Thinking Clearly

Feb 25 2025 100 ep. 57 mins 364

Thinking Clearly Podcast artwork

In this age of fake news, alternative facts and information overload, this podcast offers cognitive self-defense strategies and topics that will help you understand and master critical thinking in forming your claims beliefs and opinions.

Society & Culture Education

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#103-Worldview-The Elephant in the Room of Critical Thinking-updated for 2025

Feb 25 2025 58 mins

This episode looks back to the previous episode: # 22- Worldview-The Elephant in the Room of Critical Thinking, and updates it from the perspective of 2025.

#102-Worldviews and How they Guide our Beliefs-with guest Annick de Witt

Jan 28 2025 59 mins

This episode takes a deep dive into the concept of “worldview”, based on the research and work done by Annick de Witt: researcher, writer, teacher, and founder of the organization Worldview Journeys. Topics discussed include: conceptualizing the idea of worldview; how our worldview might affect our beliefs and behaviors; examples of types of worldviews; methods of uncovering ou

#101-The Virtues of Evidence-Based Policy Making-with guest Robert MacCoun

Dec 25 2024 59 mins

Even though they affect all of our lives, most of us know almost nothing about how policies are made, especially policy made by our state and federal governments. So, Julia and Bob learned a lot from this conversation with guest: Robert MacCoun, Law Professor at Stanford University. With a Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD degree in Psychology, professor MacCoun has long worked at t

#100-Foundations and Future of Critical Thinking-with guest Kevin deLaplante

Nov 26 2024 59 mins

This discussion with philosopher, former tenured professor at Iowa State University, and now independent critical thinking educator and consultant, Kevin deLaplante, revisits the importance and benefits of critical thinking in today’s post-truth world, reviews the basic skills involved with critical thinking and understanding of human cognitive vulnerabilities, while also introdu

#99-How internet influencers, algorithms and crowds are altering our politics, our society and our very relationship to reality-with guest Renée DiResta.mp3

Oct 21 2024 59 mins

Researcher, author and former Research Manager of the Stanford Internet Observatory, Renée DiResta, discusses how numerous internet-savvy individuals (influencers) are causing a profound shift in power and influence over our politics, beliefs and behavior, as outlined in her recent book: Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality. She also discusses: what can be done

#98-The Nature of Curiosity and it’s implications for Critical Thinking-with guest Jacqueline Gottlieb

Sep 24 2024 59 mins

Professor Jacqueline Gottlieb, Principal Investigator at Columbia University’s Zuckerman Institute and former head of the Research Cluster on Curiosity at Columbia University’s Center for Science and Society, brings her research experience and deep thinking about the human brain's higher cognitive functions—including decision making, memory, and attention—to discuss that wo

#97-How to Navigate the Challenges of Living in a Divided Nation-with guest Tania Israel

Aug 27 2024 59 mins

Second time Thinking Clearly guest, Tania Israel, Professor of Counseling Psychology at UC Santa Barbara, guides us through how to overcome the toxic effects of consuming politicized news and social media in this current, highly polarized American environment and discusses how to more effectively communicate with people holding opposing views to ours. Professor Israel is the author

#96-Using practices and tools from science while also learning how to weave together facts and values to rebuild trust and cooperation-with guest Robert MacCoun

Jul 23 2024 58 mins

Calling on his experience in evidence-based policy making, teaching a course at UC Berkeley called Sense and Sensibility and Science, and coauthoring the book Third Millennium Thinking-Creating Sense in a World of Nonsense, social scientist and law Professor at Stanford University, Robert MacCoun, discusses: how to avoid failure modes when making decisions; using practices, and too

#95-Critical Thinking and the Nature of Human Consciousness-with guest Anil Seth

Jun 25 2024 59 mins

Research and current theories about the nature of human consciousness are explored with guest Anil Seth, Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex. Topics include: how human consciousness can be thought of as controlled hallucination, the relationship of human consciousness to critical thinking, how thinking of the brain as a "prediction mach

#94-The Essence of Critical Thinking and Demonstrations of How to Have Civil Dialogues

May 28 2024 56 mins

Thinking Clearly hosts Bob and Julia review their definition of critical thinking, discuss how doing a show about critical thinking has changed them, and do several demonstrations of best practices (using the LAP-EFI method) for having productive, civil dialogues with people who have different views than yours.