionary psychologist" from 2018-09-03T03:00

On this episode of Rationally Speaking, professor Diana Fleischman makes the case for transhumanist evolutionary psychology: understanding our evolved drives, so that we can better overcome them. D...

Rationally Speaking #215 - Anders Sandberg on "Thinking about the long-term future of humanity" from 2018-08-20T03:00

This episode features Anders Sandberg, a researcher at Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute, explaining several reasons why it's valuable to think about humanity's long-term future. Julia and Ande...

Rationally Speaking #214 - Anthony Aguirre on "Predicting the future of science and tech, with Metaculus" from 2018-08-06T03:00

This episode features physicist Anthony Aguirre discussing Metaculus, the site he created to crowd-source accurate predictions about science and technology. For example, will SpaceX land on Mars by...

Rationally Speaking #213 - Dean Simonton on "The causes of scientific and artistic genius" from 2018-07-22T22:00

This episode features Professor Dean Simonton, who has spent his life quantitatively studying geniuses, from Einstein to Mozart. Dean and Julia discuss his views on whether IQ is important, whether...

Rationally Speaking #212 - Ed Boyden on "How to invent game-changing technologies" from 2018-07-09T01:00

This episode features neuroscientist Ed Boyden discussing two inventions of his that have revolutionized neuroscience: optogenetics and expansion microscopy. Ed and Julia talk about Ed's approach t...

Rationally Speaking #211 - Sabine Hossenfelder on "The case against beauty in physics" from 2018-06-25T01:00

This episode features physicist Sabine Hossenfelder, author of Lost in Math, arguing that fundamental physics is too enamored of "beauty" as a criterion for evaluating theories of how the universe ...

Rationally Speaking #210 - Stuart Ritchie on "Conceptual objections to IQ testing" from 2018-06-11T01:00

This episode features Stuart Ritchie, intelligence researcher and author of the book "Intelligence: All That Matters." Stuart responds to some of the most common conceptual objections to the scienc...

Rationally Speaking #209 - Christopher Chabris on "Collective intelligence&the ethics of A/B tests" from 2018-05-28T01:00

This episode features cognitive psychologist Christopher Chabris discussing his research on "collective intelligence" -- why do some teams perform better than others at a wide variety of tasks? Jul...

Rationally Speaking #208 - Annie Duke on "Thinking in bets" from 2018-05-13T21:00

This episode features Annie Duke, former pro poker player and author of the book Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts. Julia and Annie debate why people tend...

Rationally Speaking #207 - Alison Gopnik on "The wrong way to think about parenting, plus the downsides of modernity" from 2018-04-30T01:00

Developmental psychologist Alison Gopnik explains why modern parenting is too goal-oriented. Alison and Julia discuss whether anything parents do matters, whether kids should go to school, and how ...

Rationally Speaking #206 - Kal Turnbull on "Change My View" from 2018-04-15T23:00

When people argue on the internet, you never expect anyone to actually say "You know what, that's a good point, you've changed my view somewhat." But Change My View, a fast-growing subreddit founde...

Rationally Speaking #205 - Michael Webb on "Are ideas getting harder to find?" from 2018-04-02T03:00

This episode features economist Michael Webb, who recently co-authored a paper titled "Are ideas getting harder to find?" It demonstrates that the number of researchers it takes to produce a techno...

Rationally Speaking #204 - Simine Vazire on "Reforming psychology, and self-awareness" from 2018-03-19T03:00

Simine Vazire is a professor of psychology, the author of the blog, "Sometimes I'm Wrong," and a major advocate for improving the field of psychology. She and Julia discuss several potential object...

Rationally Speaking #203 - Stephen Webb on "Where is Everybody? Solutions to the Fermi Paradox." from 2018-03-05T00:00

In 1950, the great physicist Enrico Fermi posed a question that people have been puzzling over ever since: Where is everybody? The universe has been around for billions of years, so why haven't we ...

Rationally Speaking #202 - Bryan Caplan on "The Case Against Education" from 2018-02-19T03:00

In this episode, economist Bryan Caplan argues that the main reason getting a college degree is valuable is because of signaling (i.e., it proves that you have traits that employers value, like con...

Rationally Speaking #201 - Ben Buchanan on "The Cybersecurity Dilemma" from 2018-02-05T03:00

The security dilemma is a classic problem in geopolitics: Often when one nation takes measures to protect itself from attack (like adding to their stockpile of missiles), other nations see that and...

Rationally Speaking #200 - Timothy Lee on "How much should tech companies moderate speech?" from 2018-01-22T01:00

This episode features tech and policy journalist Timothy Lee, discussing a question that's increasingly in the spotlight: How much should tech companies be actively moderating their users' speech? ...

Rationally Speaking #199 - Jessica Flanigan on "Why people should have the right to self-medicate" from 2018-01-08T01:00

This episode features Jessica Flanigan, professor of normative and applied ethics, making the case that patients should have the right to take pharmaceutical drugs without needing to get a prescrip...

Rationally Speaking #198 - Timur Kuran on "Private Truths and Public Lies" from 2017-12-11T01:00

In this episode, economist Timur Kuran explains the ubiquitous phenomenon of "preference falsification" -- in which people claim to support something publicly even though they don't support it priv...

Rationally Speaking #197 - Doug Hubbard on "Why people think some things can’t be quantified (and why they’re wrong)" from 2017-11-13T01:00

In this episode Julia talks with Doug Hubbard, author of How to Measure Anything, about why people so often believe things are impossible to quantify like "innovation" or "quality of life." For exa...

Rationally Speaking #196 - Eric Schwitzgebel on "Weird ideas and opaque minds" from 2017-10-30T01:00

Philosopher Eric Schwitzgebel returns to the show to explore several related questions: His taxonomy of the three different styles of thinker -- "Truth," "Dare," and "Wonder" -- and whether one of ...

Rationally Speaking #195 - Zach Weinersmith on "Emerging technologies that'll improve and/or ruin everything" from 2017-10-15T21:00

This episode features Zach Weinersmith, creator of the philosophical webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, and the co-author (with his wife Kelly Weinersmith) of the new book Soonish: 10 Emer...

Rationally Speaking #194 - Robert Wright on "Why Buddhism is True" from 2017-10-02T01:00

This episode features bestselling author Robert Wright making the case for why Buddhism was right about human nature: its diagnosis that our suffering is mainly due to a failure to see reality clea...

Rationally Speaking #193 - Eric Jonas on "Could a neuroscientist understand a microprocessor?" from 2017-09-18T01:00

The field of neuroscience has been collecting more and more data, and developing increasingly advanced technological tools in its race to understand how the brain works. But can those data and tool...

Rationally Speaking #192 - Jesse Singal on “The problems with implicit bias tests” from 2017-09-03T23:00

You may have heard of the Implicit Associations Test (IAT) -- one of the most famous instruments from social psychology, it's frequently cited as evidence that most people harbor implicit racism or...

Rationally Speaking #191 - Seth Stephens-Davidowitz on "What the internet can tell us about human nature" (Fixed) from 2017-08-21T03:00

There are a lot of sensitive topics about human nature that would be interesting to study, such as people's sexual behavior, or how racist people really are. Researchers studying those questions ha...

