Two Psychologists Four Beers

Latest Episodes:

Episode 15: Just When You Think You're Out Dec 05, 2018

Show notes

Yoel and Mickey discuss two mini-controversies recently in the news: 1) Should equity, diversity, and inclusion statements be required from academic job candidates? Do they signal the liberal values of academia, and if so, is that a bad thing? 2) Are psychologists disproportionately likely to argue that free speech is in crisis on campus? If so, why?

Bonus: Mickey describes an intimate product that he definitely does not own.

Links:

Kenneth DeMarree - Department of Psychology - University at Buffalo
Bare Spray – A Hit for Your Naughty Bits
🐙🛐Will Gervais🛐🐙 on Twitter — "Academia has some bleak and pessimistic takes on political conservatives. This is bad. In my opinion, “diversity statements discriminate against conservatives” is one of those bleak and pessimistic takes."
Clay Routledge on Twitter — "Also, I think many conservatives support diversity and inclusion but there is published research showing many liberal academics would discriminate against conservative applicants so they might need to be careful to express the "correct" approach in their statements.… https://t.co/4A4kGKRZA2"
Writing Your Diversity Statement — The goal of the diversity statement is to show how your past experiences have made you a diverse candidate, and how you’ll apply that diverse perspective at your target institution in your future research and teaching pursuits
Jeffrey Sachs on Twitter
The Scholar's Stage: Why Is the Fight for Free Speech Led by the Psychologists? — Here’s a puzzle I think about a lot. If any academic field is associated with the contemporary debate surrounding free speech, it’s psychology. Haidt, Pinker, Peterson, Saad, Jussim, even Lehmann. All specialize or have backgrounds in academic psych. So what’s the puzzle?

Episode 14: Vices (with Elizabeth Page-Gould) Nov 21, 2018

Show notes

Yoel and Mickey have their first repeat guest as Liz Page-Gould joins them to talk vices. Weed, booze and porn are all on the table (well, not literally) as we take on some popular vices. Why do you get paranoid when you smoke? Was alcohol really the impetus for agriculture? Is watching porn bad for your relationship? Bonus: learn who's watched porn in the last week.

Special Guest: Elizabeth Page-Gould.

Links:

Rouge River Brewery
Adverse effects of cannabis - The Lancet — Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in many developed societies. Its health and psychological effects are not well understood and remain the subject of much debate, with opinions on its risks polarised along the lines of proponents' views on what its legal status should be. An unfortunate consequence of this polarisation of opinion has been the absence of any consensus on what health information the medical profession should give to patients who are users or potential users of cannabis.
CANNABIS AND SCHIZOPHRENIA A Longitudinal Study of Swedish Conscripts - The Lancet — The association between level of cannabis consumption and development of schizophrenia during a 15-year follow-up was studied in a cohort of 45 570 Swedish conscripts.
GWAS of lifetime cannabis use reveals new risk loci, genetic overlap with psychiatric traits, and a causal influence of schizophrenia | Nature Neuroscience
Prevalence of Marijuana Use Disorders in the United States Between 2001-2002 and 2012-2013 | Adolescent Medicine | JAMA Psychiatry | JAMA Network — Laws and attitudes toward marijuana in the United States are becoming more permissive but little is known about whether the prevalence rates of marijuana use and marijuana use disorders have changed in the 21st century.
Long-term effects of exposure to cannabis - ScienceDirect — The long-term use of cannabis, particularly at high intake levels, is associated with several adverse psychosocial features, including lower educational achievement and, in some instances, psychiatric illness. There is little evidence, however, that long-term cannabis use causes permanent cognitive impairment, nor is there is any clear cause and effect relationship to explain the psychosocial associations.
Neuropsychological Performance in Long-term Cannabis Users | Adolescent Medicine | JAMA Psychiatry | JAMA Network — Although cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States, its long-term cognitive effects remain inadequately studied.
How Alcohol and Caffeine Helped Create Civilization | HumanProgress — On the other hand, research suggests that alcohol may have helped create civilization itself. Alcohol consumption could have given early homo sapiens a survival edge. Before we could properly purify water or prepare food, the risk of ingesting hazardous microbes was so great that the antiseptic qualities of alcohol made it safer to consume than non-alcoholic alternatives — despite alcohol’s own risks.
Trying Not to Try | Edward Slingerland — Trying Not to Try: Ancient China, Modern Science and the Power of Spontaneity
Pornography Consumption and Satisfaction: A Meta‐Analysis - Wright - 2017 - Human Communication Research - Wiley Online Library
Perceived Effects of Pornography on the Couple Relationship: Initial Findings of Open-Ended, Participant-Informed, "Bottom-Up" Research. - PubMed - NCBI
Pornography and Impersonal Sex | Human Communication Research | Oxford Academic

Episode 13: What's Wrong with the IAT? (with Jesse Singal) Nov 07, 2018

Show notes

Journalist Jesse Singal joins Yoel and Mickey to talk about the state of science journalism, what he thinks is wrong with how people interpret the Implicit Association Test (IAT), and the pros and cons of moral outrage. Why do so many science journalists simply repeat talking points from university press releases? Is it ethical to administer the IAT as a teaching tool? What is social media like for a journalist?

