Two Psychologists Four Beers

Episode 34: The Future of Social Psychology

November 13th, 2019  |  1 hr 25 mins

jazz hands, sesp, social psychology

Mickey and Yoel take advantage of the SESP (Society for Experimental Social Psychology) conference to ask guests some hard-hitting questions about the present and future of social psychology (and, of course, beers). We then answer the same questions ourselves.

Episode 33: What is Heterodox Academy? (with Debra Mashek)

October 30th, 2019  |  1 hr 7 mins

heterodoxy, leaving academia, viewpoint diversity

Mickey and Yoel talk with Debra Mashek, the executive director of Heterodox Academy, an organization working to increase open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement in academia. But what does that mean exactly? We talk to Debra to find out.

Episode 32: Measurement Schmeasurement (with Jessica Flake)

October 16th, 2019  |  1 hr 20 mins

bourbon, gre, kentucky, measurement

Jessica Flake joins Mickey and Yoel to talk measurement. What is it, how do you do it well, and do social psychologists care about it? What does measurement theory tell us about the validity of standardized tests like the GRE? Jessica also talks about how she went from high-school dropout to professor at McGill.

Episode 31: Is Ego Depletion Real?

October 2nd, 2019  |  1 hr 18 mins

ego depletion, fatigue, replication

Yoel quizzes Mickey about ego depletion. How did we start studying it? How has the replication crisis changed how we think about it? After more than a decade studying ego depletion, does Mickey still have any faith in the phenomenon?

Episode 30: Evaluating Eminence

September 18th, 2019  |  1 hr 6 mins

bedbugs, bottle openers, eminence

Yoel and Mickey discuss the role of eminence in science. Is there a role for eminence in psychology? What makes a researcher eminent? Would we be better off doing away with eminence entirely?

Episode 29: Sacred Values

September 4th, 2019  |  1 hr 16 mins

guilt-by-association, jeffrey epstein, moral cleansing, moral outrage, sacred values, taboo tradeoffs

Yoel and Mickey discuss sacred valued. What are the hallmarks of values that have become sacrilized? Do scientists who attended conferences sponsored by Jeffrey Epstein need to morally cleanse?

Episode 28: Better Advice (with Alexa Tullett)

August 21st, 2019  |  1 hr 5 mins

advice, black goat podcast, boaty mcboatface, early career researcher, meta-science

Yoel and Mickey welcome Alexa Tullett from the University of Alabama to the podcast. Co-host of The Black Goat podcast and board member of the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science (SIPS), Alexa talks about early career research, work-life balance, and starting the OG psychology podcast.

Episode 27: Against Mindfulness

August 7th, 2019  |  1 hr 16 mins

attention, meditation, mindfulness, motivation, placebo, tango dancing, the self

Yoel and Mickey push back against the hype to mount an argument against mindfulness meditation.

Episode 26: Terrible Advice (with Paul Bloom)

July 24th, 2019  |  1 hr 8 mins

advice, happiness, meaning, parenting, perversity, values

Yoel and Mickey welcome returning guest Paul Bloom to the podcast to dispense terrible advice. We first talk about parenting—its impact on happiness and meaning, its transformation of the person; and then discuss perversity, including the enjoyment of doing transgressive things for no good reason.

Episode 25: Truth and Political Bias in Psychology (with John Jost)

July 3rd, 2019  |  1 hr 26 mins

activism, conservatism, liberal bias, politics, trump

Yoel and Mickey welcome social and political psychologist John Jost from New York University to the podcast. In a conversation centered on politics, John talks about the psychological underpinning of conservativism and why he’s not worried about the lack of conservatives in academia.

Episode 24: Heuristics and Biases in the Democratic Primary

June 19th, 2019  |  1 hr 3 mins

Yoel and Mickey take a deep dive into the Democratic primary field, asking what the field of judgment and decision making can teach us about the large and diverse field of Democratic candidates.

Episode 23: Slow-Form Journalism (with Daniel Engber)

June 5th, 2019  |  57 mins 2 secs

concussions, imposter syndrome, marathons, progress bar, replication crisis, science journalism, wind-chill factor

Journalist Daniel Engber joins Mickey and Yoel to talk about the evolving state of science journalism, including what he hopes are lasting improvements. He also talks about his own reporting on the replication crisis in psychology and concussions in sport.