The Psychosphere

Melanie Challenger
  • 4.5 (8)
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The Psychosphere

What is it like to be an octopus or an elephant? What kinds of minds and perceptions do they have and how can we understand these other worlds? Why do living beings behave so differently to the material world that surrounds them? And how did all this remarkable, intelligent life emerge in the first place? If you are interested in these questions, join writer and broadcaster, Melanie Challenger, in conversation with some of the world's foremost scientists and philosophers as they enter The Psychosphere...The world won't look the same again.

  1. EPISODE 1

    Origins of Purpose

    Join Melanie in conversation with neurobiologist, Kevin Mitchell, as they discuss how animals came to behave in intelligent, purposeful ways, and why this matters. Kevin is Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin. He blogs at Wiring the Brain and Tweets at: @WiringtheBrain. Books include INNATE – How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are (2018) and Free Agents: How Evolution Gave us Free Will (2023).

    50 min

  2. EPISODE 2

    Green intelligencies

    This week, Melanie is joined by plant scientist Paco Calvo to discuss the intelligence of the greenery that surrounds us. Are plants intelligent and how can we understand or study this? Paco is the head of the MINT (Minimal Intelligence) lab and a leading figure in the philosophy of plant behavior and signalling (plant neurobiology). He is also a philosopher concerned with issues at the intersection of plant biology and cognitive science. He is the author of the book Planta Sapiens: Unmasking Plant Intelligence (2022).

    53 min

  3. EPISODE 3

    Cognition all the way down

    Together with world-renowned philosopher, Daniel Dennett, and biologist, Michael Levin, Melanie discusses the idea that the intelligence and agency of a living being may be better understood as distributed or present throughout the body of an organism. You can find out more about their work at Tufts University, and read about their ideas on Cognition All the Way Down here.

    41 min

  4. EPISODE 4

    Mind Molding

    How smart is a slime mould? In this episode, Melanie is joined by Nirosha Murugan to discuss the weird and wonderful lives of slime moulds. Nirosha is Assistant Professor in the Health Sciences department at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada, where she studies tissue biophysics and cancer biology. In her prior work, she studied regenerative biology and comparative cognition, with a focus on slime moulds, an almost unclassifiable set of single cell organisms, famed for their seemingly paradoxical abilities to be intelligent in the absence of a brain... You can learn more about Nirosha here.

    34 min

  5. EPISODE 4

    Out of the Blue

    A discussion on the intelligence of octopuses and cuttlefish, and on the origins of consciousness, with celebrated writer and philosopher, Peter Godfrey-Smith. Peter is Professor in the School of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Sydney. He is the author, among others, of Other Minds and Metazoa. You can read more about his work here: https://petergodfreysmith.com/

    31 min

  6. EPISODE 6

    Pigs might fly

    In this episode, Melanie discusses animal minds and animal ethics with Professor Francoise Wemelsfelder. Francoise is Professor of Animal Behaviour and Welfare at Scotland's Rural College. She pioneered a methodology for the study of animal expressivity (body language) and subjective experience, generally referred to as ‘Qualitative Behaviour Assessment’ (QBA). Her research focuses on the application of this method as a practical tool for welfare assessment and management in farm, zoo, and companion animals. Research interests associated with this work are animal boredom and environmental enrichment.

    52 min

  7. EPISODE 7

    Group think

    Melanie discusses group psychology and the psychological bases of racism with psychologist Steven Roberts. Roberts is Associate Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. You can find out more about his work here: https://profiles.stanford.edu/177091

    44 min

  8. EPISODE 8

    Neanderthal neurons

    Bestselling author and self-confessed flint-knapping nerd, Rebecca Wragg-Sykes discusses her research on neanderthals with Melanie. Why were our fellow humans dismissed as a brute, dumb creature for so long, and what can recent research tell us about the minds of this lost but separate species of human? Rebecca is the author of Kindred: Neanderthal life, love, death and art, and her work can be found at: https://www.rebeccawraggsykes.com/

    52 min
See All Season 1 (23)

Ratings & Reviews

4.5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

What is it like to be an octopus or an elephant? What kinds of minds and perceptions do they have and how can we understand these other worlds? Why do living beings behave so differently to the material world that surrounds them? And how did all this remarkable, intelligent life emerge in the first place? If you are interested in these questions, join writer and broadcaster, Melanie Challenger, in conversation with some of the world's foremost scientists and philosophers as they enter The Psychosphere...The world won't look the same again.

Information

  • Creator
    Melanie Challenger
  • Episodes
    23
  • Seasons
    1
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright Melanie Challenger
  • Show Website
    The Psychosphere

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