Converging Dialogues

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with June Tangney about shame and the various components of this emotion. They provide a definition of shame and how it is a distinct emotion from guilt. They discuss how the same event can be implicated with different emotional reactions. They talk about how to understand negative shame and hubristic pride along with the differences between public and private shame. They discuss the adaptive aspects of shame and how shame may present in other cultures. They talk about shame with trauma and some of the clinical interventions that could be used in therapy for shame. They discuss how shame manifests in various medical diagnoses and how shame presents in popular culture and mainstream media. 

June Tangney is a Clinical Psychologist and University Professor at George Mason University. She has served as Associate Editor for Self and Identity, Consulting Editor for Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Psychological Assessment, Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, and Journal of Personality, and is currently Associate Editor of American Psychologist. She has done extensive research on the moral emotions (e.g., shame, guilt, empathy) and has done work researching moral emotions with incarcerated offenders. You can find her books here. You can also find her peer-reviewed research here. 

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Kevin Mitchell on genetics, neuroscience, and variation in development. They discuss why developmental variation is important to understanding genes and environment through the trajectory of the lifespan. They talk about how a person responds to the environment and why this is a key essential feature for gene and environment interaction. They talk about the genome as a system or program that can interact with other "noise" in the system. They make the distinctions between traits and genes and how neuropsychiatric disorders are implicated by genetic variation. The provide an example of heritability using Autism and the various genes involved in the development of Autism. They talk about how much genetic programming is set before birth and also provide a definition of environment. They use intelligence as an example to explain the differences in the nature vs. nurture debate. They talk about the importance of twin studies, use of polygenic scores, epigenetics, neuroplasticity, and many other topics.

Kevin Mitchell is an Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin. He has his BA in Genetics from Trinity College Dublin and his PhD in Neurobiology from the University of California at Berkeley. His current research focuses on genetics and wiring of the brain specifically as it relates to neuropsychiatric disorders. He is the author of Innate: How the wiring of our brains shapes who we are which you can purchase here. He also has his own blog. Twitter: @wiringthebrain

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Kathryn Gordon about the challenging topic of suicide. They discuss the current data and statistics on suicide in the United States. They talk about the connection between suicide and mental illness and how to spot warning signs for suicide. They discuss the appropriate ways to ask if someone is suicidal along with the differences between passive and active suicidal ideations. They distinguish what is different between a safety contract and a safety plan. They also mention the role of self-injurious behaviors and their various differences from suicidal gestures. They also talk about the dangers of discussion suicide on social media and many other topics. 

Kathryn Gordon is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who is a clinician and researcher. As a clinician, she specializes in conducting Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with a variety of clients. She also conducts active research on Eating Disorders. She was also an Associate Professor of Psychology at North Dakota State University. You can find her published research here. She is the author of The Suicidal Thoughts Workbook which can be purchased here. She is the co-host of the podcast, Psychodrama and write a blog for Psychology Today. Twitter: @drkathryngordon

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Inger Burnett-Ziegler about the emotional lives of Black women and how Black women can have authenticity and empowerment. They discuss Inger's background and her reasoning for writing her book. They discuss the origins of the norm that Black women must be strong and not expressive with vulnerabilities. They talk about the current internal and external barriers for Black women being able to express their positive and negative experiences. They also talk about how empowerment and authentic expressions of self are received by Black women. They describe some of the features of intergenerational trauma and how colorism impacts Black women. They end by discussing the stigma of Black women seeking mental health treatment. 

Inger Burnett-Zeigler is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. She has over 15 years of clinical experience providing Psychological interventions to various patients. Her research focuses on mental health disparities within the Black community. Her first book, Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen: The Emotional Lives of Black Women is available now. You can also find all relevant links to her research and appearances at her website. Twitter: @ibzpsychphd

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jonathan Rauch about the constitution of knowledge and how to defend against illiberalism. They discuss Jonathan’s background and how we have arrived to many of the societal themes today. They discuss the distinctions between truth and knowledge and how Jonathan modeled his constitution of knowledge from the US constitution.  They talk about the central thesis of compromise and how it’s possible to scale the constitution of knowledge to all of society. They stress the importance and value of institutions and provide an example of how gay rights was achieved through a combination of activism and use of institutions. They talk about the components of the constitution of knowledge and the differences between positive and negative epistemic valence. They explain the need for individuals and institutions to work together and how to use the constitution of knowledge pragmatically.

Jonathan Rauch is a Senior Fellow of Governance Studies at Brookings Institute. He is a journalist and author of eight books. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and recipient of the 2005 National Magazine Award. His new book, The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth can be found here. Find his work at his website. Twitter: @jon_Rauch

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Luis Lopez-Portillo about behavioral and cultural change for self-improvement. They begin the dialogue with an overview of Luis' personal and professional background. They talk about his background and training in journalism and communications and his switch to public relations. They talk about his time as Press Secretary for one of the former Presidents of El Salvador. They discuss his post-government work with his consulting company dealing with crisis management within companies. They also talk about his work with organizational and cultural change with various businesses.

The other half of the conversation focuses on Luis' restart method for personal change and the inspiration for writing his most recent book. They discuss the major themes within the restart method and the ways it can be implemented. They talk about the pragmatic uses for his restart method and what his ultimate aim is for readers of the book. 

