Two Psychologists Four Beers

Paul Bloom joins us to talk about why we want to suffer. Sometimes it's a means to an end, but sometimes we desire it for its own sake.

Among other things, we talk about mountain-climbing, whether you'd want to run just the end of the marathon, experience machines, BDSM, and parenting.

Plus, a very special extra guest host, kidney donation, pronouns, and trigger warnings.

Special Guest: Paul Bloom.

Links:

• Who Is the Bad Art Friend? - The New York Times

Yoel and Alexa are joined by Joe Simmons to talk about fraud. We go in-depth on a recent high-profile fraud case, but we also talk about scientific fraud more generally: how common is it, how do you detect it, and what can we do to prevent it?

Special Guest: Joe Simmons.

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• Drav India Session Ale

Danielle McDuffie is a graduate student in psychology at the University of Alabama. This is the story of how she ran a graduate student climate survey, the explosive results, and the very contentious year that ensued.

Special Guest: Danielle McDuffie.

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• Crisp Apple | Angry Orchard

Alexa and Yoel discuss a new paper (Oishi & Westgate, 2021) arguing that psychological richness is an overlooked aspect of the good life. In the process, they compare psychologically-rich-life scores, plan hypothetical vacations, and compare major regrets.

Also, Alexa reviews an (accidentally-purchased) alcohol-free beer.

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• IPA du Nord-Est (beer) - Episode | Boréale | Boréale

Alexa and Yoel tackle the most dreaded subject: getting older. Have they become better researchers and people over the years? Are they happier and more connected? Or are they just more forgetful and less good at stats?

Plus: some listener feedback about self-care raises conceptual questions about suffering.

Alexa and Yoel go deep on self-care. What is it, how do you do it, and why does the term raise Yoel's hackles? How hard do we actually work, and should we be trying to work less?

Also, Alexa shares an amazingly successful culinary experiment.

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• The Least Stressful Jobs Of 2013

Alexa and Yoel discuss "The Anticreativity Letters," a satirical article by Richard Nisbett that advises young psychology researchers to (among other things) avoid being overly critical. How does the article's advice hold up today? How does one combine appropriate skepticism with enthusiasm for research? Or are the two in conflict at all?

Plus: Alexa gets salty about salty drinks, and Yoel returns to the gym.

Sponsored By:

• Paperpile: No-fuss reference management for the web. Manage your research library, right in your browser.

Links:

• The Anticreativity Letters

Mickey and Yoel welcome repeat guest Ted Slingerland to talk about his new book "Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization," in which he makes the case for alcohol.

Also, why are Yoel's guns out, and what was Mickey's worst trip?

Special Guest: Edward (Ted) Slingerland.

Sponsored By:

• Paperpile: No-fuss reference management for the web. Manage your research library, right in your browser.

Links:

• Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization

Yoel and Alexa discuss progress in open science over the past 10 years. Is the scientific reform glass half-full or half-empty? Where have we made progress, and what still needs work? We use two papers describing "Scientific Utopia" by Nosek and colleagues (written nearly 10 years ago!) in order to evaluate our progress.

Also, the true story of how Ashley Madison got its name.

Sponsored By:

• Paperpile: No-fuss reference management for the web. Manage your research library, right in your browser.

Links:

• Unibroue | Megadeth Saison 13

Mickey, Alexa, and Yoel break down "Breaking the Social Media Prism," a new book arguing that social media reinforces our pre-existing political beliefs and polarizes us against the other side.

Plus, HUGE NEWS about who's hosting the show. Also, Yoel gets a French lesson.

Links:

• Saison - Sour beer – LOOP Mission