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Are we all being manipulated? This week, Ellen and Alona are joined by Cass Sunstein–one of the scholars behind “nudge” theory–who explains how companies exploit our cognitive biases for their own profit.

Cass is the founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy at Harvard, and author of Manipulation: What It Is, Why It’s Bad, What to Do about It. He explores the place of manipulation in a capitalist system, and whether technology is making manipulation a bigger problem than ever before. But can we protect ourselves from it?

Plus, Ellen and Alona discuss the return of Bake Off: “banger” or “dud”?

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Roberta Beary (they/she) first appeared on episode 133. Roberta is long-time haibun editor at Modern Haiku and travels the world as Roving Ambassador for The Haiku Foundation. Their new book, Crazy Bitches, includes 80 haibun selected from poems written over a 20-year period, 2004 through 2024. With Lew Watts and Rich Youmans, Roberta Beary is co-author of Haibun: A Writer's Guide (2023).

On the menu at the rock and roll state banquet …

… Into the Mystic, Meet On The Ledge, In My Life, Tom Waits’ Take It With Me and other perfect songs for a last farewell

… the day we joined the world’s best band

… Robert Redford’s blinding handsomeness and the greatest moment – all three seconds of it – in Butch Cassidy And the Sundance Kid

… best-looking rock stars

… were the Shadows really a UK Eurovision entry?

… “very special guests” and the new age of the stadium rock “bring-on”

… how John Prine and Iris DeMent won the big door prize

… “the movie camera is the biggest lie-detector in the world”

… strange double bills of our time - the Foo Fighters and Rick Astley, Bo Diddley and the Clash

Plus Cary Grant smoking, watching Brad Pitt do ordinary things and birthday guest Steven Way on the subtle billing of support acts.

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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In the early 1900s, while serving in the British Army, Lord Robert Baden-Powell laid the foundations for what would become one of the largest international youth movements, Scouting.

His vision was to create an organisation that would build friendships, experiences, and skills for life.

Gill Kearsley used archive to trace the origins of the movement through Baden-Powell’s own words.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

(Photo: Lord Baden-Powell addressing cubs and scouts in 1933. Credit: Getty Images)

"I find his novels extraordinarily beautiful .. and they're an excellent length."

Miles Jupp picks an author he loves, but knows little about. JL Carr was born in Yorkshire and was a teacher, mapmaker, and an eccentric. Joining the comedian in studio to discuss Carr is a man who knew him well - DJ Taylor - who paints a picture of a man who hated London literary parties and knew how to have fun with anyone sent to interview him. A delightful episode that includes archive of Carr himself, plus Kenneth Branagh reading from his biography, God's Englishman by Byron Rogers.

Carr's novel - A Month in the Country - was shortlisted for the Booker and turned into a film starring Kenneth Branagh, Colin Firth and Natasha Richardson in 1987.

The producer for BBC Studios in Bristol is Miles Warde

Getting along in society requires that we mostly adhere to certainly shared norms and customs. Often it's not enough that we all know what the rules are, but also that everyone else knows the rules, and that they know that we know the rules, and so on. Philosophers and game theorists refer to this as common knowledge. In Steven Pinker's new book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows..., he explores how common knowledge (or its absence) explains money, power, and a wide variety of subtextual human interactions.

Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/09/22/329-steven-pinker-on-rationality-and-common-knowledge/

Support Mindscape on Patreon.

Steven Pinker received his Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard University. He is currently the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He is the author of several best-selling books and recipient of several honorary doctoral degrees. Among his awards are Humanist of the Year (two different organizations) and the William James Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Psychological Science.

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Bill McKibben has spent four decades warning us about climate change. Much of what he predicted has come true. And yet, his new book Here Comes the Sun is more hopeful than you might expect. That’s because, for the first time, we have a genuine alternative: Solar and wind energy are now the cheapest, fastest-growing sources of power on Earth. The revolution has already begun.

This week, Sean is joined by McKibben to talk about the peril and promise of this moment. They explore how close we are to catastrophe, why each fraction of a degree of warming matters, and how the fossil fuel industry is fighting a desperate last stand. They also discuss the politics of energy in the age of Trump, why Texas and Utah may hold surprising lessons, and how cheap, abundant power could transform not just the climate fight but democracy itself.

Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling)

Guest: Bill McKibben, climate activist and author of Here Comes the Sun

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Rivka Galchen reads her story “Unreasonable,” from the September 29, 2025, issue of the magazine. Galchen is the author of three books of fiction, including the story collection “American Innovations" and the novel “Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch,” which was published in 2021.

Patricia Lockwood is an American poet, novelist, and essayist (AKA the poet laureate of X, previously known as Twitter). 

Testament presents poetry in performance from Daljit Nagra, Kate Fox, Andrew McMillan and Kirsty Taylor

The Adverb is recorded in front of a studio audience in St George's Hall, Bradford at the Contains Strong Language festival. Part of the Bradford 2025 City of Culture celebrations.

Testament is a writer, rapper, educator and world-record breaking beatboxer. Daljt Nagra won the Forward Poetry Prize for best single poem in 2004 for "Look We Have Coming to Dover!" Verb regular Kate Fox's recent books include 'Bigger on the Inside' and 'On Sycamore Gap'. Andrew McMillan won the Guardian First Book award for his debut collection Physical and Kirsty Taylor is a writer and educator inspired by her beloved hometown Bradford - she opened the City of Culture year in January performing to 20,000 people in City Park.

Presenter: Testament