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

Latest Episodes:

The Psychology of Cultural Evolution with Olivier Morin Oct 20, 2026

Show notes

Is cultural evolution a blind process, or one intrinsically impacted by individual cognition and insight? Olivier Morin (CNRS Jean Nicod) simultaneously pulls no punches while remaining distinctly nonpartisan as we traverse these and other murky waters. Topics include the shape of violin sound holes, the cultural evolution of writing, rituals, economic assumptions, linguistic streamlining, and the cultural evolution of intellectuals.

More about Olivier Morin:

https://sites.google.com/site/sitedoliviermorin/

Ecology and Social Connections with Kathrine Starkweather Oct 13, 2026

Show notes

How do we remain resilient and flexible under difficult conditions? In this episode, we talk to Katie Starkweather (UCSB) about her work with the Shodagor, who spend appreciable amounts of life living on small boats in rural Bangladesh. Topics include: what is life like living on a small boat?, loneliness, social roles, division of labor, and how things like weather and ecology create and also put up barriers to social connection. Oh, and we talk about Coase and transaction costs (for all you Ronald Coase fans out there).

More about Katie Starkweather:

https://kathrinestarkweather.com/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ftzkN60AAAAJ&hl=en

The Extended, Cooperative Phenotype with Athena Aktipis Oct 06, 2026

Show notes

They say that if you do what you love you never have to work a day in your life. In this episode, polymath Athena Aktipis (ASU) shares her enthusiasm and love for all things cooperative. Topics include music, Zombies, borderline personality, vibeing, alignment, cooperative energy, how not to build an institution, and how to capture the magic of musicians jamming together. We dare you to not feel inspired!

More about Athena Atkipis:

https://www.athenaaktipis.org/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=8abR970AAAAJ&hl=en

More about Pickin' in the Pines:

https://pickininthepines.org/

Moral Progress with Hanno Sauer Sep 29, 2026

Show notes

Philosopher of Ethics and Politics Hanno Sauer (Utrecht) examines whether moral progress is all its cracked up to be. Topics include social class, being slightly more moral than others, rationalization costs, the relationship between intellectuals and power, and the tolerated scrounging of morality.

https://www.uu.nl/staff/HCSauer

https://philpeople.org/profiles/hanno-sauer

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=n0djnuAAAAAJ&hl=de

Magic, Shamanism, and the Scale of Cooperation with Manvir Singh Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

This week, we talk about ice-age megafauna, Shamansim, magic, and the scale of ancestral cooperation with Manvir Singh (UC Davis).

More about Manvir:
https://www.manvir.org/

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

https://anthropology.ucdavis.edu/people/manvir-singh

Politics with Antoine Marie Sep 15, 2026

Show notes

We're Back! This week, we (well, David) talks with Antoine Marie (Paris) about all things politics.

More about Antoine:

https://www.antoinemariesci.com/

https://www.sciencespo.fr/cevipof/en/directory/marie-antoine/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=immG3K4AAAAJ&hl=en

Summer Break! Jul 14, 2026

Show notes

We will be on a much-needed summer break for the next four weeks; returning on August 18th with a slew of fresh, new episodes. Thank you all for listening!

Stories with Michelle Sugiyama Jul 07, 2026

Show notes

Sit back and relax as we tell you a story about....well....stories. In this episode, we talk with Michelle Sugiyama (U Oregon), who explores human nature through the lens of understanding how, when, and why we decide to tell each other stories. Other topics include the function of name labels, whether enjoying fiction is a byproduct or adaptation, history, propaganda, and how songs help us learn.

More about Michelle Sugiyama:
https://talkingstories.uoregon.edu/

https://blogs.uoregon.edu/humananimallab/

https://cas.uoregon.edu/directory/social-sciences/all/mscalise

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=_7XnIB0AAAAJ&hl=en

Mechanism, Function, and Philsophy of Science with Lauren Ross Jun 30, 2026

Show notes

What is a mechanism? Are claims about function doomed to fail? And why are explanations in psychology and human behavior so fraught and contested? We pose these and other mysteries to one the shining stars in modern philosophy of science, Lauren Ross (UC Irvine). Other topics include how philosophers are kind of like therapists, how modern philosophy of science thinks about grand explanations of everything, reductionism, and why what's happening in psychology is reassuringly not new under the scientific sun.

More about Lauren Ross:

https://sites.socsci.uci.edu/~rossl/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MR__Y0AAAAAJ&hl=en

Producing Belief with Pascal Boyer Jun 23, 2026

Show notes

Pascal Boyer (St. Louis) is one of the greats! We talk about his shifting thinking in terms of belief selection to belief production, and why this is a subversive idea. Other topics include birthdays, shamanism and magic, and why we should remain optimistic about the future of science.

More about Pascal Boyer:
http://www.pascalboyer.net/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7OaZg10AAAAJ&hl=en

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal_Boyer

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