People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology Podcast

Jennifer Lynn McCoy, a specialist on political polarization, talks about polarization in the U.S. and how our problem compares to other polarized countries. Topics discussed include: the causes and dynamics of extreme polarization; how to define the term; psychological aspects of human nature that can make toxic conflict likely; the negative results of polarization; and what might be done to help prevent worst-case outcomes in very polarized countries.  Learn more about the show and get transcripts at⁠ ⁠behavior-podcast.com⁠⁠.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An interview with Omar Wasow, author of a paper titled "Agenda Seeding: How 1960s Black Protests Moved Elites, Public Opinion and Voting," in which he found that civil rights-related violent activity in the U.S. in the 1960s shifted public opinion and voting more conservative/Republican. Topics discussed include: how violence in the streets can affect voting; what lessons there are for today's racial justice activists; negative responses to his work; thoughts on 2020 political climate and how current protests may be affecting people's politics.  Learn more about the show and get transcripts at⁠ ⁠behavior-podcast.com⁠⁠.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An interview with a self-described anti-fascist who has taken part in the more militant and unlawful aspects of the BLM-focused protests and riots that have occurred in Portland, Oregon in the wake of George Floyd's death. This person has also taken part in physical confrontations with alt-right pro-Trump groups, like the Proud Boys. They talk about the motivations and goals of their violent activities, why violent protest is justified, and their justification for getting in violent confrontations with groups like the Proud Boys. Learn more about the show and get transcripts at⁠ ⁠behavior-podcast.com⁠⁠.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You've probably heard about how Cambridge Analytica used access to the Facebook data of millions of U.S. citizens and advanced digital advertising wizardry to essentially “hack” Americans’ minds and deliver a surprise presidential victory to Donald Trump. This depiction of Cambridge Analytica as nefarious data geniuses has been shared in many news stories (probably most prominently in the documentary The Great Hack). But what if this perception is untrue? What if Cambridge Analytica were exaggerating their behavior-influencing abilities, as many companies do? And what if our perceptions of CA as geniuses of digital influence is based on people accepting those exaggerated claims uncritically? That is the stance of political scientist Dr. Dave Karpf, and in this episode he explains why.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Rob Tarzwell talks about his experience being a psychiatric doctor in ER (emergency room) settings, and the challenges of evaluating and diagnosing patients. Topics include: strategies for distinguishing psych disorders from other conditions; the nature of self and consciousness and how that relates to psych issues; and the impact and meaningfulness of the language used to describe mental issues. We discuss some specific examples of people who've behaved in offensive ways and the psychological factors that can be present. And we talk about personality disorders and what those are.  Learn more about the show and get transcripts at⁠ ⁠behavior-podcast.com⁠⁠.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A talk with psychologist and expert on cursing Timothy Jay about some lesser known factors involved in people saying offensive things. This episode has a focus on the phenomenon of videos widely shared on social media showing people saying or doing offensive things (including racist rants). We discuss factors that can nfluence offensive behavior, including Tourette's Syndrome, brain disorders like Alzheimers, substance abuse, mental illness, and personality disorders. Topics discussed include: how cursing can be governed by a different part of the brain than “normal” language; the nature of Tourette’s Syndrome, and why some TS sufferers (a small percentage) exhibit offensive language or behavior and most do not; why people with mental illness and/or personality disorders may lash out in aggressive and offensive ways as a coping mechanism; how we as a society need more understanding and empathy for the factors that can lead to outrageous and offensive behavior; social media's role in making conflict and taboo-transgression into entertainment. Learn more about the show and get transcripts at⁠ ⁠behavior-podcast.com⁠⁠.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An interview with psychology researcher Neguine Rezaii about her work using machine learning to predict conversion in teenagers from prodromal symptoms to psychotic episodes. The two language patterns found in the subjects' speech were 1) a low semantic density (i.e., little meaning), and 2) speech related to sound or voices. Topics discussed include: how exactly they determined “low meaning"; how the algorithm found, on its own, indicators related to sound-related speech content; the future of using machine learning and automatic diagnosis tools in psychology and therapy; theories that might help explain these findings. Learn more about the show and get transcripts at⁠ ⁠behavior-podcast.com⁠⁠.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I talk with Marcel Just about his research using fMRI brain imaging to identify brain activity associated with specific thoughts: for example, identifying that a subject is thinking about an apple, or about death. Dr. Just and his team have been twice featured on the show "60 Minutes." Topics discussed include: the nature of human thought; how much is our consciousness individual thoughts vs many things firing at once?; why brain activity for specific thoughts and emotions trigger specific areas of the brain in consistent, predictable ways; why thoughts and emotions activate the same types of patterns for so many people, even across language divides; how fMRI works and why it is a good choice for this type of work (versus EEG, for example); the state of this technology, its potential applications, and what its practical limitations are. Learn more about the show and get transcripts at⁠ ⁠behavior-podcast.com⁠⁠.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A talk with Dr. Brian Baer, a skilled translator, about indicators in an English language text that the author may be native-Russian (for example, missing articles, wrong verb tenses, "collocations", and more). Baer also talks about the nature of language in general, and his work as a translator. Learn more about the show and get transcripts at⁠ ⁠behavior-podcast.com⁠⁠.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A talk with Dr. Rob Tarzwell about his research using SPECT neuroimaging to find indicators of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This work was voted by Discover Magazine as one of the top 20 science stories of 2015. Topics discussed include: the ways physical harm to the brain (e.g., traumatic brain injury) shows up differently in brain imaging compared to more psychological conditions like PTSD or depression; the differences between different types of brain imaging (PET, SPECT, fMRI) and their strengths and weaknesses; Tarzwell's research showing the effects of therapy in brain scans. Learn more about the show and get transcripts at⁠ ⁠behavior-podcast.com⁠⁠.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices