William Magnuson – For Profit: A History of Corporations

The Michael Shermer Show | 4 February 2023 | 1h 36m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with William Magnuson about his book For Profit: A History of Corporations. Traces the history of corporations from Rome onwards, arguing that modern corporations should recapture the spirit of civic virtue so that all stakeholders, not just shareholders benefit from the profits of enterprise.

 

Posted on by

Matthew Cobb – As Gods: A Moral History of the Genetic Age

The Michael Shermer Show | 27 December 2022 | 2h 00m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Matthew Cobb about his book As Gods: A Moral History of the Genetic Age. Discusses objections to genetic engineering (political, religious, cultural), selective breeding, recombinant DNA, the ethics of genetics, patenting life, gene therapy, gene editing, CRISPR, literature and films on the dangers of genetic engineering, bioweapons, 3 Laws of Behavior Genetics, and what people fear about it.

Posted on by

Marian Tupy & Gale Pooley on Superabundance

The Michael Shermer Show | 30 August 2022 | 1h 54m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Marian Tupy and Gale Pooley about their book Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet. Discusses the evidence that resource abundance increases faster than population – with the average human being creating more value than they consume.

Posted on by

Anastacia Marx de Salcedo – Eat Like a Pig, Run Like a Horse

The Michael Shermer Show | 2 August 2022 | 1h 35m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Anastacia Marx de Salcedo about her book Eat like a Pig, Run Like a Horse. Argues that regular aerobic exercise is far more important that finessing diet. Discusses her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis at age 27; her long-term psychological strategy for living with a serious illness; our 70-year-old “diet detour”; the obesity crisis; how dietary studies are conducted; diseases you can treat, manage or prevent with exercise; cholesterol and statins; and more.

Posted on by

Douglas Murray on The War on the West: Race, Politics, and Culture

The Michael Shermer Show | 3 May 2022 | 0h 59m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Douglas Murray about his book The War on the West. Argues that many well-meaning people have been fooled by hypocritical and inconsistent anti-West rhetoric. Discusses whether at least some of the criticisms of Western civilization are a corrective to past wrongs, critical race theory and racism, colonialism and decolonizing cultural things, anti-Semitism, objectivity and the search for truth, and reparations.

Posted on by

Nancy Segal – Deliberately Divided

The Michael Shermer Show | 9 November 2021 | 1h 46m | Listen Later | iTunes | Spotify
Interview with Nancy Segal about her book Deliberately Divided: Inside the Controversial Study of Twins and Triplets Adopted Apart. Reveals the stories of the adoption agency that deliberately separated twins; the collaborating psychiatrists who observed the twins’ development; and describes the effects on the twins and their families.

Posted on by

Julia Galef – The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don’t

The Michael Shermer Show | 21 August 2021 | 1h 46m | Listen Later | iTunes | Spotify
Interview with Julia Galef about her book The Scout Mindset. Discusses how to think more rationally; her scout mindset metaphor; how the empirical claims of things like climate science and vaccines compare with religious, political, or ideological beliefs; implicit racism; and the value of being able to describe your opponent’s view to their satisfaction.

Posted on by

Martin Sherwin – Gambling with Armageddon

The Michael Shermer Show | 2 February 2021 | 1h 43m | Listen Later | iTunes
Interview with Martin Sherwin about his book Gambling with Armageddon: Nuclear Roulette from Hiroshima to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Discusses the Cuban Missile Crisis and its potential for nuclear holocaust, in a wider historical narrative of the Cold War – how such a crisis arose, and how luck, reason and diplomacy saved the world from thermonuclear war.

Posted on by