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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:

Drunk Science || Shannon Odell Dec 06, 2018

Show notes

Today we have Shannon Odell on the podcast. Odell is a Brooklyn based writer, comedian, and scientist. She co-hosts and produces Drunk Science, an experimental comedy show deemed “a stroke of genius” by Gothamist and a finalist in TruTV’s comedy break out initiative. She also co-created, writes, and stars in the Inverse original series “Your Brain on Blank”, where she explains the science behind how everything-from alcohol to caffeine to puppies- affects the brain. She can also be seen at Weill Cornell Medicine, where she is a Neuroscience PhD candidate studying the epigenetic underpinnings of hippocampal function. You can visit Shannon’s YouTube channel here.

How Shannon got into science comedy
How science can be funny
Similarities between the personalities of comedians and scientists
Political correctness in comedy and science
How science communication is often so humorless
Your brain on… the flu.
Your brain on… breakups.
Your brain on… puppies.
Your brain on… caffeine.
Your brain on… social media.
Epigenetics and the effects of early life adversity on the brain
How science can inform treatment options
Barriers for women entering science

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Robert Greene || The Laws of Human Nature Nov 29, 2018

Show notes

Today we have Robert Greene on the podcast. Robert is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The 48 Laws of Power, The 33 Strategies of War, The Art of Seduction, and Mastery, and is an internationally renowned expert on power strategies. His latest book is The Laws of Human Nature. In this episode we discuss:

What is human nature?
How to transform self-love into empathy
The deep narcissist vs. the the heathy narcissist
Abraham Maslow’s encounter with Alfred Adler
How to confront your dark side
Returning to your more authentic self
How people who are one-sided are concealing the opposite trait
The importance of not taking yourself too seriously
How to see through people’s masks
The importance of assessing people’s actions over time
Why toxic types have a peculiar sort of charm
Healthy people-pleasers vs. toxic people-pleasers
How to get in deep contact with your purpose
The importance of becoming aware of the "spirit of the generation"
How to confront your mortality and open your mind to the sublime

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A.J. Jacobs || A Gratitude Journey Nov 22, 2018

Show notes

Today it’s a great honor to have A.J. Jacobs on the podcast. Jacobs is the author of Thanks a Thousand, It’s All Relative, Drop Dead Healthy, and the New York Times bestsellers The Know-It-All, The Year of Living Biblically, and My Life as an Experiment. He is a contributor to NPR, and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Entertainment Weekly. He lives in New York City with his wife and kids. Get a handwritten thank you card at ajjacobs.com/thanks.

In this episode we discuss:

What is Project Gratitude?
How A.J. went from grumpy to grateful
Why A.J. chose coffee as his main source of gratitude
The importance of savoring coffee (and everything else in life that matters)
Why we should be grateful for the barrister
The enemy of gratitude
The importance of the “zarf”
Where gratitude emerges, according to gratitude expert Bob Emmons
They importance of reframing your life
Some strategies to increase gratitude in daily life

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Steve Stewart-Williams || How the Mind and Culture Evolve Nov 15, 2018

Show notes

"It's going to be Okay."-- Steve Stewart-Williams

Today I’m delighted to have Steve Stewart-Williams on the podcast. Dr. Stewart-Williams is a New Zealander who moved to Canada, then to Wales, and then to Malaysia, where he is now an associate professor of psychology at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. His first book, Darwin, God, and the Meaning of Life, was published in 2010 and his latest book is The Ape That Understood the Universe: How the Mind and Culture Evolve.

In this episode we cover the following topics:

What would the human species look like from the perspective of an alien?
Are humans just evolved fish?
How far does evolutionary psychology take us in understanding human nature?
What are some common myths about the evolutionary process?
How we can be evolutionary “losers” and still be human success stories
The distinction between altruism and selfishness
Why the evolutionary psychology perspective is not enough to understand human nature
How culture evolved among humans
The link between human creativity and cultural evolution
The potential human conflict between passing on genes vs. passing on memes
How culture can amplify our nature
Steve answers questions from Twitter

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Sean Carroll || the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Nov 01, 2018

Show notes

Today it’s an honor to have Dr. Sean Carroll on the podcast. Dr. Carroll is a theoretical physicist at the California Institute of Technology. Recently, Carroll has worked on the foundation of quantum mechanics, the arrow of time, and the emergence of complexity. He has been awarded prizes and fellowships by the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, among others. Dr. Carroll has given a TED talk on the multiverse that has more than 1.5 million views, and he has participated in a number of well-attended public debates concerning material in his latest book, which is entitled “The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself.” - The meaning of “post-existentialism” - What is “poetic naturalism”? - What is the fundamental nature of reality? - Do “tables” and “chairs” really exist? - The difference between rich ontology and sparse ontology - The Bayesian probability of the existence of God - How the universe evolved - The analogy between psychological entropy and naturalistic entropy - Can we think about the brain in useful terms entropically? - In what sense do we have free will? - How hard is the hard problem of consciousness? - The importance of “existential gratitude” - The link between quantum mechanics and consciousness - Is there life (consciousness) after death? - How can we create purpose, meaningfulness, mattering, morality, and ethics in a natural world?

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Dan Pink || Motivation, Selling, and Perfect Timing Oct 25, 2018

Show notes

Today we have Dan Pink on the podcast. Pink is the author of six provocative best-selling books— including his newest: When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. His other books include A Whole New Mind, Drive, and To Sell is Human. Pink’s books have won multiple awards and have been translated into 38 languages.

