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You Are Not So Smart

You Are Not So Smart

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You Are Not So Smart is a show about psychology that celebrates science and self delusion. In each episode, we explore what we've learned so far about reasoning, biases, judgments, and decision-making.2024 You Are Not So Smart Science Social Sciences
Episodes
  • 340 - Thinking Sideways - Jennifer Shahade

    340 - Thinking Sideways - Jennifer Shahade
    May 25 2026

    There are more possible chess moves than atoms in the universe, and chess champion Jennifer Shahade tells us how we can borrow from the best chess players' decision-tree approach to avoid considering every possible option and instead "think sideways" to consider the best choices on the board.

    Previous Episodes

    How Minds Change

    Jennifer Shahade’s Website

    Thinking Sideways

    Does chess need intelligence?

    David McRaney’s Twitter

    David McRaney's BlueSky

    YANSS Twitter

    YANSS Facebook

    Newsletter

    Patreon


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • 339 - Enlightened Disagreement

    339 - Enlightened Disagreement
    May 11 2026
    Northwestern University just launched the Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement, a real-world institution devoted to "research-backed approaches to cultivating open-mindedness, identifying one’s own cognitive biases, working collaboratively with others despite disagreement and more." In this episode, David McRaney details his time as a resident of the Center, teaching students how to ask questions that activate a person's introspection, and then follow up with questions that evoke a person's motivated reasoning, then keep going until the other side articulates things they may have never considered before, and, in so doing, reveal the deeper motivations and values generating disagreement. You'll learn about this and all the other modules of the Center's pilot program. You'll also learn about a new game they are designing to improve scientific literacy of news consumers and news creators. Previous Episodes How Minds Change The Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement Brad Zakarin Eli Finkel Nour Kteily Medill School for Journalism Patti Wolter The Center for Public Deliberation The Listen First Coalition Better Together America Heather Barnes Martin Carcasson Point Taken The Visual Thinking Lab Steven Franconeri Joshua Greene’s Website Tango Tango Quiz Game Research Love Factually Website Joshua Hudson Protein Research NYT Protein Deep Dive Tylenol Metastudy The Garage Monica Guzman Braver Angels Jacqui Banaszynski David McRaney’s Twitter David McRaney's BlueSky YANSS Twitter YANSS Facebook Newsletter Patreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    1 hr and 29 mins
  • 338 - May Contain Lies - Alex Edmans (rebroadcast)

    338 - May Contain Lies - Alex Edmans (rebroadcast)
    Apr 27 2026

    Alex Edmans, a professor of finance at London Business School, tells us how to avoid the Ladder of Misinference by examining how narratives, statistics, and articles can mislead, especially when they align with our preconceived notions and confirm what we believe is true, assume is true, and wish were true.

    Alex Edmans

    May Contain Lies

    What to Test in a Post Trust World

    How Minds Change

    David McRaney’s Twitter

    David McRaney’s BlueSky

    YANSS Twitter

    YANSS Facebook

    Newsletter

    Kitted

    Patreon


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    40 mins
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