The Psych Files Wizzard Media

I’ve decided, after 13 years, to bring the show to a close. Time to move on to other things. It’s been great, I’ve learned so much and I wanted to thank all of my listeners! Take care. - Michael

Do you like to bungee jump? Perhaps you’re into parachuting or wing suit flying? If so, you’re probably a “high sensation seeker”. In this fascinating interview with Dr. Kenneth Carter, author of the new book “Buzz!”, we talk about what kind of personality a sensation seeker has and what it’s like to be in a relationship with someone like this.
Here's where you can learn more about Buzz! on the Cambridge.org site. (http://www.cambridge.org/buzz)
Don't forget to use the promo code CARTER to get 20% off!

Music researchers analyzed over 700 top Billboard songs (which included examining over 80,000 chords) and they determined that the “Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da” is the most appealing song ever written. How in the world, you might ask, did they choose that (some would say annoying) song?! Let’s find out how two key ingredients - surprise and uncertainty - combine to create songs that you really like to hear over and over.

In movies and TV, women are understandably tired of playing roles like the “Wife” or the “Girlfriend”. Nowadays we’re seeing more women in film and TV but has their role in the production really changed all that much? That’s what the “Bechdel test” is all about.  It’s not a test per se but rather a few questions to help you determine whether the women in that movie, TV show, play, or book are characters with agency, or are just there to fill out the background for what the male characters do. In this episode I talk with Bard professor Wendy Urban-Mead about this Bechdel test and what it says about Shakespeare’s plays and a play that she’s appearing in called “The Women”, a play featuring 35 female characters – and no males. Does it pass the Bechdel test?
Resources
Bechdel test (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test)
MISUSE AND ABUSE OF THE BECHDEL TEST (https://onionandartichoke.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/misuse-and-abuse-of-the-bechdel-test/)

Have you ever heard someone say that they don’t think that women can be funny? I have to admit that I didn’t hear that until recently, so I looked at some of the research on gender and perceptions of humor. I think you’ll be surprised. In this episode I summarize some of that research and I give you four jokes and a handy way to remember jokes.

Another violent act in America. Another man who committed it. Why Is it that men in our society are the ones who usually carry out violent acts? Is it how we bring up boys? Or is there another influence - genes. I was lucky enough to get professor Steve Stewart-Williams, author of the book The Ape That Understood the Universe, so come back to the show and share more about the evolutionary Psychology perspective on this complex issue. And by the way, you can use the promo code APE20 to purchase this book at Cambridge University Press at a 20 percent discount. You’re going to find this discussion very interesting.
Buy the book here at a discount! (http://www.cambridge.org/apethatunderstood)