Selects: Is The Uncanny Valley Real?

Today we dive in to celebrate the international treasure that is Dolly Parton. Why is she nearly universally loved? Listen in to find out.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

The US has an unusual number of outbreaks of food-borne illness going on in the summer of 2026, and the star of the show is cyclospora. How does this parasite make people sick, where does it come from? You may not want to know.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

From bad CGI characters to creepy humanoid robots, everyone knows the uncanny valley effect when they see it. But where did this idea come from and to what extent is it actually a thing? Join Robert and Joe as they descend into the uncanny valley and explore just what's going on ...  Show more

Ryan and Todd analyze Freud's essay "The Uncanny" and the broader implications of this concept. They discuss the importance of the uncanny for understanding the horror film and focus on the difference between a psychoanalytic approach to the concept and the notion of the uncanny ...  Show more

How comfortable are you with robots taking over your life? Covering a wide range of potential applications -- from the mundane (robot house cleaner) to the mischievous (robot sex partner) to the downright macabre (uploading your brain to live on after death) -- technology strateg ...  Show more

The human world is increasingly 'assisted' by a pantheon of automations. Yet this emergent reality brings to bear fundamental philosophical quandries about the nature of not only the mind but the soul of things called 'artificial.' In tonight's episode, sponsored by Illumination ...  Show more