Rationally Speaking #190 - Amanda Askell on "Pascal's Wager and other low risks with high stakes" from 2017-08-06T23:00

You've probably heard of Pascal's Wager: That it's rational to believe in God, because if you're wrong it's no big deal, but if you're right then the payoff is huge. This episode features philosoph...

Rationally Speaking #189 - Stephan Guyenet on "What causes obesity?" from 2017-07-23T23:00

In this episode Julia sits down with neuroscientist and obesity researcher Stephan Guyenet, to talk about what scientists know so far about the causes of obesity, and in particular the brain's role...

Rationally Speaking #188 - Robert Kurzban on "Being strategically wrong" from 2017-07-09T17:00

In this episode, recorded live at the Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism, Julia interviews evolutionary psychologist Rob Kurzban, author of "Why Everyone (Else) is a Hypocrite." Rob des...

Rationally Speaking #187 - Jason Weeden on "Do people vote based on self-interest?" from 2017-06-26T03:00

What determines which policies a person votes for? Is it their personality, their upbringing, blind loyalty to their political party? Or is it self-interest -- people voting for policies that will ...

Rationally Speaking #186 - Tania Lombrozo on "Why we evolved the urge to explain" from 2017-06-11T23:00

Humans have an innate urge to reach for explanations of the world around us. For example, "What caused this tragedy?" or "Why are some people successful?" This episode features psychologist and phi...

Rationally Speaking #185 - Hans Noel on "The role of ideology in politics" from 2017-05-28T23:00

We're used to conflating political parties (Republican and Democrat) with political ideologies (conservative and liberal), but the two were very distinct only a few decades ago. In this episode of ...

Rationally Speaking #184 - Gregory Clark on "What caused the industrial revolution?" from 2017-05-14T23:00

Nothing changed the course of human history as much as the industrial revolution. Yet its cause is a mystery: Why did it occur in the late 1700s, and not sooner (or later)? Why did it occur in Brit...

Rationally Speaking #183 - L. A. Paul on "Transformative Experiences" from 2017-04-30T23:00

What if you had the opportunity to become a vampire, irreversibly -- and everyone you knew who had become one said "It's utterly indescribable." Would you take the leap, not knowing what it would f...

Rationally Speaking #182 - Spencer Greenberg on "How online research can be faster, better, and more useful" from 2017-04-16T23:00

This episode features mathematician and social entrepreneur Spencer Greenberg, talking about how he's taking advantage of the Internet to improve the research process. Spencer and Julia explore top...

Rationally Speaking #181 - William MacAskill on "Moral Uncertainty" from 2017-04-02T14:30

This episode introduces "moral uncertainty," the idea that you shouldn't be overly confident in your moral judgments -- like whether it's okay to eat meat, for example, or whether it's okay to abor...

Rationally Speaking #180 - David Roodman on "The Worm Wars" from 2017-03-20T01:00

In this episode of Rationally Speaking, Julia talks with economics and public policy expert David Roodman about the "Worm Wars" in social science -- the debate over whether deworming pills are an e...

Rationally Speaking #179 - Dani Rodrik on "Is economics more art or science?" from 2017-03-06T01:00

This episode features Harvard economist Dani Rodrik, talking about the epistemology of economics: Are there any general "laws" of economics that we can be really confident in? Do economists discard...

Rationally Speaking #178 - Tim Urban on "Trying to live well, as semi-rational animals" from 2017-02-20T01:00

This episode features Tim Urban, author of popular longform illustrated blog Wait But Why. Julia and Tim explore one of their common interests: the tension between the rational and irrational aspec...

Rationally Speaking #177 - Dylan Matthews on "The science and ethics of kidney donation" from 2017-02-05T21:00

If you're a healthy adult, should you donate one of your kidneys to a stranger? This episode features journalist Dylan Matthews, who donated his kidney last year. He and Julia discuss the clever de...

Rationally Speaking #176 - Jason Brennan on "Against democracy" from 2017-01-22T21:00

Churchill famously called democracy "the worst system of government, except for all the others that have been tried." Could we do better? On this episode of Rationally Speaking, Julia chats with pr...

Rationally Speaking #175 - Chris Blattman on "Do sweatshops reduce poverty?" from 2017-01-08T21:00

This episode explores the economics and ethics of low-paying factories (which some might call "sweatshops") in Ethiopia. Do they make their workers better off, relative to those people's outside op...

Rationally Speaking #174 - John Ioannidis on "What happened to Evidence-based medicine?" from 2016-12-11T21:00

Over the last two decades, the Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) movement has transformed medical science, pushing doctors to rely less on intuition or "common wisdom" in choosing treatments, and more ...

Rationally Speaking #173 - Brendan Nyhan on "What can we learn from the election?" from 2016-11-27T21:00

Since Trump's surprising win in the 2016 presidential election, there's been a flurry of discussion about why things turned out this way. But which explanations are well-supported, and which are wr...

Rationally Speaking #172 - Brian Nosek on "Why science needs openness" from 2016-11-13T21:00

There's a growing anxiety about the quality of scientific research, as a depressingly large fraction of articles fail to replicate. Could "openness" solve that problem? This episode features Brian ...

Rationally Speaking #171 - Scott Aaronson on "The ethics and strategy of vote trading" from 2016-10-30T23:00

It can be pretty frustrating to live in a "safe" state during national elections, where the chance your vote will affect the overall results is practically zero. This episode, with professor Scott ...

Rationally Speaking #170 - Will Wilkinson on "Social justice and political philosophy" from 2016-10-16T23:00

How did "social justice" come to mean what it does today? This episode features a chat with Will Wilkinson, a writer, political philosopher, and vice president of policy for the Niskanen Institute....

Rationally Speaking #169 - Owen Cotton-Barratt on "Thinking About Humanity's Far Future" from 2016-10-02T17:00

What can we do now to affect whether humanity is still around in 1000 years (and what life will be like then)? In this episode, Julia talks with Owen Cotton-Barratt, a mathematician at Oxford's Fut...

Rationally Speaking #168 - Don Moore on "Overconfidence" from 2016-09-18T17:00

This episode features a chat with Don Moore, professor of management of organizations at the University of California Berkeley's Haas School of Business, and an expert in overconfidence. Don and Ju...

Rationally Speaking #167 - Samuel Arbesman on "Why technology is becoming too complex" from 2016-09-04T17:00

As the technology we rely on every day becomes increasingly sophisticated, it's getting to the point where it's too complicated to understand -- not just for individual users, but for any human at ...

Rationally Speaking #166 - Eric Schwitzgebel on "Why you should expect the truth to be crazy" from 2016-08-21T17:00

Some theories violate common sense so wildly that you want to just reject them out of hand. For example, "The United States is conscious," or "The most moral act would be to replace all living bein...

Rationally Speaking #165 - Robert Frank on "Success and Luck" from 2016-08-07T17:00

If someone asks you, "What caused your success (in finance, your career, etc.)?" what probably comes to mind for you is a story about how you worked hard and made smart choices. Which is likely tru...

Rationally Speaking #164 - James Evans on "Using meta-knowledge to learn how science works" from 2016-07-24T17:00

Has science gotten slower over the years? Does the proliferation of jargon make it harder for scientists to collaborate? What unstated assumptions -- "ghost theories" -- are shaping our research wi...

