Today I'm speaking with returning guest, Rob Brooks! Rob is a Scientia Professor of Evolution at the University of New South Wales. He studies human mating preferences how cutting edge technologies are manipulating our evolved human nature and impacting culture. We also talk about political polarization, status and inequality, the conflict between societal and biological influences, creativity, and his new book "Artificial Intimacy: Virtual Friends, Digital Lovers, and Algorithmic Matchmakers".

Marcy Souza is an Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Veterinary Medicine. We talk about the rapidly changing world of agriculture, zoonotic diseases of exotic animals, how to get people interested in epidemiology, the mislabeling and overuse of phrases such as "free range" and "organic", disease spillover, and tons more!

Gordon Burghardt studies comparative behavior and psychology in animals. We talk about the evolution of 'play', anthropomorphism and anthrodenialism, thrill-seeking behavior, embodied cognition, and what he learned from raising bears!

Astrobiofuturist and designer, Billy Almon is joining me today! Billy is an inventor who aims to reach the next generation of inventors, designers, scientists and engineers and showing them how to design the future they wish to see. In addition to speaking and hosting workshops, Billy also co-hosts the “Little Giants” show on Animal Planet. We talk about biomimicry, circular economies, space farming, and how to get people more interested in science.

Today I'm speaking with one of my favorite Standup Science guests, Clive Wynne, Director of the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University. We talk about the complex minds of dogs, the history of the human-to-dog relationship, and the unique hypersocial skills of domesticated dogs. Is the popular training style we often see on TV really the best way to have a mutually beneficial relationship with our best friends? What can we learn from dogs?

Today I speak with returning guest, Athena Aktipis, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University and co-Director of The Human Generosity Project. We talk about how viruses can hijack behavior, the diversity of cancers, and what a real apocalypse could look like.

In this first ever 4-person episode of Here We Are, I get to geek out all about cicadas with Barrett Klein (who is a good friend of mine and very popular Here We Are guest), Joseph Yoon (Executive Director of Brooklyn Bugs), and Gene Kritsky (Entomologist and cicada expert). We discuss the origin of cicadas, the cultural aversion to eating insects in West, the interesting relationship cicadas have with prime numbers, and more!

Barrett Klein: https://www.pupating.org/
https://www.uwlax.edu/profile/bklein/

Gene Kritsky's new book "Periodical Cicadas: The Brood X Edition": https://amzn.to/3yygAMg
Cicada Safari app: https://cicadasafari.org/
Joseph Yoon: https://www.brooklynbugs.com/
https://linktr.ee/brooklynbugs

In this episode of Here We Are, Shane gets the latest on vaccine information and reopening after the pandemic from returning guest, Jessica Brinkworth.

Jessica Brinkworth is an assistant professor in the department of anthropology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research addresses the physiological consequences of the human experience and evolutionary past, particularly those that affect innate immune system function. Jessica’s current projects focus on the functional divergence and diversification of primate immune systems, how past epidemics affect present day immune function diversity and how life experience affects the innate immune response.

In this weeks episode I'm speaking with returning guest, Denita Hadziabdic Guerry. Denita's research focuses on population genetics of fungal plant pathogens, population biology, forest health, forest pathology, and diversity and conservation efforts of native plants.

We discuss the importance of accurate science communication, what's going on with wood prices around the world, and Thousand Cankers Disease complex, which primarily affects black walnut.

Today I speak with returning guest, Kari Nixon, who is the author of the brand new book "Quarantine Life from Cholera to COVID-19: What Pandemics Teach Us About Parenting, Work, Life, and Communities from the 1700s to Today".

Dr. Kari Nixon is an assistant professor of English at Whitworth University. She teaches medical humanities, Victorian literature, and is forever interested in death, disease, risk, and why we fear them. Dr. Nixon’s work has been shared on Huffington Post, March for Science, and more.

Jordan Ellenberg is a mathematician and author of the new book "Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else".

He shares how mathematical thinking can help make elections more fair and how we can use math to better plan for pandemics.

