

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast)
Dave Pietraszewski & David Pinsof
Actual evolutionary psychology by actual evolutionary psychologists. Hosted by Dave Pietraszewski and David Pinsof. Every week, Dave and David bring cutting-edge work in the evolutionary behavioral sciences to you.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 5, 2025 • 2h 1min
Conspiracy Theories and Group Boundaries with Cristina Moya
Guest Cristina Moya (UC Davis) is one of our favorite evolutionary behavioral scientists. In this episode, we discuss her work in Peru on ethnolinguistic group boundaries, why we all believe crazy things, and what the lay of the land is in the evolutionary behavioral sciences.
More about Cristina Moya:
https://sites.google.com/site/cristinasolermoya/pubs?authuser=0
https://anthropology.ucdavis.edu/people/cristina-moya
More about David Pinsof:
https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/
https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski:
https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski

Jul 29, 2025 • 2h 23min
Thoughtful Warriors with Brenda Bowser
Guest Brenda Bowser (CalState Fullerton) recounts a life spent studying conflict and politics in Canambo, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, with her late husband and colleague John Q. Patton. Brenda shares first and second hand accounts of incredible events (including death by phantasm), and how she thinks about status, violence, and conflict, and how these relate to our connections with others. One of our most memorable episodes!
More about Brenda Bowser:
https://anthro.fullerton.edu/People/BrendaBowser.aspx
https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/the-amazonian-house/
More about John Q. Patton:
https://news.fullerton.edu/2024/11/anthropology-scholars-students-host-symposium-to-honor-late-professor/
https://anthro.fullerton.edu/People/JohnPatton.aspx
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NkJttDkP2ZID-a7HSgUNzIfSOlMnQ51I/view?usp=drive_link
John Q. Patton Memorial Symposium:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KRRcx00RJmWI6VKcwGs8ms29lRNnP-5oY6VIPqeEkNg/edit?tab=t.0

Jul 22, 2025 • 1h 58min
Egalitarianism in the Amazon with Chris Von Rueden
Egalitarianism is not what you think it is! Guest Chris Von Rueden (URichmond) has wrapped his head around what egalitarianism is and shares his insights and what he’s learned living with and studying the Tsimane, hunter horticulturists in the Bolivian rainforest. TL;DR: How to make a more just society requires respecting the complexity of our evolved psychology.
More about Chris Von Rueden:
https://sites.google.com/site/chrisvonrueden/home
Tsimane Health and Life History Project:
https://tsimane.anth.ucsb.edu/
More about David Pinsof:
https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/
https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski:
https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski

Jul 15, 2025 • 2h 32min
Disgust, Morality, and Kinship with Deb Lieberman
Why do we appeal to disgust when we moralize, and why do we moralize what we find disgusting? Guest Deb Lieberman (UMiami) explains why our human propensity to gang up on others may be driving a lot of our moral sentiments, and why she gets uncomfortable when people appeal to disgust to argue for what is right and wrong.
More about Debra Lieberman:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=OhbXo2kAAAAJ&hl=en
https://people.miami.edu/profile/820e96aef57fc53a0625013a86f7ecee
https://www.amazon.com/Objection-Disgust-Morality-Debra-Lieberman/dp/0190491299
More about David Pinsof:
https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/
https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski:
https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski

Jul 8, 2025 • 1h 54min
Terrorism, Drag Queens, and International Humanitarian Law with Michael Moncrieff
From offering the UN insights into the psychology of terrorists to interviewing victims of war-torn Croatia, guest Michael Moncrieff has seen a lot of life and yet remains hopeful. Dave wonders aloud why we are so blind to the civilian impacts of war and David and Michael discuss predatory rationality. Michael explains the history of the drag-queen phenomenon from an evolutionary psychological perspective.
More about Michael Moncrieff:
https://www.michaelmoncrieff.com/
More about David Pinsof:
https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/
https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski:
https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski

Jul 3, 2025 • 17min
Bonus: Dave & David (and guest Pat Barclay) Read Some Reviews
Dave and David read a review of the podcast, and future guest Pat Barclay (Guelph) joins them for a second reading. Topics include why it may be good to be skeptical of high production values, and the tradeoff between focusing on basic research findings versus their broader implications.

Jul 1, 2025 • 2h 19min
Examples of Good Evolutionary Psychology
Dave and David move beyond the controversies to explain—and give examples of—evolutionary psychology done well. Topics covered include the science of racial categorization and why we get angry. If you’re looking for examples of novel insights in evolutionary psychology, this episode is for you.
More about Evolutionary Psychology
The Center for Evolutionary Psychology “Primer”
More about David Pinsof:
https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/
https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski:
https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski

Jun 24, 2025 • 1h 53min
Childhood in the Congo Basin with Sheina Lew-Levy
Helicopter parenting is not a human universal! Guest Sheina Lew-Levy (Durham) explains what drew her to studying childhood among BaYaka foragers in the Congo Basin, and what parenting and childhood is like there and how this helps us understand who we are and what we need growing up. In this episode we also cover why field anthropologists are bad*ss and how, for David, “roughing it” involves staying at a 3-star hotel without room-service.
More about Sheina Lew-Levy:
https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/sheina-lew-levy/
https://sites.google.com/view/sheinalewlevy/home
More about David Pinsof:
https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/
https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski:
https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski

Jun 17, 2025 • 2h 2min
Friendship with Jaimie Krems
Why is the study of friendship so lonely, and what makes Philadelphia Philly? Guest Jaimie Krems (UCLA) explains why friendship is a blindspot in science, and why she has no advice to give you if you’re feeling lonely (we’re only half-kidding). If you do want friends, don’t want friends, or have friends, you should listen to this episode.
More about Jaimie Krems:
UCLA Social Minds Lab
More about David Pinsof:
https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/
https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski:
https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski

Jun 10, 2025 • 1h 58min
Mating with Daniel Conroy-Beam
Guest Daniel Conroy-Beam (UCSB) explains why human mating has occupied the interest of evolutionary psychologists, what consequences this has had on science, and how things might be done better. If you want to understand the science behind why we prefer certain other people to bonk, don’t listen to this episode (we’re kidding, this is exactly what Dan studies).
More about Daniel Conroy-Beam:
Computational Mate Choice @ UCSB
https://psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/daniel-conroy-beam
More about David Pinsof:
https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/
https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski:
https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski