Minimizing Pain, Maximizing Joy

We tend to see depression as an illness to eliminate, evidence that something has gone wrong in the brain. But what if low mood serves a purpose? Psychologist Jonathan Rottenberg examines the evolutionary roots of depression and reflects on his own painful experience with suicida ...  Show more

Disgust is a strong emotion, one designed by evolution to protect us from danger and diseases. But disgust also spills into other areas of our lives, influencing our morals, our intuitions about right and wrong, even our politics. We talk with psychologist David Pizarro about how ...  Show more

A legend in the field, economic psychologist Barry Schwartz talks about how having too many options can be paralytic and tiresome to the human psyche. Schwartz also discusses the destructive force of an “only the best will do” mentality. We contemplate the implications of these c ...  Show more

We always face problems and setbacks - but the coronavirus has dramatically upended many of our lives in a few short weeks. Allowing sadness, anger or fear to dominate us does little to help. We should instead learn from the Greek Stoics - philosophers who embraced challenges wit ...  Show more

On this episode of the podcast we talk about David Hume's thoughts on the soul, the self and how "custom is the great guide of human life." All this and more on the latest episode of Philosophize This! Thank you so much for listening! Could never do this without your help. Websit ...  Show more

On this episode of the podcast we learn about Avicenna, an Arabic philosopher who is most known for his “Flying Man” thought experiment. We discuss the mind-body connection (or lack thereof) and ask ourselves what becomes of an iPhone if you pulverize it in a blender. We also wor ...  Show more