Mixed Mental Arts

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Ep118 - Dr. Paul Offit Apr 17, 2014

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Paul A. Offit, MD is the Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. In addition, Dr. Offit is the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology and a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He is a recipient of many awards including the J. Edmund Bradley Prize for Excellence in Pediatrics from the University of Maryland Medical School, the Young Investigator Award in Vaccine Development from the Infectious Disease Society of America, and a Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health. Be sure to rate and comment in iTunes.

Ep117 - Bert Vaux Apr 14, 2014

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While a Professor at Harvard University, Bert Vaux noticed that within a week students were suppressing their accents in order to blend in on campus. What intrigued Bert was that even though students were trying to cover up their accents, very often the words they used would give away where they were from. People from New Jersey would casually refer to the night before Hallowe'en as mischief night. Bostonians thought everybody called a water fountain a bubbler. And what people from Seattle called a potato bug was obviously called a roly poly to Kansans. So, in 2002, Bert created a survey to discern these patterns. After collecting data for over a decade, they went viral last year. If you saw a bunch of dialect maps floating around on The New York Times, The Today Show, Business Insider, Huff Po, or Facebook or had a conversation about what you call something or other in your part of the country, you have already experienced the work of Bert Vaux. (More on all the places the survey showed up here) Since millions of people have now taken the survey, there's a good chance you've even taken it. In this episode, Bryan, Hunter and Bert discuss why language and dialect are so continuously fascinating to people: they represent identity. We use language and dialect to mark our identity. Although our word choices, grammatical choices and how we choose to pronounce words are often unconscious, they are of vital significance for how we see ourselves and how we are seen by others. To find out what your accent says about you, visit by clicking here and take Bert's dialect quiz. An abbreviated version was featured by The New York Times, click here. Bert Vaux is currently a professor at Cambridge University. He's very excited to have just become a dad!

Ep116 - John Perkins Apr 10, 2014

Show notes

Within its first week of publication, Confessions of An Economic Hitman hit #1 on Amazon. Then it hit The New York Times bestseller list. Within five weeks of its release, Confessions of An Economic Hitman was already in its fifth printing. In it, Perkins tells how as a consultant for one of the world's most prominent firms he knowingly engaged in a subtle but deliberate strategy designed to extract the wealth of people far less fortunate than him. Perkins' tale of unrestricted corporate greed working in collusion with a Machiavellian US government has resonated strongly with a broad audience especially in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. However, it has met with strong criticism from prestige media outlets like The New York Times and government agencies. Notably, Sebastian Mallaby, writing in The Washington Post, insisted that Mr. Perkins' "basic contentions are flat wrong." In a 2006 rebuttal, the State Department claimed that the book "appears to be a total fabrication." Then again, given the criticism that Mr. Perkins sends the State Department's way, you could hardly expect them to be asking for signed copies. Be sure to rate and comment in iTunes.

Ep115 - Lindsey Davis Apr 07, 2014

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Lindsey Davis describes herself modestly as "an English Lady Pensioner." She is certainly an English Lady, but as an author she is far too prolific to fit any definition of the word retired. The author of 27 books, Davis' most famous creation is Marcus Didius Falco, a series of detective novels set in Ancient Rome. Although she wins high marks from classicists—she was named honorary President of the Classical society and has been invited to speak at places like the Getty Villa—she balks at the idea that even the merest suggestion that the Falco novels filled rich details about every aspect of Roman life might be described as "educational." Instead, she insists they're entertainment. That they are. In this interview, we talk to Ms Davis about the reasons for the enduring popularity of the detective genre and why she resonated with the Roman Empire as a backdrop for her novels. (The answers will surprise you.) Currently, Ms Davis is writing books in a spin-off series about Falco's daughter who is also a detective. You can find Ms Davis on the web at www.lindseydavis.co.uk. All 27 of her books are available on Amazon. If you're looking for a place to explore her work there's no better place than with The Silver Pigs, the award-winning first novel in the Falco series. Be sure to rate and comment in iTunes.

Ep114 - Randall Slavin Apr 03, 2014

Show notes

Bryan sits down with good friend and famed photographer, Randall Slavin. He has taken photos of some of the finest actors and entertainers in the game today. Check out his website, visit randallslavin.com. Be sure to rate and comment in iTunes.

