The Dissidents

Welcome to the Counterweight podcast, where we talk about how we can strive for a world in which freedom and reason are at the forefront of all human society. In this week’s podcast, our hosts Elizabeth Spievak and Mike Burke discuss shame, its impact on social life, and a recent article in which the authors found that expressions of shame broadcasted signals about social norms, and that people adjusted their behavior to align with those norms.    

Schaumberg, R.L. & Skowronek, S.E. (2022). Shame Broadcasts Social Norms: The Positive Social Effects of Shame on Norm Acquisition and Normative Behavior. Psychological Science,  33(8), 1257-1277.  https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976221075303 

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In this week’s podcast, we speak to Niel Thin, a very recently retired senior lecturer of Cultural Anthropology at The University of Edinburgh. We cover the culture of victimhood, social wellbeing, gross national happiness, personal strategies and the potential consequences of a critical social justice movement on communal wellbeing.    

@NeilThin  

@Mike_Burke_UK  

Thin, N. (2020). A Research Agenda for Social Wellbeing. (Elgar Research Agendas). Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.  

ISBN (Electronic)9781788976466 

ISBN (Print)9781788976459  

Campbell, Bradley & Jason Manning. (2018) The Rise of Victimhood Culture: Microaggressions, Safe Spaces and the New Culture Wars. Palgrave Macmillan  

ISBN (Electronic) 978-3-319-70329-9 

ISBN (Softcover) 978-3-319-70328-2  

Centre for Bhutan Studies (2018) Happiness: Transforming the Development Landscape.  Bhutan: Centre for Bhutan Studies https://www.bhutanstudies.org.bt/happiness-transforming-the-development-landscape/  

Winterson, Jeanette (2012) Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? London: Vintage https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Why_be_Happy_when_You_Could_be_Normal/I-RYAa22dV4C?hl=en&gbpv=0  

Lichter, A., Loffler, M., & Siegloch, S. (2021). The Long-Term Costs of Government Surveillance: Insights from Stasi Spying in East Germany. Journal of the European Economic Association, 19(2), 741–789.  

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In this week’s podcast, we speak with Eric Vieth, an academic, trial lawyer and host of The Jury is Out podcast. We discuss Brandolini's law, strange bedfellows, listening to people, and the importance of community.   

Erich Vieth’s attorney website: https://www.erichviethattorney.com

Erich’s podcast for trial attorneys: https://simonlawpc.com/podcasts/the-jury-is-out/

Erich’s blog: https://dangerousintersection.org  

Take the time and effort to correct misinformation: https://www.nature.com/articles/540171a 

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In this week's podcast, we speak to Lee Jussim, a professor of psychology at  Rutgers University who has recently started the Society of Open Inquiry in Behavioural Sciences. We discuss the nature of critical social justice, the corrosive effects of political bias, the lack of evidence for implicit bias in daily interactions, and the need to play the long game.   

Society for Open Inquiry in Behavioral Science: https://www.soibs.com    

Lee’s Substack: https://substack.com/profile/14401534-lee-jussim 

A Model of Political Bias in Social Science Research: https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2020.1722600 

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Welcome to the Counterweight podcast, where we talk about how we can strive for a world in which freedom and reason are at the forefront of all human society. In this week’s podcast, we speak with Steven Pinker,  Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, and author of 12 books, including The Language Instinct, Enlightenment Now, and Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters. In the podcast, we discuss reason, rationality, enlightenment values, and their interplay with the polarisation that is affecting our communities today.

In the Hold my Drink — navigating culture with a chaser of civility, and Counterweight podcast, Episode 81, I speak with professed “leftie” and global citizen, Roifield Brown. We knew we had different views, and that delighted rather than detracted us from discussion. We take a nuanced view of America (and a peek at the UK too) - a 360 degree view - and explore ideas like individuality, community, agency and where they intersect. All discussed with a chaser of civility, of course, and an orange beer.

To read more on our discussion and for podcast resources, visit our post 360 Degrees of America on the Hold my Drink website. You can also watch the conversation on the Hold my Drink YouTube page, and subscribe to Truth in Between on Substack to never miss a show.

In the Hold my Drink — navigating culture with a chaser of civility, and Counterweight podcast, Episode 80, I speak with Stoic Kai Whiting. Kai explains how applying Stoicism to practices of diversity and inclusion, both provides important context and introduces the complexity and nuance of our various identities. When we focus on our common humanity, and also recognize that we are not locked into static identities, we open up conversations and cross divides. All discussed with a chaser of civility, of course, and a Red Bull.

To read more on our discussion and to see what we're reading, visit our post Diversity, Inclusion & Stoicism on the Hold my Drink website. You can also watch the conversation on the Hold my Drink YouTube page, and subscribe to Truth in Between on Substack to never miss a show.

In the Hold my Drink — navigating culture with a chaser of civility, and Counterweight podcast, Episode 79, we continue our conversation with Elizabeth Weiss. In our first discussion Elizabeth gave us the backstory on her kerfuffle over the repatriation of bones that had her dismissed as the curator of skeletal remains at her university. In this podcast, she joins us with her lawyers from the Pacific Legal Foundation, to discuss the danger in stifling academic inquiry, especially research that is unpopular, in our continued search for accuracy and truth, no matter how uncomfortable. Disagreement, rather than stifling research, is often the heartbeat of discovery and breakthroughs, which is now in danger itself of flatlining. All discussed with a chaser of civility, of course, a beer, and a blackberry cider.

To read more on our discussion and to see what each of us is reading, visit our post The Politics of Bones on the Hold my Drink website. You can also watch the conversation on the Hold my Drink YouTube page, and subscribe to Truth in Between on Substack to never miss a show.

In the Hold my Drink — navigating culture with a chaser of civility, and Counterweight podcast, Episode 78, co-author & co-host, W.F. Twyman, Jr. (aka Wink) and I discuss his recent encounter with “Mr. Klingon” in a book club dedicated to the topic of Reconstruction. The language of Klingons, completely foreign to Wink, is one of slogans, manipulations and bullying. The imposed outlook of “blackness is oppression” doesn’t speak to his own lived experience. When dogmatic adherence to oppression negates one’s worldview, what can we do to build hope and resiliency for the Next Generation?

To read more on our discussion and to see what each of us is reading, visit our post The Language of Klingons on the Hold my Drink website. You can also watch the conversation on the Hold my Drink YouTube page, and subscribe to Truth in Between on Substack to never miss a show.

In the Hold my Drink — navigating culture with a chaser of civility, and Counterweight podcast, Episode 77, I have coffee with James Joyce III, Founder of Coffee with a Black Guy. James and I don’t always see eye-to-eye, but we have a lot of common ground, namely that conversation and even disagreement are good, and are needed if we’re going to do this democracy thing together. There was no walking on eggshells or shaming in this sometimes uncomfortable conversation, just curiosity and open-minds to hear each other out, with the promise to keep the connection and conversation going. All discussed with a chaser of civility, of course, and you know… coffee.

To read more on our discussion and to see what each of us is reading, visit our post Coffee with a Black Guy on the Hold my Drink website. You can also watch the conversation on the Hold my Drink YouTube page, and subscribe to Truth in Between on Substack to never miss a show.