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Human Potential Lab — Education
Human Potential Lab

For eleven years and 478 episodes, Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman hosted The Psychology Podcast, one of the most listened-to psychology shows in the world, with more than 30 million downloads. Human Potential Lab is what that show has become.

The questions have moved. What is a mind? What makes something conscious? What happens to being human when the things we build start to look like minds themselves? Too much of the work is happening out of public view. In this new show, Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman sits down with the scientists, philosophers and technologists working at the frontier — the people whose work is actively deciding what we could become as a species.

Scott Barry Kaufman is a cognitive scientist and the founder of the Center for Human Potential. He holds a Ph.D. from Yale and an M.Phil. from Cambridge, has taught at Columbia, NYU and the University of Pennsylvania, and is the author or editor of twelve books, including Transcend, Ungifted, Wired to Create and Rise Above. New episodes every other week from October 28, 2026.

Copyright: © 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia

Latest Episodes:

Molly Crockett || Moral Outrage in the Digital Age Apr 04, 2019

Show notes

Today it’s a pleasure to have Molly Crockett on the podcast. Dr. Crockett is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Yale University and a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Neuroethics. Prior to joining Yale, Dr Crockett was a faculty member at the University of Oxford’s Department of Experimental Psychology and a Fellow of Jesus College. She holds a BSc in Neuroscience from UCLA and a PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of Cambridge, and completed a Wellcome Trust Postdoctoral Fellowship with economists and neuroscientists at the University of Zürich and University College London.

In this episode we discuss:

The discrepancy between outrage in real life vs. online outrage
Cultural evolution and the selection and amplification of online content
How basic reinforcement learning principles drive the design of online systems to maximize the amount of time we spend on the platforms
Is the “habitual online shamer” addicted to outrage?
Habitual behavior vs. addiction
Is “outrage fatigue” happening en masse?
Should we be thinking about rationing our outrage (reserving it for issues we find most important)?
The costs and benefits of outrage
Why people punish and the discrepancy between the actual reasons why we punish (inferred from behavior) vs. self-reported motives
The difficulty doing science on topics that are incredibly heated in public social discourse
The intractably intertwined nature of science and social justice
What technologies might be doing to the way that young people construe the social world
The human capacity for forgiveness
Twitter Q & A

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Ryan Niemiec and Robert McGrath || Ignite Your Character Strengths Mar 21, 2019

Show notes

Today it’s an honor to have Ryan Niemiec and Robert McGrath on the podcast. Ryan is an author or co-author of nine books, an award-winning psychologist, international keynoter, and education director of the VIA Institute on Character. Robert is Professor of Psychology at Farleigh Dickinson University, senior scientist at the VIA Institute, and has published extensively on the topic of character and virtue. Together, they are author of the new book, The Power of Character Strengths: Appreciate and Ignite Your Positive Personality. Find our your character strengths at viacharacter.org.

In this episode, we discuss the following:

What is a positive personality?
The measurement of character strengths
Why are so many people interested in learning about their character strengths?
How self-knowledge can impact people positively in their lives
The difference between virtue and character
The three main sources of a good character
Is it possible to have a perfect character?
Does the perfectly virtuous person exist?
Is enlightenment actually possible?
The developmental trajectory of character strengths
Is the development of character strengths for everybody, including those experiencing adversity?

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Colin Seale || Closing the Critical Thinking Gap Mar 07, 2019

Show notes

“At a certain point, the outcome is the opportunity. We have to focus on the bottom line: what is it going to take to get kids ready?” — Colin Seale

Today it’s great to have Colin Seale on the podcast. Colin was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York to a single mother and an incarcerated father. He has always had a passion for educational equity. Tracked early into gifted and talented programs, Colin was afforded opportunities his neighborhood peers were not. He founded thinkLaw (www.thinkLaw.us), an award-winning organization to help educators leverage inquiry-based instructional strategies to close the critical thinking gap and ensure they teach and REACH all students, regardless of race, zipcode or what side of the poverty line they are born into. When he’s not serving as the world’s most fervent critical thinking advocate, Colin proudly serves as the world’s greatest entertainer to his two little kiddos and a loving husband to his wife Carrie.