Ep113 - Jerry Coyne Mar 31, 2014

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Jerry Coyne is a professor of biology at the University of Chicago and the author of the brilliantly articulate Why Evolution is True. Piece by piece, Coyne lays out the overwhelming support for evolution. In this interview Professor Coyne explains to us not only why evolution is true but why religion or a desire for mystery causes so many people to reject well-established science. Far from decreasing our sense of wonder, evolution increases our ability to marvel at the natural world. Professor Coyne said it so brilliantly in his book, we'll share a little excerpt here: But there is even more cause for wonder. For the process of evolution—natural selection, the mechanism that drove the first named replicating molecule into the diversity of millions of fossil and living forms—is mechanism of staggering simplicity and beauty. And only those who understand it can experience the awe that comes with realizing how such a straightforward process could yield features as divers as the flower of the orchid, the wing of the bat, and the tail of the peacock. Again in The Origin, Darwin—imbued with Victorian paternalism—described this feeling: "When we no longer look at an organic being as a savage looks at a ship, as at something wholly beyond his comprehension; when we regard every production of nature as one which has had a history; when we contemplate every complex structure and instinct as the summing up of many contrivances, each useful to the possessor, nearly in the same way as when we look at any great mechanical invention as the summing up of the labour, the experience, the reason, and even the blunders of numerous workmen; when we thus view each organic being, how far more interesting, I speak from experience, will the study of natural history become!" Pretty amazing, huh? For more on Professor Coyne's work, you can visit him on the web at whyevolutionistrue.com or follow him on twitter at @evolutionistrue. Why Evolution is True is available everywhere, but if you buy it by clicking on the Amazon link here you'll be supporting the show.

Ep112 - Greg Fitzsimmons Mar 27, 2014

Show notes

Bryan sits down with comedian and Podcaster, Greg Fitzsimmons. Greg was born in New York City, New York, to New York City radio personality Bob Fitzsimmons, and Patricia (née McCarthy) Fitzsimmons. He grew up in Tarrytown, New York. He began his stand up comedy career while attending Boston University. Fitzsimmons has since appeared on such programs as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Chelsea Lately and Comedy Central Presents. In 1996, Greg hosted the MTV game show Idiot Savants. He is also a regular commentator on Vh1's Best Week Ever and I Love The series.

Ep111 - Jim Duane Mar 24, 2014

Show notes

"Wanna know about wine and why it's good for your health? Jim Duane, wine maker for Seavey Vineyards sits me down and talks about how you get a world class Cabernet and what it takes to make something this perfect (and expensive) He will surprise you. At least he did me. Be sure to rate and comment in iTunes.

Ep110 - Christian Lander Mar 20, 2014

Show notes

In January 2008, Christian Lander created a blog that gave a voice to people who already have way more than their fair share of a say in how the world is run. Stuff White People Like took a close look at just what makes white people happy. Why do white people love coffee and Ray Ban's and picking their own fruit? What is it about hating people who wear Ed Hardy that makes palefaces so happy? Christian Lander has those answers and more. In this interview, Christian helps Bryan figure out just how white he is with the help of his NY-Times bestselling book Stuff White People Like: The Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions and its sequel Whiter Shades of Pale: The Stuff White People Like, Coast to Coast from Seattle's Sweaters to Maine's Microbrews. Both books are available everywhere!!!

Ep109 - William Bernstein Mar 17, 2014

Show notes

Although William Bernstein has an MD and a PhD in Chemistry, he began his career in neuroscience before deciding to become a financial investor and an author of historical books. Safe to say, he's exactly the sort of guest we love to have on The Bryan Callen Show. Although he's written several books, today's podcast focuses primarily on The Birth of Plenty: How the Prosperity of the Modern World was Created. In the last few hundred years, the average wealth of a resident of planet earth has increased astronomically. Bernstein lays out for us the four factors that he argues drove that innovation. In today's episode, Dr. Bernstein (aka Bill), Hunter and Bryan discuss how the world achieved its modern prosperity and how we can use these four factors to drive further prosperity generation around the world. Dr. Bernstein (aka Bill) is the author of three of the best history books you'll ever read: The Birth of Plenty: How the Prosperity of the Modern World was Created, A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World from Prehistory to Today, Masters of the Word: How Media Shaped History. He's also the author of an investing book called The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio that Big Mike "Bryan's Dad" Callen "best investment book ever produced for the lay person." Pretty impressed right now. Dr. Bernstein (aka Bill) is on the web at http://www.efficientfrontier.com/.

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