Rationally Speaking #163 - Gregg Caruso on "Free Will and Moral Responsibility" from 2016-07-10T17:00

If people don't have free will, then can we be held morally responsible for our actions? And what would happen to society if we were to collectively shed our belief in free will? In this episode Ju...

Rationally Speaking #162 - Sean Carroll on "Poetic Naturalism" from 2016-06-26T17:00

Naturalism is the stance that everything that exists in the universe arises from "natural" causes, of the sort observable by science -- not supernatural ones. It's practically a foundational tenet ...

Rationally Speaking #161 - Tom Griffiths and Brian Christian on "Algorithms to Live By" from 2016-06-12T17:00

Julia chats with the authors of Algorithms to Live By, about how to apply key algorithms from computer science to our real life problems. For example, deciding which apartment to rent, planning you...

Rationally Speaking #160 - Live at NECSS -- Jacob Appel on "Tackling bioethical dilemmas" from 2016-05-29T17:00

It's the annual live Rationally Speaking episode, taped at the Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism in NYC! This year features returning guest Jacob Appel, a bioethicist (and lawyer, and ...

Rationally Speaking #159 - Colin Allen on "Do fish feel pain?" from 2016-05-15T17:00

In this episode Julia talks with philosopher of cognitive science Colin Allen about whether fish can feel pain. In the process they explore a cluster of related questions: Are fish conscious, and h...

Rationally Speaking #158 - Dr. George Ainslie on "Negotiating with your future selves" from 2016-05-01T17:00

Ever make a plan to diet, or exercise, or study, and then -- when the scheduled hour rolls around -- decide, "Nah, I'll just put it off another day"? If you said "no," I don't believe you! This epi...

Rationally Speaking #157 - Dr. Herculano-Houzel on "What made the human brain special?" from 2016-04-17T17:00

For centuries, scientists have wondered what makes humans so much smarter than other species. Some proposed it was the size of our brain (though that didn't explain why whales weren't smarter than ...

Rationally Speaking #156 - David McRaney on "Why it’s so hard to change someone’s mind" from 2016-04-03T17:00

You're probably already aware that it's hard to change someone's mind with logical arguments and evidence, especially about emotionally charged topics. But are there exceptions? David McRaney, best...

Rationally Speaking #155 - Uri Simonsohn on "Detecting fraud in social science" from 2016-03-20T17:00

He's been called a "Data vigilante." In this episode, Prof. Uri Simonsohn describes how he detects fraudulent work in psychology and economics -- what clues tip him off? How big of a problem is fra...

Rationally Speaking #154 - Tom Griffiths on "Why your brain might be rational after all" from 2016-03-06T17:00

You've probably heard about cognitive biases -- the systematic errors human brains make when we try to reason or make decisions. But what if our biases are actually a sign of rationality? This epis...

Rationally Speaking #153 - Dr. Vinay Prasad on "Why so much of what we 'know' about medicine is wrong" from 2016-02-21T17:00

We like to think of doctors as experts, whose recommendations are backed up by solid evidence. So why does it keep happening that a widely used medical intervention -- like estrogen replacement the...

Rationally Speaking #152 - Dan Fincke on "The pros and cons of civil disagreement" from 2016-02-07T17:00

Julia invites philosopher and blogger Dan Fincke onto the show, inspired by a productive disagreement they had on Facebook. Their topic in this episode: civility in public discourse. Do atheists an...

Rationally Speaking #151 - Maria Konnikova on "Why everyone falls for con artists" from 2016-01-24T17:00

You've probably heard about victims of con artists -- like the people who hand over their life savings to sketchy gurus or psychics, or the people who wire thousands of dollars to a "Nigerian princ...

Rationally Speaking #150 - Elizabeth Loftus on "The malleability of human memory" from 2016-01-10T17:00

Do you remember when you were a kid, and you had that great day at Disneyland where you got to meet Bugs Bunny? No? Think harder. It was a sunny day... In this episode of Rationally Speaking, Julia...

Rationally Speaking #149 - Susan Gelman on "How essentialism shapes our thinking" from 2015-12-13T17:00

In this episode, psychologist Susan Gelman describes her work on the psychological trait of essentialism: the innate human urge to categorize reality and to assume that those categories reflect mea...

Rationally Speaking #148 - David Kyle Johnson on "The Myths that Stole Christmas" from 2015-11-29T17:00

We're all familiar with Santa Claus -- but how much do you *really* know about that jolly old elf? In this episode, Julia interviews philosophy professor David Kyle Johnson, the author of "The Myth...

Rationally Speaking #147 - Andrew Gelman on "Why do Americans vote the way they do?" from 2015-11-15T23:00

There are two contradictory stories about politics and class: On the one hand, that the Republicans are the party of the fat cat businessmen and the Democrats are the party of the people. And on th...

Rationally Speaking #146 - Jesse Richardson on "The pros and cons of making fallacies famous" from 2015-11-01T15:00:57

This episode of Rationally Speaking features Jesse Richardson, a creative director who has been using his advertising background "for good and not for evil," as he puts it -- by building skeptic si...

Rationally Speaking #145 - Phil Tetlock on "Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction" from 2015-10-18T14:00:44

Most people are terrible at predicting the future. But a small subset of people are significantly less terrible: the Superforecasters. On this episode of Rationally Speaking, Julia talks with profe...

Rationally Speaking #144 - Bryan Caplan on "Does parenting matter?" from 2015-10-04T15:21:08

Parents in the United States are spending more time and energy than ever to ensure that their children turn out happy, healthy, and successful. But what does the evidence suggest about the impact o...

Rationally Speaking #143 - Scott Aaronson on "The theorem that proves rationalists can't disagree" from 2015-09-20T19:00:19

Can rational people disagree? This episode of Rationally Speaking features guest Scott Aaronson. Scott is a professor of computer science at MIT and has written about "Aumann's Agreement Theorem," ...

Rationally Speaking #142 - Paul Bloom on "The case against empathy" from 2015-09-06T14:00:52

"I'm writing a book on empathy," psychologist Paul Bloom tells people. They respond warmly, until he follows up with, "I'm against it." On this episode of Rationally Speaking, Julia and Paul discus...

Rationally Speaking #141 - Dan Sperber on "The Argumentative Theory of reason" from 2015-08-23T14:00:28

The traditional story about reason is that it evolved to help humans see the world more clearly and (thereby) make better decisions. But on that view, some mysteries remain: why is the human bra...

Rationally Speaking #140 - Kenny Easwaran on "Newcomb's Paradox and the tragedy of rationality" from 2015-08-09T14:00:15

This episode of Rationally Speaking features philosopher Kenny Easwaran, who delves into the notorious "Newcomb's Paradox" -- the puzzle about which it was once said, "To almost everyone it is p...

Rationally Speaking #139 - Eric Schwitzgebel on "Moral hypocrisy: why doesn't knowing about ethics make people more ethical?" from 2015-07-26T15:00:21

You might expect that professional ethicists -- people whose job it is to determine which behaviors are ethical and why -- would behave more ethically than other people. You'd be wrong! This epi...

Rationally Speaking #138 - Ian Morris on, "Why the West rules -- for now" from 2015-07-12T14:00:56

For several centuries, historians have tried to answer the question: "Why is Western Europe (and later, North America) the dominant world power?" Past explanations cited culture, or "great men" ...

