Converging Dialogues

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Greg Grandin about a new history of the Americas. They discuss the term “American,” landscape of the Americas in pre-colonial years, Spanish colonialism, British colonialism, and the American and French Revolutions. They talk about Bolívar and Gran Colombia, the Monroe Doctrine, FDR’s new deal in Latin America, the future of America, and many other topics. Greg Grandin is a historian and professor of history at Yale University. He has his Bachelors from Brooklyn College and PhD from Yale University. He has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2010. He is an expert on Latin American politics, the Cold War, and U.S. Foreign Policy. He is the author of numerous books including the Pulitzer prize winning, The End of the Myth, and his latest book, America, América. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Gina Rippon about autism in females. They discuss the increase in autism cases, defining autism, and origins of autism. They also talk about the history of the autism diagnosis, identity, current diagnostic criteria, specific presentations in females, neurological features, eating disorders, future of autism research, and many more topics. Gina Rippon is Professor Emeritus of Cognitive NeuroImaging at Aston University in the UK. Her research involves the use of state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques to investigate developmental disorders such as autism, profiling different patterns of brain activity in autistic children and adults. Her current research explores the under-recognition of autism in women and girls, especially in neuroscience research. She is the author of the latest book, Off the Spectrum. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Robert Garland about death in the ancient world. They talk about how ancient cultures considered death, beginnings of understanding death, process of dying, funerals, different cultural beliefs about the afterlife, caring for the bodies of the deceased, afterlife for non-believers, and many more topics. Robert Garland is Emeritus Professor at Colgate University. He has his PhD from University College, London. His main interests have been in ancient histories and classics. He is the author of numerous books including the most recent book, What To Expect When You’re Dead: An Ancient Tour of Death and the Afterlife. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nicholas Wolfinger and Matthew McKeever about single motherhood since 1980. They discuss major causes of single motherhood, income, workforce change, teenage mothers, and low fertility rates. They also talk about the differences between divorced vs. non-married mothers, income and family size, race, 1979 longitudinal cohort, single motherhood in the 21st century, and many other topics. Nicholas Wolfinger is professor of family and consumer studies and sociology at the University of Utah. He has a Ph.D. in Sociology from UCLA. He is widely published and cited within academia and has written for The Atlantic, National Review, Huffington Post, and other outlets. He is the author of numerous books on marriage, family, and divorce, including the most recent book (co-authored with Matthew McKeever), Thanks For Nothing: The Economics of Single Motherhood Since 1980. Matthew McKeever is Professor of Sociology and Department Chair of sociology at Haverford College. He has also taught at Rice University, University of Houston, University of Kentucky, and Yale University. He received his Ph.D. from UCLA, and his B.A. from Haverford. His research focuses on the structure of social inequality within a variety of institutional, cultural, and regional contexts, from the U.S. and Europe to South Africa and Asia. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Emily Falk about the neuroscience of choice and change. They discuss studying values, strengths and limits of fMRIs, value system in the brain, reward system, making choices, the self, making future choices, values with others, and many more topics. Emily Falk is professor of Communication, Psychology, Marketing, and OID (Operations, Information, and Decisions) at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the director of the Communication Neuroscience Lab, the vice dean of the Annenberg School for Communication, and the director of the Climate Communication Division of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. She has a bachelors in Neuroscience from Brown University and PhD in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research uses tools from psychology, neuroscience, and communication to examine what makes messages persuasive, why and how ideas spread, and what helps people get on the same page when communicating. Her research has been recognized by numerous awards, including early career awards from the International Communication Association, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Attitudes Division, a Fulbright grant, Social and Affective Neuroscience Society, a DARPA Young Faculty Award, and the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. She was named a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science. She is the author of the latest book, What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice and Change. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Helen King about the history of the female body. The give an overview of the four parts (breasts, clitoris, hymen, womb) of the female body and discuss how medicine shaped positive and negative ideas about the female body. They talk about breasts, clitoris, female genital mutilation, hymen, womb, and many more topics. Helen King is Professor Emerita of Classical Studies at The Open University. She is an elected member of the General Synod of the Church of England, where she is vice chair of Together, which campaigns on a range of discrimination issues including discrimination on the grounds of gender or sexuality. She is the author of the latest book, Immaculate Forms: A History of the Female Body in Four Parts. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Dalton Conley about the social genome. They discuss the nature/nurture debate, polygenic index (PGI), and ethics of PGI and Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) studies. They give some critiques of The Bell Curve, three major Gene-Environmental interactions (active, passive, reactive), epigenetics, the social genome, and many more topics. Dalton Conley is a sociologist and professor of sociology at Princeton University. He is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and faculty affiliate at the New York Genome Center. He has his Bachelors from the University of California-Berkeley, MPA in Public Policy and PhD in Sociology from Columbia University as well as a Masters and PhD in Biology from New York University. His research has focused on the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic and health status from parents to children, the impact of parental wealth in explaining racial attainment gaps; the causal impact of birthweight on later health and educational outcomes; sibling differences that appear to reflect the triumph of achievement over ascription; and, finally, genetics as a driver of both social mobility and reproduction. He has been the recipient of Guggenheim, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Russell Sage Foundation fellowships as well as a CAREER Award and the Alan T. Waterman Award from the National Science Foundation. He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science as well as a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is the author of numerous books including the most book, The Social Genome: The New Science of Nature and Nurture. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jaap de Roode about how animals heal themselves. They discuss whether animals intentionally or unintentionally seek out medicinal plants, four ways animals fight infection, Monarch butterflies and treating against parasites, chimps and their gut health. They also talk about birds using cigarettes in their nests, ants and rezin, goats and sheep having preferences, cats and dogs eating grass, and many other topics. Jaap de Roode is a biologist and professor of biology at Emory University. He has a MSc in Population Biology from Wageningen University in the Netherlands and PhD in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He is interested in the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases, and currently studies infectious diseases of monarch butterflies, honey bees and humans. He is the author of the book, Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes, and Other animals Heal Themselves. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Henry Gee about the decline and fall of the human species. They discuss the lifetime and decline of a species, when humans began to decline, what does it mean to be human, bipedalism, Homo Erectus, and slow human growth. They also talk about domestication and disease impacting humans, overpopulation concerns and low fertility rates, climate change, future of humankind, and many more topics. Henry Gee is a Paleontologist and is the Senior Editor for the scientific journal Nature. He received his PhD from the University of Cambridge. Along with many articles, he is the author of numerous books including his most recent book, The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire. You can find his blog here. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Alan Baddeley about his model of working memory. They define short-term memory, metacognition, overview of memory, memory loss and self-identity, and chunking in working memory. They talk about the levels of processing model, attention and working memory, overview of his multi-component model of working memory, and the six divisions of the model. They discuss the model with individuals with schizophrenia, forgetting and long-term memory, Alzheimer’s and Dementia, ADHD, psychological assessments for memory, emotion and memory, EMDR, future of working memory research, and many more topics. Alan Baddeley is Emeritus Professor at the University of York. His areas of expertise are in human memory, neuropsychology, and is known for his model of working memory. He has his Bachelors in psychology from University College London, Masters from Princeton University, and PhD from Cambridge University. He has received many honorary doctorates. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1993 and was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1996. In 2001, he received the American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions. He was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the British Psychological Society in 2012. He also received the Major Advancement in Psychological Science Prize from the International Union of Psychological Science in 2016. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe