People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology Podcast

This episode is about "behavior bullshit." There are many self-proclaimed behavior experts spreading bad, misleading, and irresponsible concepts about human behavior, and some of these people are quite popular. This episode focuses on Jack Brown (Twitter: @drgjackbrown), one of the more egregious offenders amongst behavior bullshitters. Other topics discussed include: eye-quadrant behavior analysis (for example, someone looking to upper right); NLP (neuro-linguistic programming); some of the common bad ideas in behavior bullshit ; the use of ambiguous language to make one's background seem impressive; and more.  Learn more and sign up for a premium subscription at PeopleWhoReadPeople.com.

For the purposes of depolarization, I think it's important to understand the us-vs-them political narratives around us. This is a talk with Rich Logis (www.perfectourunion.us), who describes his journey as going "from ultra-MAGA to Never-Trump." Rich was an involved pro-Trump activist, who'd written many political op-eds and who volunteered for pro-Trump causes, and who, in 2021, switched to being very critical of Trump and MAGA. I ask Rich about the reasons he was enthusiastic about Trump: what the sources of his anger were, and why he viewed Hillary Clinton winning in 2016 as an "existential threat." We discuss some of the more rational reasons behind Trump support, and why he believes most Trump voters are good people, and why liberals should care to understand Trump voter perspectives. We talk about the nature of us-vs-them conflict and how it distorts our thinking and emotions. We talk about what led to his abrupt change of mind when it came to Trump and MAGA. Support the showTo get ad-free episodes, and more, get a premium subscription. To learn more about the show, go to behavior-podcast.com. I'm on Twitter at @apokerplayer. See a summary of my work. Learn more and sign up for a premium subscription at PeopleWhoReadPeople.com.

A talk with Martina Dove, author of the book The Psychology of Fraud, Persuasion and Scam Techniques, about some common scams you and people you know might encounter (phishing scams, "pig butchering" scams, romance scams, wrong-number-text scams, and more). We discuss how these scams work, and some strategies for avoiding them. Support the showTo get ad-free episodes, and more, get a premium subscription. To learn more about the show, go to behavior-podcast.com. I'm on Twitter at @apokerplayer. See a summary of my work. Learn more and sign up for a premium subscription at PeopleWhoReadPeople.com.

Craig Malkin is the author of 'Rethinking Narcissism: The Secret to Recognizing and Coping with Narcissists', in which he describes the spectrum of narcissism: how it can be healthy to have positive illusions about one's self and one's life, as long as those illusions don't become pathologically unhealthy and toxic. Topics discussed include: the spectrum of narcissism, as Craig sees it; common misconceptions about narcissism; the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, which is the basis of many people's understanding of narcissism; existential and psychological factors that can lead to more narcissistic ways of engaging with the world. Support the showTo get ad-free episodes, and more, get a premium subscription. To learn more about the show, go to behavior-podcast.com. I'm on Twitter at @apokerplayer. See a summary of my work. Learn more and sign up for a premium subscription at PeopleWhoReadPeople.com.

A talk with Bill Doherty, a relationship therapist and the co-founder of Braver Angels, a political depolarization-aimed group. Topics discuss include: his approach to couples counseling; thoughts on dealing with the common situation where one partner is much more interested in healing the relationship than the other; the importance of seeing our role in a conflict, and why that can be hard for us; how he got into the depolarization work; the similarities he sees between relationship counseling and political depolarization work; the psychological principles that have informed Braver Angels' approaches; thoughts on what we are asking of people who want to help with depolarization work. Support the showTo get ad-free episodes, and more, get a premium subscription. To learn more about the show, go to behavior-podcast.com. I'm on Twitter at @apokerplayer. See a summary of my work. Learn more and sign up for a premium subscription at PeopleWhoReadPeople.com.

A talk with anesthesiologist Ashita Goel about her work. Topics include: the sometimes strange behaviors of people under anesthesia; the hypnotic and "truth serum"-like effects of anesthesia; factors in determining drug dosage; the various states one can put people into; why anesthesiologists often seem outgoing and fun; the viral video of the man who woke up from anesthesia and didn't recognize his wife; and more. Support the showTo get ad-free episodes, and more, get a premium subscription. To learn more about the show, go to behavior-podcast.com. I'm on Twitter at @apokerplayer. See a summary of my work. Learn more and sign up for a premium subscription at PeopleWhoReadPeople.com.

Psychology researcher Mikey Biddlestone discusses psychological factors in conspiracy theory beliefs, including 'just world' beliefs. Other topics include narcissistic and antisocial personality traits, defining unreasonable conspiracy-minded thinking, the belief in 'lizard people', and the tie between conspiracy-minded thinking and political polarization.

A talk with Barry Prizant (barryprizant.com), author of the influential book Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism, and co-host of the Uniquely Human podcast. The focus is on understanding the experiences and behaviors of autistic people. Topics discussed include: understanding the underlying causes behind the sometimes seemingly inexplicable behaviors of autistic children; the various types of experiences contained within the label of 'autism'; the role that sensitivity to sensation and associated anxiety plays in autism; the question of how empathetic autistic people are; the causes of autism. Support the showTo get ad-free episodes, and more, get a premium subscription. To learn more about the show, go to behavior-podcast.com. I'm on Twitter at @apokerplayer. See a summary of my work. Learn more and sign up for a premium subscription at PeopleWhoReadPeople.com.

A talk with Simonne Mastrella, author of the research paper "Acting Anxious: The Impact of Candidates' Anxious Nonverbal Behavior on Interview Performance Ratings." Topics discussed include: the design of the study; her findings; whether they found any differences in gender or in the nature of the job interviewed for; and the challenges of using actors to emulate behaviors for a study. Support the showTo get ad-free episodes, and more, get a premium subscription. To learn more about the show, go to behavior-podcast.com. I'm on Twitter at @apokerplayer. See a summary of my work. Learn more and sign up for a premium subscription at PeopleWhoReadPeople.com.

A talk with political theorist Robert Talisse, author of Sustaining Democracy: What We Owe To The Other Side, which is one of the best book about American polarization that I've read. We talk about: the limits and realities of democracy and what it can achieve; separating expected and healthy polarization from unhealthy, toxic polarization; what we owe to our fellow citizens even when we see them as very misguided and even dangerous; how extreme polarization can make our relationships and coalitions even with politically similar people suffer and fall apart. Support the showTo get ad-free episodes, and more, get a premium subscription. To learn more about the show, go to behavior-podcast.com. I'm on Twitter at @apokerplayer. See a summary of my work. Learn more and sign up for a premium subscription at PeopleWhoReadPeople.com.