Rationally Speaking #137 - Marc Lipsitch on, "Should scientists try to create dangerous viruses?" from 2015-06-28T16:00:45

A controversial field of research is "gain-of-function," in which scientists take a virus (like a strain of flu) and attempt to make it more dangerous, for example by making it transmissible in ...

Rationally Speaking #136 - David Roodman on Why Microfinance Won't Cure Global Poverty from 2015-06-15T15:00:51

Can we pull the world's poor out of poverty by giving them access to financial services? This episode features a conversation with economist David Roodman, formerly a fellow at the Center for Globa...

Rationally Speaking #134 - Michael Shermer on: "Science drives moral progress" from 2015-05-17T14:00:05

Common wisdom holds that the world is getting more violent, but is that really true? Leading skeptic Michael Shermer, professor and author of many books on science, morality and skepticism, argu...

Rationally Speaking #134 - Michael Shermer on: "Science drives moral progress" from 2015-05-17T14:00:05

Common wisdom holds that the world is getting more violent, but is that really true? Leading skeptic Michael Shermer, professor and author of many books on science, morality and skepticism, argu...

Rationally Speaking #133 - Sean Carroll on "The Many Worlds Interpretatioln Is Probably Correct" from 2015-05-03T16:00:55

In this episode of Rationally Speaking, Caltech physicist Sean Carroll describes an "embarrassing" state of affairs in modern physics: that we still don't know how to interpret quantum mechanics...

Rationally Speaking #132 - Live From NECSS 2015 from 2015-04-21T19:00:18

This live episode of Rationally Speaking, taped at the 2015 Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism, is a special one: it's Massimo's last episode as co-host! He and Julia look back over the...

Rationally Speaking #131 - James Randi on Being An Honest Liar from 2015-04-05T14:00:01

The Amazing Randi, famous magician and a pioneer of Skepticism, joins this episode of Rationally Speaking for a conversation about the past and future of the Skeptic movement. Massimo and Julia's q...

Rationally Speaking #130 - The Atheists Own 10 Commandments from 2015-03-22T14:00:38

Do atheists need their own 10 commandments? What would such a thing look like? In this episode, Julia and Massimo discuss a recent attempt to define some secular commandments. They debate the relev...

Rationally Speaking #129 - Would the World Be a Better Place Without Religion? from 2015-03-08T14:00:48

Atheists often take it as a given that the world would be better off without religion. But what does the evidence so far really say? In this episode, Massimo and Julia discuss a recent article in t...

Rationally Speaking #128 - 5th Anniversary Live Show from 2015-02-26T23:00:48

This episode marks the fifth anniversary of the Rationally Speaking podcast! To commemorate the occasion, Massimo and Julia hold a live-streaming Q&A in which they respond to questions submitted vi...

Rationally Speaking #127 - Elise Crull on Philosophy of Physics from 2015-02-08T15:00:20

Feynman famously said that a philosopher of science is as much use to scientists as an ornithologist is to birds. This episode of Rationally Speaking features philosopher of physics Elise Crull, wh...

Rationally Speaking #126 - Preston Bost on Crazy Beliefs, Sane Believers from 2015-01-25T15:00:15

Can it be rational to believe conspiracy theories? On this episode of Rationally Speaking, Julia and Massimo welcome Prof. Preston Bost, a professor of psychology at Wabash College who investigates...

Rationally Speaking #125 - The Quantified Self from 2015-01-18T15:00:10

People have been keeping track of their moods, sleeping, dietary habits and more for hundreds of years -- Benjamin Franklin famously recorded instances of his virtues and vices. But only in the las...

Rationally Speaking #124 - Stoicism from 2014-12-28T17:00:48

Did you miss International Stoic Week this year? Well, it's not too late to catch Massimo and Julia's analysis of the ancient philosophy of stoicism, which advocates (among other things) practicing...

Rationally Speaking #123 - Daniel Lakens on P-Hacking and Other Problems in Psychology Research from 2014-12-14T15:00:35

What's wrong with the social sciences? In this episode, Massimo and Julia are joined by Professor Daniel Lakens from the Eindhoven University of Technology, who studies psychology and blogs about r...

Rationally Speaking #122 - The Science and Philosophy of Humor from 2014-12-01T01:00:43

In this episode of Rationally Speaking, Massimo and Julia delve into the science and philosophy of comedy, exploring questions like: Why did humans evolve to have a sense of humor? What's the relat...

Rationally Speaking #121 - Benjamin Todd on 80,000 Hours from 2014-11-16T16:00:20

If you want to choose a career that helps other people effectively, which should you pick? Medicine? Research? Non-profit? The answers may not be as straightforward as you think. This episode of Ra...

Rationally Speaking #120 - Nihilism from 2014-11-02T16:00:08

Are you a nihilist? Forget about wearing all black and being indifferent to the rest of the world -- nihilism is a lot more complicated than most people think. In this episode of Rationally Speakin...

Rationally Speaking #119 - Aaron James on Assholes (and Bitches) from 2014-10-22T00:00:21

You probably feel like you can recognize someone who's an asshole when you're unlucky enough to encounter him. But can you really? Philosophy professor Aaron James, the author of "Assholes: A Theor...

Rationally Speaking #118 - Live From Baruch College With Dr. Steven Novella from 2014-10-05T22:00:41

Taped in front of a live audience at Baruch College in New York, this episode of Rationally Speaking features special guest Steve Novella: neurologist, author of the blogs NeuroLogica and Science B...

Rationally Speaking #117 - Maria Konnikova on How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes from 2014-09-21T14:00:29

Want to learn how to use your logical, reflective side in everyday life? It's elementary, my dear listeners! Maria Konnikova, the author of the bestselling Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Ho...

Rationally Speaking #116 - Jim Baggott and Massimo on Farewell to Reality from 2014-09-07T16:00:37

As part of our special mini-interviews series, Massimo talks to Jim Baggott, author of “Farewell to Reality: How Modern Physics Has Betrayed the Search for Scientific Truth.” Jim is one of an incre...

Rationally Speaking #115 - Maarten Boudry and Massimo On the Difference Between Science and Pseudoscience from 2014-08-24T15:00:34

In our first mini-interview episode Massimo sits down to chat with his colleague Maarten Boudry, a philosopher of science from the University of Ghent in Belgium. Maarten recently co-edited the vol...

Rationally Speaking #114 - Massimo and Julia Go Freestyle from 2014-08-10T15:00:55

In this special episode of Rationally Speaking, Julia and Massimo go rogue: no guest, no pre-set topics, just conversation about things on their mind. Among other things, the duo discuss the questi...

Rationally Speaking #113 - The Turing Test from 2014-07-27T20:39:58

Did you know that an artificial intelligence named "Eugene Goostman" recently passed the Turing Test, our gold standard criterion for whether an AI is conscious? At least, that's what many media ou...

Rationally Speaking #112 - Race: Just a Social Construct? from 2014-07-13T15:00:39

In this episode, Julia and Massimo talk about the problems with "race" as a genetically-based concept. Starting with the controversial recent book "A Troublesome Inheritance," by NY Times science w...

Rationally Speaking #111 - Human Nature from 2014-06-29T15:00:41

Ever heard someone sigh, "That's just human nature"? Have you wondered what that meant? In this episode of Rationally Speaking, Julia and Massimo delve into the science and philosophy of human natu...

