The Curious Introvert

What if we could eavesdrop on animals …. Using AI?

Sara Keen, PhD, is a behavioral ecologist, electrical engineer, and Sr Research Scientist at Earth Species Project, a non-profit leveraging AI for interspecies understanding.

In this episode, you’ll hear actual audio clips from Earth Species Project Research, learn about animal naming conventions, regional accents, the spider communicating with vibration, the ethical considerations & why the goal is to listen over two-way communication.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 254: DO WE *NEED* SHARKS?

Audio clip credits:

Orcas: (Credit: By Raincoast Conservation Foundation, taken under SARA Research License XMMS-2-2022P) 

Elephants: (Credit: ElephantVoices) 

Birds:https://earthspecies.org/2026/08/20/birdcode-scaling-zero-shot-sound-event-detection-for-bioacoustics/

 Guest:

https://www.earthspecies.org/ 

https://www.facebook.com/earthspeciesproject

https://www.instagram.com/earth_species_project/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/earthspecies/

Sponsors: 

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/ 

2:44 Behavior as the Rosetta Stone

3:31 Chickadees: the town criers

4:52 Interspecies communication

5:49 Orcas & dolphins

6:50 The anthropomorphizing trap

9:19 Listening as the goal

10:02 What the orca boat trip changed

11:45 The orca audio clip

14:30 They're watching us too

15:02 Dolphin names

16:10 Signature whistles explained

17:16 Dolphins & ethics

18:14 Dolphin spy history

19:28 Where's the ethical line?

20:40 Animal surveillance

21:40 Why two-way communication is risky

22:57 The ocean as a sovereign nation?

26:11 Orca boat attacks: playing?

27:47 Do animals have humor?

28:05 Do animals swear?

28:43 Past & future tense

29:34 Do animals talk about humans?

30:04 Elephant research: something new

32:06 The elephant audio clip

33:14 Dogs, cats & button boards

34:40 Animal regional accents

36:00 Humpback whale slang

36:30 Jumping spiders

38:29 Spider Morse code

39:37 Why does this work matter?

40:22 The big why: awe & wonder

41:14 What do we owe them?

41:33 Listening as the remedy to ego

45:08 Aza Raskin & the tech bro paradox

45:39 De-centering ourselves

46:13 Awe without losing yourself

47:14 Aza's three laws of technology

48:30 The AI race & guardrails

49:20 What comes next for ESP

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Do subsidized marriage & reproduction work? What happened to “earth is overpopulated?”

Elizabeth Nolan Brown is Senior Editor at Reason Magazine, a libertarian magazine that promises to exist outside the left/right echo chamber. Her biweekly Sex & Tech newsletter covers issues surrounding sex, tech, bodily autonomy, law & online culture.

In this episode, you’ll hear about global government efforts to get more babies, why families might be getting smaller, why people used to have lots of kids, current-day efforts that sound fake and what actually might work to get families to have more children.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 136: VIRTUAL SIGNALING. CAN WE MAKE IT STOP? NACHOS & NARCISSISM

 Guest:

https://reason.com/ 

https://reason.com/2023/05/02/storks-dont-take-orders-from-the-state/

https://x.com/ENBrown

https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine 

https://www.instagram.com/reasonmagazine/ 

https://reason.com/people/elizabeth-nolan-brown/ 

Sponsors: 

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/ 

01:14 From overpopulation panic to birth rate bust

06:00 Pronatalist policies of the past: Russia, Hungary, Romania

09:24 Can money make anyone want a baby?

11:53 South Korea, the 4B movement & gender equality

14:01 Why families are getting smaller

15:19 Why the right cares more (and the teen birth drop)

20:16 Status symbols, child mortality & sex ed

21:41 The Great Recession & the smartphone theory

24:21 Should government even be doing this?

26:13 Is it rage bait or is it real?

28:00 Why marriage? The selection effect

31:27 The soulmate myth & who marriage is "for"

33:16 Does capitalism need marriage?

34:48 Social media, gender wars & the Handmaid's Tale

37:00 What's actually working?

38:32 France's fall from pronatalist poster child

39:37 So... is it a big deal?