In this episode we discuss:

Colin’s pragmatic approach to solving educational inequalities
The main goals of ThinkLaw
The benefit of people of different races talking about their common humanity
How we can have high expectations for every child
The twice exceptional movement
How we continuously lead genius on the table
The excellence gap in gifted education
Equality of opportunity vs. equality of outcome
The right kind of love
How the victory is in the struggle
Giving children a reason to have grit
Why we need to recognize disruptors as innovators
Creating the space for divergent thinkers

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Wednesday Martin || The Flexibility of Female Sexuality Feb 14, 2019

Show notes

“There can be no autonomy without the autonomy to choose, without coercion or constraint, or in spite of it, who our lovers will be.” — Wednesday Martin

Today we have Wednesday Martin on the podcast. Dr. Martin has worked as a writer and social researcher in New York City for more than two decades. The author of Stepmonster and the instant New York Times bestseller Primates of Park Avenue, she writes for the online edition of Psychology Today and her work has appeared in The New York Times and Time.com. Dr. Martin’s latest book is called “Untrue: Why Nearly Everything We Believe About Women, Lust, and Infidelity Is Wrong and How the New Science Can Set Us Free.”

In this episode we discuss:

How Wednesday tries to make the sex research “delicious and fun”
How female infidelity is mired in so much misunderstanding
How Millenial women are more sexually adventurous compared to Millennial men
What’s the consensual non-monogamy movement?
How we evolved to be “cooperative breeders”
What is “female flexuality”?
Why we need to stop pathologizing those who embrace non-monogamy
How women are driving the polyamory movement
The good reasons why monogamy is hard and the other options that exist
How your attachment style and sociosexuality are linked to consensual non-monogamy
Disagreeable women and sociosexuality
Rethinking sex differences in the drive for sexual novelty
Pornography viewing differences between men and women
Common triggers of violence in relationships
Rethinking the motivations underlying sex differences in cheating
How better science can help us all have hotter sex

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Todd Herman || The Alter Ego Effect Feb 07, 2019

Show notes

“At the end of your life, you won’t remember the thoughts or intentions you had. You’ll remember the actions you took. You’ll judge yourself by how you showed up, by what you did, what you said, how you acted, and whether you performed the way you knew you could in any of the stages of life.”

Today we have Todd Herman on the podcast. Herman is a performance advisor to Olympians, pros, and business leaders, and he creates proven systems to help teams & achievers win with less stress. Herman’s latest book is “The Alter Ego Effect: The Power of Secret Identities to Transform Your Life.”

- How alter egos are part of the human psyche

- The difference between childish and childlike

- Why having an alter ego is about being the best version of yourself

- Multiple self theory and the importance of context

- The Core Self vs. The Trapped Self vs. The Heroic Self

- How to go from an ordinary world to an extraordinary world

- How to activate the person you truly want to become

- How to get into the “wow” mindset

- Todd’s traumatic backstory and how it has led to his superpower

- The hidden forces of the enemy

- How the creative imagination is like the backdoor to performance

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/support

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Oren Jay Sofer || A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication Jan 24, 2019

Show notes

Finding your voice, learning how to say what you mean, and how to listen deeply: this is one of the most rewarding journeys you can take.” — Oren Jay Sofer

Today we have Oren Jay Sofer on the podcast. Sofer teaches meditation and communication nationally. He holds a degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University, and is a member of the Spirit Rock Teacher’s Council. He is also a Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner for healing trauma, and he is the Senior Program Developer at Mindful Schools. Sofer is author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication.

