Episodes

  • You Can Catch Madness

    You Can Catch Madness
    Jun 13 2026

    Two ordinary people suddenly go insane together. It’s a premise we enjoy from a safe distance—because surely it could never be us. I’m not so sure. Shared madness isn’t rare, it isn’t aberrant, and it sits a lot closer to ordinary love than we’d like to think. Strip away the spectacle and what’s left is the most common thing in the world: two lonely people who found a home in each other.

    Show notes Further reading
    • Folie à deux: the madness of two — the article that inspired this lecture.
    • Four models of psychopathology — how we decide what counts as “abnormal”, and why a benign shared delusion slips past all of it.
    • The loneliness epidemic and Explaining group dynamics — why social isolation is so dangerous for us.
    • It’s Not Social Media, Life Is Just Worse — a companion lecture on modern isolation.
    • Successful Prophets — the same connection mechanism scaled from the pair to the group.
    References
    • Ursula and Sabina Eriksson (the Swedish sisters).
    • Folie à deux; Jules Baillarger, Charles Lasègue and Jean-Pierre Falret.
    • Shared psychotic disorder (the undiagnosis quote), and the intimacy-in-isolation qualification.
    • The Japanese family case (shared delusional hallucination); delusional parasitosis; shared pseudocyesis.
    • The Tromp family (BBC, Mamamia).
    • Theranos: Elizabeth Holmes, Sunny Balwani, and Bad Blood.
    • Group polarisation and risky shift.
    • Gang-stalking, Morgellons, and mass psychogenic illness.
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    24 mins
  • Meditation isn't for everyone

    Meditation isn't for everyone
    May 30 2026

    Meditation is the one practice everyone agrees on. It’s on the NHS, in schools, in every influencer’s guide to life, and the pitch is always the same: good for you, good for everyone, can’t hurt. Two of those three are false. It can hurt, it isn’t for everyone—and once you see what it actually is underneath the cushion, you realise you’re probably already doing it.

    Further reading
    • Meditating for fun and for profit — the article that inspired this lecture.
    • The Scientific Ritual — the first lecture in this arc, on science as a belief system.
    • In Praise of the Sage — the second, on why we trust doctors the way we trust gurus.
    • Positive Intelligence — one of the wellbeing-program takedowns mentioned up top.
    • It’s not ‘just’ a placebo — on why “all in the head” is the point, not the problem.
    • Not brain regions, brain networks — where the harms of mindfulness for some populations come up again.
    • Overengineering calming down — the companion takedown of the calm-down-advice genre.
    • Spirituality of Mind — more on the contemplative tradition meditation was lifted from.
    References
    • Farias, M. & Wikholm, C. (2015). The Buddha Pill: Can Meditation Change You? Publisher page.
    • Van Dam, N. T., Targett, J., Davies, J. N., Burger, A. & Galante, J. (2025). Incidence and predictors of meditation-related unusual experiences and adverse effects in a representative sample of meditators in the United States. Clinical Psychological Science. Article.
    • Schlosser, M., Sparby, T., Vörös, S., Jones, R. & Marchant, N. L. (2019). Unpleasant meditation-related experiences in regular meditators: Prevalence, predictors, and conceptual considerations. PLOS ONE. Article.
    • Lindahl, J. R., Fisher, N. E., Cooper, D. J., Rosen, R. K. & Britton, W. B. (2017). The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists. PLOS ONE. Article.
    • Farias, M., Maraldi, E., Wallenkampf, K. C. & Lucchetti, G. (2020). Adverse events in meditation practices and meditation-based therapies: A systematic review. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. Article.
    • Kabat-Zinn, J. (1982). An outpatient program in behavioral medicine for chronic pain patients based on the practice of mindfulness meditation. General Hospital Psychiatry. Article.
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    26 mins
  • In Praise of the Sage

    In Praise of the Sage
    May 16 2026

    The modern Western story is that real knowledge comes from science or careful reasoning, and anything else—the elder, the guru, the village wise woman—is suspect. But science and reflection themselves rest on a third, intuitive, embodied mode of knowing that we use constantly and pretend we don’t. The doctor and the guru are running on the same authority structure; the only difference is who’s allowed to wear the coat. Which means we’re picking our sages by taste instead of principle—and that’s how charlatans win.