40:39 Fertility tech & the older-mom contradiction

42:45 Government, get out of the way

47:30 Where to find Elizabeth

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Why do we shrug at grown men in body paint at a football game but cringe at an adult in Mickey ears? Are we judging an entire community by the loudest 1% the algorithm shows us? 

AJ Wolfe is a writer, speaker, entrepreneur, and media creator. She is a New York Times Bestselling author of  Disney Adults: Exploring (And Falling In Love With) A Magical Subculture. She is also the founder and owner of Cambrick Yard Media, The Disney Food Blog and is a multi-million follower personality. 

In this episode, we speculate on why Disney adults get so much other hate compared to similar levels of fandom in other areas of society, unpack how much of the cult following is addiction by design on behalf of Disney & how even Disney adults can’t escape criticism from each other.
 
 

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 334: FOOTBALL: ARE WE CHEERING FOR BRAIN TRAUMA?

 Guests:

https://www.instagram.com/ajwolfeofficial

https://www.linkedin.com/in/aj-wolfe/

https://www.facebook.com/DisneyFoodBlogAJ

https://ajwolfe.com/ 

https://a.co/d/09yHGTjm 

Sponsors: 

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/ 

01:01 Stereotype vs. reality

05:12 Why football fans get a pass

06:40 Walt wanted adults all along

10:08 Are Disney adults making it pricier?

13:41 Resorts, adolescence, and who gets judged

16:05 Who can really afford Disney?

19:11 Is it Disney or big corporations?

22:18 Attacked from both sides

23:47 Youth group meets Mean Girls

27:35 The rose gold ears frenzy

30:43 Blame the algorithm?

33:27 Disney and FOMO

34:47 From suing fans to courting them

36:53 Is Disney hacking your biology?

43:11 Disney’s $1.5B betting bet

44:33 Stop judging from one-liners

Request to join my private Facebook Group, MFR Curious Insiders: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BAt3bpwJC/

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Why isn’t there a consistent message about alcohol and health? How do you know if you’re putting yourself at risk? Is it really “all things in moderation”?

Courtney Conley, D.C holds a doctorate in chiropractic medicine & 2 bachelor’s degrees in kinesiology & human biology & is the founder of Gait Happens. Milicia McDowell, DPT holds a doctorate in physical therapy & has over 20 years of experience. Together, they are the authors of Walk: Rediscover the Most Natural Way to Boost your Health & Longevity One Step at a Time.

In this episode, you’ll hear the BEST kind of footwear (& why it lasts longer than what you’re buying right now), why strong feet matter & all the ways walking could make your life better for FREE.
 
 

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 130: BAREFOOT IN CANADA: REWILDING, BRAIN FOG & STARBUCKS

 Guests:

https://a.co/d/0c20BNFz 

https://www.drcourtneyconley.com/ 

https://www.instagram.com/gaithappens/ 

https://www.instagram.com/drcourtneyconley/ 

https://www.facebook.com/gaithappens 

https://www.milicamcdowell.com/ 

https://www.instagram.com/drmilicamcdowelldpt

Sponsors: 

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/ 

5:57 Functional, minimal, or wrong?

12:34 Why minimal shoes outlast conventional ones

15:41 Stop fearing pronation

18:38 I went barefoot for a year

27:39 So why do podiatrists still say cushion?

28:45 Fashion is the real enemy

29:41 The status symbol on your feet

34:28 How strong should your big toe be?

36:17 Can walking really prevent dementia?

37:32 The 6th vital sign nobody checks

41:42 Is 10,000 steps a lie?

43:56 The step count that beats depression

45:09 What CrossFit and yoga can't give you

48:49 Do antidepressants fix foot pain?

57:27 Weighted vests: helpful or harmful?

58:13 Heel striking: good or bad?

1:00:00 Why some people bounce when they walk

Request to join my private Facebook Group, MFR Curious Insiders: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BAt3bpwJC/

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Why isn’t there a consistent message about alcohol and health? How do you know if you’re putting yourself at risk? Is it really “all things in moderation”?

Rachel Bernstein is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Cult Specialist & the Host of the IndoctriNation Podcast. She has spent the last 35 years helping former cult members & those who have had loved ones in cults, focusing on emotional abuse recovery, identity repair & moral injury. 

