Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) - Dave Pietraszewski & David Pinsof

Latest Episodes:

Health and the Shuar Project with Josh Snodgrass Jun 16, 2026

Show notes

Is leaving a hunter horticultural lifestyle for a more westernized, market economy good or bad for one's health? And what does it take to run a field site? In this episode we talk to Josh Snodgrass (Oregon), one of the co-directors of the Shuar Project, and an expert on the consequences of transitioning from a more traditional to market subsistence on one's existence and health. Turns out: it's complicated!

More about Josh Snodgrass:

https://www.pinniped.net/snodgrass.html

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EADPtvQAAAAJ&hl=en

https://cas.uoregon.edu/directory/profiles/all/jjosh

Cooperation in the field with Kris Smith Jun 09, 2026

Show notes

Do we choose how we choose others? Kris Smith gives us a tour of his fieldwork in across Tanzania, from the arid plains of Hadza Land to the shores of village fisheries, Kris explains what he's learned about understand partner choice, levels of cooperation, and how the local way of making a living. Kris also explains what mistakes new students often make in the field, the effects of social mobility, the difficulties of abstract measures across cultures, and how not to avoid mosquitos in the field.

More about Kris Smith:

https://anthro.wsu.edu/faculty/wsu-profile/kristopher.m.smith/

https://www.kristophermsmith.com/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AXOcqSIAAAAJ&hl=en

Pathogens with Josh Ackerman Jun 02, 2026

Show notes

How does our evolved psychology deal with pathogens? Can other people tell when you're sick? What's the relationship between worrying about sickness and your social network? Do you stay in or go out when you're sick? Love 'em or hate 'em, pathogens are a part of life and an extreme selection pressure, and our guest Josh Ackerman (UMichigan) gives us the in's and out's of how our minds deal with and are dealt with by this tiny microscopic critters.

More about Josh Ackerman:

https://lsa.umich.edu/psych/people/faculty/joshack.html

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=w3nbv6UAAAAJ&hl=en

Design with Dave & David May 26, 2026

Show notes

We are all still recovering from the HBES conference in Morocco. So, in this half-length episode the David's discuss a listener comment about whether natural selection "designs" anything, and whether it is a mistake to talk and think in that way. We also hear from previous guest Greg Bryant in a mini-interview from HBES. Have a great week!

CES & HBES 2026 mini-episode May 19, 2026

Show notes

This week features a special mini-episode, fresh off the presses from our trip to the Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES) conference in Rabat, Morocco. We (briefly) talk with Bret Beheim (Max Planck Leipzig), Cristina Moya (UC Davis), and Brian Wood (UCLA). Also, this episode marks one year of the podcast!

More about Brian Wood:

https://anthro.ucla.edu/person/brian-wood/

http://brianwoodresearch.com/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=oRH6SiEAAAAJ&hl=en

Evolutionary Social Psychology with Steve Neuberg May 12, 2026

Show notes

Steve Neuberg (ASU) takes us on a professional and personal journey, explaining what it means to straddle two different sub-disciplines with grace, tact, and not a little bit of success. Topics include: the specificity of discrimination and stereotyping, the difference between going phenomenon vs. adaptive problem first in one's approach, why it's useful to give the benefit of the doubt, and what Steve's newest venture is. A fun, thoughtful, and wide-ranging conversation.

More about Steve:

https://psychology.asu.edu/research/labs/evolution-ecology-social-behavior

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=98Zaz2MAAAAJ&hl=en

https://search.asu.edu/profile/11074

The Yanamamo and Nap Chagnon with Ray Hames May 05, 2026

Show notes

Ray Hames, along with guest-host Zach Garfield, discusses his time with the Yanamamo, being a student of Napoleon Chagnon, and what it was like to be in the early, 2nd generation of anthropologists applying evolution to human behavior. Topics include hunting, the history of sociobiology, human behavioral ecology, and evolutionary psychology, attitudes about indigenous populations, the elderly, sexual orientation, and the darkness in Eldorado hoax.

More about Ray Hames:

https://rhames.unl.edu/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=BZ98oywAAAAJ&hl=en

https://www.nasonline.org/directory-entry/raymond-b-hames-srcedw/

Sex and Gender with Dan Conroy-Beam Apr 28, 2026

Show notes

What is sex? What is gender? These are big, weighty questions with not a few societal and political tensions involved. Who better to guide us through this morass than Dan Conroy-Beam (UCSB)? Get ready for a clear-minded, derived-from-first-principles tour of the evolution of sex, sex roles, and gender. Other topics include the culture vs. biology distinction, mentors, friends, what agent based modeling is, and why it's not self-indulgent to model the evolution of sex.

More about Dan Conroy-Beam:

https://www.danconroybeam.com/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ifQUQssAAAAJ&hl=en

https://psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/daniel-conroy-beam

Revenge and Forgiveness with Mike McCullough Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

Revenge, forgiveness, morality. Join us and our guest Mike McCullough (UC San Diego) as we navigate the deep cost/benefit structure of the social world. Topics include what punishment really is, why we should respect revenge, why victims may sometimes not seek help, and why times heals all wounds.

More about Mike McCullough:

https://www.michael-mccullough.com/

https://psychology.ucsd.edu/people/profiles/mmccullough.html

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZyAttkAAAAAJ&hl=en

Causality with Tadeg Quillien Apr 14, 2026

Show notes

Causality is....well...causality...it's hard to explain. And that's exactly what Tadeg Quillien (Edinburgh) does: figure out what the heck causality is, and how our mind does it. Other topics include domain generality vs. specificity, counterfactuals, relevance, morality, beliefs and theory of mind, and what it means to be computational, and how David Hume was pretty cool.

More about Tadeg Quillien:

https://quillienlab.github.io/people/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7h0VM_kAAAAJ&hl=fr

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