Wired to be Weird

Bo and I discuss some of the leading candidates for extending both human lifespan and “health-span”, including metformin, nicotinamide riboside & nicotinamide mononucleotide, and caloric restriction. We also chat about some of the companies working in this area, as well as novel business models that may or may not be a strategy to enable rigorous research of something as difficult to study as human lifespan.

We delve into how lifestyle factors, sleep, mood, and various kinds of pollution can influence the brain development of a child. We also chat about some ways to minimize the likelihood that those factors have a negative effect on development.

In preparation for the upcoming mid-term elections in the United States (REMEMBER TO VOTE ON NOVEMBER 6TH !), Bo and I chat about how much of a person’s politics are inherited genetically from their parents, as well as some companies that are entirely devoted to trying to make you vote in a certain way. I learned quite a bit prepping for this conversation, and suffice it to say that I was pretty surprised with what I learned. Note about the recording: if you can’t tell, we’re using a new...

In the last episode, Bo and I chatted about two famous experiments - and how they've been re-interpreted over time. In this episode, we discuss one of them in greater detail - as well as what we can learn about how science, society, and government can influence one another.

Today, Bo and I chatted about two of the most widely known studies of human behavior in modern history - the Marshmallow Test and the Stanford Prisoner Experiment. New data and interviews have emerged that fundamentally redefine how we ought to interpret these classic studies. Also, we discuss whether kids have been getting better or worse at delaying gratification since the 1960s. It's a fun conversation, and we hope you enjoy!

Another multi-topic episode. We discuss the recent approval of a new treatment for migraines, then some evidence suggesting a certain kind of exercise may be therapeutic for Alzheimer's disease, and finally some work that suggests there may be universal & cross-cultural features of music. We open, however, on the debate between the Laurel & Yanni people.

Bo and I discuss the evidence that supports and refutes a role played by pheromones in guiding human attraction - as well as a potential role played by the immune system in making some people more attractive than others, guiding human attraction and even human evolution.

We discuss a study at least partly monitored by one of Ian's college mentors that explored whether there might be a relationship between high IQ scores and psychiatric & physiological diagnoses. We then discuss a study that blew Ian's mind, showing that some cases of dyslexia may be attributable to some unique structures within the eyes.

Bo and I discuss two science stories from the recent past. One is a discovery that neurons are capable of trading genetic material to one another directly - meaning, that one neuron can express a gene, transcribe it into RNA, and then send it to another neuron in which that gene wasn't expressed. Second, we discuss a possible condition termed "aphantasia", which describes a population of people who are entirely incapable of visualizing an imagined image.

Why are some so skeptical of the disease model of addiction, while institutions like NIDA and the NIH embrace it? Should the NIH adjust its perspective? And what is Ian's opinion?

Did the concept of addiction always exist, or is it a new concept? Do scientists and physicians all agree that addiction is a disease? We discuss topics like these, as well as a scandal involving the primary study used to make MDMA, or ecstasy, as illegal as a drug can be and a former director of NIDA. Sponsors: 1. Helix Sleep! Comfortable, customized mattresses. helixsleep.com/wired for $50 off. 2. Burrow! burrow.com. Modular couches (with USB ports, which Bo loves). Use promo code WIRED...

In part 2 of our discussion of Neuralink, Elon Musk's newly announced company, we focus more on what it might be like if this kind of a technology were realized, as well as how likely it might be.

Part 1 of a conversation about Neuralink, the brain-computer interface company that Elon Musk announced that has been described as being pursued to enable humanity to compete with artificial intelligence - enabling humans to directly interface with computers and each other.

Deja Vu can teach us a lot about how human memory works, as well as how a person can be tricked into believing a false account of a past experience, as well as into believing they've committed actions that they never, in fact, did

It's difficult to know the long-term consequences of cannabis use, but recent discoveries can start to provide some insights as to the potential promises and perils of cannabis. This is an in-depth discussion of the pharmacology, genetics, and a short history of cannabis.

We discuss some big statistics, and what's wrong with the current research into cannabis.

We discuss the function of twitching while sleeping, and how we can come to sleep walk - as well as how and why we have lucid dreams, how we can learn to lucid dream, and if we might ever be able to make movies of our dreams.

Dreaming has been studied for thousands of years, and yet it remains one of the most mysterious aspects of consciousness. What we've learned in the past half-century suggests that it may play a central role in how human consciousness develops into being so rich and versatile.

How does our brain produce anxiety, how is that different from fear, how does anxiety influence cognition/parenting/drug use, and can you inherit anxiety?

Bo and I discuss what anxiety & fear are, how they're similar, how they're different, and why they're useful. We also discuss how animals experience these emotions, and what it's like when they go wrong. In the next episode, we'll discuss how exactly these emotions are generated in the brain, and how they influence things from creativity to parenting, and if high anxiety is heritable.