Serious Inquiries Only

When I started watching Under the Banner of Heaven, I honestly had no idea it was a: true crime and b: MORMON AS HELL. (I had just wanted to watch Andrew Garfield in a thing...) Well, if you were left a little confused by the Mormon lore in this true-crime thriller, have we got the show for you! Bryce Blankenagel and Shannon Grover help us understand this very... bizarre religious history. And Shannon has a personal connection to the real case! Check out the excellent Glass Box Podcast!

That's right, it's a crossover spectacular! Tom and Eli (and I) from Dear Old Dads are here to learn from Lindsey why no the f you should not spank your kids you a-hole! Science is clear. Don't do it. But Lindsey breaks it down and we make lottttts of jokes and hear more amazing dad stories!

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Links: 2019 APA Resolution on Physical Discipline of Children by Parents, Gershoff and colleagues (2018) - Review on physical punishment and detrimental outcomes

It's another science thingy subjected to the Lindsey treatment! A study purports to show that people in a position of privilege view any effort to promote equality as an attack on them. Does the study hold up? Will Lindsey talk methods to us? Find out!

Stay tuned after for a special message from Andrew Torrez.

Links: New Scientist Article, Brown et al study 2022

By popular request, Lindsey will be taking us through this fascinating science-thingy! Certain kinds of meditation can reduce feelings like guilt, sadness, etc. But is that good? Does it make people less likely to help others in different ways? Find out!

Links: Mindfulness Meditation Reduces Guilt and Prosocial Reparation, popular coverage

Our own Dr. Lindsey Osterman has had an abortion, does not regret it, and wants to tell us why this basic healthcare right matters not just for those in extreme circumstances. Then, we discuss the political situation and what can actually be done about it. Yelling may be involved.

There's possibly a new brand of centrist-IDW-know-it-all online, and it's called a "sensemaker." Or, is it a totally normal good thing? I don't know. So I brought in way-too-online-person Aaron Rabinowitz to explain just wtf is going on here. We ended up having a wide ranging discussion on the centristy-IDW manosphere and what makes it tick. And why Elon Musk blows.

You've likely seen this study covered across the interwebs. Well, does it hold up to the SIO-Osterman treatment? Find out!

Dr. Lindsey Osterman explains the rest of the persuasion review paper. This episode has a lot of good, practical info if you're wanting to try to change minds, for real!

Links: Hussein & Tormala (2021) Undermining Your Case to Enhance Your Impact, Jost et al (2003) Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition, Jost et al (2007) Are Needs to Manage Uncertainty and Threat Associated With Political Conservatism or Ideological Extremity?

With so many people in our country seemingly living in an alternate universe of facts, persuading people to change their mind has never been more important. But... how can we actually do that? What actually works? Dr. Lindsey Osterman is here to science us about it!

Hussein & Tormala (2021) Undermining Your Case to Enhance Your Impact

That's the claim made by many right wing anti COVID restriction people. What's more, it seems to be based on a CDC report. So is there anything to it? Find out!

Links: Yard et al (2021) CDC report, Popular press coverage of report 1, 2, 2020 CDC report (claiming that adolescent ED visits for mental health increased by 31% in 2020 compared to 2019), CDC Reports on decline in total ED visits for March/April 2020, Through March 2021, Timing of State and Territorial COVID-19 Response, CDC Mortality data 2014-2019, 2020-2022 (provisional), WISQARS nonfatal injury reports, WISQARS fatal injury reports, Lindsey's Graphs