In this episode she explains the psychology of political allegiance, why religion & politics always fuse together, thought stopping cliches & media influence vs media manipulation.

This episode originally aired August 18, 2025
 
 

If you like this episode, you’ll also like episode 229: IS YOUR HAPPINESS BEING POLITICIZED? CULTURE, CORTISOL & THE BRAIN

Guest:

https://rachelbernsteintherapy.com/ 

https://www.facebook.com/rachelbernsteintherapy

https://www.instagram.com/indoctrinationpodcast/

https://open.spotify.com/show/1prXo4iIxUfjYpfX671cUD?si=3522f54be4ae456f

https://rachelbernsteintherapy.com/book--journal.html 

Sponsors: 

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/ 

2:15 When We Get Vulnerable

4:18 Easily Offended, Easily Swayed

5:04 Are Parties Actually Cults?

6:19 High-Control Groups, Explained

8:13 The Death of Diplomacy

9:35 Identity Over Ideas

11:16 Why Religion and Politics Fuse

13:34 Thought-Stopping Clichés

16:34 Two Magnets, Same Playbook

18:35 The Theocracy Blind Spot

19:17 Allergic to Gray Areas

20:15 The Seven Mountain Mandate

22:32 Anything But Them

23:06 Education as the Antidote

25:35 Reacting vs. Acting

27:54 You're Being Played

31:12 Chasing Likes, Losing Truth

32:59 Data Mining Is Grooming

35:02 Nobody Taught Us This

38:31 Where to Find the Truth

42:10 Shrinking Your Data Footprint

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Why isn’t there a consistent message about alcohol and health? How do you know if you’re putting yourself at risk? Is it really “all things in moderation”?

Dr. Sarah Wakeman is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School & Sr. Medical Director for Substance Use Disorder at Mass General Brigham. She is also the author of Treatable: Rethinking Addiction and How to Get Care Right.

In this episode, she shares why we hear conflicting messages on alcohol, why what “one drink” means is subjective, the actual health risks even for moderate drinkers, drinking stigma & what real sobriety means.
 
 

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 265: HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU’RE AN ALCOHOLIC? [REMASTERED]

Guest:

https://www.drsarahwakeman.com/

Book https://a.co/d/0afUgsLE

https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/

https://www.instagram.com/massgeneralbrigham/

https://www.instagram.com/drsarahwakeman/ 

https://www.facebook.com/MassGeneralBrighamInternational/?brand_redir=45556346121# 

Sponsors: 

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/ 

1:04 — How People Measure Their Own Drinking (Spoiler: They Don't)

2:08 — Why the Science Is So Confusing: CDC vs. WHO

3:35 — What "Class 1 Carcinogen" Actually Means

4:39 — Why We Can't Study Alcohol the Way We Study Other Things

6:09 — What’s “a” drink?

11:04 — Does It Matter Why You Drink?

12:27 — The Capsule Wardrobe Approach to Alcohol

14:21 — Health Risks for Moderate Drinkers

16:08 — Breast Cancer and Light Drinking: The Uncomfortable Truth

17:42 — Toxic Load: Can We Blame the Country We Live In?

20:04 — The Challenge of Counseling Patients on Alcohol

25:00 — What Alcohol Does to the Brain

25:34 — Alcohol-Induced Dementia: How Would You Know?

27:17 — Alcohol, Anxiety & Depression: A Two-Sided Coin

29:10 — Dry January: Helpful Reset or False Start?

33:00 — Moral Incongruence and the Drinking Stigma

34:38 — The "Alcohol Puppy" in Your Brain: Dopamine & Reward

36:20 — The Endorphin Connection: Why Alcohol Feels Like a Painkiller

37:17 — Naltrexone & the Sinclair Method: Medicine for Moderation

39:22 — How to Talk to Your Doctor About Drinking

41:40 — The South Dakota 24/7 Sobriety Experiment

44:00 — Is Alcoholism a Disease, a Behavior, or Both?

