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More of a Comment Than a Question
Paul Connor
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A podcast about psychology, academia, culture, and politics, hosted by Rachel Hartman and Paul Connor.
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The Abortion Episode
May 14 2022
1 hr 22 mins
The Abortion Episode
We discuss the moral philosophy of abortion, and make a few comments about the public reaction to the leaked Supreme Court Roe v Wade decision. Here's some data on the stability of public attitudes toward abortion since the 70s: https://news.gallup.com/poll/1576/abortion.aspxAnd here's some data about the relative prevalence of bi-sexuality and homosexuality: https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/how-many-people-lgbt/
May 14 2022
1 hr 22 mins
AI Stereotyping Gate! or: The First Yoel (Inbar appearance on the pod)
In this episode we are joined by famous podcaster Yoel Inbar (who we also found out is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto) to discuss a recent controversy surrounding this paper in PNAS, and the ethics of training machine learning models to judge and modify facial images in ways consistent with the stereotypical impressions of humans.We also briefly discussed the dumb stick-figure meme people have been talking about. Here are just a few pieces of research on people's ability to judge personality from physical appearance: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.994.7&rep=rep1&type=pdfhttps://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/000712606X109648https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-20823-006
Apr 29 2022
1 hr 16 mins
Corygate II: The Interview (with Cory Clark)
We were joined by Cory Clark, director of the Adversarial Collaboration Project and visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, to discuss her research on ideological bias in science, adversarial collaboration, cheerleading, powerpoint, and more.Follow Cory on twitter here: https://twitter.com/ImHardcoryCheck out the Adversarial Collaboration Project here: https://web.sas.upenn.edu/adcollabproject/
Apr 16 2022
1 hr 26 mins
Turking Class Man (with Aaron Moss)
We chatted with Aaron Moss, senior researcher at Cloud Research, about his recent paper on the ethics of using MTurk for behavioral research, conflicts of interest, global capitalism, and Will Smith. Read Aaron's paper here https://psyarxiv.com/jbc9d/Check out Cloud Research here https://www.cloudresearch.com/
Apr 5 2022
1 hr 36 mins
Katie's Jaeger Bomb (with Katie Herzog)
We were joined by journalist and podcaster Katie Herzog to discuss her recent piece about an academic #metoo scandal that was not what it seemed. You can read Katie's piece here: https://reason.com/2022/03/14/how-an-academic-grudge-turned-into-a-metoo-panic/ and listen to the BARpod episode about it here: https://www.blockedandreported.org/p/episode-106-possibly-the-craziest?s=rFollow Katie on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/kittypurrzogPinned threads by the claimants:Jessica Cantlon: https://twitter.com/CantlonLab/status/952644834229211136?s=20&t=S3eZiKta5LD7RVRH0LwJTASteven Piantadosi: https://twitter.com/spiantado/status/1167918514851610624?s=20&t=S3eZiKta5LD7RVRH0LwJTAWeird website made by some unknown party concerning the case: https://thejaegercase.com/faq
Mar 21 2022
1 hr 15 mins
Look for the Alpers (with Sinan Alper)
In this episode we are joined by Sinan Alper, a professor of Psychology at Yaşar University in Turkey, to discuss psychological research in non-WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) contexts, and his work on the antecedents and consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy theories.Follow Sinan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SinanAlper_ Some references:1. Paper showing people holding contradictory conspiracy beliefs (e.g. Princess Diana was assassinated but is nonetheless still alive): https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/19485506114347862. Civic honesty around the globe (Science paper testing frequency of returning lost wallets in different countries): https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aau87123. The backfire effect of debunking misinformation on Twitter: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3411764.34456424. SInan's paper on the link between intuitive thinking and social conservativism in WEIRD/non-WEIRD contexts: http://journal.sjdm.org/18/181212/jdm181212.pdf
Feb 14 2022
1 hr 23 mins
Listserv-gate! And Rittenhouse-gate: a reprise!
