Context with Brad Harris | 6 June 2018 | 0h 26m | Listen Later 
| iTunes
Distils the ideas in Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond. Diamond’s fundamental question is why did history unfold so differently on different continents so that Eurasian societies became disproportionately influential in creating the modern world?
Making Sense with Sam Harris | 19 June 2018 | 1h 08m | Listen Later | iTunes
Interview with Andrew Yang, author of The War on Normal People, about universal basic income (UBI). Discusses the state of the economy, the rise of automation and AI, and thoroughly canvases the arguments for and against UBI.
Freakonomics Radio | 14 June 2018 | 0h 56m | Listen Later
An intriguing backgrounder on the Football World Cup in Russia. “This could be a World Cup of great cacophony. A plague of far-right Nazi-infused UFC-trained Russian fans; English fans for which they’ve built Soviet-style enormous drunk tanks; platoons of horseback-mounted Cossacks with whips; and heroin and cocaine legalised around the stadia. What could possibly go wrong?”
Revisionist History| 31 May 2018 | 0h 39m | Listen Later | iTunes
An early morning raid, a house-full of Nazis, the world’s greatest harmonica player, and a dashingly handsome undercover spy. Part 1 of a two-part exploration of memory and our naïve ideas about what memory is worth. Malcolm Gladwell shows us how we all reimagine the truth – so we cannot treat our memory as gospel. So good you just might listen twice.
Revisionist History | 7 June 2018 | 0h 39m | Listen Later | iTunes
The second part of Gladwell’s exploration of memory and our naïve ideas about what memory is worth. Part 1 showed that only a fool accepts the evidence of his own memory as gospel. This part shows how we’re all fools. Around 60% of our memories of flashbulb events like 911 are false, although we fervently believe them to be true.
Making Sense with Sam Harris | 28 May 2018 | 1h 21m | Listen Later | iTunes
Interview with Michael Pollan about his new book How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. Covers the the resurgence of interest in psychedelics in clinical practice and end-of-life care, the “betterment of well people,” the relationship between thinking and mental suffering, the differences between psychedelics and meditation, the non-duality of consciousness, the brain’s “default mode network,” their experiences with various psychedelics, and other topics.
RNZ: Sunday Morning | 7 April 2018 | 0h 20m | Listen Later
Interview with Australia’s shadow assistant treasurer Dr Andrew Leigh, author of Randomistas, on why random testing can provide data for policies that work. Advocates for evidence-based policy through the use of random trials. Examples covered include random trials helping to reduce crime and inequality and fascinating insights on sham surgery.
RNZ: Saturday Morning | 22 May 2018 | 0h 47m | Listen Later
Interview with Barbara Ehrenreich about the ideas in her book, Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer. Deliciously contrarian, punctuated with evidence that many medical interventions are bad for us.