Brain Buzz

Do you or one of your good friends strongly believe the earth is flat? Do you believe the COVID-19 vaccines are tracking us? Are all politicians really lizard people?

Our guests: Ricky Green and Mikey Biddlestone (two PhD students from the University of Kent) are researchers that investigate why people are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories. We discuss how attachment theory can predict the likelihood of you believing in conspiracy theories. We explain what collective narcissism is and why it is seen more often among conspiracy believers. Are there any benefits to believing in conspiracy theories? What are some of the sneaky ways that conspiracy theories can convince us they are true? All this and more in this weeks episode!

Dr. Edward Slingerland from the University of British Columbia joins Brain Buzz to talk discuss his new book DRUNK! We talk about how alcohol and drinking may have shaped our modern civilization, impacted how we interact as humans, and why alcohol is so important to humans. What benefits does drinking really provide us as humans? Why would we continue to drink considering the negative consequences associated it with? Should evolution not have weeded this behaviour out already? What barriers does drinking cause in our society today? All this and more on today’s episode!

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Grab a cup of coffee, take a cold shower, do what you have to do to wake yourself up! In episode 68 we got Dr. Lauren Whitehurst in the studio to talk about her work on sleep and cognition. Are you curious about what the world record for hours spent awake is? Have you ever wondered what sleep stages we go through every night and what each stage does? What exactly are microsleeps? We discuss these topics as well as Dr. Lauren Whitehurst’s research on how drugs, stress, and discrimination can significantly perturb your sleep!

Tiana Sharifi is the founder and owner of Sexual Exploitation Education, a British Columbia based organization dedicated to raising awareness and addressing service gaps around sexual exploitation in Canada. Tiana joins Kyle and Drake to discuss the prevalence and severity of sexual exploitation and human trafficking in Canada today. What constitutes sexual exploitation and human trafficking? Where is human trafficking most likely to occur and is it a problem in Canada that is worth addressing? What resources/strategies are there to combat or respond to human trafficking and sexual exploitation? Make sure to check out this episode to learn all this and more!

Gabe Brooks, a returning guest from the University of British Columbia joins us to talk about the phenomenon of online gaming “Lootboxes” and the possible implications they have on imbuing problematic gambling behaviours in children and adult gamers! Why do people spend money on online lootboxes and what populations are at risk? We also discuss the future of gaming and microtransactions. If you are interested in how gambling may be related to online gaming for you, your friends, or children… check out this episode now!

On today’s episode we are joined by Tessa Charlesworth, researcher at Harvard University, to talk about implicit attitudes and biases over time. Tessa shares with us how people change their minds in response to new experiences across the lifespan and how social attitudes and stereotypes shift over time in response to societal events. How do you measure implicit attitudes in historical records? Can we predict future levels of implicit biases? Are all biases harmful? All this and much more in Implicit Attitudes and Biases with Tessa Charlesworth!

On today’s episode we are joined by Ben Davis-Purcell, researcher at Carleton University, to talk about the study of the smallest things in the universe. Ben shares with us why studying particle physics is important to understanding the natural world and how particles interact to create everything in the known universe. How many fundamental particles are there and what do they do? What are the four fundamental forces? What does the Large Hadron Collider do and what kind of research is being conducted at it? All this and much more in Particle Physics with Ben Davis-Purcell!

On today’s episode we are joined by Dr. Gwendolyn Seidman, Associate Professor of Psychology and Department Chair at Albright College, to talk about presentations of relationships on social media and how the posts are related to relationship satisfaction. Gwen shares with us how patterns of social media use, and how the relationship is presented, can be indicative of the relationship satisfaction, long-term prognosis, and desire to ward off or invite potential suitors. What is the investment model of commitment and how is it reflected in social media use? Does the social media platform change the motive of the post? Why are some posts ‘gross’? All this and much more in Online Presentations of Relationships with Dr. Gwendolyn Seidman!

On today’s episode we sit down to chat with Ryan Dwyer, graduate student in the Social Cognition and Emotion Lab at the University of British Columbia, to talk about phones and happiness. Ryan shares with us how phone use impacts our social and emotional relationships, and why it might be important to put your phone down. How do you define happiness? How are phones affecting our happiness? What is Phubbing? All this and much more in Phubbing with Ryan Dwyer!

Today we are re-releasing a classic episode from Season 1 with Ryan Dwyer! Like and subscribe to us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts/Facebook. Enjoy the episode!

In episode 61 we are joined by Dr. Chris Barry, Professor of Psychology at Washington State University, to chat about how adolescent’s self-perceptions impact their social media use. Chris shares how selfies and “posies” are related to an individual’s self-esteem and narcissism, and what that means for how they interact with social media. We talk about his work on the fear of missing out and how social media contributes to it in the digital age. What is a “posie”? How do others perceive your selfies and what can you do to make others like your pictures more? Can restricting social media access help individuals feel better about its use? All this and much more in Selfies and Posies with Dr. Chris Barry!