Today I'm speaking with Hillary Anger Elfenbein, who is a professor at the Olin School of Washington University. We discuss the parallels between stand up comedy and teaching at a university, cross cultural analysis of emotional intelligence, being overly self-aware, and much more!

Today I'm hanging out with my good friend, Cole Marta. Cole is the Co-founder, Medical Director, and Clinician at California Center for Psychedelic Therapy. We do a little catching up and discuss Cole's personal journey into psychedelic research and therapy as well as touch on ways you can get involved yourself.

In this episode, I catch up with my good friend, Michael Garfield. Michael is the host of the Future Fossils podcast and the Complexity podcast. In his 4th appearance on Here We Are, we discuss topics like fatherhood, lifestyle changes, and the ever-changing world we live in.

Today I'm speaking with one of my very first guests on the Here We Are podcast, Marlene Zuk. Marlene is a Professor of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. We talk about common misconceptions about evolution and comparing humans to other animals.

Check out Marlene's upcoming book, "Dancing Cockatoos and the Dead Man Test: How Behavior Evolves and Why It Matters"

Today I'm speaking with Martie Haselton and Jaimie Krems. Martie is the world's leading researcher on how ovulatory cycles influence women's sexuality. She is a professor of psychology at UCLA and the Institute for Society and Genetics, and a really great friend of mine.

Jaimie is a professor of Social psychology focusing on female friendship, conflict, stereotypes, and prejudice.

We discuss the influence large social institutions, like religion, has on one's perspective of the sanctity of life, in and out group bias, the scientific reaction to the recent Supreme Court ruling, and much more!

In this first ever in-person video episode of Here We Are I talk with human paleontologist, Steven E. Churchill in his lab at Duke University. We talk about the lingering Neanderthal DNA in modern humans, genetic diversity, the recent discovery of Homo naledi, and the Rising Star Expedition which is a part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in South Africa.

Today I'm talking with my very close friend, Peter McGraw. We talk about the pros and cons of being single vs being in a relationship, traveling as a single person, living with another person, the negative view society has on singlehood.

I have a couple special announcements and updates to share with you in this short solo episode.

Check out the latest Mind Under Matter episode to hear Ramin and I share all the details about our campout/festival: https://youtu.be/z1gkwbUX2rg

Get tickets before they run out: https://mindunderpod.com/pages/campout

Helena Miton is a cognitive anthropologist and complexity postdoctoral fellow at the Santa Fe Institute. She investigates how culture is maintained through time and what determines the shapes traditions take. She holds her Ph.D. in cognitive science from Central European University and previously was a member of the Minds & Traditions research group at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. Follow her on Twitter @HelenaMiton.

Helena and I discuss cultural evolution, the balance between biological and societal influences on culture, and how history and ideas embellish across time, similar to a game of telephone.

Today I'm speaking with Dr. Christopher Kavanagh, who is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology. Chris is also the cohost of the Decoding the Gurus Podcast. We talk about the effect that internet gurus and thought leaders have on public perception of science and politics.

Today I am speaking with Cecilea Mun, who is a Visiting Assistant Professor of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics program, with the Department of Philosophy, at the University of Louisville, KY, and the founding director of the Society for Philosophy of Emotion, and the founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of Philosophy of Emotion. We talk about how money shifts the way we think about our ethical principles, Realism emotional theory and Instrumentalism emotional theory, how people on the autism spectrum process emotions, and much more!

This week I’m talking with Dave Ader, an interdisciplinary scholar in the fields of sustainable agriculture and rural development. He currently works as the Assistant Director and Research Assistant Professor in the Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Tennessee.

Joining me as a part of the One Health Initiative, we discuss how agricultural issues in one area can end up effecting communities on the other side of the globe and how very niche scientific research can be used to solve much larger issues.

This week I am talking with Itai Yanai, Director of the Institute for Computational Medicine and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at NYU.

