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PODCAST

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast)

Dave Pietraszewski & David Pinsof

Actual evolutionary psychology by actual evolutionary psychologists. Hosted by Dave Pietraszewski and David Pinsof. Every week, Dave and David bring cutting-edge work in the evolutionary behavioral sciences to you.

science social sciences

All Episodes

106:57

Inter-group Relations with Anne Pisor

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/10/28

Are group boundaries solid, impermeable, and red in tooth-and-claw? Is animosity between groups inevitable? In this episode, we talk to Anne Pisor (U Penn) about all things inter-group from an evolutionary perspective, including the forging of relationships across group boundaries as a way to deal with uncertainty and risk, and the circumstances that increase or decrease inter-group antagonism. More about Anne

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124:30

Shame, Pride, and Guilt with Daniel Sznycer

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/10/21

Why do we feel shame? Is it a useless emotion? Our guest, Daniel Sznycer (Oklahoma State) has been studying "self-conscious" emotions from a functional/evolutionary perspective. If you're curious about why we feel things like shame, pride, guilt, or how an evolutionary approach can she light on understanding our emotions, this episode is for you. More about Daniel

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105:14

Evolutionary Psychology and the Law with Keelah Williams

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/10/14

Motive? Intent? Case closed! In this episode, Keelah Williams (JD, PhD, Hamilton) runs us through our bar exam prelims, explaining how our evolved psychology influences legal decision-making, and what consequences this may have on truth, justice, and much else... If you are interested in how evolutionary approaches inform legal issues, this episode is for you. Bonus: Keelah also discusses her ground-breaking work on ecology stereotypes. More about Keelah

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126:05

Horror and Morbid Curiosity with Coltan Scrivner

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/10/07

Grab some candy (or brains): Halloween is here! This week, we talk to Coltan Scrivner about why we can't look away from the macabre, what exactly the "horror" genre is, and why a self-dose of fear and horror may be good for anxiety. If you are curious about horror, true crime, cobwebs, zombies, great white sharks, Jurassic Park, or whether its good for kids to experience gross or scary things, this episode is for you! Also, today, Coltan's book, Morbidly Curious, comes

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76:14

Cooperative breeding with Karen Kramer

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/09/30

How are humans able to sustain large families? What is our "true" reproductive strategy as a species? Are kids designed to raise younger children? And is it unnatural for us to live in such strongly age-segregated societies? In this episode, we talk to Karen Kramer (U of Utah) where we discuss our (possibly unique) ability to live with and raise one another. More about Karen

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114:16

Belief with Dan Williams

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/09/23

Why do we believe what we believe? And our we aware of why we believe what we believe? And what is a belief anyway? And what should we think of people like Jordan Peterson? We tackle these questions and more in this episode with Dan Williams (Sussex): our first guest representing evolutionary approaches to philosophy. More about Dan Williams: https://danwilliamsphilosophy.com/ https://www.conspicuouscognition.com/

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112:34

The Evolution of Human Longevity with Mike Gurven

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/09/16

Did we evolve to live long lives? Is heart disease a human universal? In this episode, we talk to Mike Gurven (UCSB), who has run a number of large-scale studies on the life and health of non-Western populations (among much, much more). And now, he has a new book out (Seven Decades: How We Evolved to Live Longer) summarizing the big picture of what we've learned so far! More about Mike Gurven: https://www.anth.ucsb.edu/people/michael-gurven https://gurven.anth.ucsb.edu/ More about the book

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98:25

Language and Communication with Thom Scott-Phillips

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/09/09

What do the lindy hop, ostensive communication, and the evolution of language all have in common? Thom Scott-Phillips! In this episode, we discuss if language is an adaptation, why art museums have that certain vibe, the theory crisis in the behavioral sciences, the state of scientific publishing, and why Thom loves the lindy hop. More about Thom Scott-Phillips: https://www.thomscottphillips.com/

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105:51

The Evolutionary Psychology of Humor

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/09/02

Humor is one of the great puzzles of evolutionary psychology. Co-host David Pinsof (UCLA) presents the coordinating “mix-up” hypothesis of humor, in which….well, you’ll have to listen to find out. By Dave’s account, it is one of the best accounts of the psychology of humor out there (but what do we know?) Content warning: this episode does contain humor (or at least attempts at it). More about David Pinsof: https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/ https://www.kremslab.com/people More about Dave

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01:58:02

Plants, Infants, and the Evolution of Social Learning...

