logo
episode-header-image
May 2024
1h 1m

Universe 25: The Parable of Rodent Utopi...

iHeartPodcasts
About this episode

What would happen if you built an almost-perfect world, limited in terms only of space? How would people react -- could you create a utopian society? These are the questions John Bumpass Calhoun asked himself during his career as an ethologist, which led him to create tiny 'universes' for rodents... only to find that, time and time again, these perfect civilizations collapsed. Join Ben, Matt and Noel as they delve into the parable of Universe 25 and behavioral sinks.

They don't want you to read our book.: https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/stuff-you-should-read/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Yesterday
Strange News: New Statues on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Plane Heists, Allegations of Brain Rot in English Dictionaries
Chinese scientists construct a robot capable of carrying a human fetus to term -- will the government allow this in the public sphere? A California man finds his recreational Cessna repeatedly stolen. Dictionary boffins are criticized for canonizing recent phrases and words. All ... Show More
1h 4m
Aug 23
Introducing: Law & Order: Criminal Justice System S2
Law & Order: Criminal Justice System is back with Season Two, turning its focus to a threat that hides in plain sight, harder to predict and even harder to stop: terrorism. Hear the real stories from those who lived it, worked it, and risked everything to confront it. Listen here ... Show More
2m 29s
Aug 22
The Anunnaki, Chapter One: "In Those Days, There Were Giants"
How did the humble primates learn the astonishing arts of agriculture, taming fire, animal husbandry and the sorcery of the written word? If you travel to ancient Mesopotamia, you'll see mysterious references to powerful non-human entities called the "Anunnaki." In the first Chap ... Show More
56m 33s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2022
Asking the ultimate questions about reality | Robert Lawrence Kuhn
All the questions.Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimesWhat exists? Why is there anything at all? Are there realities beyond physics? What is consciousness, personal or cosmic? Robert Lawrence Kuhn, host of the long-running 'Closer to ... Show More
27m 25s
Nov 2021
Paulo Coelho, Part 1: What If the Universe Conspired in Your Favor? (From August 10, 2017)
The Best of Oprah's Super Soul | This Episode Was Originally Published on August 10th, 2017. Why are you really here? What is your personal purpose on earth? In an extraordinarily rare interview from his home in Switzerland, Paulo Coelho, the author of The Alchemist, one of the b ... Show More
30m 28s
Aug 2017
Paulo Coelho, Part 1: What If the Universe Conspired in Your Favor?
Why are you really here? What is your personal purpose on earth? In an extraordinarily rare interview from his home in Switzerland, Paulo Coelho, the author of The Alchemist, one of the best-selling books of all time, answers life’s biggest questions. He teaches us about dreams, ... Show More
30m 28s
Jun 1
You and the Universe - by Stephen Hawking and Lucy Hawking
Inspire kids to ask the big questions about Earth and the cosmos with this stunningly illustrated version of Professor Stephen Hawking's final message to humankind.We are all time travelers journeying together into the future. But let us work together to make that future a place ... Show More
11m 47s
Oct 2021
Ep182 - John Lennox | 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity
This week, mathematician and emeritus Oxford University Professor John Lennox discusses his book, “2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity” You don't have to be a computer scientist to get involved in the discussion about where artificial intelligence and technol ... Show More
1h 1m
Aug 2023
Travis Holloway, "How to Live at the End of the World: Theory, Art, and Politics for the Anthropocene" (Stanford UP, 2022)
the near universal disappearance of shared social enterprise: the ruling class builds walls and lunar shuttles, while the rest of us contend with the atrophy of institutional integrity and the utter abdication of providing even minimal shelter from looming disaster.The irony of t ... Show More
51m 14s
Jan 2023
"Snow Crashing Into The Metaverse" from Imaginary Worlds
This week, we’re sharing an episode of Imaginary Worlds. For the last 30 years, the real world has been catching up to Neal Stephenson’s vision of the future in his 1992 novel Snow Crash, which influenced the creators of Google Earth, Second Life, Oculus Rift and more. Now the ce ... Show More
29m 19s
Jan 2022
Are we living in a simulation?
Sean Illing talks with philosopher David Chalmers about virtual worlds and the nature of reality, and other topics that stem from Chalmers's new book Reality+. In this far-reaching discussion, Sean and Prof. Chalmers get into the makeup of human consciousness, the question of whe ... Show More
1h 8m
Aug 2022
Episode 243: Finding My Religion
David and Tamler continue their discussion of Leo Tolstoy’s 'Confession.' When we left him last time, the famous author had bottomed out just years after writing two of the greatest novels ever written. Our eventual death, Tolstoy thought, strips life of all meaning and purpose – ... Show More
1h 32m
Dec 2020
Best of: Robert Sapolsky on the toxic intersection of poverty and stress
Robert Sapolsky is a Stanford neuroscientist and primatologist. He’s the author of a slew of important books on human biology and behavior, including most recently Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst. But it’s an older book he wrote that forms the basis for this c ... Show More
1h 20m