Rationally Speaking #110 - Scientia, the Unity of Knowledge from 2014-06-15T19:00:42

For all the sniping that goes on between science and philosophy it's easy to forget that both fields are part of "scientia," the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. In this episode of Rationall...

Rationally Speaking #109 - Rebecca Newberger Goldstein on Plato at the Googleplex from 2014-06-01T22:00:51

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein -- philosopher, author, and Genius-grant recipient -- returns to the Rationally Speaking podcast to discuss her latest book, "Plato at the Googleplex: Why Philosophy Won...

Rationally Speaking #108 - Suicide from 2014-05-18T15:00:49

"There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide," wrote Albert Camus. In this episode of Rationally Speaking, Massimo and Julia discuss the ethics of suicide through the ...

Rationally Speaking #107 - MOOCs from 2014-05-04T17:00:18

Does the future belong to MOOCs? Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs for short, have been hailed as the next wave in secondary education, poised to replace brick-and-mortar colleges with their ex...

Rationally Speaking #106 - Live From NECSS With Lawrence Krauss from 2014-04-20T19:00:54

Rationally Speaking returns to NECSS for a live show with Lawrence Krauss, theoretical physicist and author of best selling books like The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing. Julia an...

Rationally Speaking #105 - Greta Christina on Coming Out Atheist from 2014-04-06T16:00:09

Atheist activist and author Greta Christina appears on this episode of Rationally Speaking, to discuss her new book, "Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, And Why." A spirited ...

Rationally Speaking #104 - Edward Frenkel on Love and Math from 2014-03-24T01:00:48

Can you find beauty -- even romance -- in mathematics? Mathematician Edward Frenkel, author of "Love and Math," joins Rationally Speaking to talk about how the subject seduced him as a young man, a...

Rationally Speaking #103 - Neil deGrasse Tyson on Why He Doesn't Call Himself an Atheist from 2014-03-09T15:00:51

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson returns for this episode of Rationally Speaking, with a particular question to discuss: Should he call himself an atheist? The impetus is a recent dust-up over Ne...

Rationally Speaking #102 - Zach Weinersmith on His "SMBC" Webcomic from 2014-02-23T18:00:24

This episode features special guest Zach Weinersmith, author of "Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal," a popular webcomic about philosophy and science. Zach clarifies his position in the ongoing "phi...

Rationally Speaking #101 - Max Tegmark on the Mathematical Universe Hypothesis from 2014-02-09T16:51:34

Those among us who loathed high school calculus might feel some trepidation at the premise in this week's episode of Rationally Speaking. MIT Physicist Max Tegmark joins us to talk about his book "...

Rationally Speaking #100 - Live Q&A: Massimo and Julia Answer Everything! from 2014-01-27T01:30:59

On this episode, recorded live at the Jefferson Market Library in New York City, Rationally Speaking podcast celebrates its 100th episode! The show features a full hour of audience Q’s and Julia & ...

Rationally Speaking #99 - Judith Schlesinger Exposes the Myth of the Mad Genius from 2013-12-22T15:00:36

Creative geniuses are always a little bit cuckoo, right? At least, that's the impression you'd get from TV, movies, and plenty of common wisdom. In this episode of Rationally Speaking, Massimo and ...

Rationally Speaking #98 - Jerome Wakefield on Psychiatric Diagnoses: Science or Pseudoscience? from 2013-12-08T16:00:58

What qualifies someone as mentally ill? The standard for diagnosis is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which just released a 5th edition in 2013 -- but just how obje...

Rationally Speaking #97 - Peter Singer on Being a Utilitarian in the Real World from 2013-11-25T01:00:39

Few philosophers have as wide of an impact on the general public as ethicist Peter Singer, this week's guest on Rationally Speaking podcast. Singer's utilitarian arguments about how we should treat...

Rationally Speaking #96 - Sally Satel and Scott Lilienfeld on the Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience from 2013-11-10T15:00:11

It seems like a week can't go by without a news story about how neuroscience has discovered the neurological basis of love, morality, addiction, you name it. Yet how much explanatory power does neu...

Rationally Speaking #95 - Gerard O'Brien On the Computational Theory of Mind from 2013-10-27T14:00:26

Is the mind a kind of computer? This episode of Rationally Speaking features philosopher Gerard O'Brien from the University of Adelaide, who specializes in the philosophy of mind. Gerard, Julia, an...

Rationally Speaking #94 - Maarten Boudry on Philosophy of Pseudoscience: Reconsidering the Demarcation Problem from 2013-10-03T14:00:44

What's the difference between science and pseudocience -- and is it even possible to draw a clean line separating them? In this episode of Rationally Speaking, Massimo and Julia interview philosoph...

Rationally Speaking #93 - Dr. Michael E. Mann On The Science Of Climate Change from 2013-09-29T04:00:05

In this episode of Rationally Speaking, Julia and Massimo talk to physicist and climatologist Michael Mann about how we know the climate is getting warmer. Among other things, they cover the phy...

Rationally Speaking #92 - Dr. Paul Offit On Believing in Magic from 2013-09-15T14:00:40

How has alternative medicine managed to become so mainstream? This episode of Rationally Speaking features Dr. Paul Offit, award-winning specialist in vaccines, immunology and pediatrics, and autho...

Rationally Speaking #91 - Kendrick Frazier On Skeptical Inquiry from 2013-09-01T14:00:46

On this episode of Rationally Speaking, Massimo and Julia survey the present, past, and future of skepticism. Special guest Kendrick Frazier, editor of Skeptical Inquirer, talks about how the mo...

Rationally Speaking #90 - On Wine, Water, and Audio from 2013-06-30T14:00:25

In this episode of Rationally Speaking, Julia and Massimo turn their attention to connoisseurship -- or snobbery, depending on your point of view! Fine wines, bottled water, high-end audio equipmen...

Rationally Speaking #89 - Online Dating from 2013-06-16T14:00:37

Looking for love online? You're not alone -- one in five new relationships nowadays begin on a dating site. But just how scientific are the "matching algorithms" sites like eHarmony and OKCupid use...

Rationally Speaking #88 - Mario Livio on Brilliant Blunders from 2013-06-03T23:00

The next time you're kicking yourself for some stupid mistake, remember: Even history's genuises screw up! Astrophysicist and author Mario Livio joins this episode of Rationally Speaking to talk ab...

Rationally Speaking #87 - Sean Carroll on Naturalism from 2013-05-19T14:00:26

Astrophysicist and author Sean Carroll joins this episode of Rationally Speaking, to talk about "naturalism" -- the philosophical viewpoint that there are no supernatural phenomena, and the univers...

Rationally Speaking #86 - Live From NECSS With Jim Holt On Why Does the World Exist? from 2013-05-05T14:00:12

Why does the universe exist? And is that even a sensical question to ask? Philosopher Jim Holt has written extensively for publications such as the New Yorker, the New York Times and Harper's, and ...

Rationally Speaking #85 - Live From NECSS With Michael Shermer On the Role of Science in Morality from 2013-04-21T14:00:18

In a special live Rationally Speaking, taped at NECSS 2013, Julia Galef moderates a lively discussion between Massimo and Michael Shermer, head of the Skeptic Society and founding publisher of Skep...

Rationally Speaking #84 - Stephen Asma On the Myth of Universal Love from 2013-04-07T14:00:05

Just like love, motherhood, and apple pie, no one could be against fairness. No one, that is, except philosopher Stephen Asma, the author of "Against Fairness." Massimo and Julia sit down with Step...

