Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) &#8211; Dave Pietraszewski &amp; David Pinsof

More about Dave Pietraszewski:

https://psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/annie-e-wertz

Plants, Infants, and the Evolution of Social Learning with Annie Wertz Aug 26, 2025

Show notes

Plants are mini chemical weapon factories! Learning and evolution are not opposed! This week, Annie Wertz (UCSB) joins us to describe her groundbreaking world on the evolutionary psychology of what babies know about plants, and how infants selectively use social information to guide their interactions with them. A lovely example of how adopting an evolutionary perspective inspires new areas of research, and a good example of how evolution builds learning mechanisms.

More about Annie Wertz:

https://lilac.psych.ucsb.edu/

Cooperation with Pat Barclay Aug 19, 2025

Show notes

Pat Barclay (Guelph) joins us to discuss his work solving the mysteries of the evolution of cooperation. Pat is a wonderful human being and an exceptional scientist, whose work is at the forefront of understanding how and why we solve the problem of cooperation as a species.

More about Pat Barclay:

http://patbarclay.com/

More about David Pinsof:

More about Dave Pietraszewski:

https://anthro.vancouver.wsu.edu/people/hagen/

Drugs, Delusions, and Depression with Ed Hagen Aug 12, 2025

Show notes

Why would a mind ever be delusional or depressed, and can we understand these as functional or maladaptive outcomes? Why do humans take drugs, and why do plants make them in the first place? (And why might the answer to the second question also answer the first?) Join us on a fun, wide-ranging conversation with guest Ed Hagen (Washington State, Vancouver) one of evolutionary psychology’s most encyclopedic minds.

More about Ed Hagen:

https://blog.edhagen.net/

Evolutionary Psychology FAQ:

https://grasshoppermouse.github.io/evpsychfaq/

More about David Pinsof:
https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/

https://sites.google.com/site/cristinasolermoya/pubs?authuser=0

More about Dave Pietraszewski:
https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski

Conspiracy Theories and Group Boundaries with Cristina Moya Aug 05, 2025

Show notes

Guest Cristina Moya (UC Davis) is one of our favorite evolutionary behavioral scientists. In this episode, we discuss her work in Peru on ethnolinguistic group boundaries, why we all believe crazy things, and what the lay of the land is in the evolutionary behavioral sciences.

More about Cristina Moya:

https://anthropology.ucdavis.edu/people/cristina-moya

More about David Pinsof:

More about Dave Pietraszewski:

https://anthro.fullerton.edu/People/BrendaBowser.aspx

Thoughtful Warriors with Brenda Bowser Jul 29, 2025

Show notes

Guest Brenda Bowser (CalState Fullerton) recounts a life spent studying conflict and politics in Canambo, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, with her late husband and colleague John Q. Patton. Brenda shares first and second hand accounts of incredible events (including death by phantasm), and how she thinks about status, violence, and conflict, and how these relate to our connections with others. One of our most memorable episodes!

More about Brenda Bowser:

https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/the-amazonian-house/

More about John Q. Patton:

https://news.fullerton.edu/2024/11/anthropology-scholars-students-host-symposium-to-honor-late-professor/

https://anthro.fullerton.edu/People/JohnPatton.aspx

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NkJttDkP2ZID-a7HSgUNzIfSOlMnQ51I/view?usp=drive_link

John Q. Patton Memorial Symposium:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KRRcx00RJmWI6VKcwGs8ms29lRNnP-5oY6VIPqeEkNg/edit?tab=t.0

Egalitarianism in the Amazon with Chris Von Rueden Jul 22, 2025

Show notes

Egalitarianism is not what you think it is! Guest Chris Von Rueden (URichmond) has wrapped his head around what egalitarianism is and shares his insights and what he’s learned living with and studying the Tsimane, hunter horticulturists in the Bolivian rainforest. TL;DR: How to make a more just society requires respecting the complexity of our evolved psychology.

More about Chris Von Rueden:
https://sites.google.com/site/chrisvonrueden/home

Tsimane Health and Life History Project:
https://tsimane.anth.ucsb.edu/

More about David Pinsof:
https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=OhbXo2kAAAAJ&hl=en

More about Dave Pietraszewski:
https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski

Disgust, Morality, and Kinship with Deb Lieberman Jul 15, 2025

Show notes

Why do we appeal to disgust when we moralize, and why do we moralize what we find disgusting? Guest Deb Lieberman (UMiami) explains why our human propensity to gang up on others may be driving a lot of our moral sentiments, and why she gets uncomfortable when people appeal to disgust to argue for what is right and wrong.

More about Debra Lieberman:

https://people.miami.edu/profile/820e96aef57fc53a0625013a86f7ecee

https://www.amazon.com/Objection-Disgust-Morality-Debra-Lieberman/dp/0190491299

More about David Pinsof:

More about Dave Pietraszewski:

https://www.michaelmoncrieff.com/

Terrorism, Drag Queens, and International Humanitarian Law with Michael Moncrieff Jul 08, 2025

Show notes

From offering the UN insights into the psychology of terrorists to interviewing victims of war-torn Croatia, guest Michael Moncrieff has seen a lot of life and yet remains hopeful. Dave wonders aloud why we are so blind to the civilian impacts of war and David and Michael discuss predatory rationality. Michael explains the history of the drag-queen phenomenon from an evolutionary psychological perspective.

More about Michael Moncrieff:

More about David Pinsof:

More about Dave Pietraszewski: