Free Will with David Pietraszewski
06/1/2026 | 2h 2 mins.
Free will: Do we really have it? And what is it, exactly? In this episode, co-host David Pietraszewski takes the role of guest and explains his recent evolutionary, adaptationist approach to the problem of free will, explaining what people are talking about when they talk about free will, why different people have different opinions about whether it really exists in light of science, and what an evolutionary approach has to say about how to study it in the first place. If you love or hate the study of free will--or think it is a forever-unsolvable mystery-- then this episode is for you!  More about David Pietraszewski: https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rGFYm8AAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao Â
Moralizing Self-Control with Léo Fitouchi
30/12/2025 | 1h 50 mins.
Why do we care about delaying gratification? Why do we judge others for moral failings that have no apparent consequences on us? In this episode, we talk to Lêo Fitouchi (IAST Toulouse) about all things moral, including guzzling french fries. More about Léo Fitouchi: https://sites.google.com/view/leofitouchi/home Â
Evolutionary Social Sciences with Dan Nettle
23/12/2025 | 1h 44 mins.
Poverty? Universal basic income? Do we really crave sugar because of evolutionary mismatch? How do you train for an 800meter and a 100K running race? We cover this and much more with Dan Nettle (Jean Nicod).  More about Dan Nettle: https://www.danielnettle.eu/ https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rl3kkv4AAAAJ&hl=en
Culture, Killing, and PTSD with Sarah Mathew
16/12/2025 | 2h 1 mins.
How do evolutionary behavioral scientists think about the interplay between our psychology and culture? What causes some cultural norms to persist and spread? Do non-Western combatants in war have something like PTSD? In this episode, we explore all of these questions and more with Sarah Mathew (ASU), who talks about her work with the Turkana, and her long-term interest in the interplay between our evolved psychology of cooperation and violence, and the social norms and institutions that push and pull on our evolved psychology.  More about Sarah Mathew: https://search.asu.edu/profile/2208359 https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FqTZawEAAAAJ&hl=en Â
Reasoning and Epistemic Vigilance with Hugo Mercier
09/12/2025 | 1h 37 mins.
Is the evolved mind prone to believing misinformation? Are people gullible? What is reasoning, anyway? And what is it for? In this episode, we talk all things reasoning with Hugo Mercier (Institute Jean Nicod). If you have an opinion about whether people are reasonable (or not) this episode is for you.  More about Hugo Mercier: https://sites.google.com/site/hugomercier/ https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=b3o24EEAAAAJ&hl=en Â

Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast)