In this engaging discussion, Alison Wood Brooks, a Harvard Business School professor and author of "Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves," explores the intricacies of conversation. She emphasizes the need for better communication skills in education, the dynamics of small talk, and the importance of empathy in dialogue. Alison shares insights on crafting engaging conversations and the art of questioning, while uncovering how humor and trust shape interactions. Her tips promise to enhance both personal and professional relationships!

In this engaging conversation, Arvind Narayanan, a Princeton professor and author of "AI Snake Oil," delves into the critical distinctions between real AI capabilities and hype. He highlights the ethical dilemmas surrounding predictive AI, especially in sensitive areas like criminal justice and healthcare. Arvind critiques the lack of regulation and the historical parallels between AI and cryptocurrency enthusiasm. He also discusses the evolving landscape of AI professions, stressing the need for ethical standards and the importance of transparency in technology.

Raising boys in post-MeToo times is beyond challenging. So how do moms balance societal pressures with the desire to raise happy, healthy, and emotionally intelligent boys?Ruth Whippman is a journalist and author of the books, BoyMom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity and America the Anxious: How Our Pursuit of Happiness Is Creating a Nation of Nervous Wrecks. In BoyMom, she weaves personal anecdotes with data and reporting to capture the complexities of raising emotionally healthy boys in today’s world. Ruth and Greg discuss the cultural expectations and modern pressures around parenting, the problem with labeling traits either feminine or masculine, the nurturing gap for boys, and why patriarchy harms men just as much as women. *unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*Show Links:Recommended Resources:G.I. JoeIncelJordan PetersonWe Can Do Better Than ‘Positive Masculinity’ by Ruth Whippman [New York Times]Guest Profile:Professional WebsiteProfile on LinkedInHer Work:BoyMom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible MasculinityAmerica the Anxious: How Our Pursuit of Happiness Is Creating a Nation of Nervous WrecksEpisode Quotes:Can we just allow everyone to be fully human without gendered traits?39:02: I think there's all these attempts to rehabilitate masculinity and redefine it. And it's just like, can we just give it a rest and just allow everybody to be fully human? Stop assigning a gender to human traits and values. Every human needs power, agency, strength, and courage, and every human needs nurturing and relationships and care, those feminine-coded virtues. Why are we splitting them up? And when we try to say, oh, well, actually, caregiving is masculine, what are we even doing there? I mean, at what point does it just become meaningless? And we should just give up on those things altogether. At what point is it just reinforcing this idea that it's so important to be masculine that we come up with any kind of logical hack to make it work, to preserve it?Are boys missing out on feminine-coded values that impact well-being?08:24: Before you can encourage boys to take on those more feminine-coded attributes, you have to truly believe that those attributes have value. But I do believe that boys are genuinely missing out. I do believe that those feminine-coded values have huge worth and are hugely important for our psychological well-being and for living a happy, healthy life. And so I feel like this project of realizing that boys and men are losing out in this system is a really big part of what we need to do here.Should we stop reinforcing masculinity as the be-all and end-all?40:38: We should stop trying to push this positive masculinity framework. And it's not because I think it's great if people present as masculine; if they naturally like to embody all those virtues, if they come, if that's who they want to be, great. There's nothing wrong with masculinity per se. It's just that when we keep reinforcing it as the be-all and end-all of how a boy or man should be.Understanding the invisible cultural baggage around gender04:09: I think with kids, there's this sort of superficial idea that you can just choose whatever gender you are, but there's so much invisible cultural baggage going on in the lives of kids and adults with what we're all doing in terms of gender, all the invisible things and baggage that we bring to this project. [04:44] We're operating with this idea that we have this huge amount of control over all of these things. And both culturally and biologically, and in all kinds of different ways, we have far less control than we think we do.