    Not sure what I’ve got against linen trousers in this episode. Quite like them if I’m honest.

    Further reading
    • In praise of the sage
    • The scientific ritual (lecture)
    • Mundane cults (lecture)
    • It’s not ‘just’ a placebo
    • Useful pharmacology
    • How some psychics use psychology to screw you (Forer)
    • AI hallucination is just man-guessing
    • Moral blindspots
    • Successful prophets
    • Everything is ideology
    • The charismatic leader (Weber)
    References
    • Aristotle, Metaphysics
    • John Dewey, Experience and Nature
    • Richard Dawkins, TED: Militant atheism
    • Bertram Forer, The fallacy of personal validation
    • Phenotypic drug discovery
    • Yann Martel, Life of Pi
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    33 mins
  • The Scientific Ritual

    The Scientific Ritual
    May 2 2026
    Science feels like the most reliable thing we have. The opposite of belief. But it’s a belief system itself—a ritual, with all the failure modes that rituals have. And the receipts are right there in the replication crisis. Further reading The Scientific Ritual — the article this lecture is based onProblems with p-values — the technical companion: Fisher, Neyman-Pearson, the hybrid messThe trap of scientific evidence — on the “no evidence” tension and the homeopathy/parachute paradoxEverything is ideology — science as one belief system among severalIn praise of the sage — other ways of knowing; the MD/PhD distinctionScientific fact — on what science actually doesThe value of ritual — ritual as a knowledge-production strategyMeditation — on the dinner-table meditation exampleBeyond System 1 and System 2 — on Kahneman’s dual-process frameworkThe placebo effect — on why “works for some, not for others” is a feature, not a bugGrit — positive-psychology critiqueOverengineering calming down (lecture) — the broader positive-psychology auditBias is good (lecture) — the cognitive-bias seriesLife is worse (lecture) — the previous episode; a worked example of reading a literature References The replication crisis itself Open Science Collaboration (2015), Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science, Science 349 (6251)Wikipedia: replication crisisAmerican Statistical Association: Wasserstein, Schirm & Lazar (2019), Moving to a World Beyond “p < 0.05” Statistical ritualism Gerd Gigerenzer (2018), Statistical Rituals: The Replication Delusion and How We Got There, Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological SciencePhilip B. Stark & Andrea Saltelli (2018), Cargo-cult statistics and scientific crisis, Significance 15 (4)Andrew Gelman & Eric Loken (2014), The Statistical Crisis in Science — the “garden of forking paths” paperAndrew Gelman, Why I don’t like so-called Bayesian hypothesis testing p-values, Bayes factors, and software Wikipedia: p-value, Bayes factorRonald A. Fisher (1925), Statistical Methods for Research Workers — where the 5% threshold appears as an illustrative exampleHarold Jeffreys (1939), Theory of Probability — where the Bayes-factor thresholds (BF > 3 substantial, BF > 10 strong) come fromJASP — the open-source Bayesian statistics software with default priors Specific replication-crisis casualties Cuddy, Wilmuth & Carney (2010) original power posing paper; Carney’s later statement withdrawing supportHagger et al. (2016), A Multilab Preregistered Replication of the Ego-Depletion EffectBargh, Chen & Burrows (1996) original elderly priming paper; failed Doyen et al. (2012) replicationBrown, Sokal & Friedman (2013), The Complex Dynamics of Wishful Thinking — demolishing the 3:1 positivity ratioCarol Dweck, growth mindset — replication concerns documented in Sisk et al. (2018) and Bahník & Vranka (2017)Angela Duckworth, grit — meta-analytic critique in Credé, Tynan & Harms (2017) Books cited in the lecture Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and SlowStephen J. Gould, Adam’s Navel and Other EssaysYann Martel, Life of PiBill Mollison, Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual Other Richard Dawkins on militant atheism (TED) — the “evidence vs. faith” framingReform efforts: preregistration, open data, multi-lab replication consortia (e.g. ManyLabs)
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    37 mins
  • It’s Not Social Media, Life Is Just Worse