In this episode we discuss the following topics:

What is the best way to motivate people?
The case for “metapay” among self-actualized people
How purpose is a powerful motivator
The “motivation continuum”
The ways contingent rewards can go awry
Is it possible to be "unhealthily autonomous"?
The importance of “killing your darlings”
Dark triad selling vs. cooperative selling
The “identity civil war” and zero-sum thinking
The new ABCs of communication
The myth of the necessity of extraversion for sales success
The importance of time management
The best and worst times to do…
When is the best time to have a mid-life crisis?

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James Clear || How to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones Oct 18, 2018

Show notes

Today it’s a great delight to have James Clear on the podcast. Clear’s website, jamesclear.com, receives millions of visitors each month, and hundreds of thousands subscribe to his email newsletter. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Time, and Entrepreneur, and on CBS This Morning, and is taught in colleges around the world. Clear is the creator of The Habits Academy, the premier training platform for organizations and individuals that are interested in building better habits in life and work. His latest book is called “Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones”. - How the mind is a “suggestion engine” - How James has grown since his last appearance on The Psychology Podcast - The importance of “dichotomy transcendence” - The importance of choosing the best environment for your genes - How was easily fall into “frictionless” habits - How environment design plays a crucial role in habit change - The four laws of behavior change - The multiple levels of behavior change - The link between identity and habit change - The importance of small habits - Why we should stop focusing on goals and focus on systems instead - Why it’s easier to build a new habit in a new environment - How to go from good to great

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Robert Plomin || How DNA Makes Us Who We Are Oct 11, 2018

Show notes

Today it’s a great honor to have Dr. Robert Plomin on the podcast. Dr. Plomin is Professor of Behavioural Genetics at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience at King's College London. He previously held positions at the University of Colorado Boulder and Pennsylvania State University. He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and of the British Academy for his twin studies and his groundbreaking work in behavioral genetics. He is the author or coauthor of many books, including G is for Genes: The Impact of Genetics on Education and Achievement (with Kathryn Asbury), and most recently, BluePrint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are.

In this wide-ranging conversation, we discuss the following topics:

How Robert became interested in genetics
The importance of going “with the grain” of your nature
Robert’s twin studies methodology
How genotypes become phenotypes
How kids select their environments in ways that correlate with their genetic inclinations
The genetic influence on television viewing
How virtually everything is moderately heritable
The effects of extreme trauma on the brain
The developmental trajectory of heritability
How the abnormal is normal
How we could use polygenic information to inform educational interventions
The potential for misuse of genetic information to select children for particular educational tracks
Recent research on shared environmental influences on educational achievement
The “nature of nurture”
The variability of heritability across different cultures and levels of SES
The role of education on intelligence
How teachers can and cannot make a difference
The genetics of social class mobility
Free will and how we can change our destiny

Further Reading

Fifty years of twin studies: A meta-analysis of the heritability of human traits

The nature of nurture: effects of parental genotypes

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Justin Lehmiller || The Science of Sexual Fantasies Oct 04, 2018

Show notes

Today we have Dr. Justin Lehmiller on the podcast. Dr. Lehmiller is a Research Fellow at The Kinsey Institute and author of the book Tell Me What you Want: The Science of Sexual Desire and How It Can Help You Improve Your Sex Life. Lehmiller is an award winning educator, having been honored three times with the Certificate of Teaching Excellence from Harvard University, where he taught for several years. He is also a prolific researcher and scholar who has published more than 40 pieces of academic writing to date, including a textbook entitled The Psychology of Human Sexuality.

On this episode we cover a wide range of provocative and fascinating findings from the largest survey on sexual fantasies of all time. Topics include:

The most common sexual fantasies among humans
The most taboo sexual fantasy category
Fantasy vs. desire
Reducing shame for the content of one’s sexual fantasies
The relationship between the fantasy-prone personality and sexual fantasies
The importance of sexual self-actualization for well-being
The benefits of open communication of our fantasies with our partners
Sexual orientation vs. sexual flexibility
The truth behind widely held stereotypes about BDSM
Gender differences in sexual fantasies
What your sexual fantasies say about you
The sexiest superhero
OCD and gender bending
Does size really matter?
Which fantasy is the least likely to work out when it’s actually acted out?
How can more people turn their fantasies into reality in a healthy way?
How can we break the barriers in society that prevent us from properly communicating our sexual desires?

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Michael Shermer and Philip Goff || Solving the Mysteries of Consciousness, Free Will, and God Sep 20, 2018

Show notes

Today we have Michael Shermer and Philip Goff on the podcast. Michael is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University where he teaches Skepticism 101. He is the author of New York Times bestsellers Why People Believe Weird Things, The Believing Brain, and Heavens on Earth: The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality & Utopia. Goff is an associate professor in philosophy at Central European University in Budapest. His main research focus is trying to explain how the brain produces consciousness. His first book, which was published by Oxford University Press, is called Consciousness and Fundamental Reality. Goff is currently working on a book on consciousness aimed at a general audience.

In this episode we cover the following topics:

Is reasoning the ultimate route to truth?
What if human rational faculties can’t comprehend the ultimates realities of existence?
Will the hard problem of consciousness ever be solved?
Panpsychism as a scientific alternative for explaining consciousness
The latest neuroscience of consciousness and its implications for understanding the hard problem of consciousness
The insights that can be gleaned through understanding subjective experience
Will we ever discover if free will exists?
To what extent can our understanding of cognitive neuroscience and genetics can elucidate the extent of our free will?
The possibility for “free won’t”
Can science ever solve the mystery of the existence of God?
How can the science of consciousness, free-will, and God help alleviate fundamental existential concerns of humanity?

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

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