Mentioned formula:
Infected tomorrow = Infected today + (0.2) x infected (today) x Susceptible(today)/Total population – (0.1) x Infected (today)

This week I learn all about what happens to your body after you die! Environmental microbiologist, Jennifer DeBruyn, researches microbiomes at the "body farm" of the University of Tennessee. Should you get cremated, turned into a tree, or fall over and let maggots eat your eyes?

In this episode, I talked with the authors of the book "Blindsight: The (Mostly) Hidden Ways Marketing Reshapes Our Brains". Prince Ghuman has taught consumer science, behavioral economics, and experiential marketing as a professor of neuromarketing. Matt Johnson is a consumer neuroscience professor at Hult International Business School. Their website https://www.popneuro.com/ makes learning and implementing ethical neuromarketing accessible for all.

Am I buying into mainstream science? Is anti-conformity a form of conformity? How does the evolutionary mismatch between our parasympathetic responses and our modern environment affect our beliefs about the world?

Joanne Miller, PhD Associate Professor of Political Science at The University of Delaware, explains how humans fall into fringe explanations of reality and why people trust different sources of information.

This is one of the goofiest Here We Are episodes to date. Anytime a scientist wants to goof around and keep things loose, I'm way up for it. One of my biggest goals with this show is to humanize scientists and on this one we had a lot of very silly laughs. Like myself, Scott Barry Kaufman wasn't considered the best student in his youth. But his love of science had him flying over every roadblock in his path. He's a real inspiration.

Read his booksListen to his conversations with some of the greatest minds out there on his podcast We chat about overcoming perceived shortcomings and updating Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

In this special episode, Shane is joined by Ramin Nazer in a reverse role interview where C Shawn Green asks both of them about their experiences as standup comedians. Shawn Green is an associate professor of cognitive neuroscience at The University of Wisconsin-Madison. His work focuses on perceptual, motor, and cognitive domains in human learning.

Have you ever thought about specific stressors that farmers face? Me EITHER! And it is damn fascinating. Did you know that you aren’t a real baller until you have a combine tractor?

Shane talks with long-time friend and host of the Podcast: Solo - A Single Person's Guide to a Remarkable Life, Peter McGraw. They talk about everything from lasting friendships and jealousy in relationships to being incredibly honest and motivating yourself.

Peter McGraw is a marketing and psychology professor at the Leeds School of Business and the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at University of Colorado Boulder. He teaches a PhD seminar in behavioral economics and courses in marketing management, consumer behavior, and advertising for the University of Colorado Boulder. McGraw has spent more than a decade examining the antecedents and consequences of humor—work that has moved the study of humor from the niche to the mainstream. One advantage that he has over his predecessors is his ability to conduct state-of-the-art experiments with the help of the team he directs at the Humor Research Lab (aka HuRL), a laboratory dedicated to the experimental study of humor.

To hear Peter's previous appearances check out: Episode 273: Shtick to Business Part 2 Episode 272: Shtick to Business Part 1 Episode 121: Live From Boulder

In this episode of Here We Are, Shane talks with return guest Jessica Brinkworth about covid-19 and what we’ve learned over the past year. They discuss the history of vaccine technologies, the current covid-19 vaccines and how they work, as well as the things we’ve learned since the start of the virus in 2020.

Shane talks with Multiple Sclerosis Specialist, May Han, about the new research being done on MS, the diagnosis process, and things patients can do to help treat their symptoms. They are joined by special guest and personal friend of Shane's, Megan, who shares her personal journey through being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

Dr. Han is a Board-certified neurologist and a clinician-scientist who specializes in multiple sclerosis and central nervous system demyelinating diseases as well as the Associate Professor of Neurology & Neurological Sciences at Stanford School of Medicine.

Her research focuses on utilizing Systems Biology approach (genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics) to identify targets for therapy in MS and NMO. Dr. Han is also an attending physician at the Neuroimmunology clinic and at the Stanford Hospital.