Rationally Speaking #83 - Samuel Arbesman On The Half-Life of Facts from 2013-03-25T02:00:25

How long does it take for one-half of everything we know about a subject to be proven wrong? Depends on the subject. 45 years, for example, if that subject is cirrhosis or hepatitis. Samuel Arbe...

Rationally Speaking #82 - It's Not Easy Being Green from 2013-03-10T14:00:19

If you're an ethically minded consumer, you should buy organic because it's better for the environment, right? Actually, the case isn't so clear-cut. But you should certainly buy fair-trade because...

Rationally Speaking #81 - Live! Ben Goldacre on Bad Pharma from 2013-02-24T15:00:43

"Medicine is broken," warns Ben Goldacre, the British physician, academic, author of the Guardian's Bad Science column. In this live episode of Rationally Speaking, Massimo and Julia interview Ben ...

Rationally Speaking #80 - Dear Abby from 2013-02-10T15:00:32

In honor of the passing of Dear Abby columnist Pauline Philips, Massimo and Julia talk about the history and philosophy of advice. How do you rationally evaluate advice, and how do you give rationa...

Rationally Speaking #79 - Chris Mooney on The Republican War on Science from 2013-01-27T15:00:39

Can science denialism be blamed on a "Republican brain"? In other words: is there something about the psychology of Republicans that makes them inclined to reject the scientific consensus on topics...

Rationally Speaking #78 - Intelligence and Personality Testing from 2013-01-13T16:00:59

What's your IQ? Are you an ENTJ, or maybe an ISFP? What's your Openness score, your Conscientiousness score, your Neuroticism score? And just how seriously should you take all those test scores, an...

Rationally Speaking #77 - Victoria Pitts-Taylor on Feminism and Science from 2012-12-30T15:00:27

In this episode, Massimo and Julia discuss sociology and feminism, with special guest Victoria Pitts-Taylor, professor of sociology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Victor...

Rationally Speaking #76 - Crowdsourcing and the Wisdom of Crowds from 2012-12-16T15:00:38

What do Linux, Netflix, and the Oxford English Dictionary have in common? They've all benefited from the power of crowdsourcing, in which a task is outsourced to a group of hundreds or thousands of...

Rationally Speaking #75 - When Scientists Kill from 2012-12-02T23:00:46

We look to scientists to keep us informed about risks, such as: is this medicine effective? Is that level of toxicity harmless? How severe should we expect this upcoming storm to be? But when lives...

Rationally Speaking #74 - Live! John Shook on Philosophy of Religion from 2012-11-18T15:11:20

Massimo and Julia visit Indianapolis for a heated debate, in this live episode of Rationally Speaking. At a symposium organized by the Center for Inquiry (CFI), they join up with John Shook, Direct...

Rationally Speaking #73 - Answers for Aristotle from 2012-11-04T17:58:57

In this episode Julia interviews Massimo about his new book, Answers for Aristotle: How Science and Philosophy Can Lead Us to A More Meaningful Life. Massimo's central idea is that a combination...

Rationally Speaking #72 - Graham Priest on Paradoxes and Paraconsistent Logic from 2012-10-21T14:00:50

Can a statement be simultaneously true and false? That might seem like sheer nonsense to you -- but not to certain modern logicians. In this episode Massimo and Julia are joined again by philosophe...

Rationally Speaking #71 - On Science Fiction and Philosophy from 2012-10-07T22:56:34

By its very nature, science fiction has always been particularly suited to philosophical exploration. In fact, some of the best science fiction novels, short stories, movies, and TV shows function ...

Rationally Speaking #70 - Graham Priest on Buddhism and Other Asian Philosophies from 2012-09-23T14:00:07

For all the time Massimo and Julia have spent discussing and debating philosophy on Rationally Speaking, so far, it's all been philosophy from Europe and North America. What about the philosophical...

Rationally Speaking #69 - James Ladyman on Metaphysics from 2012-09-09T14:00:16

Compared to other fields of philosophy, "metaphysics" doesn't get a great rap -- it's both dauntingly obtuse and often derided as nonsense. In this episode of Rationally Speaking, Massimo and Julia...

Rationally Speaking #68 - Applied Rationality from 2012-08-26T15:00:35

You've heard plenty about biases: the thinking errors the human brain tends to make. But is there anything we can do to make ourselves *less* biased? In this episode, Massimo and Julia discuss what...

Rationally Speaking #67 - Freudianism as Pseudoscience, With Assorted Comments on Masturbation and Castration... from 2012-08-12T14:00:37

Can everyone's problems always be traced back to sex, love, and masturbation? In this episode, Massimo and Julia talk about the pseudoscientific aspects of Freud's theories of human psychology. Alo...

Rationally Speaking #66 - Matthew Hutson on The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking from 2012-07-29T21:00:03

You may think you're a skeptic, but are you really as free from superstition as you think you are? Matthew Hutson thinks not. The author of "The Seven Laws of Magical Thinking" joins Massimo and Ju...

Rationally Speaking #65 - Philosophical Shock Tactics from 2012-07-15T14:00:43

Why do philosophers sometimes argue for conclusions that are disturbing, even shocking? Some recent examples include the claim that it's morally acceptable to kill babies; that there's nothing wron...

Rationally Speaking #64 - Jesse Prinz on Looking Beyond Human Nature from 2012-07-01T16:00:23

Nature vs. Nurture? Massimo and Julia revive the age-old debate in this episode of Rationally Speaking, with special guest Jesse Prinz. Jesse is a professor of philosophy at CUNY and the author ...

Rationally Speaking #63 - Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge from 2012-06-17T15:00:56

Will all knowledge eventually be united? And what does that even mean, anyway? In this episode of Rationally Speaking, Massimo and Julia explore the topic of consilience, or the "unity of knowledge...

Rationally Speaking #62 - Patricia Churchland on What Neuroscience Tells Us About Morality from 2012-06-04T12:13:53

The Rationally Speaking podcast is proud to feature another certified genius: Patricia Churchland, a philosopher well known for her contributions to neurophilosophy and the philosophy of the mind, ...

Rationally Speaking #61 - Willpower from 2012-05-20T14:00:20

This episode of Rationally Speaking is all about the age-old problem of willpower: why don't we do what we know is best for us? Massimo introduces some of the early philosophical approaches to this...

Rationally Speaking #60 - Q&A With Massimo and Julia from 2012-05-06T14:00:27

Massimo and Julia answer listeners' questions. In this installment the topics include: how much do works of fiction affect people's rationality, Bayesian vs. frequentist statistics, what is evidenc...

Rationally Speaking #59 - Live at NECSS: David Kyle Johnson on the Simulation Argument from 2012-04-25T01:11:25

In this special live episode recorded at the 2012 Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism, Massimo and Julia discuss the "simulation argument" -- the case that it's roughly 20% likely that w...

Rationally Speaking #58 - Intuition from 2012-04-08T18:00:10

When your intuition tells you something, should you listen? That depends! Relying on intuition can be anything from a highly effective strategy used by experts, to an excuse not to require evidence...

Rationally Speaking #57 - Peer Review from 2012-03-25T14:00:09

If you value scientific evidence you're probably familiar with the idea that having "peer-reviewed" studies is crucial to the legitimacy of any new claim. But what does "peer-reviewed" entail, anyw...

