In a Nutshell

Why do we have prejudices? How are they created? And how do prejudices influence how we see and interact with people around us?

In this new episode of In a Nutshell, Jara learns that stereotypes are not only bad. With her guest, Gijs Bijlstra, she embarks on a journey to understand the power of prejudices, what we can use them for, and when we need to overcome them.

Gijs is an Associate Professor and social psychologist. He works at the Behavioural Science Institute. Gijs is interested in how stereotypes and prejudice influence our perceptions and behaviors.

Do you want to know more about prejudices and their influence on our perceptions? Follow Gijs’ tips and check out the podcast “Opinion Science” by Andy Luttrell. You can also read the book “Blindspot” by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald and watch the movie “Green Book."

If you like what we do with this podcast, follow us on Instagram @inanutshell.podcast.

Edit: Jara Majerus

Cover: Antonia Leise

Sex should be about having fun and pornography usually gets it wrong – at least according to Maerten Prins, long-time lecturer of the popular course Psychology of Sexuality.

In today’s episode of In a Nutshell, Antonia and Maerten talk about why the Netherlands might have the best sex education in the world but still falls short for many students. But what makes for good sex – and good sex education – in the first place? How has the way we talk about sex changed over the last decades? And why should we all masturbate more?

Maerten Prins is a cultural psychologist and lecturer in the Psychology department. His course Psychology of Sexuality is attended by more than 700 students every year and covers everything from coitus to consent, including Maerten’s favourite topic: pornography, which encompasses a whole range of things that need to be talked about when talking about sex.

To learn more about sex, follow Maerten’s tips and have a look at Justin Lehmiller’s book The Psychology of Human Sexuality, Lehmiller’s website and his Sex and Psychology Podcast. For Dutch readers, Maerten recommends the books De waarheid over seks: plezier en gendergelijkheid op planeet Aarde by Laan and van Lunsen and Seks!: een leven lang leren by van Lunsen en Laan. And for English readers, Emily Nagoski’s book Come As You Are.

Edit: Jara Majerus

Cover: Antonia Leise

How can sports be inclusive and exclusive at the same time? What can baseball tell us about Dutch colonialism? And how can sports be a means of identification?

In the first episode of 2025, Jara investigates the intersection of baseball and politics. Together with her guest Jan Bant, she explores notions of identity, belonging, and exclusion by taking a close look at what happens on the ball field. 

Jan is a PhD candidate at the Department of History, Art History and Classics. He is interested in the past and present of colonialism, the Caribbean, and Transatlantic relations. For his PhD, he analyses baseball's role in Caribbean communities in the Netherlands and the Caribbean communities since 1950.

Do you want to know more about how baseball can teach us about colonialism, belonging and identity? Follow Jan’s tips and watch the documentary series "Homerun Curaçao" and the documentary "Boys of Summer". Or read "Honkbalgoud" by Maarten Kolsloot and Wesley Meijer.

Edit: Jara Majerus

Cover: Antonia Leise

How prominent is the male gaze in music reviews? Why are there no guilty pleasure songs? And how authentic can artists in an industry like the music industry really be?

In this episode, Antonia delves into the world of music, more

Alex van der Hulst is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Arts,

If you want to know more about music reviews and popular

Edit: Jara Majerus

Cover: Antonia Leise

Do we need to treat nature differently? How can philosophy help us do so? And what makes documentaries about cats a good starting point?

In this week’s episode, Jara explores nature. More specifically, she investigates how humans relate to nature, why we like to see ourselves as separate from it, and why we

Marjolein is a professor in the Humanities at the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology, and Religion at Radboud University. One of her many interests is environmental philosophy, which examines the natural environment and the place humans occupy within it.

If you want to follow this train of thought and explore the human-nature relationship further, take Marjolein’s advice and watch the documentary Inside the Mind of a Cat.

Poison, medicine or magic potion? Drugs can probably be all of that. But what makes a drug legal or illegal? Or rather: who decides on that? 

“Who will ever relate the whole history of narcotics? It is almost the history of ‘culture’,” wrote Friedrich Nietzsche more than a hundred years ago – and he might be onto something. In today’s episode, Antonia and this week’s guest, Brigitte Adriaensen, talk about how drugs have been perceived throughout time and why colonialism wasn’t only built on the drug trade but continues to influence how we view substances like cocaine. 

Brigitte Adriaensen is a professor of Hispanic Literature and Culture. For her VICI project ‘Poison, Medicine or Magic Potion’, she and her team research the perception of peyote, ayahuasca and coca across time.

