You Are Not So Smart

Latest Episodes:

240 - QAnon and Conspiracy Narratives (rebroadcast) Aug 22, 2022

Show notes

When we talk about conspiracy theories we tend to focus on what people believe instead of why, and, more importantly, why they believe those things and not other things. In this episode, we sit down with two psychologists working to change that, and in addition, change the term itself from conspiracy theory to conspiracy narrative, which more accurately describes what makes any one conspiracy appealing enough to form a community around it and in rare cases result in collective action.

How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome
Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com
Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com

Patreon: http://patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

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239 - You're Invited - Jon Levy Aug 07, 2022

Show notes

Our guest in this episode is the behavioral scientist Jon Levy who wrote a book titled You’re Invited, the Art and Science of Cultivating influence. The book details how Jon was able to convince groups of Nobel Laureates, Olympians, celebrities, Fortune 500 executives, and even a princess to not only give him advice, but cook him dinner, wash his dishes, sweep his floors, and then thank him for the experience.

How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome
Contest: https://sites.prh.com/hmc-giveaway
Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com
Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com
Jon Levy's Website: https://www.jonlevytlb.com

Patreon: http://patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

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238 - Chess Queens - Jennifer Shahade Jul 25, 2022

Show notes

In this episode we sit down with Jennifer Shahade, a two-time U.S. Women’s Chess Champion, author, speaker, and professional poker player whose new book, Chess Queens, is the true story of the greatest female players of all time interwoven with her own experiences as a chess champion.

How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome
Contest: https://sites.prh.com/hmc-giveaway
Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com
Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com
Jennifer Shahade’s Website: https://jennifershahade.com

Patreon: http://patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

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237 - Reactance - Michele Belot Jul 10, 2022

Show notes

New research suggests people on opposite sides of wedge issues want to listen to each other. We are each eager to hear differing opinions and understand opposing views, and when we do it can change our minds (at least a little), but only when we aren't triggered by the psychological phenomenon of reactance - one of several ideas we explore in this episode.

How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome
Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com/subscribe
Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com
Michèle Belot on Twitter: http://twitter.com/belotmichele

Patreon: http://patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

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236 - How Minds Change Jun 27, 2022

Show notes

In this episode I read an excerpt from my new book How Minds Change, a portion concerning how to change minds about abortion rights, and Chris Clearfield interviews me about that very same book - which is out now and available everywhere.

Link to learn more about How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome
Link to learn more about Deep Canvassing: www.newconvo.org
Link to my new newsletter: davidmcraney.substack.com/subscribe
Link to Chris Clearfield’s handout: www.chrisclearfield.com/change

Patreon: http://patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

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235 - Tough - Terry Crews Jun 13, 2022

Show notes

Terry Crews, actor, athlete, artist, President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho, star of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, host of America’s Got Talent - that Terry Crews joins us to discuss his new book, Tough. In the book, Terry shares the raw story of his quest to find the true meaning of toughness and in so doing fundamentally change his concept of himself by uprooting a deeply ingrained toxic masculinity and finally confronting his insecurities, painful memories, and limiting beliefs.

Alfie Kohn’s Punished by Rewards

Kitted Shop

The Story of Kitted

How Minds Change

David McRaney’s Twitter

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234 - The Truth Wins - Tom Stafford May 29, 2022

Show notes

Link to preorder How Minds Change and get your preorder bonuses: https://www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome

Deliberation. Debate. Conversation. Though it can feel like that’s what we are doing online as we trade arguments back and forth, most of the places where we currently gather make it much easier to produce arguments in isolation rather than evaluate them together in groups. The latest research suggests we will need much more of the latter if we hope to create a new, modern, functioning marketplace of ideas. In this episode, psychologist Tom Stafford takes us through his research into how to do just that.
Show notes at: http://www.youarenotsosmart.com

Patreon: http://patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

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233 - The Puzzler - A. J. Jacobs May 16, 2022

Show notes

Link to preorder How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome
Our guest in this episode is A.J. Jacobs, the the four-time New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically, Thanks A Thousand, It’s All Relative, and The Know It All.

His new book, The Puzzler, is a fun, weird, refreshingly scientific book all about the human brain's fascination with puzzles. Seriously, there’s all sorts of explorations in the book about neural pathways, behavioral routines, how we learn, what gets us into loops, and - this is true - a few attempts to solve the puzzle of our very existence.
Show Notes at: www.youarenotsosmart.com

Patreon: www.patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

Twitter: www.twitter.com/notsmartblog

Patreon: http://patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

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232 - Think Again - Adam Grant May 01, 2022

Show notes

How to manage procrastination according to Margaret Atwood, how to work around your first-instinct fallacy, the upsides of imposter syndrome, the best way to avoid falling prey to the Dunning-Kruger effect, how to avoid thinking like a preacher, prosecutor, or politician so you can think like a scientist instead – and that’s just the beginning of the conversation in this episode with psychologist, podcast host, and author Adam Grant.
In the show, we discuss both his new book – Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know – and his TED Original Podcast, WorkLife, in which he interviewed Margaret Atwood, the author of The Handmaid’s Tale, to learn how she deals with the constant allure of social media and streaming videos in a future where giving in to procrastination is easier than it has ever been.
In the show, you’ll hear portions of that interview followed by a lengthy interview with Grant about his new book in this all-over-the-place, extensive exploration of how to rethink your own thinking.
Link to get a free ticket to the online event we call The Conversation Lab: https://www.mishaglouberman.com/convolab-may3

Patreon: http://patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

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231 - On Being Certain - Robert Burton (rebroadcast) Apr 17, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, we sit down with neurologist Robert Burton, author of On Being Certain, a book that fundamentally changed the way I think about what a belief actually is. That’s because the book posits conclusions are not conscious choices, and certainty is not even a thought process. Certainty and similar states of “knowing,” as he puts it, are "sensations that feel like thoughts, but arise out of involuntary brain mechanisms that function independently of reason."

Patreon: http://patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

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