Podcasts by Wired to be Weird

Fountains of Youth? Metformin, Nicotinamide Riboside&Mononucleotide, Elysium&ChromaDex,&Caloric Restriction from 2019-05-09T16:42:27

Bo and I discuss some of the leading candidates for extending both human lifespan and “health-span”, including metformin, nicotinamide riboside & nicotinamide mononucleotide, and caloric restrictio...

How to Grow a Baby from 2019-03-21T19:42:56

We delve into how lifestyle factors, sleep, mood, and various kinds of pollution can influence the brain development of a child. We also chat about some ways to minimize the likelihood that those f...

Inheriting Politics from 2018-11-04T06:11:55

In preparation for the upcoming mid-term elections in the United States (REMEMBER TO VOTE ON NOVEMBER 6TH !), Bo and I chat about how much of a person’s politics are inherited genetically from thei...

The Beast Inside Us All (SPE II) from 2018-09-09T16:49:23

In the last episode, Bo and I chatted about two famous experiments - and how they've been re-interpreted over time. In this episode, we discuss one of them in greater detail - as well as what we ca...

Marshmallows&Prisoners: two classic studies are redefined from 2018-07-13T11:40:29

Today, Bo and I chatted about two of the most widely known studies of human behavior in modern history - the Marshmallow Test and the Stanford Prisoner Experiment. New data and interviews have e...

Laurel&Yanni, migraine treatment, Alzheimers&excersize, universality of music from 2018-05-29T12:04:51

Another multi-topic episode. We discuss the recent approval of a new treatment for migraines, then some evidence suggesting a certain kind of exercise may be therapeutic for Alzheimer's disease, an...

Do Humans Use Pheromones? from 2018-03-26T03:15:16

Bo and I discuss the evidence that supports and refutes a role played by pheromones in guiding human attraction - as well as a potential role played by the immune system in making some people more ...

NeuroByte - IQ&Psychiatry + A Cause of Dyslexia from 2018-02-08T04:31:01

We discuss a study at least partly monitored by one of Ian's college mentors that explored whether there might be a relationship between high IQ scores and psychiatric & physiological diagnoses. We...

NeuroByte - Neurons talking like viruses,&is your mind's eye blind? from 2018-01-23T18:06:32

Bo and I discuss two science stories from the recent past. One is a discovery that neurons are capable of trading genetic material to one another directly - meaning, that one neuron can express a g...

Is addiction a disease or a disorder? (Part 2) from 2018-01-08T02:10:13

Why are some so skeptical of the disease model of addiction, while institutions like NIDA and the NIH embrace it? Should the NIH adjust its perspective? And what is Ian's opinion?

Is addiction a disease or a disorder? (Part 1) from 2017-10-09T13:32:10

Did the concept of addiction always exist, or is it a new concept? Do scientists and physicians all agree that addiction is a disease? We discuss topics like these, as well as a scandal involving t...

Neuralink - Brain Computer Interfaces (Part 2) from 2017-06-12T12:17:34

In part 2 of our discussion of Neuralink, Elon Musk's newly announced company, we focus more on what it might be like if this kind of a technology were realized, as well as how likely it might be.

Neuralink - Elon Musk's Next Adventure (Part 1) from 2017-06-05T03:21:33

Part 1 of a conversation about Neuralink, the brain-computer interface company that Elon Musk announced that has been described as being pursued to enable humanity to compete with artificial intell...

What is Deja Vu? from 2017-03-05T22:09:25

Deja Vu can teach us a lot about how human memory works, as well as how a person can be tricked into believing a false account of a past experience, as well as into believing they've committed acti...

Cannabis&Humans Part 2 from 2016-12-21T03:26:15

It's difficult to know the long-term consequences of cannabis use, but recent discoveries can start to provide some insights as to the potential promises and perils of cannabis. This is an in-dept...

Cannabis&Humans Part 1 from 2016-12-21T03:13:21

We discuss some big statistics, and what's wrong with the current research into cannabis.

Why do we dream? Part 2 from 2016-08-01T12:02:48

We discuss the function of twitching while sleeping, and how we can come to sleep walk - as well as how and why we have lucid dreams, how we can learn to lucid dream, and if we might ever be able t...

Why do we dream? Part 1 from 2016-07-05T04:26:02

Dreaming has been studied for thousands of years, and yet it remains one of the most mysterious aspects of consciousness. What we've learned in the past half-century suggests that it may play a cen...

What is anxiety? Part 2 from 2016-06-13T11:53:35

How does our brain produce anxiety, how is that different from fear, how does anxiety influence cognition/parenting/drug use, and can you inherit anxiety?

What is anxiety? from 2016-06-08T22:20:40

Bo and I discuss what anxiety & fear are, how they're similar, how they're different, and why they're useful. We also discuss how animals experience these emotions, and what it's like when they go...

Why do birds suddenly appear? from 2016-05-06T12:26:58

We chat about why and how we fall in love, why we fall out of love, whether or not humans are really monogamous, and we compare & contrast it to psychiatric illnesses

From uppers to downers and everything in between. from 2016-04-25T10:52:37

We discuss the differences & similarities of stimulants and sedatives, what they are, and how they work. We also discuss drugs found in "bath salts", and what we can learn from them

What does psychotic mean? from 2016-04-17T18:03:26

Psychosis is a mental condition that 1 out of 13 people worldwide is projected to experience at least once before the age of 75. We discuss psychosis at the level of the brain and genome, and how ...

What's in a face? from 2016-03-23T21:41:24

We chat about the complex ways we perceive faces, how it can go wrong, and how this system plays a crucial role in how you gravitate towards one political candidate over another. Can we predict yo...

What are Alzheimer's&Dementia? from 2016-03-04T06:03:47

What is addiction? from 2016-01-20T13:02:29

Bo and I discuss the various theories of why addiction and withdrawal occur.

What is the brain? from 2016-01-12T12:44:06

This will definitely be a denser episode than the following ones. It'll be a good place to start for someone that wants a broad picture of how the brain works