In this episode we discuss:

The importance of slowing down
Marshall Rosenberg’s system of nonviolent communication
How our behaviors can viewed as an attempt to meet a deeper need
Entering relationships from a sense of deprivation vs. a place of growth
The importance of relational awareness
The undervalued skill of healthy communication
Why intention is the single most important ingredient in dialogue
Martin Buber’s distinction between the I-Thou vs. I-It relationship
The importance of the “do over”
How to heal after a breakup
The importance of forgiveness and how it happens on its own time schedule

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/support

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Richard Katz || Honoring the Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples Jan 10, 2019

Show notes

Today it’s an honor to have Richard Katz on the podcast. Dr. Katz received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and taught there for twenty years. The author of several books, he has spent time over the past 50 years living and working with Indigenous peoples in Africa, India, the Pacific, and the Americas. He is professor emeritus at the First Nations University of Canada and an adjunct professor of psychology at the University of Saskatchewan. He lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. His latest book is Indigenous Healing Psychology: Honoring the Wisdom of the First Peoples. Author royalties will be given back to the Indigenous elders whose teachings made the book possible.

In this episode we discuss:

How being an outsider allows you to see the limitations of the world you are living in
Richard’s friendship with Abraham Maslow
Setting the record straight: The real influence of the Blackfeet Nation on Maslow’s theory of self-actualization
How modern day psychology has oppressed the verbal-experimental paradigm
The limitations of modern measurement
The tension between the scientific method and the narrative approach to psychology
Are all modes of the scientific process valid?
How indigenous people are misunderstood, under-respected, and under-appreciated
What the field of psychology could be if it incorporated indigenous ways of being

Link

Kalahari People’s Fund

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Kati Morton || How to Care for Your Mental Health Dec 27, 2018

Show notes

Today I’m really excited to have Kati Morton on the podcast. Morton is as an entrepreneur, YouTube creator, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist practicing in Santa Monica, CA. Morton has built a global mental health online community, and is author of the book “Are U OK?: A Guide to Caring for Your Mental Health.”

In this episode we discuss:

What’s the difference between mental health and mental illness?
Breaking down the stigma of mental illness
What should you look for when looking for a therapist?
What are some warning signs of a terrible therapist?
What’s the best way to deal with a toxic co-worker?
What's the link between vulnerable narcissism and borderline personality disorder?
How do you know if you need mental help?
What are some of the most validated forms of therapy available today?
How do you break up with friends that you’ve outgrown?
The importance of healthy assertiveness
How a very small no can equate to a very large yes
How can you get more mental help when you need it?

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/support

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Jonah Sachs || Unsafe Thinking Dec 20, 2018

Show notes

Today we have Jonah Sachs on the podcast. Jonah is an author, speaker, storyteller, designer, and entrepreneur. He is the author of Winning the Story Wars: Why Those Who Tell— and Live— The Best Stories Will Rule the Future, and most recently, Unsafe Thinking: How to Be Nimble and Bold When You Need It Most.

In this episode we discuss:

What is safe unsafe thinking?
The power of intuition for creativity
Does your subconscious have free will?
Dual-process theory and creativity
How can you challenge and change yourself when you need it most?
The importance of context for creativity
The different phases of the creative process
The importance of rocking the boat
The benefits of collaborating with your enemies
How can you stay motivated when changing habits is so hard?
What’s the difference between flow and deliberate practice?
The difference between values and identity
Making a safe culture for risks
How to gamify dissent

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/support

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Michael Inzlicht || The Replication Crisis Dec 13, 2018

Show notes

Today we have Dr. Michael Inzlicht on the podcast. Dr. Inzlicht's primary appointment at the University of Toronto is as professor in the Department of Psychology, but he is also cross-appointed as Professor at the Roman School of Management, and he is a Research Fellow at the Behavioral Economics in Action group. Michael conducts research that sits at the boundaries of social psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience. Along with Yoel Inbar, he hosts the podcast “Two Psychologists Four Beers.”

In this episode we discuss:

How serious is the replication crisis in psychology?
Can the human social realm ever be removed from scientific critique?
Do psychologists need to grow a thicker skin?
Academic bullying vs. respectful critique
Is there a gendered element to bullying in science?
Is ego depletion real?
Methodological issues with the ego depletion paradigm
Real world ego depletion vs. laboratory-based ego depletion
The lack of correspondence between self-report measures of self-control and performance measures
The importance of distinguishing between self-control and self-regulation
The paradoxical relationship between trait self-control and state self-control
The "law of least work" or why we are so lazy most of the time
The psychology of boredom

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/support

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