You Are Not So Smart

4.5 (26)
SCIENCE
UPDATED TWICE MONTHLY

You Are Not So Smart is a show about psychology that celebrates science and self delusion. In each episode, we explore what we've learned so far about reasoning, biases, judgments, and decision-making.

2 DAYS AGO

301 - Cognitive Dissonance - Part Two

In this episode we welcome Dr. Sarah Stein Lubrano, a political scientist who studies how cognitive dissonance affects all sorts of political behavior. She’s also the co-host of a podcast about activism called "What Do We Want?" and she wrote a book that’s coming out in May of 2025 titled don’t talk about politics which is about how to discuss politics without necessarily talking about politics.

58 min
11 NOV

300 - Cognitive Dissonance - Part One

In this episode, the story of a doomsday cult that predicted the exact date and circumstances of the end of the world, and what happened when that date passed and the world did not end.

57 min
28 OCT

299 - Debunkbot

Our guests in this episode are the scientists who created Debunkbot, a GPT-powered, large language model, conspiracy-theory-debunking AI that is highly effective at reducing conspiratorial beliefs. In the show you’ll hear all about what happened when they placed Debunkbot inside the framework of a scientific study and recorded its interactions with thousands of participants.

1h 9m
14 OCT

298 - Tribal - Michael Morris

In this episode we sit down with renowned cultural psychologist Michael Morris to discuss his new book, Tribal, in which he makes the case for seeing humans as an "us" species, not a "them" species.

1h 34m
30 SEPT

297 - Project Alpha - Brian Brushwood (rebroadcast)

Brian Brushwood tells us how he put together the most recent season of The World's Greatest Con, his podcast about incredible scams and over the top chicanery. This season is all about how two teenagers pulled off an incredible hoax called Project Alpha, a con job and a publicity stunt meant to improve scientific rigor and methodology when it comes to studying the possibility of the existence of psychic phenomena.

1h 10m
16 SEPT

296 - Job Therapy - Tessa West

Are you unhappy at your job? Are you starting to consider a change of career because of how your current work makes you feel? Do you know why?

55 min
2 SEPT

295 - Easy Crafts for the Insane - Kelly Williams Brown

In this episode we sit down with author Kelly Williams Brown, an old friend who (I recently learned) had attempted suicide, which is the subject of this episode – suicide prevention and awareness. In the show we learn about Kelly's latest book, Easy Crafts for the Insane, in which she recounts how, after she gained fame and success as a NYT bestselling author, her life came apart and how an anti-anxiety-drug-induced manic state nearly ended her life.

1h 15m
19 AUG

294 - Living Constitutionally - A.J. Jacobs

In this episode we sit down with A.J. Jacobs, a journalist who attempted to live for a year following the US Constitution's original meaning as if he were an originalist.

1h 28m

See All (298)

David McRaney

Host

4.5

out of 5

26 Ratings

Content great! Music not so much.

22/02/2022

Paul17264

Love the discussions and guests! The one down side? The music 😩 Clear winner of the award for Most Annoying And Unnecessarily Long Intro And Interlude Music. But the content is great so I keep coming back, just with my finger never far from that fast forward button.
I’ve learnt so much

14/06/2018

Paula AOGG

This is the podcast I find myself quoting in conversations all the time. There is so much to learn about our brains and how we function, from logical fallacies to sleep deprivation to conspiracy theories etc etc. David Macready finds the most interesting experts to talk to, it’s absolutely fascinating. I have some favourite episodes I force other people to listen to on long car rides and they’re fascinated too.
Eats while speaking..not good.

16/07/2012

Fortune Bernard

I have to stop listening half way through as the presenter starts eating cookies while talking. Why on earth would you expect people to listen to someone doing this? Other than that, the first half of the podcast is really interesting. I have no idea what the second half is like.

You Are Not So Smart is a show about psychology that celebrates science and self delusion. In each episode, we explore what we've learned so far about reasoning, biases, judgments, and decision-making.