Bonus: Yoel, Mickey, & Jesse discuss a new paper arguing there are upsides to moral outrage.

Special Guest: Jesse Singal.

Links:

Dunham Orange de Dunham
Brasserie Dunham — Dunham brewery was founded on June 1st 2011. Our portfolio reflect our passion for this fine nectar.
Jesse Singal (@jessesingal) | Twitter
The Upside of Outrage: Trends in Cognitive Sciences — The Upside of Outrage
Online outrage: The good, the bad, and the ugly
Science of Us: Productivity, Mental Health, & Relationships - The Cut
Psychology’s Racism-Measuring Tool Isn’t Up to the Job -- Science of Us — Almost two decades after its introduction, the implicit association test has failed to deliver on its lofty promises.
How to Think about "Implicit Bias" - Scientific American — Amidst a controversy, it’s important to remember that implicit bias is real—and it matters
Blindspot
Disproportionate Use of Lethal Force in Policing Is Associated With Regional Racial Biases of Residents
Boston Celtics vs Toronto Raptors | October 19, 2018 - YouTube

Episode 12: Everybody Hates Social Media Oct 24, 2018

Show notes

Mickey and Yoel take on social media. What are the upsides and downsides of being on social media, particularly Twitter? Why does Mickey ban himself from social media for most of the day? What led Yoel to abandon Twitter entirely for two weeks, and what drew him back in? Would the open science movement have happened without social media? Bonus: when is it a good idea to give voice to the voiceless?

Links:

Blood Brothers — Blood Brothers Brewing is a family-owned craft brewery opened in 2015 by Dustin and Brayden Jones in Toronto, Ontario.
Department of Deviance: Resignation — I have been a blogger at Feminist Philosophers for about 5 years. I resigned from the blog over the summer but now want to do so publicly.
Keziah on Twitter: "PROM… " — To everyone causing so much negativity: I mean no disrespect to the Chinese culture. I’m simply showing my appreciation to their culture. I’m not deleting my post because I’ve done nothing but show my love for the culture. It’s a fucking dress. And it’s beautiful.
Opinion | The Nation Magazine Betrays a Poet — and Itself - The New York Times — I was the magazine’s poetry editor for 35 years. Never once did we apologize for publishing a poem.
How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life - The New York Times
Moral outrage in the digital age | Nature Human Behaviour — Moral outrage is an ancient emotion that is now widespread on digital media and online social networks. How might these new technologies change the expression of moral outrage and its social consequences?
Clay Routledge on Twitter: "I keep seeing people post about how Twitter is horrible and exhausting.
Jonathan Kay on the tyranny of Twitter: How mob censure is changing the intellectual landscape | National Post — Without intending to, Twitter’s culture warriors have created a sort of crowdsourced ideological autocracy ― and paradoxically, it’s left-wingers who are often targets

Episode 11: No Such Thing as Bad Publicity? Oct 10, 2018

Show notes

Yoel and Mickey discuss how scientists should publicize their work. Should scientists issue press releases about their findings? Should they write op-ed columns to communicate directly with the public? If Yoel writes an op-ed about Mickey's paper, is that weird? Do scientists have an obligation to share their work with the public, or does self-promotion involve too many perverse incentives?

Bonus: Toronto sex doll brothel, raw water, and beaver fever.

Links:

Episode 10: Conservative Social Psychologist Wanted (with Clay Routledge) Sep 26, 2018

Show notes

Yoel and Mickey welcome Clay Routledge to the show. Clay is a professor of psychology at North Dakota State University who studies the cognitive and motivational consequences of the search for meaning, including religion and other supernatural beliefs. Clay talks about his childhood growing up as the child of missionaries in Africa and the U.S., what it's like to be outside the liberal mainstream in psychology, and how religion and belief in alien visitors may be connected.

Special Guest: Clay Routledge.

Links:

Junkyard Brewing Company | Small craft brewery in Moorhead, MN
Flensburger Brauerei — FLENSBURGER BREWERY Premium-quality beers from Northern Germany
Clay Routledge — Behavioral Scientist, Author, Consultant, Professor
Clay Routledge (@clayroutledge) | Twitter
The Campus Left vs. the Mentally Ill - WSJ — Berkeley offers counseling to those upset by a guest speaker. Other students have genuine problems
Social Justice in the Shadows - Quillette
Supernatural: Death, Meaning, and the Power of the Invisible World
Don't Believe in God? Maybe You'll Try UFOs - The New York Times
Suicides Have Increased. Is This an Existential Crisis?

