The Smart Cookies Podcast

The Lost Human Species Hiding in Our DNA | Prof. Bence Viola

1.8K views · 5d ago · 1:11:54

Guest: Prof. Bence Viola

In 2010, a shocking discovery reverberated throughout the scientific community - a bone fragment previously thought to have belonged to a Neanderthal turned out to be a completely new species of archaic humans. Named after the Denisova cave in which the fragment was found, this mysterious new group was named the Denisovans.

Topics: The shocking discovery · Why are there so few Denisovan remains? · What makes different human species different? · What did Denisovans look like? · Why encountering other humans made them afraid · Interbreeding between different human species

The Era Of Climate Change Is Here - And This Is Our Only Way Out | Prof. Bill McKibben

25K views · 3w ago · 49:53

Guest: Prof. Bill McKibben

Bill McKibben is someone I've been wanting on the pod for ages - he's not only one of the most celebrated environmentalists alive, but is also widely credited as having written the first ever book on climate change for a general audience, The End of Nature. Last year, he released another groundbreaking book called Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization.

Topics: How fast is global warming accelerating? · The renewable energy revolution · How the fossil fuel lobby is taking us down · China, the green energy powerhouse · Why are Americans tolerating this lunacy · Despite renewables emissions are still rising

Asylums, Lobotomies and ECTs - The Horrifying History of Mental Illness “Cures” | Prof. Andrew Scull

877 views · 1mo ago · 1:38:50

Guest: Prof. Andrew Scull

What do lunatic asylums, lobotomies and insulin shock therapy have in common? They were all desperate attempts to cure mental illness. Long before the advent of pharmacology, "maverick" psychiatrists proposed different theories on what caused madness - from germs and infections to abnormal pathways in the brain. These ideas gave birth to a host of horrific "cures" that often left the patients worse off than before... if they managed to survive them in the first place.

Topics: Mental illness in the ancient world · Asylums · Dark theories that lead to Nazi's "Aktion T4" · Removing organs to cure mental illness · Lobotomy · Popularisation of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy

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