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/08/26

Plants are mini chemical weapon factories! Learning and evolution are not opposed! This week, Annie Wertz (UCSB) joins us to describe her groundbreaking world on the evolutionary psychology of what babies know about plants, and how infants selectively use social information to guide their interactions with them. A lovely example of how adopting an evolutionary perspective inspires new areas of research, and a good example of how evolution builds learning mechanisms. More about Annie

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01:55:07

Cooperation with Pat Barclay

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/08/19

Pat Barclay (Guelph) joins us to discuss his work solving the mysteries of the evolution of cooperation. Pat is a wonderful human being and an exceptional scientist, whose work is at the forefront of understanding how and why we solve the problem of cooperation as a species. More about Pat Barclay: http://patbarclay.com/ More about David Pinsof: https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/ https://www.kremslab.com/people More about Dave

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02:00:20

Drugs, Delusions, and Depression with Ed Hagen

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/08/12

Why would a mind ever be delusional or depressed, and can we understand these as functional or maladaptive outcomes? Why do humans take drugs, and why do plants make them in the first place? (And why might the answer to the second question also answer the first?) Join us on a fun, wide-ranging conversation with guest Ed Hagen (Washington State, Vancouver) one of evolutionary psychology’s most encyclopedic minds. More about Ed

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02:01:04

Conspiracy Theories and Group Boundaries with...

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/08/05

Guest Cristina Moya (UC Davis) is one of our favorite evolutionary behavioral scientists. In this episode, we discuss her work in Peru on ethnolinguistic group boundaries, why we all believe crazy things, and what the lay of the land is in the evolutionary behavioral sciences. More about Cristina Moya: https://sites.google.com/site/cristinasolermoya/pubs?authuser=0 https://anthropology.ucdavis.edu/people/cristina-moya More about David

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02:22:45

Thoughtful Warriors with Brenda Bowser

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/07/29

Guest Brenda Bowser (CalState Fullerton) recounts a life spent studying conflict and politics in Canambo, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, with her late husband and colleague John Q. Patton. Brenda shares first and second hand accounts of incredible events (including death by phantasm), and how she thinks about status, violence, and conflict, and how these relate to our connections with others. One of our most memorable episodes! More about Brenda

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01:57:59

Egalitarianism in the Amazon with Chris Von Rueden

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/07/22

Egalitarianism is not what you think it is! Guest Chris Von Rueden (URichmond) has wrapped his head around what egalitarianism is and shares his insights and what he’s learned living with and studying the Tsimane, hunter horticulturists in the Bolivian rainforest. TL;DR: How to make a more just society requires respecting the complexity of our evolved psychology. More about Chris Von Rueden: https://sites.google.com/site/chrisvonrueden/home Tsimane Health and Life History

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02:31:40

Disgust, Morality, and Kinship with Deb Lieberman

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/07/15

Why do we appeal to disgust when we moralize, and why do we moralize what we find disgusting? Guest Deb Lieberman (UMiami) explains why our human propensity to gang up on others may be driving a lot of our moral sentiments, and why she gets uncomfortable when people appeal to disgust to argue for what is right and wrong. More about Debra

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01:53:49

Terrorism, Drag Queens, and International...

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/07/08

From offering the UN insights into the psychology of terrorists to interviewing victims of war-torn Croatia, guest Michael Moncrieff has seen a lot of life and yet remains hopeful. Dave wonders aloud why we are so blind to the civilian impacts of war and David and Michael discuss predatory rationality. Michael explains the history of the drag-queen phenomenon from an evolutionary psychological perspective. More about Michael Moncrieff: https://www.michaelmoncrieff.com/ More about David

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17:16

Bonus: Dave & David (and guest Pat Barclay) Read Some...

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/07/03

Dave and David read a review of the podcast, and future guest Pat Barclay (Guelph) joins them for a second reading. Topics include why it may be good to be skeptical of high production values, and the tradeoff between focusing on basic research findings versus their broader implications.

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02:18:36

Examples of Good Evolutionary Psychology

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/07/01

Dave and David move beyond the controversies to explain—and give examples of—evolutionary psychology done well. Topics covered include the science of racial categorization and why we get angry. If you’re looking for examples of novel insights in evolutionary psychology, this episode is for you. More about Evolutionary Psychology The Center for Evolutionary Psychology “Primer” More about David Pinsof: https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/ https://www.kremslab.com/people More about

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01:52:55

Childhood in the Congo Basin with Sheina Lew-Levy

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) ·

2025/06/24

Helicopter parenting is not a human universal! Guest Sheina Lew-Levy (Durham) explains what drew her to studying childhood among BaYaka foragers in the Congo Basin, and what parenting and childhood is like there and how this helps us understand who we are and what we need growing up. In this episode we also cover why field anthropologists are bad*ss and how, for David, “roughing it” involves staying at a 3-star hotel without room-service. More about Sheina

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25 results

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