Rationally Speaking #56 - Howard Schneider on Science News Literacy from 2012-03-11T14:00:54

M & J discuss science communication with Howard Schneider, dean of the school of journalism at SUNY Stonybrook and former editor of Newsday. A guest at previous skeptic events, including the first ...

Rationally Speaking #55 - Spirituality from 2012-02-27T01:00:19

Is "rational spirituality" a contradiction? In this episode, Massimo and Julia try to pin down what people mean when they call themselves "spiritual," what inspires spiritual experiences and attitu...

Rationally Speaking #54 - The 'isms' Episode from 2012-02-12T15:00:59

n this episode Massimo and Julia ask, "Is the fundamental nature of the world knowable by science alone?", looking at the issue through the lenses of a series of related philosophical positions: de...

Rationally Speaking #53 - Parapsychology from 2012-01-30T00:34:34

In this episode, Massimo and Julia take on parapsychology, the study of phenomena such as extrasensory perception, precognition, and remote viewing. Its practitioners claim that there is more evide...

Rationally Speaking #52 - Donald Prothero on the Holocaust-Deniers' Playbook from 2012-01-16T00:25:36

Guest Donald Prothero joins us to discuss the common tactics and thinking of science deniers and the implications of this assault on science for our future. The denial of scientific realities in...

Rationally Speaking #51 - Joseph Heath on Economics Without Illusions from 2012-01-01T15:00:05

Guest Joseph Heath, author of “Economics Without Illusions: Debunking the Myths of Modern Capitalism,” joins us as we turn our skeptical eyes toward the treacherous dual terrain of economics and...

Rationally Speaking #50 - Neurobabble from 2011-12-18T15:21:54

The media is increasingly bombarding us with reports of advances in neuroscience which claim all sorts of amazing feats, like allowing us to read our thoughts and intentions. It sounds like neuroba...

Rationally Speaking #49 - Eugenie C. Scott on Denialism of Climate Change and Evolution from 2011-12-04T15:00:32

Our guest Eugenie C. Scott joins us to talk about a new initiative of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) to tackle denialism of global warming. Both evolution and global warming ar...

Rationally Speaking #48 - Philosophical Counseling from 2011-11-20T15:00:58

Our guest Lou Marinoff joins us to discuss philosophical counceling, a recent trend to use philosophy as a type of talk therapy. Now, despite the provocative title of his best-selling book, “Pla...

Rationally Speaking #47 - SETI from 2011-11-06T15:00:15

Is the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI, solid science, pseudoscience, or something else, as Massimo argues in his book "Nonsense on Stilts"? What are the theoretical foundations a...

Rationally Speaking #46 - The Varieties of Skepticism from 2011-10-23T14:00:45

All of us who are involved in the skeptics movement are regularly confronted with one of two reactions when revealing ourselves as skeptics: either that we are cynics, or that, like the classic ske...

Rationally Speaking #45 - Rebecca Newberger Goldstein on Spinoza, Göedl, and Theories of Everything from 2011-10-09T14:00:45

Our guest Rebecca Newberger Goldstein joins us to talk about Baruch Spinoza and Kurt Gödel, the subjects of her books "The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Gödel" and "Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade J...

Rationally Speaking #44 - Fluff that Works from 2011-09-25T14:22:42

In this episode we tackle the curious case of pseudoscience or mysticism that works, or seems to, at least some of the times. From acupuncture to chiropractic, from yoga to meditation, what do we m...

Rationally Speaking #43 - Women in Skepticism from 2011-09-11T14:00:25

No, this episode is not about "elevatorgate" or the Watson-Dawkins debacle, but we do use these recent (in)famous events as a springboard for a broader discussion of women in skepticism and science...

Rationally Speaking #42 - On the Limits of Reason from 2011-08-28T14:00:16

Following up on their interview with Robert Zaretsky on the dispute between David Hume and Jean-Jacques Rousseau about the limits of reason, Julia and Massimo expand the topic to include a discussi...

Rationally Speaking #41 - Robert Zaretsky on Rousseau, Hume, and the Limits of Human Understanding from 2011-08-14T14:11:31

Imagine a time when a dispute between two philosophers was the talk of high society. That is the time that our guest, Robert Zarertsky, describes in his book "The Philosophers' Quarrel: Rousseau...

Rationally Speaking #40 - Q&A With Massimo and Julia from 2011-07-31T14:00:42

Massimo and Julia answer listeners' questions. In this installment the topics include: what would they teach in a class in critical thinking, their view of analytics vs. continental philosophy, the...

Rationally Speaking #39 - The Science and Philosophy of Free Will from 2011-07-17T14:00:44

In this episode we tackle the never ending debate about free will, which David Hume famously defined as “a power of acting or of not acting, according to the determination of the will.” We do this ...

Rationally Speaking #38 - Holden Karnofsky on Evidence-based Philanthropy from 2011-07-03T14:00:07

Our guest Holden Karnofsky joins us to discuss Givewell, the nonprofit organization he founded. Givewell is devoted to investigating charities and NGOs to determine how much of an impact they’re ha...

Rationally Speaking #37 - The Science and Philosophy of Happiness from 2011-06-19T14:00:04

Debates over what’s important to happiness — Money? Children? Love? Achievement? — are ancient and universal, but attempts to study the subject empirically are much newer. What have psychologists l...

Rationally Speaking #36 - Why Should We Care About Teaching the Humanities? from 2011-06-05T14:51:13

Universities all around the country are closing programs in the humanities, at least in part because of the increasing widespread attitude that higher education should be treated as a business, and...

Rationally Speaking #35 - What is Philosophy of Science Good for? from 2011-05-22T14:00:23

In this episode we explore philosophy of science: What is it about, and should it matter to scientists? Massimo and Julia also discuss some of the most important questions in philosophy of scien...

Rationally Speaking #34 - Celebrities and the Damage They Can Do from 2011-05-08T13:00:20

If the recent hoopla about the royal wedding wasn’t enough to remind you, we live in a culture of celebrity, one where famous people command our attention and often pontificate on things they kn...

Rationally Speaking #33 - Live at NECSS: New Dilemmas in Bioethics from 2011-04-24T14:00:33

In this one hour episode, recorded live at the 2011 Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism, Massimo and Julia discuss bioethics with two special guests: Jacob Appel, doctor, author, lawyer ...

Rationally Speaking #32 - Value-free Science? from 2011-04-10T13:00:42

We all think that science is about objectivity and “just the facts, ma’am.” Not so fast, philosophers, historians and sociologists of science have been arguing now for a number of decades.

Rationally Speaking #31 - Vegetarianism from 2011-03-27T13:00:16

Vegetarianism is a complex set of beliefs and practices, spanning from the extreme “fruitarianism,” where people only eat fruits and other plant parts that can be gathered without “harming” the pla...

Rationally Speaking #30 - Cordelia Fine on Delusions of Gender from 2011-03-13T17:32:38

Cordelia Fine joins us from Melbourne, Australia to discuss her book: "Delusions of Gender: The Real Science Behind Sex Differences." Sex discrimination is supposedly a distant memory, yet popul...

