Politics on the Couch

Rafael Behr explores the causes of resistance to vaccine science and its links with far-right propaganda with Imran Ahmed, founder of the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

The chat ranges from the emotional vulnerabilities that lead people to take comfort from conspiracy theories to the political obligations on social media companies to help defend democracy from malevolent, weaponised lies.

Along the way, Rafael and Imran touch on politics, psychology, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, the scientific method, Hugo Boss's Nazi tailoring and some practical advice for dealing with toxic falsehood online.

The two reports mentioned in the episode are Don't Feed the Trolls:

https://www.counterhate.com/dont-feed-the-trolls

And the Anti-Vaxx Playbook:

https://www.counterhate.com/playbook

Imran also mentions Ashli Babbit who was killed in the Washington DC Capitol riot:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/09/ashli-babbitt-capitol-mob-trump-qanon-conspiracy-theory

And a Guardian report about the Tuskegee Study Imran discusses:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/08/guatemala-victims-us-syphilis-study

Our podcast was recently chosen by Feedspot as one of the best 15 English-speaking political science podcasts in the world.

https://blog.feedspot.com/political_science_podcasts

This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm

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Host Rafael Behr answers some listeners' questions and looks ahead to the challenges facing the main political parties in 2021 as they try to navigate their way through a pandemic, levelling up, calls for Scottish independence and the reality of Brexit. Plus, reflections on the future for remainers and the prospects for a campaign to re-join the EU. Also features one book recommendation and a very extended metaphor about coral.

Cultural Amnesia by Clive James

https://uk.bookshop.org/books/cultural-amnesia-notes-in-the-margin-of-my-time/9780330481755

This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm

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Host Rafael Behr talks to Dr Carol Tavris about the mental obstacles that stop us from admitting that we may have made a mistake.

Dr Tavris is a pre-eminent social psychologist specialising in the field of cognitive dissonance and co-author of “Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me)”, a seminal book on the subject that was recently updated to include a chapter on Donald Trump's support base.

Carol has written articles, op-eds, and book reviews on a wide array of topics in psychological science for the TLS, Wall Street Journal, Skeptic magazine, Los Angeles Times, and many other venues.

This episode was recorded just before Christmas 2020 and touches on some of the reasons why (so far) not many people have changed their minds about their support for (or opposition to) the idea of Brexit, and why the reality in 2021 is unlikely to trigger mass conversions.

Links to interesting stuff mentioned in this podcast

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/oct/23/sarah-silverman-apologises-after-louis-ck-masturbation-comments

https://lincolnproject.us

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Festinger

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_cult

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliot_Aronson

Amazon UK link to Carol's book

Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions and Hurtful Acts (2020 edition - updated and revised)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mistakes-Were-Made-but-Not/dp/1780666950/ref=sr_1_1?

crid=1JHS0EFOUNOK3&dchild=1&keywords=mistakes+were+made+but+not+by+me&qid=1609202077&sprefix=mistakes+were+%2Caps%2C285&sr=8-1

Amazon US link

https://www.amazon.com/Mistakes-Were-Made-but-Third/dp/0358329612/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=mistakes+were+made+but+not+by+me+third+edition&qid=1591458464&s=books&sr=1-1

Our podcast was recently chosen by Feedspot as one of the best 15 English-speaking political science podcasts in the world.

https://blog.feedspot.com/political_science_podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Politics on the Couch host Rafael Behr talks to Professors Constantine Sedikides and Tim Wildschut of the University of Southampton, about the way people narrate the stories of their past, what they get from the process and the way political campaigns can exploit those feelings.

Prof. Constantine Sedikides

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/psychology/about/staff/cs2.page

Prof Tim Wildschut

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/psychology/about/staff/timw.page

Nostalgia website

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/nostalgia/

Our podcast was recently chosen by Feedspot as one of the best 15 English-speaking political science podcasts in the world.

https://blog.feedspot.com/political_science_podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the aftermath of the US presidential election, Rafael Behr talks to Professor Drew Westen about different forms of charisma, the struggle to communicate liberal arguments to Republican voters and the symptoms of severe personality disorder exhibited by Donald Trump.

Drew Westen is a professor in the Psychology and Psychiatry Department at Emory University, Atlanta Georgia. He is also a political consultant and author of the highly influential book "The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation."

Our podcast was recently chosen by Feedspot as one of the best 15 English-speaking political science podcasts in the world

https://blog.feedspot.com/political_science_podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, podcast host Rafael Behr turns to his old friend and New York Times columnist Ben Smith for analysis of the state of US politics a week before the biggest election in living memory, and for reassurance that, maybe, everything is gonna be alright.

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Rafael Behr speaks to social anthropologist Emma Crewe about parliament; what makes MPs tick, the psychological mechanisms they need to function in one of the country's weirdest workplaces - and their relationship with journalists.

Professor Crewe, of SOAS, University of London, is the only anthropologist to have been based inside the Palace of Westminster, having spent years embedded in both the Lords and the Commons, enjoying uniquely privileged access to the inner workings of the legislature.

You can read more about her research on parliaments and other topics at her Global Research Network on People and Parliaments website: www.grnpp.org or on her personal site www.emmacrewe.com

Routledge will be publishing her latest book - 'An Anthropology of Parliaments: entanglements in democratic politics' in 2021.

This podcast is hosted by https://wwww.zencast.fm

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In this episode Rafael Behr speaks to celebrated Irish author and journalist Fintan O'Toole about their shared fascination with nationalism and the myths of foreign oppression that fired a very English revolution. Also featuring digressions on the Scottish independence movement, Irish attitudes to Brexit and the Italian Job.

Fintan O'Toole is a historian, critic and cultural commentator; author of many books that range across questions of culture, identity, nationhood in Ireland and Britain. He is one of Ireland's most prominent and eminent political writers.

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This week Rafael Behr talks to Tim Harford, BBC Radio 4's presenter of More or Less and FT columist, about his new book: How To Make The World Add Up.

Tim Harford writes the Undercover Economist column for the FT and was previously an economics leader writer for the FT.

He is also the author of seven books, including the million-selling, The Undercover Economist and before that, Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy.

He is also a regular presenter for BBC radio.

He was made an OBE in the 2019 new year honours list “for services to improving economic understanding.

Link to buy the book: www.hive.co.uk/Product/Tim-Harford/How-to-Make-the-World-Add-Up--Ten-Rules-for-Thinking-Diff/25138829)

If you have a questions, comments or suggestions for Rafael about the podcast please email [email protected]

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Phil (the producer)

This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm

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Host Rafael Behr looks ahead to a new political season that promises to be like none in recent memory and reflects on a lost summer of coronavirus denial, with some digressions on party conferences, Brexit and Cliff Richard.

This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.