Social Behavior Episodes

What if we told you that by the end of this unusual episode, you could find yourself thinking completely differently about the role of video games in the lives of children and teens, and that you might actually look forward to playing video games yourself, as a way to become a healthier, happier, and more resilient human being? Today, we’ll meet a team of researchers and video game makers from the Games for Emotional and Mental Health (GEMH) Lab — Director Dr. Isabela Granic, Co-Director Dr. Han...

Today we bring you the voices of more members of the (DISI) community — , , , , , and . They share some of their fascinating research that has been funded by Templeton World Charity Foundation grants. They talk about why they love what we...

Today’s episode is our version of a back to school episode celebrating one of the coolest schools on the planet — the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI). We’re back with four friends from Season 2 of the podcast to further explore Diverse Intelligences: Drs. Andrew Serazin, Erica Cartmill, Pranab Das, and Jacob Foster. These researchers tell us about their work to build a community of scientists who have come together every summer for the last five years to explore together different ...

What is culture? How is culture transmitted? And what is unique about human culture, compared to our closest animal species relatives? Today’s conversation with Dr. Cristine Legare, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin whose research focuses on the foundations of cultural intelligence, answers all these questions.Read the transcript of this episodeSubscribe to Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcastsFacebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTubeComments, ques...

In today’s episode, we welcome , founder of , a collective of brain and behavioral scientists, human-centered designers, and multimedia producers who create innovative learning experiences. Dr. Linkenhoker is the recipient of grant funding from...

In today’s episode, we welcome , an expert in public health and preventive medicine. Dr. Addiss has spent his career thinking not only about science, but about service. In his early career, he cared for the health of migrants in the San Joaquin...

This week we hear from Dr. Agnes Kalibata, a Rwandan agricultural scientist and policymaker. Dr. Kalibata draws on her personal history growing up in a refugee camp to shape her work as both UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy focusing on international food systems and the president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. This leader uniquely offers her deep personal understanding of how communities and individuals can flourish when two of their essential needs — nourishing food and q...

Today, we’re in conversation about the act of listening. Our guests are researchers Netta Weinstein, Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Reading, and Guy Itzchakov, an assistant professor in the Department of Human Services at the University of Haifa. Profs. Weinstein and Itzhchakov are part of a research team working to develop a scientific understanding of what listening is, what its benefits are, and why it matters so much to our well-being.Learn more:Guy Itzchakov...

In today’s episode, we hear from The Honorable Shirley Ann Jackson, the first African-American woman to lead a top-ranked research university — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute — and Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the Secretary-General at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, an intergovernmental economic organisation with 38 member countries who stimulate economic progress and world trade.These two globa...

Today’s episode highlights Richard’s conversation with Dr. Everett Worthington. Dr. Worthington is Commonwealth Professor Emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University. For the last 30 years, Dr. Worthington has been studying forgiveness, and he has written more than a dozen books on the subject. In 2001, he developed the pioneering REACH Forgiveness method, which has helped thousands of people—including himself—reap the mental and physical benefits of forgiveness.Learn more about Dr. Everett...

Today, we hear a fascinating and inspiring conversation having to do with the flourishing of young South Africans. Today’s episode features Richard’s conversation with Nina Callaghan, former Associate Director and current South African Chair of Children’s Radio Foundation. In a post-apartheid country still suffering the social, psychic, and economic wounds of decades of institutionalized racial segregation, the very act of teaching these youth basic journalism 101, including ethics, consent, and...

Today, Richard is in conversation with Dr. Filippo Trevisan, assistant professor at the School of Communication and Deputy Director at the Institute on Disability and Public Policy at American University. Dr. Trevisan talks about our evolving views on social media and offers insight on how we can use — and how we are already using — the Internet as a tool to improve representation in our democratic process.More about Filippo TrevisanMentioned in this episode:Citizenship in a Network...

