People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology Podcast
Zachary Elwood
This is a podcast about deciphering human behavior and understanding why people do the things they do. I, Zach Elwood, talk with people from a wide range of fields about how they make sense of human behavior and psychology. I've talked to jury consultants, interrogation professionals, behavior researchers, sports analysts, professional poker players, to name a few. There are more than 135 episodes, many of them quite good (although some say I'm biased). To learn more, go to PeopleWhoReadPeople.com.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 6, 2022 • 1h 8min
How many Trump supporters really believe the election was rigged?, with Tom Pepinsky
I talk with political scientist Thomas Pepinsky, who has studied, amongst other things, American distrust in elections. Topics discussed include: How much can we deduce from U.S. surveys that show high distrust in election legitimacy (from both conservatives and liberals)? To what extent do Trump supporters really believe the 2020 elections were rigged? Is there ambiguity in some of the survey questions related to election distrust that prevent us from getting a clear view of this topic? If Trump had succeeded in overturning the 2020 election, what would life in the U.S. be like?
Learn more about the show and get transcripts at behavior-podcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 28, 2021 • 41min
The psychology behind how social media is deranging and dividing us
This is a piece that I, Zach Elwood, wrote about the ways in which social media (and internet communication more broadly) may be amplifying us-versus-them polarization and extreme thinking. Much of the mainstream coverage of how social media may be amplifying divides and making people unhappy is on product-specific features and algorithms. But what if there are inherent aspects of internet communication that amplify animosity and bad thinking, no matter the format or structure of the tool? What if "the medium is the message" in some way? This piece examines the psychological processes by which social media may be deranging us and talks about strategies for reducing unhelpful group-versus-group animosity.
Learn more about the show and get transcripts at behavior-podcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 21, 2021 • 53min
How might artificial intelligence produce real consciousness?, with Hod Lipson
A talk with roboticist and artificial intelligence researcher and roboticist Hod Lipson. Topics include: how close he thinks we are to genuinely self-aware machines; research strategies that he sees as most likely to yield self-aware machines; how do we define what it means to be self-aware; how existentialist questions might relate to AI consciousness questions; his views of the risks of AI; how such research can help us better understand human minds and behavior.
Learn more about the show and get transcripts at behavior-podcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 4, 2021 • 55min
Does video surveillance decrease crime?, with Eric Piza
A talk with criminologist Eric Piza about how video has affected crime rates. Topics discussed include: what the research shows about video surveillance and crime reduction; what factors make camera presence more likely to be effective; the effectiveness of police body cams; some practical ideas for how one might discourage crime at one's property; and the role of America's huge number of guns on violence by police.
Learn more about the show and get transcripts at behavior-podcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 22, 2021 • 56min
Liberal-side reactions to the Rittenhouse verdict through the lens of political polarization
Host Zachary Elwood examines liberal reactions about the Rittenhouse verdict and how some of the more extreme and pessimistic reactions may be seen as being caused by political us-vs-them polarization.
Learn more about the show and get transcripts at behavior-podcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 12, 2021 • 1h 22min
What is conversation analysis and ethnomethodology?, with Saul Albert
A talk with social scientist Saul Albert (saulalbert.net) about conversation analysis — the scientific analysis of talking — and the wider field of ethnomethodology. Topics discussed: what conversation analysis (CA) is and how it's done; some of the interesting findings in CA; Saul's own research; the complexity and difficulty of communication; the role of silence in conversation; transcription/notation methods used; and more.
Learn more about the show and get transcripts at behavior-podcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 28, 2021 • 48min
Tracking people over land, aka "sign cutting," with Rob Speiden
I talk with Rob Speiden, an expert in sign cutting, which is the tracking of humans or animals over the ground using clues of physical disturbance. Topics discussed include: common methods of tracking; how tracking is used in search and rescue scenarios; debunking some misconceptions about what's possible with tracking; the importance of being fully aware and open to all sensory input; and interesting stories from his career.
Learn more about the show and get transcripts at behavior-podcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 14, 2021 • 53min
What research finds about social media effects on polarization, with Emily Kubin
I talk with Emily Kubin, who recently, with her co-researcher Christian Von Sikorski, did a comprehensive review of 121 studies on social media effects on political polarization. We talk about her research, why polarization is a problem, the different types of polarization (affective vs ideological), our psychology tendency to become us-versus-them in our thinking, her own opinions on what social media is doing to us, and the mechanisms by which social media may be amplifying polarization.
Learn more about the show and get transcripts at behavior-podcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 3, 2021 • 54min
How a pro musician uses psychology and reads behavior, with Ben Tyler
I talk with Ben Tyler, a professional musician and musical educator based in Portland, Oregon, about reading and understanding people in the musical world. (I use Ben's music for my intro music.) Topics include: reading fellow band members' gestures and eye contact in jazz and other musical performances; being able to tell when audiences are having a good time or not; how practicing improvisation can make us more flexible; and the social aspects of the musical world. Ben's personal musical project is called Small Skies.
Learn more about the show and get transcripts at behavior-podcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 16, 2021 • 1h
The psychology of nostalgia and the allure of the past, with Jannine Lasaleta
A talk with Jannine Lasaleta, who has researched the psychological effects of nostalgia, including how nostalgic feelings make people more loose and uncaring with money. We talk about the connection between our desire for nostalgia and our desire to engage in old-fashioned or ancient or "authentic" activities . We talk about how our attraction for these things might be connected to our search for meaning, our desire to have a consistent and stable sense of self, and our attempt to fend off existential anxieties related to meaninglessness and isolation.
Learn more about the show and get transcripts at behavior-podcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
