SuperPsyched with Dr. Adam Dorsay

These days, artificial intelligence is a hot topic on the news, social media, our workplaces, and our conversations. Yet AI has a long history. One of its pioneers, Dr. Terry Winograd, has been engaging it for well over 50 years.

After finishing his doctorate at MIT, Terry was hired by Stanford University to teach computer science. He’s now professor emeritus at Stanford where he spent the bulk of his career teaching and contributing mightily to the field of computer science. And just to give you a sense of his international impact, let’s consider the h-index, a way to measure the impact of a person’s research. An h-index of 40 is considered outstanding while an h-index of 60 is considered truly exceptional. Terry’s is 70, which means his research made a massive splash and has been frequently cited in order to further knowledge on his subject. 

And while at Stanford, two of his doctoral students were none other than Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who would later go on to found Google. You’ll hear that story and so many others.

So, listen in as Terry and I talk about AI and Google, then and now.

Sources: https://web.cs.ucla.edu/~palsberg/h-number.html and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10025721/#:~:text=It%20is%20simple%20to%20calculate,had%20h%2Dindex%20of%2030.

Love is a funny word. To be sure, it’s a word that has been used a lot on this podcast particularly as it relates to our love of people. These people could be a romantic partner, a family member, a friend, or another meaningful interpersonal relation.

But what about our love of things? We might love our houses, our phones, certain types of food, a brand, or a kajillion other things, both tangible and intangible.

On this episode I will be interviewing Dr. Aaron Ahuvia (https://thethingswelove.com/), a professor of marketing at the University of Michigan-Dearborn College of Business, who is the most widely published and cited academic expert on non-interpersonal love. His latest book, The Things We Love: How Our Passions Connect Us and Make Us Who We Are, explores our love of things that are not human. 

Speaking of things I love, I loved this book! And I’m not alone. Publisher’s Weekly said, “This stimulating volume is easy to love.”

So, listen in as Aaron and I talk about the things we love.

Anti-Jewish sentiment might be the world’s longest hatred. Historical documents suggest Jews have experienced this hatred for over 2,000 years, well before the Common Era even began. It would continue through various eras, including the Roman Era, the Inquisition, and the Holocaust. 

And it continues today. Hate crimes against Jews have gone up by 400% in the US compared to last year. 

So many questions arise, including the obvious: why are Jews so hated and what can we do to help? 

Jewish hatred confuses me deeply. Jews are a people who comprise about 0.2% of the world's population, yet they have been at the forefront of major social justice movements and scientific breakthroughs. Jews show up consistently to lend a hand in repairing the world in disproportionately high numbers considering they comprise only a fraction of a percent of the population.  

In this episode, you’ll hear two Jewish psychologists discussing anti-Jewish sentiment, misunderstandings that lead to antisemitism, and myths and truths. It is my hope that people can walk away with a better understanding of why this is a misplaced hatred. And, of course, we discuss what we can do to support Jewish people. My colleague, Dr. Liya Levanda (https://www.drlevanda.com/) is a psychologist and educator who specializes in teaching others about Jewish issues like antisemitism. As you'll hear, she's thoughtful and very well-informed.

So, listen in as Liya talks with me about supporting Jews through antisemitism.

Sometimes when we hear about the climate crisis, we can feel a sense of hopelessness. As a result, our anxieties can spike and there’s even a term for it: Eco-Anxiety.

One thing I have learned about anxiety—eco-anxiety or other forms of it—is that the more we avoid the thing that makes us anxious, the more the anxiety increases. If you’re asking, “What can I do about the environment and my own eco-anxiety?” then this episode is for you. 

Two years ago, I hosted Heather White, a licensed attorney and the author of One Green Thing, on this podcast and we geeked out to the topic of eco-anxiety. She’s returning with her new book, 60 Days to a Greener Life: Ease Eco-anxiety Through Joyful Daily Action. I loved this book because it acknowledges that despite the crisis, we must live our lives and that we can’t do all the things. But we can do some things. And the book shares small daily exercises that are easy and actionable that leverage our personal strengths, allowing each of us to lead from those strengths to improve the health of the planet.  When we do these things alone, it may seem like not much will affect change of the state of the planet; but when we do this collectively, as Heather suggests, the outcome can be quite different.

By the way, another person who loved this book was someone I know you’ve heard of—Erin Brockovich. She said, “I call Heather the Brené Brown of the environmental movement because she makes environmental action personal, doable, and joyful.”

So, listen in as Heather talks about 60 days to a greener life.

Vaping. It seems to be everywhere these days. Sure, adults engage in vaping but, sadly, so do adolescents and even children at very high numbers.

There have been all kinds of myths as they relate to vaping and, as always, it is crucial to listen to the experts who know the science. One such person is Dr. Adam Leventhal (https://keck.usc.edu/faculty-search/adam-matthew-leventhal/). Adam is a professor at Keck School of Medicine at USC where he serves as Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences as well as the Director of the Institute for Addiction Science.As his title suggests, he’s the guy from whom I would want to learn and I am so grateful he shared his knowledge.So, listen in as Adam and Adam talk about vaping, the myths and realities.

If you have ever been in a relationship, there's about a 100% chance that you and your partner had certain differences. One of those differences just may have been how you handled money. Within that difference, it is likely that one of you was bit spendy and the other was, shall we say, thriftier.

This would be all fine and dandy, except often it’s not. Money can be one of the biggest sources of arguments for couples. And money is funny… it can be a more charged topic and even more taboo than sex.

What to do? Fear not, help is on the way!

Dr. Scott Rick (https://scottrick.com/) is an associate professor of Marketing at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. He is the author of the well-researched and hilariously titled Tightwads and Spendthrifts: Navigating the Money Minefield in Real Relationships. I loved this book and I’m hardly alone—Booklist said “…It's a must-read for anyone looking to unravel the mysteries of money and love."I couldn’t agree more. So, listen in as Scott and I talk about how to navigate money in our relationships.

One of the most common topics discussed in my office is social anxiety. Really great people say that there’s nothing more painful than going to a party where they know few people or, worse still, no one.How about giving a toast at a wedding? Or, trying to engage in small talk that might lead to bigger talk? Or, how to handle awkward social interactions?If there’s one person on the planet who knows how to handle all of these, it would have to be my new friend, the mingling maven, Susan RoAne (https://www.susanroane.com/)! Susan is the author of the now-classic book, How to Work a Room: The Ultimate Guide to Making Lasting Connections—In Person and Online. I loved the book as have major thought leaders like Dan Pink and many others.So, as it says on Susan’s website, "If you have ever walked into a room full of strangers and felt uncomfortable..." listen in. Susan is here to help!

I’m a big fan of the English language and, although I make a lot of errors with grammar, I’m always trying to learn the rules.

Yet, as you’ll hear on this episode, a word or phrase might be grammatically incorrect but linguistically correct. And, I cringe as I write this, that includes my most dreaded of non-word words: irregardless.

Ouch. At least my spellcheck caught that so-called word with a red underline!

I was utterly thrilled to talk about language with Dr. Valerie Fridland (https://www.valeriefridland.com/), a professor of linguistics at University of Nevada Reno and the author of a hilarious and highly educational book called, Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English.

So, listen in as Valerie gives a mini-master class on the language we use!