    It’s Not Social Media, Life Is Just Worse
    Apr 17 2026
    Everyone’s worried about social media and mental health. Jonathan Haidt sold two million copies telling us smartphones rewired our children’s brains. Thirty-five US states passed phone restriction legislation off the back of it. But when you look at the research—really look—the evidence for social media causing mental health problems is shockingly thin. What isn’t thin is the evidence that life, structurally, is getting worse in a dozen measurable ways. Maybe we’re blaming the screen because the alternative is harder to fix. Further reading It’s Not Social Media, Life Is Just Worse—the article that inspired this lectureAmusing Ourselves to Death—on Neil Postman and the information overload problemWhy Do People Kill Themselves—on what structural decline does to the most vulnerableAtavism Isn’t the Answer—the lecture on why “go back to the old ways” rarely worksThe Trap of Scientific Evidence—on the two forms of “no evidence”Why Being Sad Isn’t Always a Bad Thing—on situation–symptom congruenceThe Loneliness EpidemicModels of Psychopathology—on diagnostic quality and what counts as mental illnessThe Scientific Ritual—on the replication crisis and lazy application of the scientific methodThe True Meaning of Family Ties—on changing family structures and social fragmentationCreating a Digital Home—on digital selfhood and why we don’t treat our digital lives with care References Amy Orben’s research group, University of CambridgeFerguson, C. J. et al. (2024). Social media use and youth mental health: A meta-analysis. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. doi:10.1037/pro0000589Fassi, L., Orben, A. et al. (2024). Social media and adolescent mental health: A meta-analysis of 143 studies. JAMA Pediatrics. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.2078Tolboll, K. B. (2026). Social media use and mental health in children and adolescents: An umbrella review. Child and Adolescent Mental Health. doi:10.1111/camh.70071Fassi, L., Orben, A. et al. (2025). Digital technology use and adolescent mental health: A registered report. Nature Human Behaviour. doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02134-4Broadbent, P. et al. (2023). The public health implications of the cost-of-living crisis. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe. doi:10.1016/j.lanepe.2023.100585Arundel, R. et al. (2022). Housing unaffordability and mental health. International Journal of Housing Policy. doi:10.1080/19491247.2022.2106541McGorry, P. D. et al. (2025). The youth mental health crisis: A paradigm shift. Frontiers in Psychiatry. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1517533Kirkbride, J. B. et al. (2024). The social determinants of mental health and disorder. World Psychiatry. doi:10.1002/wps.21160Plackett, R. et al. (2022). Digital technology and mental health of young people: A scoping review. JMIR Mental Health. doi:10.2196/43213Garcia-Manglano, J. et al. (2024). Escapism, social media, and internalising symptoms in adolescents. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. doi:10.1177/02654075241230248Maheux, A. J. et al. (2024). Social media use and adolescent mental health: An annual research review. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. doi:10.1111/jcpp.14085Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985). WikipediaJonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation (2024). WikipediaStuart Ritchie, Science Fictions (2020). Publisher
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    29 mins
  • Pop Neuroscience is Just a Fancy Way of Saying ‘Calm Down’

    Pop Neuroscience is Just a Fancy Way of Saying ‘Calm Down’
    Apr 4 2026

    Amygdala hijack, polyvagal theory, the lizard brain, vagus nerve hacks, brain wave states—these look like different theories explaining different things about human behaviour. They’re not. They’re all the same theory: a wildly overengineered version of “just cool the fuck out, and you’ll be better at stuff.” Why do we keep building these things? And what do we miss when we do?