Rationally Speaking #29 - Q&A Live! from 2011-02-27T15:00:14

In a continuation of episode 28, Massimo and Julia sit down for a Q&A session in front of a live audience at the Jefferson Market Library in New York City. The audience's questions include whether ...

Rationally Speaking #28 - Live! How To Tell Science From Bunk from 2011-02-13T15:30:48

Massimo and Julia sit down in front of a live audience at the Jefferson Market Library in New York City for a conversation about science, non-science, and pseudo-science. Based on Massimo's book...

Rationally Speaking #27 - The Perihelinox Episode, With Historian Timothy Alborn on Anniversaries from 2011-01-30T15:00:58

In honor of our first anniversary we invited Historian Timothy Alborn to help us understand the arbitrary nature of anniversaries, both those that mark events of personal significance and those ...

Rationally Speaking #26 - Is Anthropology Still a Science? from 2011-01-16T18:00:46

In a recent article in the New York Times, Nicholas Wade reported that the American Anthropological Association had decided “to strip the word ‘science’ from a statement of its long-range plan.” Is...

Rationally Speaking #25 - Q&A With Massimo and Julia from 2011-01-02T18:00:39

Massimo and Julia answer listeners' questions, as they try to stay away from politics. In this installment the topics include: is quantitative research more scientific than qualitative one, can phi...

Rationally Speaking #24 - Memetics! from 2010-12-19T18:00:10

The term meme was introduced by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 bestseller "The Selfish Gene."Dawkins was trying to establish the idea that Darwinian evolution is a universal, almost logically neces...

Rationally Speaking #23 - Carol Tavris on Everybody Making Mistakes, Except Us... from 2010-12-05T18:00:26

Our guest, Carol Tavris discusses her book (co-authored with Elliot Aronson) "Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts." In it they des...

Rationally Speaking #22 - Steven Novella on Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science from 2010-11-21T18:00:21

Our Guest, Dr. Steven Novella discusses a recent article in The Atlantic in which researcher John Ioannidis shows that 40% of papers published in top medical journals are either wrong or make ex...

Rationally Speaking #21 - Joshua Knobe on Experimental Philosophy from 2010-11-07T19:48:11

Our guest, Joshua Knobe, is a philosopher interested in cognitive science, so interested, in fact, that he has contributed to establishing a whole new branch of inquiry known as experimental phi...

Rationally Speaking #20 - Q&A With Massimo and Julia from 2010-10-24T17:00:50

Massimo and Julia answer listeners' questions. In this installment the topics include: can political discourse be rational, who changed M&J's opinion on something and when have they changed some...

Rationally Speaking #19 - Brendan Nyhan on False Beliefs that Refuse to Die from 2010-10-10T17:00:39

Ever notice how some beliefs only seem to become stronger, even as they're repeatedly debunked? For example, the belief that Barack Obama is a Muslim, or that Bush banned all stem cell research ...

Rationally Speaking #18 - Evolutionary Psychology from 2010-09-26T16:00:48

You’ve heard the claims: men are inclined to cheat on women because natural selection favors multiple offspring from multiple mates, especially if you don’t have to pay child support. Even rape ...

Rationally Speaking #17 - Transhumanism from 2010-09-12T17:00:50

What's so great about being human, anyway? The transhumanist movement -- epitomized by organizations like Humanity+ and blogs like Accelerating Future -- advocate the pursuit of technologies to ...

Rationally Speaking #16 - Deferring to Experts from 2010-08-29T20:00:56

At a talk he gave at TAM 8, Massimo argued that non-experts in a field aren't qualified to reject an expert consensus, such as that on anthropogenic climate change. Most recently, he has taken J...

Rationally Speaking #15 - Q&A With Massimo and Julia from 2010-08-15T17:00:20

In the first of what we hope will be a regular feature of Rationally speaking, Massimo and Julia answer listeners' questions. These range from what are M & J's sacred cows, to how we should approac...

Rationally Speaking #14 - Jennifer Michael Hecht on Science, Religion, Happiness, and Other Myths from 2010-08-01T17:00:32

Author, science historian, philosopher, and poet Jennifer Michael Hecht discusses her views on science, religion, and skepticism. She talks about her book "The Happiness Myth", showing how the v...

Rationally Speaking #13 - Superstition, Is It Good For You? from 2010-07-18T17:00:19

Is it possible that superstition is actually good for you? Well, it turns out that superstition may, at least some of the time, have beneficial effects. A paper published in 2008 in Science for ...

Rationally Speaking #12 - What About Thought Experiments? from 2010-07-04T17:00:29

Philosophers are often accused of engaging in armchair speculation, as far removed from reality as possible. The quintessential example of this practice is the thought experiment, which many sci...

Rationally Speaking #11 - Guest Eugenie Scott on the Status of the Creationism and ID Wars from 2010-06-20T17:00:22

Our special guest this episode is Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, the premiere organization fighting for sound scientific educational standards in...

Rationally Speaking #10 - Nonsense on Stilts from 2010-06-06T17:00:23

The focus of this episode is Massimo's new book, Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk. The book, broadly speaking, is about what philosopher Karl Popper famously called the demarcat...

Rationally Speaking #9 - When Smart People Endorse Pseudoscience from 2010-05-23T17:00:31

It’s very easy to make fun of not-so-educated people who reject evolution, but what happens when one of the most prominent contemporary philosophers, Jerry Fodor, writes a book about “What Darwin G...

Rationally Speaking #8 - The Anthropic Principle from 2010-05-09T17:00:47

The Anthropic Principle (AP), in its many forms, attempts to explain why our observations of the physical universe are compatible with the life observed in it. From the Weak AP (WAP), which in o...

Rationally Speaking #7 - Peter Woit discusses whether string theory is “not even wrong” from 2010-04-25T18:33:40

We are taking on fundamental physics! Our guest, Peter Woit, is a physicist in the Department of Mathematics at Columbia University and author of "Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory and t...

Rationally Speaking #6 - Fluffy Thinking from 2010-04-10T15:35:31

Fluffy Thinking is a peculiar type of uncritical thinking that sounds sophisticated, and is next to impossible to criticize frontally both because it barely has anything to do with empirical evi...

Rationally Speaking #5 - Neil deGrasse Tyson and the Need for a Space Program from 2010-03-28T13:42:46

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson joins Massimo and Julia to discuss the need for a space program. Many scientists (and most people in the skeptic community) simply assume that funding outlets like NASA a...

Rationally Speaking #4 - The Great Atheist Debate Over the Limits of Science from 2010-03-14T20:11:06

"Accommodationist" is a word that began to appear in recent months during public debates over science and religion. The derogatory term has been applied to atheists and rationalists like Eugenie Sc...

Rationally Speaking #3 - Can History Be a Science? from 2010-02-28T20:02:11

Our guest, Prof. Peter Turchin from the University of Connecticut, joins Massimo and Julia to discuss whether history can be studied and understood in a scientific manner. In an article in Nature (...

Rationally Speaking #2 - Love, a Skeptical Inquiry from 2010-02-14T15:54:58

Will science ever really be able to explain love? Science has already found correlations between particular hormones and certain forms or stages of love. However, no matter how many correlations we...

Rationally Speaking #1 - Why be rational? from 2010-01-21T02:11:02

Why is "speaking rationally" a worthwhile goal anyway? It’s not self-evident, at least not to many people. Human beings certainly don’t seem made for it. Aristotle may have famously dubbed us "the ...