Would you like to learn more about the history of drugs? Then follow Brigitte’s recommendations and watch the movie Embrace of the Serpent (2015), visit the website Microcosms: A Homage to Sacred Plants of the Americas or read the book One River by Canadian anthropologist Wade Davis.

What makes scrolling on our phones dangerous? What does our scrolling have to do with digital surveillance? And who is surveilling whom, and for what reason?

In this episode, Jara explores the unsettling world of digital surveillance. Together with this week’s guest, Guilel Treiber, she uncovers who the surveillers of the digital world are and peeks behind the curtains of their sleek self-staging to reveal their hidden desires. Yes, this episode will probably make you feel a strong urge to throw your phone away. But luckily, Guilel has some ideas on how to resist digital surveillance without having to live off the grid.

Guilel is an assistant professor of ethics and political philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology, and Religious Studies.  One of his specializations is the societal stakes of digitalization.

If you want to delve deeper into the rabbit hole of digital surveillance, follow Guilel’s suggestions and listen to the podcasts Black Box by The Guardian and The Coming

Edit: Jara Majerus

Cover: Antonia Leise

Why do insects in the house make us jump? Have we always hated bugs that much? And what do the small animals have to do with morality – and warfare?

In this episode of In a Nutshell, Antonia takes a peek at insects that make people’s skin crawl and, together with this week’s guest researcher Charlotte Meijer, answers the question of why we’re so bugged by bugs. Spoiler alert: there hasn’t always been such straightforward hatred against flies, worms, cockroaches and co. 

Charlotte is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Arts, where she researches the history of insects, focussing on the development of a negative narrative surrounding the little animals. In her research, she is answering, amongst other things, why many insects today are seen as dirty and undesirable.

Would you like to learn more about the history of insects? For literature about insects and warfare, follow Charlotte’s recommendation and read Edmund Russell’s book War and Nature or J. R. Mcneill’s book Mosquito Empires. For literature about insects and disease, read J. L. Cloudsley-Thompson’s book Insects and History or Plagues and Peoples by William McNeill. For more information on insects and pests, read Getting under our skin by Lisa Sarasohn. And if you're interested in insects and the arts and sciences, read Onderkruipsels (in Dutch) by Jan de Hond, Eric Jorink and Hans Mulder.

Edit: Jara Majerus

Cover: Antonia Leise

Why are the current treatments for depression not effective enough? How can a what-fits-who approach help solve this problem? And can the already overwhelmed mental health sector actually provide more customized treatments?

Welcome back to In a Nutshell – a podcast of Vox in which we explore everything you never knew you needed to know more about. We kick off the second season by taking a critical look at the current depression treatments. Together with Ellen Driessen, we discuss the role the match between a patient and a therapist plays, how to make the mental health sector more sustainable, and we get some tips on what to do when experiencing depression.

Ellen is an assistant professor at Radboud University’s Department of Clinical Psychology and a licensed mental health care psychologist at Pro Persona’s Depression Expertise Centre. Currently, Ellen also leads an international research team that aims to create a tool to help select the optimal treatments for people with depression based on their personal characteristics.

Do you want to know more about depression and its treatments? Follow Ellen's suggestions and visit the following websites: For more information on antidepressants, click ⁠here⁠. For more information on depression, follow ⁠this link⁠. And, here you can visit the website of the ⁠Depression Association⁠.

⁠Here ⁠you find a guide to mental healthcare in the Netherlands if you want to know where to turn to.

Are you thinking about suicide? Take it seriously and don't try to deal with it alone. Reach out to ⁠113 suicide prevention.⁠ Phone number: +31 800 0113; Chat: ⁠https://www.113.nl/chatten⁠.

Edit: Jara Majerus

Cover: Antonia Leise

What makes a good political humour scandal? Why does what we find funny change over time? And what is the state of jokes today?

In the final episode of In a Nutshell’s first season, we take a look at jokes, politics, and how the combination of both can (and has) lead to historic scandals. With the help of assistant professor and comedy critic Ivo Nieuwenhuis, we detangle modern humour – and look for an answer to the question of what the jokes that make the headlines (and that make us laugh) say about us.

Ivo Nieuwenhuis is a researcher of Dutch literature with a strong interest in political humour scandals. Next to his work at the Faculty of Arts, Ivo also works as a comedy critic for the Dutch newspaper Trouw.

Would you like to learn more about humour and the scandals that come with it? Then follow Ivo’s tips and have a look at his book, Het was maar een grapje: Nederland in tien humorschandalen (in Dutch), this video clip about why humour is not as innocent as one might think (in Dutch), and this podcast, where Ivo talks more in-depth about his research (in English).

Edit: Jara Majerus

Cover: Antonia Leise