Stanford Psychology Podcast

Stanford Psychology
  • 4.1 (117)
  • Social Sciences
  • Updated Weekly

The student-led Stanford Psychology Podcast invites leading psychologists to talk about what’s on their mind lately. Join Eric Neumann, Anjie Cao, Kate Petrova, Bella Fascendini,  Joseph Outa and Julia Rathmann-Bloch as they chat with their guests about their latest exciting work. Every week, an episode will bring you new findings from psychological science and how they can be applied to everyday life. The opinions and views expressed in this podcast represent those of the speaker and not necessarily Stanford's. Subscribe at stanfordpsypod.substack.com. Let us hear your thoughts at stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter @StanfordPsyPod. Visit our website https://stanfordpsychologypodcast.com. Soundtrack: Corey Zhou (UCSD). Logo: Sarah Wu (Stanford)

  1. Aug 7

    181 - Nomisha Kurian: Critical Hope for the Future of Children & AI

    Adani chats with Nomisha Kurian, Assistant Professor in Education Studies at the University of Warwick, Associate Fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, and Associate at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Research in Digital Education. Nomisha has been at the forefront of research on children’s safety and well-being, elucidating what it means for up-and-coming AI technologies to support children’s development and align with their best interests. She has also advised the UK Government Open Innovation Team, spearheaded policy briefs, and previously researched children’s rights law at Yale University. We discuss how a recently-viral NYT article relates to Nomisha’s frameworks for developmentally aligned AI, why we should have “critical hope” for the future, and learn more about the exciting things she’ll be releasing later this year! NYT feature – “What Parents in China See in A.I. Toys”:  https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/asia/100000010595407/china-ai-toy-chatbot.html  Nomisha’s framework on developmentally aligned AI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s44436-025-00009-z Nomisha’s further work: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wT89nlAAAAAJ Nomisha’s children’s book: https://nosycrow.com/book/university-of-cambridge-think-big-artificial-intelligence/  Adani’s website: https://www.adaniabutto.com Adani’s Bluesky @adani Podcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPod Podcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/ Let us know what you thought of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

    181 - Nomisha Kurian: Critical Hope for the Future of Children & AI

  2. Jul 24

    180 - Andrew Lampinen: Translating Cognitive Psychology to AI

    In this episode, Elizabeth chats with Dr. Andrew Lampinen as a part of our Alumni in Industry series. Andrew is currently a Member of Technical Staff at Anthropic. Prior to joining Anthropic, he worked as a Staff Research Scientist at Google DeepMind, and before that he earned his PhD here at Stanford and researched how humans are able to learn new things rapidly. His work bridges cognitive science and artificial intelligence, often with a focus on how the complex behaviors and representations of models, agents, or humans emerge from their learning experiences or data. In this episode, Dr. Lampinen shares his experiences in academia and industry and offers an insightful perspective on how these two research landscapes may be similar and different.  Andrew's website: https://lampinen.github.io/ Elizabeth’s: website: imelizabeth.github.io Elizabeth’s BlueSky: @imelizabeth.bsky.social Podcast BlueSky @StanfordPsyPod.bsky.social Podcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPod Podcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/ Let us know what you thought of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

    180 - Andrew Lampinen: Translating Cognitive Psychology to AI

  3. Jul 9

    179 - Cynthia Osborne: Translating Evidence Into Early Childhood Policy

    Adani chats with Cynthia Osborne, Professor at Vanderbilt University and Executive Director of the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center. Prof. Osborne’s work focuses on translating developmental science into effective, evidence-based policies for families and young children in the U.S. We discuss what the field of Early Childhood Policy entails, the ongoing work that Prof. Osborne and the Impact Center conduct, and why the first three years of childhood are so critical. Prof. Osborne also tells us about her path into her current work, how she built the Impact Center’s wonderful team, and what advice she would pass on to students seeking to bridge research and policy! Cynthia Osborne’s page: https://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/bio/cynthia-osborne/ Cynthia Osborne’s publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tRc8EmMAAAAJ Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center: https://pn3policy.org/ Policy Impact Calculator: https://pn3policy.org/policy-impact-calculator/ Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap: https://pn3policy.org/pn-3-state-policy-roadmap-2025/  Adani’s website: https://stanford.edu/~aabutto/ Adani’s Bluesky @adani Podcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPod Podcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/ Let us know what you thought of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

    179 - Cynthia Osborne: Translating Evidence Into Early Childhood Policy

  4. Jun 26

    178 - Julia Nolte: Why We Avoid Difficult Decisions

    This week, Enna chats with Dr. Julia Nolte, Assistant Professor of Economic Psychology at Tilburg University. Julia’s research examines how information management, risk perception, and decision-making change across adulthood. She is particularly interested in what keeps people, especially older adults, from making well-informed and high-quality decisions, and how we can better support people in making choices that align with their goals and values. In our conversation, Julia discusses how her early interest in theater sparked her interest in psychology, how she came to study aging and decision-making, and what her work can teach us about information avoidance, decision-making, and the very human challenge of choosing between imperfect options. Julia’s Website: https://www.julianolte.org/  Julia’s X: @Dr_Julia_Nolte Julia’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-nolte-8aa02b158/  Julia’s Paper: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0361073X.2025.2473849  Enna’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ennayuxuanchen/  Enna’s X: @EnnaYuxuanChen Podcast Contact: stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com  Podcast Twitter: @StanfordPsyPod Podcast Substack: https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/  Podcast Contact: stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

