The Monkey Dance

The Monkey Dance

Everything society: from science and philosophy to politics and art. Cognitive scientists, philosophers, political scientists, anthropologists, and more sit down to make sense of the world.

  1. 27. Mai

    46 | Are we thinking about stress the wrong way?

    Can we tease apart physiological and psychological stress?   Stress in the mind and stress in the body are each comprised of a complex set of phenomena. Is it possible to experience one without the other? And how do they each impact the other functions of the body? Nida Ali joins the podcast to talk about her work trying to understand the relationship between the different types of stress and the immune system.    We talk about the autonomic and endocrine stress responses, their relationship to the subjective experience of stress, and the long term impacts of both. We also chat about gender differences in both the physiological expression and the emotional experience of stress, what happens when you're overheating, and why it is your hands tremble when you're nervous.   Guest: Nida Ali   Cohost: Arianna Curioni To hear about Arianna's work, check out Episode 13

  2. 13. Mai

    45 | Human migration as a complex system

    Ola Ali joins the podcast to chat about modeling the legal journey of persons who migrate across borders. With a background in physics and complex systems, Ola's work tries to describe the dynamics of migration, specifically the legal and institutional experience of someone who migrates. We chat about how long it takes to gain legal stability in a new country and the differences in the legal journey based on nationality. We also discuss housing, access to rights and healthcare, and forced mobility.   Guest: Ola Ali https://csh.ac.at/ola-ali/

  3. 27. Feb.

    44 | Voting under autocracies

    When living under an autocratic regime, should we continue voting or abstain in protest?   Zoltan Miklosi joins the podcast to talk about the political obligations of democrats who live under autocratic regimes. We discuss the consequences both of voting in elections despite the overwhelming odds in favor of the autocrat and of refusing to participate in elections in protest of the regime.   We discuss specific cases of autocracies which hold elections around the world, about why they would hold elections in the first place, and what each side has to gain and to lose. We also chat about democracy as an ideal more broadly, and whether one has any obligations to the society or governance structure they live under.   Guest: Zoltan Miklosi   More from Zoltan: 1. Political Obligation in Electoral Authoritarianism: The Case of Hungary   2. Social Equality and Democratic Authority

  4. 13. Feb.

    43 | What makes a war?

    What determines whether a particular event is classified as part of an existing conflict or a random act of violence? Niraj Kushwaha joins the podcast to talk about modeling instances of armed conflict using fine grained datasets to better understand the emergence of conflicts and how they might be related. We discuss how conflicts can be categorized into three main types, and the primary variables that allow for their categorization. This takes us to the broader applications of this work, from modeling epidemics to climate change, and how statistical physics can be used to form hypotheses about the likelihood of future events of particular types.   Guest: Niraj Kushwaha   Niraj's latest paper on Data-driven conflict classification The database Niraj mentioned: Armed Conflict & Event Data Project

  5. 21. Jan.

    42 | Who deserves human rights?

    Every human has the same fundamental rights. That might sound trivial, but the universal access to human rights is being actively debated in courts around the world as well as in public and political discourse.   Lena Riemer joins the podcast to talk about the legal basis for granting every human being the same fundamental rights, how this applies to cases of migration, and her experiences both as a lawyer and as a legal scholar.   We chat about how human rights are being eroded and circumvented by policies, how some governments are actively working to obfuscate violations of human rights law, and the dehumanization of individuals who are forced to migrate from their homes due to some combination of conflict and climate change.   As a heads up, this conversation gets emotionally trying at times given the subject matter.     You can also watch the episode on our youtube channel   If you want to read more of Lena's work and on the topic in general:   1. Lena's blog post on recent jurisprudence on climate change and human mobility and advancements in front of the Inter-American Court of human Rights: Leading the Way: The IACtHR's Advisory Opinion on Human Rights and Climate Change   2. Lena's blog post on the US expulsion policy: Beyond Borders, Beyond Rights? The U.S. “Staging Expulsion” Policy and the Future of Externalization - Opinio Juris   3. Lena's blog post on Germany's attempts to undermine Asylum protections: Undermining Asylum Protection Through Administrative Shortcuts: Germany’s Proposal to Designate Safe Countries of Origin by Executive Decree.    4. An article from the ACLU on the state of the US border: The Border Patrol Was Monstrous Under Obama. Imagine How Bad It Is Under Trump. | ACLU   5. The referenced American Convention on Human Rights

  6. 7. Jan.

    41 | Gangs providing services

    What happens when gangs step in to provide services for communities that governments aren't able or willing to provide? David Cerero Guerra joins the podcast to talk about his ethnographic work chronicling the equilibrium local gangs have reached with the government of Colombia in the city of Medellin.  While the primary activity of the gangs is selling illicit drugs which harm the community, they also have managed to ensure the reduction of physical violence and facilitate government services like water and electricity to under served communities.  We chat about the historical and political contexts which allowed for the emergence of such a unique unspoken agreement, and how the government communicates with the gangs without any official channels.  Guest: David Cerero Guerra You can also watch the episode on youtube

  7. 10.12.2025

    40 | Where does morality come from?

    We refer to morality a lot when judging behavior, but what exactly are we referring to?   Emese Havadtői joins us to talk about the structure and emergence of moral frameworks. We chat about whether morality can be understood in terms of behavior, without a universalist understanding of morality, and how evolution plays a role in our drive to behave morally. The debate also brushes up against what it means to be "good" and whether it is understood by looking at individual behavior or if it exists as a truth in the universe.   Guest: Emese Havadtői Cohost: Maria Federova   You can also watch the conversation on youtube

  8. 26.11.2025

    39 | How to make a curious mind

    What is the brain's relationship to information?   Francesco Poli joins to talk about the brain, the mind, and the individual differences that amount to human curiosity. We talk about adaptivity, how our experiences shape our relationship to information, and what this means for our behavior. We also cover the value of information, dealing with uncertainty as a concept, and the importance of a good learning environment.   Guest: Francesco Poli   You can also watch the conversation on youtube

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Everything society: from science and philosophy to politics and art. Cognitive scientists, philosophers, political scientists, anthropologists, and more sit down to make sense of the world.

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