Psychology

Psychology

episodes

Interviews with psychologists and scholars of psychology about their new books.

Neil Gong, "Sons, Daughters, and Sidewalk Psychotics: Mental Illness and Homelessness in Los Angeles" (U Chicago Press, 2024)

March 27, 2024

Sons, Daughters, and Sidewalk Psychotics

Neil Gong
Hosted by Michael Johnston

Sociologist Neil M. Gong explains why mental health treatment in Los Angeles rarely succeeds, for the rich, the poor, and everyone in between. In…

Greg Wrenn, "Mothership: A Memoir of Wonder and Crisis" (Regalo Press, 2024)

March 27, 2024

Mothership

Greg Wrenn
Hosted by Claire Clark

A dazzling, evidence-based account of one man’s quest to heal from complex PTSD by turning to endangered coral reefs and psychedelic plants after trad…

Maggie Hennefeld, "Death by Laughter: Female Hysteria and Early Cinema" (Columbia UP, 2024)

March 25, 2024

Death by Laughter

Maggie Hennefeld
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Can you really die from laughing too hard? Between 1870 and 1920, hundreds of women suffered such a fate—or so a slew of sensationalist obituaries wou…

Charlie Hertzog Young, "Spinning Out: Climate Change, Mental Health and Fighting for a Better Future" (Footnote Press, 2023)

March 19, 2024

Spinning Out

Charlie Hertzog Young
Hosted by Karyne Messina

Charlie Hertzog Young became a climate activist in his early teens. His journey led him onto airport runways and into the halls of power, but also to …

Kenneth Miller, "Mapping the Darkness: The Visionary Scientists Who Unlocked the Mysteries of Sleep" (Hachette Books, 2023)

March 8, 2024

Mapping the Darkness

Kenneth Miller
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

Why do we sleep? How can we improve our sleep? A century ago, sleep was considered a state of nothingness—even a primitive habit that we could learn …

Thomas Metzinger, "The Elephant and the Blind: The Experience of Pure Consciousness: Philosophy, Science, and 500+ Experiential Reports" (MIT Press, 2024)

March 6, 2024

The Elephant and the Blind

Thomas Metzinger
Hosted by Jeff Adler

What if our goal had not been to land on Mars, but in pure consciousness? The experience of pure consciousness—what does it look like? What is the ess…

Doris Brothers and Jon Sletvold, "A New Vision of Psychoanalytic Theory, Practice and Supervision: Talking Bodies" (Routledge, 2023)

March 5, 2024

A New Vision of Psychoanalytic Theory, Practice and Supervision

Doris Brothers and Jon Sletvold
Hosted by Helena Vissing

By viewing psychoanalysis through the lens of embodiment, Brothers and Sletvold suggest a shift away from traditional concept-based theory and offer…

Louis Rothschild, "Rapprochement Between Fathers and Sons: Breakdowns, Reunions, Potentialities" (Karnac, 2023)

March 4, 2024

Rapprochement Between Fathers and Sons

Louis Rothschild

Today I spoke with Dr. Louis Rothschild about his new book Rapprochement Between Fathers and Sons Breakdowns, Reunions, Potentialities (Karnac, 2024).…

Mimi Khúc, "dear elia: Letters from the Asian American Abyss" (Duke UP, 2023)

March 3, 2024

dear elia

Mimi Khúc
Hosted by Julia Lee

Mimi Khúc is a PhD, writer, scholar, and teacher of things unwell. She is currently the Co-Editor of The Asian American Literary Review and an adjunc…

Anna Dako, "Dances with Sheep: On RePairing the HumanNature Condition in Felt Thinking and Moving towards Wellbeing" (Intellect Books, 2023)

March 3, 2024

Dances with Sheep

Anna Dako
Hosted by Brandon Sward

Anna Dako,'s book Dances with Sheep: On RePairing the HumanNature Condition in Felt Thinking and Moving towards Wellbeing (Intellect Books, 2023) pres…

Dominique Scarfone, "The Reality of the Message: Psychoanalysis in the Wake of Jean Laplanche" (Unconscious in Translation, 2023)

February 29, 2024

The Reality of the Message

Dominique Scarfone and Avgi Saketopoulou
Hosted by Philip Lance

The Reality of the Message: Psychoanalysis in the Wake of Jean Laplanche (Unconscious in Translation, 2023) compiles papers written by Dominique Scarf…

Aaron J. Jackson, "Worlds of Care: The Emotional Lives of Fathers Caring for Children with Disabilities" (U California Press, 2021)

February 25, 2024

Worlds of Care

Aaron J. Jackson
Hosted by Alize Arıcan

Vulnerable narratives of fatherhood are few and far between; rarer still is an ethnography that delves into the practical and emotional realities of i…

Sten Grillner, "The Brain in Motion: From Microcircuits to Global Brain Function" (MIT Press, 2023)

February 23, 2024

The Brain in Motion

Sten Grillner

C. S. Sherrington said “All the brain can do is to move things". The Brain in Motion: From Microcircuits to Global Brain Function (MIT Press, 2023) sh…

Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There

February 22, 2024

Look Again

Cass R. Sunstein

Today’s book is: Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There (Atria/One Signal Publishers, 2024), by Tali Sharot and Cass R. Sunstein, a b…

Torsa Ghosal, "Out of Mind: Mode, Mediation, and Cognition in Twenty-First-Century Narrative" (Ohio State UP, 2021)

February 20, 2024

Out of Mind

Torsa Ghosal
Hosted by Arnab Dutta Roy

What is the relationship between aesthetic presentation of thought and scientific conceptions of cognition? Torsa Ghosal’s Out of Mind: Mode, Mediatio…

Nate Klemp, "Open: Living with an Expansive Mind in a Distracted World" (Sounds True, 2024)

February 19, 2024

Open

Nate Klemp
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

With the avalanche of information we get every day, closing down our minds and hearts seems to be the only way to survive. We close down to our inner …

Paul Katsafanas, "Philosophy of Devotion: The Longing for Invulnerable Ideals" (Oxford UP, 2022)

February 13, 2024

Philosophy of Devotion

Paul Katsafanas
Hosted by Meghan Cochran

Why do some of our identity-defining commitments resist reason and critical reflection, and why do we persist in them even when they threaten our happ…

Joshua Paul Dale, "Irresistible: How Cuteness Wired our Brains and Conquered the World" (Profile Books, 2023)

February 10, 2024

Irresistible

Joshua Paul Dale
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Why are some things cute, and others not? What happens to our brains when we see something cute? And how did cuteness go global, from Hello Kitty to D…

John Horgan, "Terrorist Minds: The Psychology of Violent Extremism from Al-Qaeda to the Far Right" (Columbia UP, 2023)

February 8, 2024

Terrorist Minds

John Horgan
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

What makes a person want to become a terrorist? Who becomes involved in terrorism, and why? In what ways does participating in violent extremism chang…

Vani Kant Borooah, "Economics, Religion and Happiness: God, Mammon and the Search for Spiritual and Financial Wealth" (Routledge, 2023)

February 5, 2024

Economics, Religion and Happiness

Vani Kant Borooah
Hosted by Meghan Cochran

Many books on happiness suggest that we have considerable control over our level of happiness by doing or not doing specific things, like mediation, e…