Converging Dialogues

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Riley Black about the last days of the dinosaurs. They discuss what life on earth was like with dinosaurs being very prominent and so successful in diversifying. They mention the importance of fossils for understanding dinosaurs. They discuss the asteroid and its impact on the earth. They talk about the animals that survived after the asteroid and how earth survived post-impact. They discuss how plants showed subsistence on the post-impact earth and how this was important for life to happen again. They talk about the similarities between how dinosaurs were prominent in their age and how humans are prominent now and many other topics. 

Riley Black is a freelance science writer with a background in paleontology. She has written for many publications such as Scientific American, Smithsonian Magazine, and National Geographic. She continues to do work in the field and is the author of numerous books, including the most recent, The Last Days of the Dinosaurs. Twitter: @laelaps

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nancy Foner about immigration and some of the current data on immigration in the 21st century. They provide and overview of current immigration data, discuss the more recent waves of immigration and why the 1965 immigration bill was very important. They discuss the current racial composition of the United States, culture change, and immigrants positive influence on school, economy, and within communities. They also talk about the role of politics, mixed race relationships, and many other topics. 

Nancy Foner is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. She has her Bachelors from Brandeis and her PhD from the University of Chicago. Her main interest is in studying various aspects of immigration in the United States. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  She is the author of numerous books including the most recent, One Quarter of The Nation: Immigration and the Transformation of America. You can find her work here. 

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Steven Nadler about the philosophy of Spinoza. They discuss Spinoza's definition of god and the connection with nature. They talk about how humans are included within nature and the role of free will. They discuss Spinoza's moral philosophy, humans move towards preservation, and how Spinoza defines the free person. They also talk about how Spinoza views the emotions, honesty, and how to live the good life. 

Steven Nadler is the Vilas Research Professor and William H. Hay II Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also the director of the UW-Madison's Institute for Research in the Humanities. His main research interests are on philosophy in the 17th century, specifically the philosophy of Spinoza. He has written numerous books, including his most recent, Think Least of Death: Spinoza On How to Live and How to Die. You can find his work here. 

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jessica Pierce and Marc Bekoff about a canine future without humans. They talk about how dogs could potentially survive and evolve in a post-human world. They mention the difference between breeds vs. individualized dogs, generations of dogs post-human, and how dogs have evolved with humans thus far. They also talk about features of dogs in a post-human world, skull morphology, ethics, and how people can treat dogs better in the present. 

Jessica Pierce is a bioethicist and serves on the faculty at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center. She has her PhD from the University of Virginia. Her main interests are on ethical issues in biomedical sciences, human-animal relationships, and animal welfare. She is the author of numerous books, including the most recent with Marc Bekoff, A Dog's World: Imagining the Lives of Dogs In A World Without Humans. You can find her at her blog and her website. 

Marc Bekoff is a biologist and is professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is a fellow of the Animal Behavior Society and past Guggenheim Fellow. His main interests are animal behavior, cognitive ethology, and behavioral ecology. He is well-published in the scientific literature and is the author of numerous books, including his most recent with Jessica Pierce. You can find all of his work at his website. Twitter: @marcbekoff

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Andrew Knoll about the geological history of the earth. They discuss how light, gravity, dark energy, and dark matter explain the early origins of the universe and earth. They also talk about the various layers of the earth, zircons, tectonic plates, and how one defines life. They also talk about how geology can assist in telling the time of earth, why the geologic timescale is important, and the early Ediacaran and Cambrian periods. They also talk about the impact of climate change, human involvement, and many other topics. 

Andrew Knoll is the Fisher Professor of Natural History at Harvard University. He has a BA and PhD in Geology. He has been an Associate Professor of Biology at Harvard University since 1982. For the past decade, he has served on the science team for NASA’s MER mission to Mars. He is the author of the most recent book, A Brief History of Earth. You can find his work here. 

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jenara Nerenberg about the complexities of neurodiversity. They begin by defining neurodiversity and highly sensitive people. They also talk about Jenara's critiques of psychiatry and psychology, specifically the diagnostic process. They discuss the curious evolution of diagnoses and the grey areas where people have challenges but not a full diagnosis. They also talk about the difference between diagnosis and treatment and many other topics. 

Jenara Nerenberg is a journalist, author, and founder of The Neurodiversity Project. She has interdisciplinary training from Harvard in public health, business, and government. She is the author of the book Divergent Mind: Thriving In A World That Wasn't Designed For You. You can find her work and writing here. Twitter: @bopsource

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Marcelo Sanchez-Villagra about animal domestication. They define domestication and how it is a process. They talk about niche construction and the three pathways of domestication. They mention the impact of agriculture, wild and semi-domestication, hybridization and adaptive radiation, as well as the impact of globalization and urbanization. They discuss the ethics of domestication, evolutionary developmental biology, morphological variation and feralization. They also talk about fish and insect domestication, cultural evolution, and many other topics. 

Marcelo Sanchez-Villagra is a professor of paleobiology and is the director of the palaeontological Institute and Museum at the University of Zurich. He is well published in his field and is the author of many books. His most recent book, The Process of Animal Domestication, can be found here. You can find his published papers here. 

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with David McPherson about the virtues of limits. They discuss the six limiting virtues and 4 limits. They discuss the origins of virtues and the two stances of these virtues. They talk about the difference between virtues and values and the importance of worldviews. They also discuss various opinions about Nietzsche's ideas on values and engage about authenticity, political and economic limits, healthy nationalism, and many other topics.

David McPherson is a philosopher and Associate Professor at Creighton University. His main interest are in ethics, political philosophy, and philosophy of religion. He is the author of two books, including the most recent, The Virtues of Limits. You can find his research publications here. Twitter: @davidlmcpherson

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a discussion with Karl Friston about the Free Energy Principle, Bayesian Brain, and many neurobiological principles. They give an overview of the history of the models of the brain and discuss the evolutionary components of the brain. They also mention how important executive functioning and abstraction are for various organisms. They give an overview of the Bayesian brain, discuss predictive coding, and the two classes of neurons for prediction and prediction error. They discuss the free energy principle, Markov blanket, and homeostasis. They discuss consciousness and the role of active inference, artificial intelligence, and various neuroimaging techniques. They mention how the free energy principle could be used pragmatically and many other topics. 

Karl Friston is a theoretical neuroscientist at University College, London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society in Biology. He has been awarded numerous awards for his contributions to neuroimaging. Those contributions include the creation of Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM), Voxel-Based Morphometry (VBM), and Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM). These contributions were heavily used in helping clinicians understand individuals with Schizophrenia and other disorders. You can find his published research here. 

In this special episode, Xavier Bonilla has an extended and wide ranging discussion about emotions, current state of psychology, and sexuality. They discuss emotions and their function, expression of emotions, fear as a spectrum and instinctual vs. learned fear. They discuss the history of substance abuse and challenges with the American Psychological Association (APA) such as their reduction in scientific rigor and focus on activism. They discuss APA's recent guidelines and their shift to social justice work, their problems with supporting psychology students, along with fads and self-help in psychology. They also talk about the history of the LGBTQ+ population, bisexuality, culture wars, and many more topics. 

Patrick Lockwood is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in California. He works at a premier addiction clinic for LGBTQ+ population in Los Angeles. He has over 15 years of experience in clinical practice, mainly with individuals that have substance abuse challenges. He is the author of The Fear Problem and has his own youtube channel. Twitter: @psychplockwood