    Further reading
    • The Betterment article that inspired this one
    • More on why the amygdala isn’t what pop-psych says
    • How stress actually works
    • Why we dress up simple ideas in neuroscience jargon
    • The sociology of the “interesting”
    • Abstractions as gods
    • On naming things and losing them in the process
    • The value of brain waves
    • Honey-bees are smarter than they should be
    • The false promise of a return to nature
    • Giving in to fight or flight
    • The problem of easy measurement
    • On emotion
    • No action without emotion
    • Emotion and the mind
    • Why your unconscious isn’t the bad guy
    • Nervous energy
    • Positive Intelligence pt. I
    • Positive Intelligence pt. II
    • Positive Intelligence pt. III
    • How does the brain ‘think’? Pt. I
    References
    • Polyvagal theory (Wikipedia)
    • Triune brain model (Wikipedia)
    • Positive Intelligence white paper
    • Default mode network (Wikipedia)
    • Schema therapy (Wikipedia)
    • Gestalt therapy (Wikipedia)
    • Journal of Animal Sentience: do fish feel pain?
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    31 mins
  • Bias is Good

    Bias is Good
    Mar 21 2026

    Everyone’s been told that bias is the enemy of good thinking. Over 200 cognitive biases catalogued on Wikipedia, and the message is clear: your brain is broken, and if you could just think more rationally, you’d make better decisions. But when researchers actually tested whether knowledge of biases helped predict behaviour, the experts did worse than random laypeople. Maybe the problem isn’t bias. Maybe the problem is what we think bias is.

    Further reading
    • The Betterment article that inspired this
    • Confirmation bias is all there is — fundamental beliefs and belief-consistent processing
    • Bias vs Bias — heuristics vs biases, and why the distinction matters
    • Stress and the Yerkes-Dodson Law — bias vs noise in the stress response
    • Stress is Good (Lecture 1) — the stress lecture
    • The Amygdala is Not the Fear Centre (Lecture 2) — the amygdala lecture
    • Everything is Ideology — why biases are adaptive
    • Pop Neuroscience is Just a Fancy Way of Saying “Calm Down”
    References
    • Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011)
    • List of cognitive biases (Wikipedia) — the 200+ biases
    • Rational-actor model (Wikipedia)
    • Milkman et al. (2021): Megastudy on behavioural nudges for vaccination
    • Oeberst & Imhoff (2023): Toward Parsimony in Bias Research — the fundamental beliefs paper
    • Robert Axelrod’s iterated prisoner’s dilemma tournaments
    • Bias–variance tradeoff (Wikipedia)
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    26 mins
  • The Amygdala is Not the Fear Centre

    The Amygdala is Not the Fear Centre
    Mar 7 2026

    Everyone’s been told the amygdala is the fear centre of the brain. That it hijacks your rational mind and throws you into fight-or-flight at the sound of an email notification. This is nonsense—the kind of nonsense that makes every McKinsey consultant sound like a neuroscientist and every neuroscientist cringe. The amygdala is an emotional intensity detector, not an emotional dictator. And focusing on it is distracting you from what actually matters: how you respond to the world.

    Further reading
    • The Betterment article that inspired this
    • Stress is Good (Lecture 1) — the stress lecture that set this up
    • More on stress and the Yerkes-Dodson Law
    • Why fight-or-flight isn’t what you think
    • Pop Neuroscience is Just a Fancy Way of Saying “Calm Down” — the next lecture in this thread
    • How we make meaning in the brain
    References
    • The Atlantic article — the management professor’s piece on stress and the amygdala
    • Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (1995)
    • Amygdala hijack (Wikipedia) — note the lack of academic citations
    • Amygdala (Wikipedia) — particularly the section on emotional learning
    • Pessoa (2010): Emotion and cognition (PDF) — reappraisal evidence, pg 44
    • Janak & Tye (2015): From circuits to behaviour in the amygdala — the complexity of amygdala function
    • Adolphs (2015): “The unsolved problems of neuroscience” — on the amygdala and emotional significance
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    18 mins