Are humans designed to be monogamous? Polygamous? In this episode, we talk to Brooke Scelza (UCLA) about her work with the Himba and the complex web of social norms at play in that society and what it can teach us about our evolved psychology. Other topics include parental investment, the state of cross-talk between evolutionary anthropology and psychology, and the sometimes perverse incentives in science and the resulting replication crisis. If you think you do (or do not) understand mating markets and social norms, then this episode is for you. 

More about Brooke Schelza:

https://bscelza.weebly.com/

https://anthro.ucla.edu/person/brooke-scelza/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=v8E5934AAAAJ&hl=en

Are mothers the evolutionary crucible of leadership psychology? And is leadership more misunderstood and cryptic than we might think? In this episode, we talk to Zach Garfield (UM6P, Morocco) about all things lead-y and follow-y, and the new and amazing Omo Valley Research Project. 

More about Zach Garfield:

The Omo Valley Research Project (with Luke Glowacki)

What is cultural diffusion, why do need models of cultural change and distance, and what is on Bret's whiteboard? In this episode, we do a deep on how cultural change and distance are measured and studied with Bret Beheim (Max Planck for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig). Other topics include the local norms surrounding red lights and the evergreen game of "go". 

More about Bret Beheim:

https://babeheim.com/

https://www.eva.mpg.de/ecology/staff/bret-beheim/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=V6Ea-MkAAAAJ&hl=en

Are group boundaries solid, impermeable, and red in tooth-and-claw? Is animosity between groups inevitable? In this episode, we talk to Anne Pisor ( Penn State) about all things inter-group from an evolutionary perspective, including the forging of relationships across group boundaries as a way to deal with uncertainty and risk, and the circumstances that increase or decrease inter-group antagonism. 

More about Anne Pisor:

https://anth.la.psu.edu/people/anne-pisor/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Qav4JJ4AAAAJ&hl=en

Why do we feel shame? Is it a useless emotion? Our guest, Daniel Sznycer (Oklahoma State) has been studying "self-conscious" emotions from a functional/evolutionary perspective. If you're curious about why we feel things like shame, pride, guilt, or how an evolutionary approach can she light on understanding our emotions, this episode is for you.  

More about Daniel Sznycer: 

https://sites.google.com/view/sznycerlab/sznycer-lab

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AKHl_vwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Other links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate_the_Positive#:~:text=For%20other%20uses%2C%20see%20Accentuate,film%20Here%20Come%20the%20Waves.

Motive? Intent? Case closed! In this episode, Keelah Williams (JD, PhD, Hamilton) runs us through our bar exam prelims, explaining how our evolved psychology influences legal decision-making, and what consequences this may have on truth, justice, and much else... If you are interested in how evolutionary approaches inform legal issues, this episode is for you. Bonus: Keelah also discusses her ground-breaking work on ecology stereotypes. 

More about Keelah Williams:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/evolution-and-human-behavior/vol/44/issue/3

Grab some candy (or brains): Halloween is here! This week, we talk to Coltan Scrivner about why we can't look away from the macabre, what exactly the "horror" genre is, and why a self-dose of fear and horror may be good for anxiety. If you are curious about horror, true crime, cobwebs, zombies, great white sharks, Jurassic Park, or whether its good for kids to experience gross or scary things, this episode is for you! 

Also, today, Coltan's book, Morbidly Curious, comes out:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/705578/morbidly-curious-by-coltan-scrivner-phd/

More about Coltan Scrivner:

https://www.coltanscrivner.com/

https://www.morbidlycuriousthoughts.com/

How are humans able to sustain large families? What is our "true" reproductive strategy as a species? Are kids designed to raise younger children? And is it unnatural for us to live in such strongly age-segregated societies? In this episode, we talk to Karen Kramer (U of Utah) where we discuss our (possibly unique) ability to live with and raise one another. 

More about Karen Kramer:

https://www.sapiens.org/authors/karen-l-kramer/

https://profiles.faculty.utah.edu/u0839608/about

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2tP1330AAAAJ&hl=en

Why do we believe what we believe? And our we aware of why we believe what we believe? And what is a belief anyway? And what should we think of people like Jordan Peterson? We tackle these questions and more in this episode with Dan Williams (Sussex): our first guest representing evolutionary approaches to philosophy. 

More about Dan Williams:

https://danwilliamsphilosophy.com/

https://www.conspicuouscognition.com/

Did we evolve to live long lives? Is heart disease a human universal? In this episode, we talk to Mike Gurven (UCSB), who has run a number of large-scale studies on the life and health of non-Western populations (among much, much more). And now, he has a new book out (Seven Decades: How We Evolved to Live Longer) summarizing the big picture of what we've learned so far! 

More about Mike Gurven:

https://www.anth.ucsb.edu/people/michael-gurven

https://gurven.anth.ucsb.edu/

More about the book (Mike is the real deal, so we are happy to plug his book!):

https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691231990/seven-decades

Enter code (PUP30 for a discount)

https://www.target.com/p/seven-decades-by-michael-d-gurven-hardcover/-/A-94306245

https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Decades-Evolved-Live-Longer/dp/0691231990/ref=sr_1_1