Robert Sapolsky | Father-Offspring Interviews

Latest Episodes:

Male Eradications; Autoimmune Contradictions | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews Aug 06, 2026

Show notes

Episode 123 of Father-Offspring Interviews. Topics in this episode include the relationship between the immune system, stress, and glucocorticoids, and why men keep coming close to being wiped out.

Social & Websites

Question Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolsky

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky

00:00 Intro

00:00:14 Question 1 (Autoimmunity, stress, and glucocorticoids)

00:15:17 Question 2 (Male Eradications)

Ape Laughter; Mirror Cells | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews Jul 30, 2026

Show notes

Episode 122 of Father-Offspring Interviews. Topics in this episode include the potential danger that is mirror cells, and whether other apes laugh like we do.

Social & Websites

Question Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolsky

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky

00:00 Intro

00:00:14 Question 1 (Mirror Cells)

00:16:58 Question 2 Part 1 (Ape Laughter)

The Truth About Peptides; Spelling Bees & Demographics | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews Jul 23, 2026

Show notes

Episode 121 of Father-Offspring Interviews. This episode discusses the recent craze that is peptides and whether they really help strength and muscle growth, and how one trains their brain for a Spelling Bee, along with how a trend in Bees reflects a larger pattern of demographics in the U.S.

Social & Websites

Question Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolsky

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky

00:00 Intro and Corrections

00:01:20 Question 1 (Peptides and muscle growth)

00:16:02 Question 2 Part 1 (Training for Spelling Bees)

00:25:52 Question 2 Part 2 (Bees and Demographic trends)

Biracial Identities; Intersectionality; Eye Floaters | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews Jul 16, 2026

Show notes

Episode 120 of Father-Offspring Interviews. Topics in this episode include how the amygdala processes “us” and “them” in biracial individuals, as well as in other cases of intersectional identities, and what the mysterious eye floaters we all see really are.

Social & Websites

Question Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolsky

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky

00:00 Intro

00:00:14 Question 1 (Biracial individuals and amygdala categorization)

00:28:32 Question 2 (Eye floaters)

Bad Boy Appeal; Human Speciation; “Shared” Genes | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews Jul 09, 2026

Show notes

Episode 119 of Father-Offspring Interviews. This episode includes discussion of whether humans will evolve into different subspecies, inter- versus intra- genetic similarities of species, and why so many people are so attracted to bad boys.

Social & Websites

Question Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolsky

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky

00:00 Intro

00:00:14 Question 1 (Will humans speciate?)

00:13:20 Question 2 (“Shared” genes)

00:20:27 Question 3 (The appeal of bad boys)

Armenian Genocide; Snake and Fish Cooperations | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews Jul 02, 2026

Show notes

Episode 118 of Father-Offspring Interviews. Topics in this episode include moral scrupulosity OCD and whether it may be rooted in intergenerational trauma, with the the Armenian Genocide as an example lens, and the (slightly terrifying) case of a snake and fish cooperative hunting technique.

BBC Krait and Trevally Clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO07dZWNtcc

Social & Websites

Question Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolsky

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky

00:00 Intro

00:00:14 Question 1 Part 1 (Moral scrupulosity OCD)

00:08:21 Q1 Part 2 (Armenian Genocide)

00:17:43 Q1 Part 3 (Intergenerational Trauma)

00:27:39 Question 2 (Snake and Fish Cooperative Hunting)

Plant Intelligence | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews Jun 25, 2026

Show notes

Episode 117 of Father-Offspring Interviews. This episode focuses on work around plant intelligence and the amazing – though often oversold – things plants do.

Social & Websites

Question Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolsky

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky

00:00 Intro

00:00:14 Plants Part 1

00:14:26 Part 2

00:22:48 Part 3

Handshakes; Marchetti’s Constant of Commuting | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews Jun 18, 2026

Show notes

Episode 116 of Father-Offspring Interviews. This episode includes discussion of Marchetti’s constant of human commuting, as well as why we humans shake hands and how other species do the same.

Social & Websites

Question Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolsky

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3OuG4UD

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4ibqCdF

00:00 Intro

00:00:14 Question 1 (Marchetti’s Constant and Commuting)

00:15:06 Question 2 (Handshakes)

Bird Language; Stress Eaters | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews Jun 11, 2026

Show notes

Episode 115 of Father-Offspring Interviews. Topics in this episode include why some people eat more and others eat less under stress, and groundbreaking work that has shown the complex language skills of birds.

Social & Websites

Question Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolsky

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3OuG4UD

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4ibqCdF

00:00 Intro

00:00:14 Question 1 (Stress and Eating)

00:20:10 Question 2 (Birds and Language)

Chimp Civil War; Bipolar II | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews Jun 04, 2026

Show notes

Episode 114 of Father-Offspring Interviews. This episode focuses on the difference between Bipolar I and II, and the chimp civil war that has recently made Scientific headlines.

Social & Websites

Question Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolsky

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky

00:00 Intro

00:00:37 Question 1 (Bipolar II)

00:08:47 Question 2 (Chimp Civil War)