Episode 9: Giving the Finger (with Alice Dreger) Sep 12, 2018

Show notes

Yoel and Mickey welcome author, journalist, historian, and bioethicist Alice Dreger to the show. Alice, who wrote Galileo’s Middle Finger, discusses how her upbringing, her academic background, and her own Galilean personality led her to piss so many people off in the service of serving both truth and justice. Can academics pursue both truth and justice? What is a Galilean personality? Do activists pollute science? Why did Alice refuse to be lumped in with the so-called Intellectual Dark Web? How can we improve the way newspapers work?

Bonus: Why did Yoel and Mickey create an (Alice approved) drinking podcast?

Special Guest: Alice Dreger.

Links:

Corona Extra | LCBO
Glutenberg Craft Brewery
Alice Domurat Dreger
Galileo's Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and One Scholar's Search for Justice (9780143108115): Alice Dreger: Books
Criticism of a Gender Theory, and a Scientist Under Siege - The New York Times — In academic feuds, as in war, there is no telling how far people will go once the shooting starts.
Why I Escaped the ‘Intellectual Dark Web’ - The Chronicle of Higher Education — Pissing off progressives isn’t intellectual progress
East Lansing Info

Episode 8: Confessions of a Science Critic (with James Heathers) Aug 29, 2018

Show notes

Yoel and Mickey welcome Northeastern University research scientist and science critic James Heathers to their show. Yoel, Mickey, and James discuss science reform and the need for robust science criticism. Why is it so hard for some (older) scientists to admit their mistakes? Do science critics feel empathy for the scholars they criticize? Is there a danger of science criticism going too far, even over-correcting? What exactly is Yoel drinking this episode?

Bonus: James discusses his fascinating research on people who can control their goosebumps.

Bonus Bonus: Yoel and Mickey submit to James's break-music request.

Special Guest: James Heathers.

Links:

Molson Canadian | Premium Lager
Big Cranky - Stony Creek BreweryStony Creek Brewery
Retraction Watch – Tracking retractions as a window into the scientific process
Meet the ‘data thugs’ out to expose shoddy and questionable research | Science | AAAS
Why We Find And Expose Bad Science – Medium — Why We Find And Expose Bad Science (It isn’t because we’re mean.)
Here’s How Cornell Scientist Brian Wansink Turned Shoddy Data Into Viral Studies About How We Eat -- BuzzFeed — Brian Wansink won fame, funding, and influence for his science-backed advice on healthy eating. Now, emails show how the Cornell professor and his colleagues have hacked and massaged low-quality data into headline-friendly studies to “go virally big time.”
The voluntary control of piloerection [PeerJ]
The People Who Can Control Their Goose Bumps - The Atlantic — Everyone cannot do it. But Palejko is not alone, either. He is among dozens of people that James Heathers, a postdoctoral researcher at Northeastern University, identified during and after a recent study on the phenomenon. Heathers posted a preprint—which has not yet been peer reviewed—describing 32 people who can control their goose bumps, and he’s been contacted by several others since. Many of them, like Palejko, had thought this ability was perfectly ordinary for most of their lives. Palejko told me his brother can do it, too.
Creating goosebumps at will may be more interesting than it sounds | Ars Technica

Episode 7: When Does the Left Go Too Far? Aug 15, 2018

Show notes

Yoel and Mickey ask how to know when the political Left has gone too far. Assuming the Left can indeed go too far--turning off even other progressives who feel abandoned by their natural political home--Yoel and Mickey riff on ways this might manifest. The conversation includes a discussion of identity politics, the problems with subjectivity, the challenge of balancing the desire for justice with the desire for truth, and the inherent problem of being both a scientist and activist. Before debating the supposed sins of the Left, Yoel and Mickey discuss a new paper overturning the cause of the so-called negativity bias (i.e., the notion that bad is stronger than good).

Bonus: Mickey makes a risky hypothesis about German beers. Can any listeners provide evidence that disconfirms Mickey’s bold claim?

Links:

Episode 6: Yoel and Mickey Fall in Love (with Elizabeth Page-Gould) Aug 01, 2018

Show notes

Yoel and Mickey welcome their University of Toronto colleague and close friend, psychologist Elizabeth Page-Gould. Liz, who is an expert in close friendship, tries to help Yoel and Mickey fall in love with each other…and with her…by administering the so-called fast-friends procedure. By answering questions of increasing intimacy and revealing personal stories, Yoel, Mickey, and Liz grow in rapport over the course of the hour, sometimes uncovering deep emotions.

Bonus: Yoel and Mickey discuss a new paper in Science Magazine suggesting that judgments of blue dots can help us understand the advent of concepts such as micro-aggressions.

Special Guest: Elizabeth Page-Gould.

Links:

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