What brought about the rise of cryptocurrencies, and whats the difference between tokens and money? How are some of these modern concepts of currency much older than people may think, with older and older examples being unearthed in different parts of the world?Rachel O’Dwyer is a writer and lecturer in Digital Cultures in the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. She’s also the author of Tokens: The Future of Money in the Age of the Platform. It’s all about how more and more traditional mone is being replaced by tokens, but this has been happening in societies for a long time.Greg and Rachel discuss the complex and interdisciplinary nature of tokens and their relationship to money, exploring the history, regulatory implications, and the current cultural significance of token-based economies. They also examine the role of digital tokens in various sectors, from gaming to social media, and their impact on financial activities and personal relationships. Rachel explains the rise of cryptocurrencies, the metaverse, and how these new forms of money shape modern culture and societal norms.*unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*Show Links:Recommended Resources:Friedrich HayekKarl PolanyiJohn SearleGuest Profile:RachelODwyer.comFaculty Profile at National College of Art and Design DublinSocial Profile on InstagramSocial Profile on XHer Work:Tokens: The Future of Money in the Age of the PlatformEpisode Quotes:Where do we draw the regulatory line around money?05:09: What I find quite interesting with tokens is that, increasingly, as we're seeing these sort of nonbank entities emerging and issuing money-like things, the token becomes a sort of regulatory sleight of hand. It becomes a way for platforms to issue money-like things, but say, well, hey, because this isn't real money, I'm not really a bank, so I'm doing everything that banks do, but because I don't have a financial license, I'm not processing payments. I'm doing everything that an employer does, but because I'm not handling money, I'm not officially an employer; therefore, I don't have any duty or responsibilities towards these people working or making a living on my platform. So there's all that sort of regulatory uncertainty sort of happening when we're dealing with tokens as opposed to money, but also, I think, as we saw in 2022 with the collapse of so many exchanges and stablecoins as well, there's this regulatory uncertainty around, what is legitimate financial activity and what is like a scam, and where do we draw the lines around those sorts of things?Should tokens be seen as less than money?17:25: When we start thinking about tokens as being less than money, there are all sorts of strings attached—all kinds of prescriptions, all sorts of controls attached to welfare payments, refugee payments—and all kinds of ways in which we can control prescribed behaviors when we issue tokens as opposed to "fungible," I suppose, cash or money.Is scrip a double exploitation of workers?23:29: I guess scrip is kind of a catch-22 because you're potentially being exploited when whoever's employing you is getting a profit—they're earning more than it costs to pay you and to sort of buy maybe the materials that it costs to produce whatever you're making. But scrip is double exploitation because they're paying you in their own special token that you can only redeem, basically, in the company store.Programmable money ties payments to identity, unlike anonymous cash38:56: A lot of what's happening with programmable money is tying the means of payment to your identity or to particular sorts of credentials. And I think with CBDCs, we're seeing more and more proposals for money that can be programmed, as they're saying, at issuance—that when that money is issued, there are potentially various terms and conditions hard-coded into it versus your dumb cash, which is just an anonymous, dumb bearer instrument that doesn't care and doesn't know who's holding it, who's bearing it, so long as it's bared up.

William Davies, a Professor of Politics at Goldsmiths University of London, dives into the interplay of data-driven decision-making and its implications for democracy. He discusses the erosion of public trust in elites, fueled by past crises and the rise of conspiracy theories. The conversation also addresses how advancements in behavioral economics are reshaping our understanding of happiness and prosperity, highlighting the paradox of economic growth alongside increasing dissatisfaction. Ultimately, Davies advocates for genuine well-being over superficial solutions.

In this engaging discussion, Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland, a renowned fellow at Stanford’s Human Centered AI Institute and a pioneer in social physics, delves into the reshaping of social dynamics by AI. He explores the need for knowledge-sharing in organizations and how AI can bridge knowledge silos. Sandy also addresses the complex relationship between social media and community, urging for accountability among influencers. With insights on balancing curiosity and productivity, he emphasizes the critical role of human connection in an increasingly digital world.