We discuss Richard Dawkin’s book: The Selfish Gene, Darwin’s work with Evolution and Itai’s Podcast: The Night Science Podcast.

Throughout the conversation we dive into extended phenotypes, spandrels in genetics, and evolution of things like facial hair and tails.

This week I’m talking all about science communication with Susanna L Harris. Susanna earned her PhD in microbiology at UNC-Chapel Hill and is now working to build better communication in Biotech.

We chat about how to more effectively communicate scientific information by guiding conversations, getting other people’s individual contexts, and the best way to present new information.

We also explore ideas like celebrating being wrong, enjoying boredom and how covid has effected scientific thinking.

My biggest hero Robert Sapolsky returns to the show for an exceptionally important conversation about stress during a time where many of us have experienced the most in our life.

This is an important conversation about how lack of predictability and control can lead to learned helplessness.

This recipient of the MacArthur Foundation genius grant is a Professor at Stanford University holding joint appointments in several departments, including Biological Sciences, Neurology & Neurological Sciences, and Neurosurgery. In addition to everything else, he spent summers in Kenya study baboons which you can read about in his amazing book ‘A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons’

As someone who has spent years interviewing scientists, taking classes, watching talks, and reading science books, I believe Robert Sapolsky is the greatest science communicator alive. I hope you enjoy this episode.

His Human Behavioral Biology class changed my life and is probably the most useful and interesting 25 hours of my life. It’s free online and I hope you have a chance to watch it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNnIGh9g6fA

His books are amazing:

Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers
The Trouble with Testosterone: And Other Essays on the Biology of the Human Predicament
Monkeyluv: And Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals
Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

This week I am talking with Sophia Rokhlin, co-author of the book “When Plants Dream”.

Sophia Rokhlin is an author, speaker and nonprofit organizer dedicated to supporting the conservation of Indigenous wisdom and territories. She currently serves as Technical Secretariat of the Amazon Emergency Fund

We discuss ayahuasca, work in the amazon rainforest, and the role of indigenous peoples in our environmental future.

This week I’m talking with Matthew Gray, associate director of the University of Tennessee Knoxville, Center for Wildlife Health about amphibians. He is also a part of the One Health Initiative.

Dr. Gray specializes in disease ecology. His interests include transmission dynamics of emerging infectious disease and identifying management strategies that can thwart or eradicate outbreaks.

We discuss the amphibian trade, reproductive strategies across the species and the spread of disease. Matt also tells me about unique evolutionary traits like warning colorations, producing chemicals, and regenerating limbs.Dr. Gray specializes in disease ecology. His interests include transmission dynamics of emerging infectious disease and identifying management strategies that can thwart or eradicate outbreaks.

We discuss the amphibian trade, reproductive strategies across the species and the spread of disease. Matt also tells me about unique evolutionary traits like warning colorations, producing chemicals, and regenerating limbs.

This week Shane is talking with Graham Walker, and Emergency Room Physician in San Francisco, CA.

They discuss how covid has effected hospitals and staff over the last 2 years. Graham runs down hospital checklists, decision making in the ER setting, and what he’s seen while working. They also go into the spread of misinformation through the media, and what could possibly be done in the future.

Today I'm speaking with Matthew Browne, who is a Professor of Psychology researching gambling in Australia. Matthew also cohosts the podcast "Decoding the Gurus" which examines alternative hot takes on science and politics. We discuss academic politics, the psychology behind conspiratorial reasoning, alternative medicine, and much more!

This week I’m talking with Melanie Martin, a biological anthropologist investigating evolutionary and ecological influences on growth and development, and the implications of those relationships for public health.

Her research, conducted with two indigenous populations—the Tsimane of Bolivia and the Qom of Argentina—combines field research with laboratory analysis of non-invasive biomarkers and mixed-modeling approaches.

We discuss child rearing in remote villages and breast feeding practices across cultures. We also get into the Hygiene Hypothesis and Immune System Functions and Auto Immune Disorders.