You Are Not So Smart is a show about psychology that celebrates science and self delusion. In each episode, we explore what we've learned so far about reasoning, biases, judgments, and decision-making.
sciencesocialsociety
About the host
Unknown Host hosts You Are Not So Smart, a science show with 343 episodes published.
MIT professor Thomas Levenson, the author of the book A Pox on Fools, takes us through the same repeating patterns throughout history which have led to antivaxxers and vaccine hesitancy since the very first vaccines. Pre
Can intellectual humility be measured? What influences it and affects it, limits it and enhances it? What even is it, scientifically speaking? We explore all of this and then play an episode of How to Be A Better Human f
What is misinformation? How does it differ from disinformation or just plain ‘ole propaganda? How do we protect ourselves from people with nefarious intentions using all of these things to affect our thoughts, feelings,
342 - The Conspiracy Theorist Who Changed His Mind
Jun 22, 202647m
Tim Harford of the podcast Cautionary Tales sits down with David McRaney to hear a story from David's book, How Minds Change, about how (and why) a prominent conspiracy theorist realized he was wrong. Charlie Veitch was
Communications professor Heather Barnes teaches us how to use what she learned teaching at Second City, managing the Museum of Science and Industry, and taking classes at the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science to
There are more possible chess moves than atoms in the universe, and chess champion Jennifer Shahade tells us how we can borrow from the best chess players' decision-tree approach to avoid considering every possible optio
Northwestern University just launched the Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement, a real-world institution devoted to "research-backed approaches to cultivating open-mindedness, identifying one’s own cognitive bias
338 - May Contain Lies - Alex Edmans (rebroadcast)
Apr 27, 202639m0
Alex Edmans, a professor of finance at London Business School, tells us how to avoid the Ladder of Misinference by examining how narratives, statistics, and articles can mislead, especially when they align with our preco
337 - Cognitive Surrender - Gideon Nave and Steven D. Shaw
Apr 13, 202659m0
How is AI reshaping human reasoning? What is cognitive surrender, and how do we avoid its negative impact? What is system three thinking, and how can we get the most out of it? Artificial intelligence researchers Gideon
336 - The 3.5 Percent Rule - Erica Chenoweth (rebroadcast)
Mar 30, 20261h 3m0
If you want to overthrow a dictator, resist an authoritarian regime, or create a movement that can change the national status quo, you don't need half the country, you only need 3.5 percent of the population to join – bu
Therapist, teacher, speaker, and trauma specialist Britt Frank tells us all about her new book, Align Your Mind, an all-access pass to understanding, befriending, and leading the multiple voices within yourself. Grounded
334 - Magical Thinking - Matt Tompkins (rebroadcast)
Mar 2, 20261h 19m0
In this episode, the story of Clever Hans, the horse who changed psychology for the better. We also sit down with psychologist and magician Matt Tompkins. Matt is the author of The Spectacle of Illusion, a book about the
How can two people watch the same video yet see two different things? How can two people witness the same event but arrive at two different truths about what they witnessed? How can the same evidence lead people to drast
In this episode, we sit down with three disinformation researchers whose new paper found something surprising about both our resistance and our susceptibility to both true news we wish was fake and fake news we wish was
Dr. Martin Carcasson tells us how he, as the Director of the Center for Public Deliberation at Colorado State, trains people how to facilitate deliberation and overcome wicked problems so that they can "spark processes t
330 - A More Beautiful Question - Warren Berger (rebroadcast)
Jan 5, 20261h 4m0
Warren Berger has made a career out of classifying, categorizing, and making sense of the many varieties of questions that we ask and in this episode he explains how we can ask more beautiful questions that can lead to a
Dr. Steven Franconeri explains the powerful insights and opportunities offered by a game he and his team created for having better disagreements about just about anything, but especially about the sort of topics that oft
We sit down with Jordan Ellenberg, a world-class geometer, who takes us on a far-ranging exploration of the power of geometry, which turns out to help us think better about practically everything His writing has appeared
Philosopher, neuroscientist, and psychologist, Joshua Greene tells us how the brain generates morality and how his research may have solved the infamous trolley problem, and in so doing created a way to encourage people
We sit down with Dr. Madeleine Beekman, a professor emerita of evolutionary biology and behavioral ecology at the University of Sydney, Australia, whose new book, The Origin of Language, presents a completely new and fas
How do I pitch You Are Not So Smart as a podcast guest?
You Are Not So Smart has a verified contact on file. Create a free PitchCentric account to access it and generate a personalised pitch in seconds. Research at least 3 recent episodes first and lead with a specific angle that serves their science audience.
Who is the host of You Are Not So Smart?
You Are Not So Smart is hosted by Unknown Host. The show is categorised under science (social) and has published 343 episodes.
How many episodes does You Are Not So Smart have?
You Are Not So Smart has published 343 episodes.
What topics does You Are Not So Smart cover?
You Are Not So Smart regularly covers science, social, society. It sits in the science category, with a social focus.
Is it hard to get booked on You Are Not So Smart?
You Are Not So Smart is accessible for guests with genuine science expertise. A personalised, episode-aware pitch will still outperform a generic one every time.
Is You Are Not So Smart currently accepting guest pitches?
You Are Not So Smart hasn't explicitly signalled guest openness in recent episodes. That doesn't rule out pitching. your hook just needs to be especially compelling and relevant to their recent content.
How long are You Are Not So Smart episodes?
Episodes of You Are Not So Smart average 62 minutes, giving guests a long-form format with plenty of time to expand on their expertise.
What guest credentials does You Are Not So Smart typically look for?
Our data rates You Are Not So Smart's guest bar at 80/100 (Premium tier). Established thought leaders with verified media credentials. Sign in to PitchCentric to see how your own Pod Score compares against this show.
Methodology. Booking Probability™ blends Listen Score, 30-day Virality, open-to-guests detection, and Apple ratings. Data refreshed every 60 minutes. Listen Score and Booking Probability are calculated by PitchCentric. Last enriched 2 days ago.