    178 - Julia Nolte: Why We Avoid Difficult Decisions

  5. Jun 12

    177 - Alison Gopnik: How Can Understanding Childhood Help Us Build Better AI? (REAIR)

    In this re-air (but more timely than ever!) episode from 2021, Anjie chats with Alison Gopnik, Professor at the Department of Psychology and Affiliate Professor at Department of Philosophy at UC Berkeley. Alison is not only a great cognitive scientist and philosopher who has made many groundbreaking contributions to the field, but also a great science communicator. Alison authored multiple bestselling books, including The Scientist in the Crib, The Philosophical Baby, The Gardener, and the Carpenter. She also writes widely about cognitive science and psychology for multiple national outlets including the NYT, the Atlantic, and so on. In this episode, we discussed one of her recent review pieces on the role of childhood in solving the explore-exploit dilemma, a challenge to contemporary artificial intelligence. Alison's lab website: https://www.gopniklab.berkeley.edu/ Alison's paper: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2019.0502 Alison's Twitter: @AlisonGopnik Podcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPod Podcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/ Let us know what you thought of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

    177 - Alison Gopnik: How Can Understanding Childhood Help Us Build Better AI? (REAIR)

  6. May 30

    176 - Elizabeth Bonawitz: How to Have Fun While Studying How Children Learn so Much From so Little

    Adani chats with Elizabeth Bonawitz, Professor of Learning Sciences at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Elizabeth’s work focuses on basic theories of learning with the broader goal of informing educational practice. She uses computational, behavioral, and neural methods to study a broad variety of things within cognitive development, from children’s curiosity and belief revision to their exploration and play. We discuss Elizabeth’s view of cognitive development research and, most importantly, the secret formula behind her great academic paper titles and funny talks. Elizabeth also tells us about her path into science and what she’s most excited for next! Elizabeth’s lab page: https://ccdlab.hsites.harvard.edu/people/elizabeth-bonawitz Elizabeth’s publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MA7j1gkAAAAJ Susan Carey’s paper, ‘Science Education as Conceptual Change’: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0193-3973(99)00046-5 Adani’s website: https://www.adaniabutto.com Adani’s Bluesky @adani Podcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPod Podcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/ Let us know what you thought of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

    176 - Elizabeth Bonawitz: How to Have Fun While Studying How Children Learn so Much From so Little

  7. May 14

    175 - Nicholas Epley: A Little More Social

    Nick Epley is the John Templeton Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. He studies social cognition—how thinking people think about other thinking people—to understand why smart people so routinely misunderstand each other. Nick is one of the “World’s Best 40 under 40 Business School Professors” by Poets and Quants. He just published his second book for a popular audience called "A Little More Social." In this episode, Eric and Nick talk about "undersociality," the key idea in his latest book. Are we being less social than is good for us? How can we learn to connect, especially when it feels effortful? Can we be too social as well? How can we learn more about ourselves when we connect with others? What are the methodological limitations of Nick's work? Book: https://sites.prh.com/a-little-more-social Nick's Website: https://www.nicholasepley.com/ Podcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPod Podcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/ Let us know what you think of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

    175 - Nicholas Epley: A Little More Social

  8. Apr 17

    174 - Amit Goldenberg: Collective Emotions and Social Media (REAIR)

    In this reair episode from 2023, Eric chats with Amit Goldenberg, Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Amit studies emotions in social interactions, for example in political contexts and on social media. He was a journalist and author before becoming an academic. In this episode, Eric and Amit talk about how emotions operate in groups. Do crowds easily go “mad”? What emotions spread faster in groups? Why are we drawn to people more politically extreme than us? How is social media shaping our emotions and political behavior? Finally, Amit shares his journey from being a journalist to being a psychologist at a business school. JOIN OUR SUBSTACK! Stay up to date with the pod and become part of the ever-growing community :) https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/ If you found this episode interesting at all, consider leaving us a good rating! It just takes a second but will allow us to reach more people and make them excited about psychology. Links: Amit's paper on collective emotions Amit's paper on why we are attracted to morally extreme individuals Amit's website Eric's website Eric's Twitter @EricNeumannPsy Podcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPod Podcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/ Let us know what you think of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

    174 - Amit Goldenberg: Collective Emotions and Social Media (REAIR)
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4.1
out of 5
117 Ratings

About

The student-led Stanford Psychology Podcast invites leading psychologists to talk about what’s on their mind lately. Join Eric Neumann, Anjie Cao, Kate Petrova, Bella Fascendini,  Joseph Outa and Julia Rathmann-Bloch as they chat with their guests about their latest exciting work. Every week, an episode will bring you new findings from psychological science and how they can be applied to everyday life. The opinions and views expressed in this podcast represent those of the speaker and not necessarily Stanford's. Subscribe at stanfordpsypod.substack.com. Let us hear your thoughts at stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter @StanfordPsyPod. Visit our website https://stanfordpsychologypodcast.com. Soundtrack: Corey Zhou (UCSD). Logo: Sarah Wu (Stanford)

Information

  • Creator
    Stanford Psychology
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    182
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Stanford Psychology Podcast
  • Show Website
    Stanford Psychology Podcast

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