46:31 — Contingency Management: Rewarding Sobriety

48:23 — "The Opposite of Alcoholism Isn't Sobriety — It's Connection"

49:31 — Where to Find Dr. Wakeman & Her Book Treatable

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Can you befriend someone OUT of racism? Are Klan members just misguided? Is racism a permanent state?

Daryl Davis is a musician & author. He’s also a black man who chooses to be friends with Klansmen. Over his lifetime, he has inspired over 200 Klu Klux Klan members to give up their robes. 

In this episode he shares about the boyscout parade where he got a race reality check, FBI files, the connection between travel & racism, his first encounter with a klansmen, his first KKK friend & true transformation in the age of cancel culture.
 
 
 

This episode originally aired April 29, 2024

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 134: HE VOTED OBAMA & JOINED THE KKK: the How & the Why (PART 1)

Guest:

https://klanwetalk.com/ 

NEW BOOK! https://a.co/d/06vMvFop

https://x.com/realdaryldavis

https://www.instagram.com/realdaryldavis/ 

https://www.facebook.com/realdaryldavis 

Sponsors: 

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/ 

02:22 – Ambushed at a Boy Scout Parade

04:27 – The Day His Parents Had to Explain Hate

06:29 – 63 Countries, 50 States, One Missing Piece

08:14 – What Mark Twain Got Right About Prejudice

10:00 – The Fight in a Parking Lot at 2 A.M.

12:07 – Why the Cops Wouldn't Arrest Him

17:39 – "I Never Sat Down With a Black Man Before"

22:26 – The Question That Had Been Waiting 15 Years for an Answer

29:22 – A Bodyguard, a Gun, and a Bible in a Motel Room

32:50 – The Noise That Almost Got Someone Killed

37:02 – The Four-Step Chain That Leads to Destruction

38:30 – Why Diverse Companies Still Eat Lunch Segregated

42:49 – The Five Things Every Human Being Wants

45:07 – The History Books Left This Out

51:20 – The Year America's Racial Majority Flips

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What's the difference between a fetish, a kink, and just really liking something? Where do fetishes come from?

Niki Davis-Fainbloom’s entire job is to help people make peace with their fetish. She holds a masters in psychology, studied sex therapy at the Kinsey Institute & has been working with clients for 8 years. She’s also the author of Fetish: smash taboos & celebrate what turns you on.
 
In this episode, you’ll hear about some of the more unusual fetishes, where fetishes come from, where we draw the line in ethical fetishes (Race? Disability? Yikes!), the difference between a kink & a fetish, why people hide what turns them on (& what happens when they don’t).

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 286: WHAT IS MEDICALLY ASSISTED SEX [REMASTERED]?

Guest:

https://a.co/d/0165o2Qg 

https://www.instagram.com/missbloomsexeducator/ 

https://www.facebook.com/niki.davis.7

https://www.nikidavisf.com/about-niki 

https://x.com/nikidavisf?lang=en

Sponsors: 

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/ 

00:00:56 — What Actually Makes Something a Fetish (vs. Just Being a Preference)

00:03:50 — Fetish vs. Kink: What's the Difference?

00:04:27 — Unusual Fetishes: Vore, Macrophilia, and the Wet Floor Sign Guy

00:08:46 — Balloon Fetishes, Online Communities, and SizeCon

00:09:57 — Where Do Fetishes Come From? The Conditioning Theory

00:12:34 — The Baby Fetish, Pregnancy Kink, and Stress as a Factor

00:15:23 — Culture, Decades, and How Your Childhood TV Shapes Your Desires

00:17:02 — Japan's Panty Vending Machines: Normalization and the Fetish Question

00:19:47 — The Most Common Fetishes by Volume

00:21:21 — Sneezing Fetishes, Feet Everywhere, and the Can't-Unsee Phenomenon

00:25:15 — The Neuroscience of Foot Fetishes: Somatosensory Cortex and Amputation Studies

00:27:38 — Is There a Genetic Component? Dopamine, Novelty-Seeking, and Risk

00:30:11 — Disgust, Arousal, and Why Evolution Had to Make a Compromise

00:32:45 — Fetishes and Trauma: Separating Myth from Reality

00:34:28 — Rape Kink, Survivors, and Reclaiming Control

00:35:38 — Is Shame Part of What Makes a Fetish Work?

