heretics.

Why do we like to suffer? Canadian-American Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science Paul Bloom believes he has the answer. Or at least, some of the answers to what is a profound and complex question. In his book The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning, he explores exactly that – that Goldilocks point just between too much suffering – such as with last week’s guest, Guantanamo’s most tortured prisoner Mohamedou Ould Salahi – and a life without enough self-imposed suffering. Sign up on Apple VIP or http://patreon.com/andrewgold for the half-hour bonus chat. Prof Paul Bloom links: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sweet-Spot-Pleasures-Suffering-Meaning/dp/0062910566 https://twitter.com/paulbloomatyale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bloom_(psychologist) https://paulbloom.net Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we’ve got a classic On the Edge interviewee, in the form of Mohamedou Ould Salahi, who was detained in Guantanamo Bay for 14 years and is considered by some to be Guantanamo’s most tortured prisoner. Raised in the African country of Mauritania, before moving to Germany, Mohamedou was suspected of having links to terrorism after 9/11. Sign up on Apple VIP or http://patreon.com/andrewgold for the half-hour bonus chat. Mohamedou Ould Salahi links: https://twitter.com/MohamedouOuld https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamedou_Ould_Salahi http://guantanamodiary.com/ Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist Andrew Gold and forensic psychiatrist Dr. Sohom Das from A Psych for Sore Minds take a look inside the minds of perpetrators in three scary and fascinating true crime cases. We start with Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people - the most ever fatalities by a single gunman.  Dr. Sohom Das links: A Psych for Sore Minds YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU2T2mo13y0&ab_channel=APsychForSoreMinds http://www.drdas.co.uk https://twitter.com/Dr_S_Das Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our final installment of the three Halloween Specials, Dr. Sohom Das takes us into the mind of the Broadmoor Cannibal, Peter Bryan. Dr. Sohom Das links: A Psych for Sore Minds YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU2T2mo13y0&ab_channel=APsychForSoreMinds http://www.drdas.co.uk https://twitter.com/Dr_S_Das Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the second episode of our Halloween trilogy, Dr. Sohom Das explains what really went on in the minds of  Swedish twin sisters Ursula and Sabina Eriksson, who terrified motorists, before one of them killed a man. Dr. Sohom Das links: A Psych for Sore Minds YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU2T2mo13y0&ab_channel=APsychForSoreMinds http://www.drdas.co.uk https://twitter.com/Dr_S_Das Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

He’s back! It’s part 2 with podcaster and evolutionary sex expert Dr. Chris Ryan, author of Sex at Dawn and Civilized to Death. He writes all about the way societal expectations have been encroaching on our natural ways of doing things, particularly sex, but much much more. Today, we’ll be looking at the human penis, and comparing it to those of other monkeys and such things. Sign up on Apple VIP or http://patreon.com/andrewgold for the half-hour bonus chat. Chris Ryan links: https://chrisryanphd.com/category/tangentially-speaking/ Tangentially Speaking podcast: https://podfollow.com/566908883 Sex at Dawn book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sex-Dawn-Stray-Modern-Relationships/dp/1491512407 Civilized to Death book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Civilized-Death-What-Lost-Modernity/dp/1451659105 https://twitter.com/ThatChrisRyan https://www.instagram.com/thatchrisryan Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today I have one of the biggest names to ever grace the stage of this podcast, in the form of Chris Ryan. Chris is known for many things, but is perhaps most notable for his book Sex at Dawn, which he co-wrote with his partner Cacilda Jethá. It challenges the conventional views on sex by diving deep into our ancestors’ history. It provides a fascinating look at hunter gatherers, and what we were once like. Chris Ryan links: https://chrisryanphd.com/category/tangentially-speaking/ Tangentially Speaking podcast: https://podfollow.com/566908883 Sex at Dawn book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sex-Dawn-Stray-Modern-Relationships/dp/1491512407 Civilized to Death book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Civilized-Death-What-Lost-Modernity/dp/1451659105 https://twitter.com/ThatChrisRyan https://www.instagram.com/thatchrisryan Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I met acclaimed philosopher Julian Baggini in Bristol for a coffee upon first arriving in the city, and it was a pleasure. Julian is a member of the Bristol Humanist Society, where I’ll be doing a talk about journalist from a humanist perspective on the first of November…so it was great to chat about all things philosophical, and I thought wow, he’d make for a really wonderful podcast guest. He didn't disappoint. Sign up for the bonus questions on http://patreon.com/andrewgold or on Apple VIP. Julian Baggini links: Life: A User's Manual: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Users-Manual-Philosophy-Eventuality/dp/1529104521 https://twitter.com/JulianBaggini https://www.julianbaggini.com/ Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Linda Calvey is known as the Black Widow, because all of her lovers ended up dead or in prison. Wikipedia has her down as an armed robber and murderer, and while she contests the latter, she did spend 18 years in Holloway Prison alongside such notorious serial killers as Myra Hindley and Rose West – names that strike fear into the hearts of most Brits who hear them – but people all the same that Linda had to share living spaces with, even giving Hindley a slap, before later having to do her hair. Sign up for the bonus questions on http://patreon.com/andrewgold or on Apple VIP. Linda Calvey links: The Black Widow: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Widow-Crimes-Linda-Calvey/dp/0755310365 The Locksmith (out now in paperback): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Locksmith-bravest-voice-fiction-Martina/dp/1787397556/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’ve been determined to find someone who could explain TIME in a really digestible and easy to understand way, as though I’m a child. That man is Colin Stuart, whose book Time: Ten Things You Should Know is out now in all the usual places. I devoured it in just a few days, which would seem like the blink of an eye to someone standing near a black hole. Sign up for the bonus questions on http://patreon.com/andrewgold or on Apple VIP. Colin Stuart links: Time: 10 Things You Should Know: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Things-You-Should-Know/dp/1841884928 https://twitter.com/skyponderer https://www.colinstuart.net Andrew Gold links: http://youtube.com/andrewgold1 http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok http://andrewgoldpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices