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PODCAST

The Monkey Dance

The Monkey Dance

Everything society: from science and philosophy to politics and art. Cognitive scientists, philosophers, political scientists, anthropologists, and more sit down to make sense of the world.

science philosophy

All Episodes

01:01:47

27 | Student protests in Serbia

The Monkey Dance ·

2025/03/12

This episode was recorded at 11:30 on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.Yesterday (March 10), students blocked access to the state-run Serbian public television headquarters, accusing it of biased coverage. As of this recording, hundreds of students continue to block access to the building. There is a major protest scheduled for Saturday, March 15. Since November of 2024, students in universities across Serbia have been organizing mass protests across the country against the corrupt, autocratic

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01:51:23

26 | How does the brain understand comic books?

The Monkey Dance ·

2025/03/07

Making sense of a series of graphic representations is not simple, but our brains manage to do it with little effort.Our conversation with Neil Cohn starts out with a rethinking of language, moving from an understanding built solely on spoken language to the ability to express meaning across a range of modalities. This moves us into Neil's work on how we develop the ability to understand visual narratives and what this means for our understanding of language as a whole. We chat about emojis,

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01:35:31

25 | How does toxicity shape conversations?

The Monkey Dance ·

2025/02/17

And how can complexity science help us understand them?We sit down with Gabriela Juncosa to discuss how political discourse unfolds in online spaces and whether toxic interactions shut conversations down or keep them going. We chat about the structure of online discussions, how social media algorithms influence engagement, and whether the way we talk online differs from in-person interactions. This takes us to the role of network structures in polarization, the ways AI might intervene in online

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01:44:18

24 | What does it mean to be open minded?

The Monkey Dance ·

2025/01/24

We use the terms open mindedness and gaslighting a lot, but do we really understand what they mean?We sit down with Phyllis Pearson to discuss what it means to engage honestly with information and with others. We chat about curiosity and agency, empathy and perspective taking, and the blurry line between being open to the beliefs of others versus maintaining skepticism and asking for justification. This takes us to what honest dialogue looks like, whether gaslighting is always malicious, and what

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01:28:19

23 | Why do we show emotion?

The Monkey Dance ·

2024/12/20

What is the function of emotional displays?We sit down with Thomas Ganzetti and discuss the role emotions serve in social contexts and how we use the displays of others to gather information about our realities. We chat about the evolutionary trajectory of emotional displays, how they help us navigate our environments, and what we learn about ourselves and those around us as we observe each other (whether we intend to or not). Guest: Thomas Ganzetti Co-Host: Xueyi Yao (to hear more from Xueyi,

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01:38:22

22 | How do we perceive music?

The Monkey Dance ·

2024/12/06

How does the brain process music and how has the perception of music changed over time? We sit down with cognitive neuroscientist Anja-Xiaoxing Cui to chat about how we relate to music, music's role in social interactions, and how music might be used as a tool for regulating emotions. We cover theories of the emergence of music in human history, the relationship between music and other art forms, and whether reading sheet music is at all similar to hearing it.My co-host this episode is Arianna

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01:29:37

21 | How can we resist narratives that justify...

The Monkey Dance ·

2024/11/22

What makes systemic inequality such a hard problem to tackle?We sit down with cognitive anthropologist Angarika Deb and cognitive psychologist Ákos Szegőfi and chat about their research on different aspects of the problem. We chat about the cognitive mechanisms involved in perpetuating systemic inequality both on the part of those benefiting from such systems and those who are marginalized by them. We also discuss the importance of narratives and access to information when it comes to both

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01:33:41

20 | How do emotions impact cognition?

The Monkey Dance ·

2024/11/08

What are emotions and how do they impact cognition? We sit down with philosopher Juliette Vazard to talk about what we can learn from our emotions, the relationship between emotions and beliefs, and how emotions can shape our behavior. We cover everything from learning and curiosity, to the epistemic value of emotional states, to their impact on how we relate to the world.Joining me as a co-host is philosopher Maria Fedorova, our guest on Episode 17. As always, you can check out the show notes on

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01:43:27

19 | Manipulating memory: How event structure impacts...

The Monkey Dance ·

2024/10/23

Does everybody experience memory in the same way? We sit down with Andreas Arslan to chat about what we spontaneously imagine when we read or actively remember, and how everything from inferring causal relationships to the salience of symbols can impact recall. We also talk about how the structure of experience impacts and possibly even determines what and how we remember.Show notes on the website Or watch on youtube

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01:37:58

18 | On Symbols: Constructing reality and...

The Monkey Dance ·

2024/10/10

How do we use symbols to construct and reconstruct our internal realities? We sit down with the two new cohosts of The Monkey Dance, Mariem Diané and Xueyi Yao, to talk about the relationship between language and memory and the importance of symbols in abstract thought. We cover a lot of ground, going from temporal perception and learning to social dynamics and the mitigation of uncertainty from early childhood to adulthood.Full show notes

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01:47:13

17 | Does imagination help us learn about the world?

The Monkey Dance ·

2024/09/25

Why do we have imagination? We sit down with Maria Fedorova to chat about what imagination is, ways to describe imagination as a process and a capacity, and whether it differs from perception and hallucination (if at all). We also discuss how imagination helps us navigate our realities, its relationship to our beliefs, and its role in empathy and understanding the perspectives of others.

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01:30:46

16 | Can we increase democratic empowerment through...

The Monkey Dance ·

2024/08/22

How can we balance knowledge transfer and democratic empowerment? We sit down with Kristina Vasić and Ákos Szegőfi in a wide ranging discussion about the importance of access to information in a democracy, the need for institutions for knowledge transfer, and how decentralization can help deconstruct entrenched power structures. The conversation spans types of dialogue, the usefulness of rhetoric, whether any argument can be free of bias, and a bunch of other related topics on power, information,

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01:47:23

15 | On Nostalgia: Memory, personal histories, and...

The Monkey Dance ·

2024/08/01

What is the function of nostalgia? We sit down with Manu Sharma and talk about what makes a memory, what functions thinking about the past serves, and the impact of broader societal narratives on our senses of self. We discuss the construction of personal histories, their relationships to cultural histories, and also how historical narratives can be constructed by political movements to embolden and dehumanize groups of people.

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01:48:27

14 | Elements of thought: Carving out reality through...

The Monkey Dance ·

2024/07/18

How does the engineering of concepts impact how we think about them? We sit down with Bojin Zhu to discuss what makes a concept, how concepts change over time, and what it means to build a methodology for understanding conceptual change. We chat about the intersection of the value and meaning of concepts with their pragmatic and societal implications. Our conversations spans concepts like liberty (whether it's a useful term), free will (what to make of it), truth (whether it exists), and pain (and

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01:53:24

13 | On Collaboration: How we work together on...

The Monkey Dance ·

2024/06/12

How is it that human beings achieve collaboration? We sit down with Arianna Curioni and chat about the cognitive science of joint action in its many forms. We talk about human robot interactions, how moving a couch is not the same as boxing, and the difference between a hammer, a neural implant, and a teammate. We also chat a bit about collaboration in society at large and the implications for work on policy.Show notes on the website Or you can also watch on youtube

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01:36:23

12 | On Lying: Deception through media past and present

The Monkey Dance ·

2024/05/29

What differentiates lying from other examples of communicative intent? We sit down with Akos Szegofi and talk about misinformation, institutional trust, and the cognitive mechanisms underlying information processing. We chat about skepticism, how the media has changed over time, and why the intent to deceive is as old as communication itself.Show notes on the Monkey Dance website You can also watch the podcast on Youtube

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01:42:01

11 | On Governance: What does Democracy get us?

The Monkey Dance ·

2024/05/15

Does Democracy have intrinsic value or is it only as good as what it helps us achieve? We sit down with Kristina Vasic and chat about what Democracy is, whether it is for individual autonomy or collective autonomy, and the individual's place in systems of power. We chat about disenfranchisement, inequality, and what kids of political structures are best suited to challenge the status quo.Show notes on the Monkey Dance website!

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01:01:28

10 | On Corruption: Building tools to identify and...

The Monkey Dance ·

2024/04/25

How can we build better tools to identify and predict large scale corruption? We sit with Irene Tello Arista and chat about everything from what corruption is to the systemic pressures that bring it about, and discuss how grand corruption and petty corruption are different not only in scale but in methods. We cover a bit of Irene's background in Mexico starting an NGO to uncover corruption networks, human behavior more generally, and how corruption looks different in different places.Full show

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01:32:15

9 | How does art impact cognition?

The Monkey Dance ·

2024/04/09

Should we consider art beyond its utility? We sit down with Emily Kay Williamson to chat about what aesthetics can tell us about art's role in society and its impact on cognition. We talk about whether there is a difference between art and everyday objects, whether art has any boundaries, what there is to learn from art, and where things like journalism fall in discussions about art.Full show notes here

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01:38:48

8 | Should different scientific fields work to...

The Monkey Dance ·

2024/03/27

How we as a species define ourselves and what we do? We sit down with Aleksandra Knežević and chat about the work to integrate different fields in science and whether anybody is making a genuine attempt to do so. This takes us to questions of what science is and what it does, and how feminist thinkers have helped to improve science as an institution. We also talk about definitions of human nature, what evolutionary psychology can and can't give us, and whether essentialism has anything to offer

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48 results

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