A Bit More Complicated

In this episode of the podcast we take a crash course on transgender identity and terminology, statistics on transition and stigma (and associated mental health issues) within the trans community, transition in adults and kids, gender-affirming care, and the difficulties faced by trans individuals who engage with the medical system to get care. Dr. McLamore is bursting at the seams with knowledge on the topic, so there are more citations than usual. We had a much longer conversation than we could publish, but please read their writing in Aeon for more info.

In this episode, we are joined by Andrew Devendorf to discuss mental health stigma and how--even among mental health professionals--people often have to hide their mental health conditions or receive social backlash for them. We discuss how this effects research, clinical work, youtube videos, and the broader culture.

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Beth Livingston to take a critical look at a recent paper that criticized "woke" DEI efforts.

In this episode, we interview Dr. Adam Mastroianni. We discuss misperceptions about social progress and political hatred. We also have an extended discussion about the problems with the scientific system of peer review and what we can do to fix those problems.

In this episode, we discuss the high profile case of Steven Robert's mistreatment at Perspective on Psychological Science (PoPS). We recorded an interesting and productive discussion with Steven, but he decided against publication of our conversation with him. We thought this topic was too important to not do an episode on, so we recorded our thoughts on the subject without Steven. 

The episode includes: Steven's post-PoPS experiences (that he said we could share with the audience), our thoughts on the 2020 paper, our thoughts on his treatment at PoPS, and finally what we think about the academic critiques he received.  

In this episode, Manny and Dylan talk with Dr. Jennifer Harman, Associate Professor of Psychology at Colorado State University. The discussion focuses on the topic of parental alienation, or when one parent turns their children against the other parent. When and why does this happen? What can it do to kids and what can we do about it? 

Show notes:

In this episode, Manny and Dylan chat with Dr. Kalynda Smith about her work on body image and health. Dr. Smith presents a nuanced view on this topic. We acknowledge that while obesity is a significant factor in physical health, at the same time we cannot judge people’s health just by looking at their bodies. Dr. Smith also advocates for focusing on behaviors such as eating healthy foods and exercise, rather than an oversimplified focus on body weight.

In this episode, we dive into a discussion of anti-racism with Dr. Erec Smith. Dr. Smith is a Professor of English Language, Literacy and Rhetoric at York College of Pennsylvania. He is the author of several books, is a Writing Fellow for Heterodox Academy, and is a co-founder of Free Black Thought. Dr. Smith is an ardent critic of certain ideas relevant to DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) and anti-racism that have gained popularity and attention in liberal institutions. We have some spirited exchanges about infantilization and mental health, internalized prejudice, and what effective DEI could look like. Dr. Smith also shared some compelling personal stories about his experiences speaking up against some of the more wacky ideas in his field. Following this conversation, Manny and Dylan debrief and reflect on some of the things we agreed and disagreed about.

We discuss Dr. Higginbotham's interesting approach to psychological research: using history as a guide. Specifically we discuss his paper which found that racially resentful White Americans were less supportive of gun rights when Black (vs. White) Americans showed greater use of their gun rights. The studies results harken back to how gun control legislation (Mulford Act of 1967) was used to undermine the gun rights of The Black Panther Party in California.

This is an episode we've been looking forward to since the inception of the podcast. We sat down and talked with Scott Barry Kaufman, one of the more famous living psychologists, about his work on self-actualization, coaching, education and intelligence, scientific controversies, and more. Check out Scott's new book!

Dr. Enders joined us to talk about his recent paper published in the journal Political Behavior which is called, Are Republicans and Conservatives More Likely to Believe Conspiracy Theories? It seems like your answer to that question is no. We discuss this paper and explore how political beliefs and conspiracy beliefs relate to each other. 

We welcome Dr. Michael Kraus to the podcast to talk about his research on the psychology of racial inequality. We discuss the fact that people can't solve a problem if they don't know it exists, and strategies to help people see the ways in which inequality manifests. We also talk a bit about sports and research on physical touch in basketball (Dr. Kraus is a Warriors fan). 

In this episode, we revisit the research on abortion and mental health in light of some listener feedback. We also critique some of the commentaries on the Turnaway study. (Note: Manny's audio was a bit wonky and couldn't be fixed, the audio issues should be fixed by next episode!)

In this episode continued the conversation about abortion that we began in episode 8. To help us understand the link between abortion and mental health, we were joined by Dr. Julia Steinberg, a professor and researcher at the University of Maryland’s school of Public health. Dr. Steinberg studies whether abortion (and lack of abortion access) is linked to mental health problems and how mental health is associated with unintended pregnancy.

A quick note at the top of the episode here. What follows is a quick addendum to our episode with Dr. Kristen Mark where we discussed sex education. Dylan wrote an article on his blog where he elaborated on false polarization on the topic of sex education. So we got on a call and chatted about that topic for a few minutes. This addendum was recorded after the episode on attitudes about abortion, but before the Supreme Court decision was made official. So STAY TUNED for our second episode about how mental health is linked to abortion and lack of abortion access, which should be dropping in the next few days. 

In the wake of the leaded Supreme Court decision to essentially overturn Roe v. Wade, we decided to do an episode on the science of abortion attitudes. Manny and Dylan discuss Americans’ attitudes towards abortion with Dr. Kristen Jozkowski, who is the William L. Yarber Endowed Professor in Sexual Health at Indiana University Bloomington. She has written extensively on the topic of public opinions on abortion. As with all of the topics we cover, abortion attitudes are complicated!

In this episode, Dylan and Manny chat about sex education with Dr. Kristen Mark. Kristen is the Joycelyn Elders Endowed Chair in Sexual Health Education and a tenured Professor at University of Minnesota Medical School. She is the Director of Education in the Institute for Sexual and Gender Health in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, and also an Affiliate Research Faculty at the Kinsey Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University.

In this episode, we interview Jake Womick and Tom Costello about psychological similarities and differences between liberals and conservatives. Jake is a postdoctoral scholar working with Dr. Kurt Gray at UNC. Tom is working with David Rand at MIT & Gordon Pennycook at University of Regina. We hope you enjoy this conversation.

In this episode, Manny interviews Dylan (no, not a typo) about his research on the psychology of dreams. We talk about how dreams are a social phenomenon, how they connect with daily experiences and ongoing concerns, as well as personality traits such as attachment style. Dylan talks about some formative personal experiences he had which inspired his research. We also talk about how dreams are connected with psychological health and well-being, and sleep. We close the conversation with a discussion about how the science of sleep and dreams can be utilized to improve our lives. Happy dreaming!

Citations

The conclusion of our interview with Dr. Nicolè Ford on the war between Ukraine and Russia. If you haven't yet, listen to Part 1 of this interview first (Ep. 3). 

In this episode, Manny and Dylan interview Dr. Nicolè Ford, who holds a Ph.D. in political science and whose specific area of expertise is on Ukraine and Russia. In the episode, we dive into a deep understanding of this horrible war. Dr. Ford schools us on the historical context, NATO, Putin’s ambitions, and more. We really appreciate Dr. Ford’s knowledge and insight into this topic.