TrueSciPhi

Podcast Profile: The Big Idea

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42 episodes
2018 to 2020
Median: 10 minutes
Collection: SciPhi-Adjacent

Description (podcaster-provided):

Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):

This podcast explores “big ideas” by interviewing leading researchers and thinkers across disciplines such as economics, psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, criminology, political science, and urban studies. The episodes use specific puzzles—ranging from pandemics and addiction to sleep, memory, language, and emotion—to examine how scientific evidence and theory can change our understanding of human behavior and decision-making. A recurring theme is the gap between what people think guides their choices and what research suggests actually does, including the roles of unconscious bias, social influence, and cognitive limits.

Another major strand looks at how societies function and fail: why some nations prosper, how institutions shape outcomes, and what drives inequality, discrimination, mistrust, and polarization. The show frequently connects individual psychology to public life, considering topics like outrage on social media, group conflict and prejudice reduction, and the conditions that make democracies more resilient. It also addresses crime and justice, including questions about preventing violence and improving accountability in policing.

Several episodes focus on cities as complex systems, asking how rules, regulation, creativity, and data shape urban life and well-being. Technology and the future appear as well, with discussions of artificial intelligence, automation in medicine, big-data approaches to social behavior, and the risks and promises of potential super-intelligent machines. Environmental and ethical questions surface through topics like climate impacts of livestock and thought experiments about the afterlife and meaning. Overall, the podcast treats uncertainty as part of inquiry, emphasizing what can be known, how it’s studied, and where claims remain contested.

Episodes:

Fighting pandemics 2020-Dec-19 11 minutes

The science of addiction 2020-Dec-12 11 minutes

The new normal 2020-Dec-05 11 minutes

Do cities need rules? 2020-Nov-28 9 minutes

The science of sleep 2020-Nov-21 14 minutes

The importance of fairness 2020-Nov-14 12 minutes

How do we spot rogue cops? 2020-Nov-07 11 minutes

Understanding emotions: Should we follow our hearts? 2020-Oct-31 12 minutes

Ubernomics 2020-Oct-24 15 minutes

Why living in the city could make you happier 2020-Oct-17 13 minutes

Why do we find things disgusting? 2020-Oct-10 13 minutes

The fragility of choice 2020-Oct-03 9 minutes

The truth about marriage 2020-Sep-26 10 minutes

How to topple a dictator 2020-Sep-19 9 minutes

Why do we laugh? 2020-Sep-12 10 minutes

The Afterlife 2018-Sep-23 9 minutes

Why Are Some Nations Rich? 2018-Sep-16 9 minutes

How does language work? 2018-Sep-09 10 minutes

A Future Without Doctors? 2018-Sep-02 8 minutes

The Intelligent Tree 2018-Aug-26 9 minutes

Consciousness: A Strange Theory 2018-Aug-19 10 minutes

The Teenage Brain 2018-Aug-12 10 minutes

How To Stop Murder 2018-Aug-05 9 minutes

Democracy and Famine 2018-Jul-29 9 minutes

Dimensions of Discrimination 2018-Jul-22 11 minutes

Inequality Makes Us Anxious 2018-Jul-15 10 minutes

Are We All Racist? 2018-Jul-08 11 minutes

The New Distrust 2018-Jul-01 10 minutes

Contact Theory 2018-Jun-24 9 minutes

Economics and Mosquito Nets 2018-Jun-17 10 minutes

Memory Wars 2018-Jun-10 10 minutes

A World Without Livestock? 2018-Jun-03 9 minutes

Outrage and Moral Conscience 2018-May-27 9 minutes

Friends 2018-May-20 9 minutes

Baby Boffins 2018-May-19 9 minutes

Super-Intelligence 2018-May-17 9 minutes

Social Physics 2018-May-16 9 minutes

The Growth Mindset 2018-May-15 9 minutes

Epigenetics 2018-May-14 9 minutes

Future Gazing 2018-May-13 9 minutes

Monkey Money 2018-May-12 10 minutes

The Big Preview: The Big Idea 2018-May-11 2 minutes