Andrew Garrett, a linguistics professor at UC Berkeley and author of "The Unnaming of Kroeber Hall," dives into the complexities of renaming campus buildings tied to controversial figures like Alfred Kroeber. He discusses Kroeber's contributions to linguistics and anthropology and his fraught relationships with Indigenous communities. Topics include the evolution of linguistic legacies, the ethics of cultural documentation, and the movement towards greater Indigenous representation in academia. Garrett's insights shed light on how universities can address historical injustices.

In this insightful conversation, Oded Galor, a Professor of Economics at Brown University and author of "The Journey of Humanity," discusses the historical roots of global economic inequality. He explores how human capital investments during the Industrial Revolution shaped wealth distribution and examines the long-term effects of population dynamics. Galor emphasizes the significance of diversity in driving economic success and sheds light on how cultural and institutional factors intertwine to influence economic development across different societies.

Roland Allen, author of "The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper," delves into the surprising impact of notebooks on history. He discusses the evolution of writing tools from ancient papyrus to modern notebooks and their profound influence on creativity and learning. The conversation highlights how writing by hand engages the brain differently than typing. Allen also explores the significance of artists' sketchbooks and the role of travel diaries in capturing personal expression, underlining the enduring value of these humble tools in a digital age.

If meaning is made with our minds, what role does the body play in shaping meaning? How do the studies of philosophy and cognitive science intersect?  Mark Johnson is an emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Oregon and one of the key thought leaders on the co-evolution of philosophy and science in the 20th century. His books like, Metaphors We Live By and Philosophy in the Flesh: the Embodied Mind & its Challenge to Western Thought explore the relationship between philosophy and cognitive science. Mark and Greg discuss the evolution of philosophical thought from metaphysical realism to embodied cognition, the impact of metaphors on human thought and understanding, and philosophy’s potential future in the world of artificial intelligence. *unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*Show Links:Recommended Resources:George Lakoff Patricia ChurchlandGottlob FregeMaurice merleau pontyJohn DeweyBrain in a vatJames J. GibsonTime and Narrative by Paul RicoeurWilliam JamesGuest Profile:Faculty Profile at University of OregonProfessional WebsiteHis Work:Metaphors We Live ByPhilosophy in the Flesh: the Embodied Mind & its Challenge to Western ThoughtMoral Imagination: Implications of Cognitive Science for EthicsThe Meaning of the Body: Aesthetics of Human UnderstandingEmbodied Mind, Meaning, and Reason: How Our Bodies Give Rise to UnderstandingPhilosophical Perspectives on MetaphorOut of the Cave: A Natural Philosophy of Mind and KnowingEpisode Quotes:Embodiment and the human experience 15:25: The fundamental unit of experience, or of anything you do or think, is a human brain, at least partially functioning, operating a human body, at least partially functioning as it engages in an ongoing way. It's an environment which is, at once, material, interpersonal, and cultural. That's a nugget of what everything we're doing is about and trying to articulate. So, embodiment all the way through. And now that we have all these information processing models, sometimes questions get raised about, well, you know, are we going to do what to do away with the body and all of that, but you have to build up to that.All philosophy emerge in experience44:53: I think that all philosophy, all thought, all action, and all values emerge in experience, which is not reducible; its enriched experience, and that we have to, through inquiry, remake that experience to move forward in the world. On bringing rigor from science to the humanities50:05: Doing good science is so difficult, labor-intensive, time-consuming, and expensive that it kind of fills up your world, I want to say. And they [scientists] don't see the same rigor in what they regard as the humanities. So, the best I can do with that is try to bring research out of the humanities and help it interface.On the theory of meaning26:27: My theory of meaning is built around the fact that the meaning of something is the affordances that it enacts. There's a complicated story to tell about that, but intuitively, it makes you grow into a world where you learn the meaning of things by what it affords you by way of experience.