In this episode we respond to a disgruntled listener's critiques of our previous Rittenhouse-gate! episode, and discuss a controversial proposal on the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) listserv to form a group of non-oppressed oppression researchers. Links:Statement by graduate students of color at UNC concerning the pervasiveness of racism in the UNC psychology department: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L6J6Ee58JM338Fu89it_iKECeWdFWwSX60W6T3eC1r8/editA list of references we were pointed towards as additional evidence of racism within the UNC psychology department: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UmtHuW31UDoXfFe7LT26bnDVkGrB0DzpwroAD4QRW2U/editStatistics concerning the demographics of SPSP members: https://www.spsp.org/sites/default/files/Member-Diversity-Statistics-December-2019.pdfRacial Equity Tools' explainer on the reasoning behind racial affinity groups https://www.racialequitytools.org/resources/act/strategies/caucus-and-affinity-groupsShowing Up For Racial Justice's (SURJ) list of past actions taken by SURJ affinity groups https://surj.org/category/past-actions/Opinion piece: 'Please don't ask your Black friends to teach you about racism' https://theeverymom.com/dont-ask-your-black-friends-to-teach-you-about-racism/
Jan 23 2022
1 hr 58 mins
Rittenhouse-gate! (with Paul Cernasov)
In this episode we are joined by Paul Cernasov, a graduate student of clinical psychology at the University of North Carolina, to discuss a controversy within the UNC psychology department following an official email sent out to the department regarding the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse. Here is the study Paul mentioned with regard to anti-Asian racism: https://virulenthate.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Virulent-Hate-Anti-Asian-Racism-In-2020-5.17.21.pdf
Jan 15 2022
1 hr 17 mins
How the MIT have fallen (with Dorian Abbot)
In this episode we talked with Professor Dorian Abbot, a geophysicist from the University of Chicago whose views on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) led to the cancellation of a public lecture he was scheduled to give at MIT this autumn. We discuss how Professor Abbot gradually became concerned enough about what he saw happening at his institution with regard to DEI that he felt compelled to raise a dissenting voice concerning on affirmative action and academic freedom. Here is a paper by Peter Arcidiacono of Duke University, whose work Professor Abbot references in the pod, which argues that affirmative action may harm its beneficiaries in many cases: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20130626 And here is Professor Arcidiacono talking on Glenn Loury's show about more of his research:https://twitter.com/glennloury/status/1307037150815420417?lang=hi
Dec 28 2021
1 hr 12 mins
Social Thominance Theory (with Thomas Costello)
On this episode we are joined by Thomas Costello, a PhD candidate at Emory University, to discuss his work on the fascinating but under-studied construct of Left-Wing Authoritarianism. You can find Tom on twitter at https://twitter.com/tomstello_ and read more about his work at https://www.thcostello.com/
Dec 17 2021
1 hr 12 mins
Berea's 'Dave Reckoning' (with Dave Porter)
In this episode we are joined by air force veteran and 'professor in exile' Dave Porter to discuss the series of events that culminated in his termination from Berea College, Kentucky, and his ongoing lawsuit against the college alleging that Berea violated his and his students' academic freedom. Some more background on Dave's story can be found here: https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2021/07/why-did-a-christian-college-fire-a-tenured-professor/ A letter in support of Dave published by the National Association of Scholars can be found here: https://www.nas.org/blogs/article/an-open-letter-to-lyle-d-roelofs-president-of-berea-college
Dec 4 2021
1 hr 53 mins
Hot Women-Gate! + A New University? Telos More! (With Nicole Barbaro)
It's been a big week on psych twitter! Friend of the pod Nicole Barbaro returns to help us unpack all the drama surrounding the launch of Substack U (aka the University of Austin), as well as the fifty-ninth wave of the Great Tone Debate™Here is the University of Austin's website: https://www.uaustin.org/And here is the paper at the center of the last few days' controversy: https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/bjso.12489
Nov 12 2021
1 hr 11 mins
No Average Zhou (with Stephen Zhou)
In this episode we are joined by Steven Zhou, a graduate student in I-O Psychology at George Mason University, to discuss personality types. good and bad science communication, and what a healthy skepticism of academic research looks like.
Nov 7 2021
1 hr 16 mins
More of a Comment on the Offensive
In this episode, we try to unpack the notion of offensiveness, and discuss recent controversies at Yale and Netflix. What does it mean to find something offensive, and how should institutions handle situations in which individuals invoke the notion of offensiveness?
Oct 23 2021
1 hr 30 mins
Are grad students overpaid?
In this episode we muse about one of the least popular opinions possible for an academic to have: is it possible that grad students are actually not underpaid?
Oct 8 2021
1 hr 12 mins
How to avoid bad grad students
In this episode a microphone-less Paul and brand new co-host Rachel Hartman discuss the general weirdness that pervades academic mentorship and scientific training, and ask 'is there such a thing as a bad grad student?' Link to Project SHORT event 'Pre-Grad School - Finding the Right Program and Advisor Panel': https://www.eventbrite.com/e/project-short-pre-grad-school-finding-the-right-program-advisor-panel-tickets-178209528497
Sep 25 2021
1 hr 13 mins
Facts Don't Care About Your Felix (with Felix Cheung)
On this episode I'm joined by Felix Cheung from the University of Toronto to discuss his research on population-level determinants of human well-being, why Hong Kong residents are so unhappy, and thew social scientific investigation of economic inequality. Find and follow Felix on twitter at https://twitter.com/felixckc?lang=en
Aug 20 2021
1 hr 37 mins
TheBARPod! (with Nicole Barbaro)
Nicole Barbaro of WGU Labs and Utah Valley University joins the pod to dispel all my erroneous beliefs and misunderstandings about Attachment TheoryCheck out Nicole's website here https://nicolebarbaro.com/ , follow her on Twitter here https://twitter.com/NicoleBarbaro?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor , and subscribe to her substack here https://nicolebarbaro.substack.com/
Jul 22 2021
1 hr 24 mins
CRT-gate! (with Rachel Ernstoff & Manuel Galvan)
In which I welcome back Rachel Ernstoff and Manuel Galvan from the University of North Carolina to discuss what everyone else seems to be discussing: Critical Race Theory (CRT), and Republicans' efforts to ban it from schools and workplaces. You can read about Raj Chetty's work on social mobility across racial and gender groups here: https://voxeu.org/article/race-and-economic-opportunity-united-states, and find evidence linking affirmative action bans to reduced incomes among Latinos here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3484530Follow Rachel on twitter at https://twitter.com/RErnstoff and at https://www.rachelernstoff.com/Follow Manny on twitter at https://twitter.com/MGalvanPsych and at https://scienceofsocialproblems.com/
Jun 29 2021
1 hr 41 mins
The Bad-Lee Needed Contrarian (with Lee Jussim)
I chat with Professor Lee Jussim of Rutgers University about ideological bias in science, academic freedom, social science as activism vs social science as truth seeking, and tennis.
Jun 13 2021
1 hr 33 mins