Today’s episode features a conversation with Colin Mayer, Peter Moores Professor of Management Studies and the former dean at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. Prof. Mayer speaks to host Richard Sergay about the role of business institutions in building resilient and cohesive communities, as well as the necessity of trust in whether civilization itself will be sustained.More about Colin Mayer and his published works, including Prosperity: Better Business Makes the Greater...

Today, host Richard Sergay speaks with Baroness Onora O’Neill, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Cambridge University. Prof. O’Neill, whose work has focused on international justice and the roles of trust and accountability in public life, discusses the value of privacy in a time of surveillance capitalism, human rights after the digital revolution, and the importance of listening as a civic virtue.Mentioned in this episode:Citizenship in a Networked AgeInternment of Uighurs in China...

As we explore our season focusing on citizenship in the networked age, journalist Richard Sergay explores the rights and responsibilities of being a citizen in the digital era, the individual and community strengths inherent in healthy citizenship, and the threats to our future without it. Today’s conversation is with Sir Paul Collier, a professor of economics and public policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. Professor Collier is a world-renowned economist and a best...

Today’s conversation features three intersecting perspectives on the topic of citizenship in a networked age. We’ll hear from Vint Cerf, Google's vice president and chief Internet evangelist, and one of the world’s recognized “fathers of the Internet”; Nuala O’Connor, former president and CEO at the Center for Democracy and Technology; and Michael Wear, a strategist, speaker, and practitioner at the intersection of faith, politics, and public life. Each of them adds dimension to our podcast’s on...

In today’s episode, we explore the social cognition found within our own species, and what the benefit to every person might be if we deepen our understanding of the wide variety of intelligences of human beings.We hear from two researchers at the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Sue Fletcher-Watson, and her colleague, Dr. Catherine Crompton, about their study examining the social cognition of autism, which shines new light on the comfort and confidence that autistic people can experience in com...

Dr. Brian Hare is a core member of the Center of Cognitive Neuroscience and Professor in Evolutionary Anthropology and Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. In today’s episode, Dr. Hare shares how investigating diverse intelligences offers human beings insight into our own psychology. He’ll also describe the powerful new online tool he’s building to spark the acceleration of our understanding about animal — and human — cognition.Learn more about Dr. Brian Hare and Dognition: animal...

The Stories of Impact Podcast presents stories of the scientific breakthroughs that fuel the human search for meaning, purpose, and truth — how lives are transformed by science. Season 2 focuses on Diverse Intelligences.This project was made possible through the generous support of a grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation.

Today, host Richard Sergay is in conversation with David Sloan Wilson, professor of biological sciences at Binghamton University and president of the Evolution Institute. Prof. Wilson describes the core principles of human groups that allow successful cooperation, and discusses how we can implement these principles to alleviate the negative effects of the current pandemic and stop its spread.The fifth and final episode in a special, five-part Covid-19 conversation series.Learn more about...

In this episode, host Richard Sergay speaks to Joseph Bulbulia, professor at the University of Auckland and the MacLaurin Goodfellow Chair in Theological and Religious Studies. Professor Bulbulia discusses how religious interaction, worship, and teaching come together in different ways to facilitate group cooperation, and what we can learn from that to support us during the pandemic.This is the fourth episode in a special, five-part Covid-19 conversation series.Learn more about Joseph Bu...

Host Richard Sergay speaks to Athena Aktipis, co-director of the Human Generosity Project, about the current results of her study of cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Professor Aktipis discusses the insights both past and current research offer about the extent and the limits of human generosity during catastrophic events.This is the third episode in a special, five-part Covid-19 conversation series.Learn more about Athena Aktipis and The Human Generosity ProjectMentioned in thi...

In today’s episode, host Richard Sergay speaks with Erez Yoeli, director of the Applied Cooperation Team at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, about how to motivate people to cooperate and behave altruistically during a pandemic. Dr. Yoeli discusses how we can harness the power of reputation to encourage prosocial behavior, and suggests ways to make the message of altruism appeal to everyone in a time when people are receiving conflicting messages about what is right.This is the second episod...