00:37:50 — Grindr at the RNC, Anti-Gay Preachers, and the Forbidden Fruit Effect

00:40:08 — Tools for Working Through Shame: Postponing Worry, Self-Compassion Letters

00:43:42 — How and When to Disclose Your Fetish to a Partner

00:50:51 — The Ethics of Fetishes: Race, Disability, and Objectification

00:55:21 — DSM Paraphilias, Non-Consent, and Where People Can Get Help

00:57:31 — AI Romantic Partners, Dirty Talk Experiments, and the Capitalism Interruption

01:02:32 — Niki's Documentary, the Book, and Where to Find Her

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Could the very thing that makes America work also be what's quietly breaking us?

James F Richardson is a cultural anthropologist who has studied American society for twenty years. He’s also the author of Our Worst Strength: American Individualism and Its Hidden Discontents.

 
In this episode, we cover the impact of boundless optimism, options & the playground of autonomy. He speaks to the impact our individualism has on our work, mental health, friendships & romantic relationships.

This episode originally aired on October 7, 2024.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 192: AM I A BAD FRIEND/? 7 DEADLY SINS OF FRIENDSHIP

 Guest:

https://jamesrichardson.substack.com/ 

https://a.co/d/3cmICjE

Sponsors: 

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/ 

1:10 Cowboy vs. Businesswoman Archetypes

2:13 Why the Founder Myth Wins

5:37 Innovation Without Asking "Then What?"

7:56 Is Restriction the Real Opposite?

8:44 Decades of Unlocked Life Choices

9:52 Failure Happens in Private

11:24 What Community Oversight Could Look Like

12:06 We Traded Neighbors for Apps

13:00 Stage-Gate Checks for New Businesses

13:45 The Untouchable 95% Fail Rate

16:08 Shame, American-Style

18:29 Radical Personal Responsibility, Examined

20:44 The Case for Individualism

25:00 "How Do I Make Friends?"

25:54 Friends as Entertainment

27:13 Open vs. Closed Reciprocity, Explained

31:29 James's Own Alienation Cycle

32:42 Asperger's, Therapy, and Energy Management

40:13 Where Does Responsibility End?

44:13 One Life Tip That Matters

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How does a suburban dad end up addicted & sleeping in a Tenderloin doorway?

Tom Wolf was a suburban Dad & city employee when he became addicted to drugs. He soon found himself sleeping in a doorway in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco getting high every 90 minutes. 

 
 Now six years sober, he serves on the leadership council of Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions & is a bridge between the reality of the streets & the meeting room of policy makers.  In this episode, you’ll hear his story, the down and dirty about “live & let die,” Chinese fentanyl and Mexican cartel, if housing plus services is really the answer & should we follow the Portugal model?

This episode originally aired on September 9, 2024.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 317: LIFE IN THE VEGAS TUNNELS: CLOWNS, CRICKETS & CRANK [REMASTERED]

 Guest:

https://x.com/gooddrugpolicy

https://x.com/Twolfrecovery

https://gooddrugpolicy.org/papr/

https://www.facebook.com/gooddrugpolicy

https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundation-for-drug-policy-solutions/

Sponsors: 

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/ 

1:07 The Foot Surgery That Started It

2:23 Buying Pills On The Street

4:21 Switching To Heroin

5:02 The OxyContin Crisis Origins

6:32 Should Purdue Pay?

7:38 Fentanyl's Chinese Precursors

9:09 Working For The Cartel

10:38 Arrested And Released

15:09 Why Not Get Shelter?

16:40 Using Every 90 Minutes

19:43 Housing Isn't Enough

22:20 Six Strikes And Jail

24:37 Sober vs. In Recovery

28:57 Portugal's Decriminalization Model

33:24 Decriminalization vs. Legalization

35:33 Could Plant Medicine Help?

39:25 Pivoting San Francisco's Approach

42:31 A Hostage Takeover Of The Brain

43:12 Alberta And Houston's Success

45:42 Closing Thoughts And Hope

Request to join my private Facebook Group, MFR Curious Insiders: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BAt3bpwJC/

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