FALSE ALARM: October 2024 podcast playlist
This month we’re exploring the gap between our perception and reality by way of a playlist highlighting various false alarms. False alarms evoke strong reactions—panic, relief, and sometimes even humor—highlighting how easily we can be thrown off course by misinformation or misunderstood signals. This podcast playlist invites us to explore the psychological, social, and even technological dimensions of false alarms, showing how they impact everything from personal experiences to global events. It’s a compelling lens through which we can better understand our responses to uncertainty, fear, and the unexpected.
ALTRUISM: March 2023 podcast playlist
Altruism seems like such a no-brainer good idea. Give to those in need. Give to charities. But, every dollar we give to one person or organization is a dollar we potentially don’t give to another. And, what makes humans altruistic in the first place? Is it our culture and higher order society that brings about these qualities or is there an underlying reason dictated by evolutionary biology? This playlist explores the pros and cons of effective altruism, direct cash giving, and the view of altruism from the perspective of evolutionary biology.
MOVIES: January 2023 podcast playlist
Movies, like podcasts, can expose us to new ideas, perspectives, and cultures that we may not have otherwise encountered. This can broaden our understanding of the world and help us to become more empathetic and understanding of others. They can make us laugh, cry, scream, and even roll our eyes. Movies can be used as a way to escape and unwind or to explore complicated and uncomfortable topics. This playlist explores the history of movies and the trends in filmmaking.
EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE: November 2022 podcast playlist
It’s so easy to get caught up in all of the chaos and minutiae that is happening on this planet. But, the second you look into the night sky it becomes very clear that we are just a tiny speck in a giant universe. It’s both humbling and awe-inspiring. What is out there beyond that night sky? And, perhaps more interestingly, who is out there? It seems very unlikely that we are the only intelligent life that exists and even less likely that we are the only life, intelligent or not. Check out this science-forward playlist on questions around the search for extraterrestrial life.