Luis Lopez-Portillo is a journalist, author, life coach, and leadership trainer. He has a Bachelors in Communications and completed a fellowship at the University of Maryland in Journalism. He was a major editor at one of the largest newspapers in El Salvador, La Prensa Grafica. He was the Press Secretary for one of the former Presidents of El Salvador for five years and is currently the CEO of his company Retheos which is a consulting company for training businesses on crisis management and organizational change. He is the author of Evolve and Restart which can be found here. Twitter: @llopezportillo

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Alentina Vardanyan about the organizational behavior and ethics of artificial intelligence (AI). They discuss her transition from psychology to behavioral approaches within AI. They define intelligence and the different forms of artificial intelligence. A brief history of AI is discussed and they dialogue about the various ethical challenges with AI. They talk about the ethics of various applications and the larger theme of reality vs. simulation. They also discuss the ethics of automation and whether technology is moving too fast. They talk about how AI is presented in science fiction and what we can expect from AI in the near future and many other topics. 

Alentina Vardanyan is a PhD candidate at the Cambridge Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge. She studies organizational behavior, artificial intelligence, and the future of work. Her work mostly focuses on the intersection of organization behavior with AI. Follow her on youtube. Twitter: @alentina

In this special episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Angel Eduardo about many of his recent essays on starmanning, race, and Superman. They are joined by cameos from Christopher Ferguson, Wilfred Reilly, and Stephen Clouse about these topics. The first part of the conversation focuses on Angel's concept of starmanning and his origins for coming up with the term. They discuss the differences between the strawman, steelman, and starman arguments. They talk about some of the criticisms of starmanning and how to use this concept in applied practice.

The second part of the conversation focuses on the current conversations surrounding Critical Race Theory (CRT). They talk about the problems of CRT and some of the ever-evolving miscommunication around CRT. They talk about the idea of whether a moral panic about CRT is warranted and what the endgame is with CRT. They spend some time discussing the impact CRT has in the education system and the differences between teaching and practice in schools. They also talk about the socioeconomic variables with CRT and the multivariate challenges within society.

The third part of the episode centers on the topic of Superman. They discuss whether Superman has to be white and the ideas of a Black Superman. They talk about the challenges of representation with established stories. They described the lessons from Greek philosophy for many of the themes in superhero stories. They explain why narrative is central for myths and superhero stories and the role religion plays in these stories. They consider whether Superman's ethics map onto the Aristotelian "good." They also consider the morality from the Batman story and the idea of wanting personal particulars to superimpose the universal themes within these stories. They also talk about whether it is possible to pull away from religious overtures in modern myths and many other topics.

Angel Eduardo is a writer, musician, photographer, and designer based in New York City. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from CUNY and is a staff writer at Idealist. Find the articles discussed in this episode at his website and on twitter: @strangeledweird 

Christopher Ferguson is a clinical psychologist, professor, and writer. He teaches psychology at Stetson University and continues to conduct research on mass media violence. He is the author of two non-fiction books. His first book, Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games is Wrong and his most recent book, How Madness Shaped History: An Eccentric Array of Maniacal Rulers, Raving Narcissists, and psychotic Visionaries are both available here. You can find many links to his various publications and articles at his website. Twitter: @cjferguson1111

Wilfred Reilly is a political scientist and Associate professor at Kentucky State University. He is the author of Hate Crime Hoax and Taboo both of which can be found here. Twitter: @wil_da_beast630

Stephen Clouse is a political science PhD candidate with his primary focus on ancient Greek philosophy, specifically Aristotelian philosophy, along with early American political thought. You can find his writing here and here. You can also follow him on Twitter: @sclouse2

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Susan Mattern about menopause. They start by discussing her reasons and motivations for writing her most recent book, The Slow Moon Climbs: The science, history, and meaning of menopause. They explain the two definitions of menopause and the origins of menopause. They spend considerable time discussing the importance of the grandmother hypothesis and the role of mother-in-laws. They also talk about how humans evolved into a patriarchal society during agricultural societies and how we have gendered roles of labor. They also discuss whether menopause is a cultural syndrome and the best ways to discuss menopause in modern society. 

Susan Mattern is a Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Georgia. Her teaching and research focuses on world history, namely, Greek, Roman, and Ancient Egypt. She has written two books on the ancient physician, Galen, and her most recent book on menopause,The Slow Moon Climbs: The science, history, and meaning of menopause. You can find her research on her website. 

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Joseph Henrich about WEIRD people and cultural evolution. They start the conversation by defining what WEIRD means and some of the essential features of WEIRD people. They talk about cumulative cultural evolution and how this works in tandem with natural and sexual selection. They discuss some examples of individualistic and collective cultures and some of the similarities and differences. They engage with each other about whether culture causes evolutionary change or is merely a variable that influences change. They talk about the spread of Christianity and how it has impacted cultural evolution. They also discuss the impact of cultural evolution on markets and economic systems. They also mention the impact of war and the global collective brain as a way of understanding cultural evolution in the digital age along with many other topics. 

Joseph Henrich is Professor and Chair of the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. His research focuses on evolutionary approaches to psychology, decision-making, and culture. He has done research on topics such as cultural evolution, human sociality, prestige, and large-scale cooperation. He is the author of The Secret of Our Success: How culture is driving human evolution, domesticating our species, and making us smarter. The topics in this book and his most recent book, The WEIRDest People in the World: How the west become psychologically peculiar and particularly prosperous are discussed in this episode. You can find both books along with his research at his website. Twitter: @johenrich