logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2025
56m 6s

A Ridiculous History of Brain Science, w...

iHeartPodcasts
About this episode

Today, we all generally understand that the brain is responsible for what we call personality and thought -- yet this wasn't always the case. Once humans figured out the brain was more than a weird lump in the skull, it took centuries of trial and error, along with quack science, to really understand how it works. In today's episode, the guys welcome back special guest Jorge Cham, the creator of ScienceStuff, to lear more about the ridiculous history of brain science.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Yesterday
A Ridiculous Love Letter to Atari, Part One: From Pings to Pongs
Nowadays most people either play video games, or know someone who does -- yet this wasn't always the case. As civilization skyrockets toward gaming experiences that feel increasingly immersive (and, in some cases, inseperable from reality), Ben, Noel and Max pay homage to the cre ... Show More
42m 27s
Jan 17
CLASSIC: How Admiral Horatio Nelson Ended Up Dead in a Barrel of Brandy
Naval legend Admiral Nelson died on October 21st, 1805 shortly after being shot by a French sniper while standing on the deck his ship, Victory. Following the British victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, the survivors of the conflict were left with a dilemma -- how could they pres ... Show More
34m 56s
Jan 15
What makes a word a 'word'?
Words are everywhere -- and we're grateful, because we can't do this show without them. But all words were, at some point, just made up. So how does society decide what counts as a "real" word? In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max dive into the history of language, and the oddly ... Show More
47m 14s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2022
How We Remember
What is a memory made of? Which parts of the brain help us remember? And what can taxi drivers’ brains tell us about how memories are made? In this episode of How We’re Wired, join evolutionary anthropologist Dr Anna Machin as she dives into the science of memory, and how we reme ... Show More
30m 50s
Oct 2016
16 - Phineas
Everyone knows the story of Phineas Gage, the young man who had a tamping iron shot through his brain in a freak accident and miraculously survived, only to have extreme personality changes. But the true story is far more complex -- and more interesting. In Episode 16 of Bedside ... Show More
17m 18s
May 2025
Left Brain vs. Right Brain: which one are you?
There is actually a lot of difference between the left and right brain. Today we explain the science of brain hemispheric specialization - a fancy term for left brain vs. right brain science. There is a lot of myths in this neuroscience, but also some fascinating truths. It helps ... Show More
54m 26s
Mar 2025
M. Chirimuuta, "The Brain Abstracted: Simplification in the History and Philosophy of Neuroscience" (MIT Press, 2024)
This book is available open access here. The Brain Abstracted: Simplification in the History and Philosophy of Neuroscience (MIT Press, 2024), Mazviita Chirimuuta argues that the standard ways neuroscientists simplify the human brain to build models for their research purposes mi ... Show More
50m 44s
May 2025
How to Cure What Ails You
<p>Now that we have the ability to see inside the brain without opening anyone's skull, we'll be able to map and define brain activity and peg it to behavior and feelings. Right? Well, maybe not, or maybe not just yet. It seems the workings of our brains are rather too complex an ... Show More
25m 1s
Jun 2022
Building a Brain
What is the brain made of? How is it built in the womb? And what impact does preterm labour have on brain development? In this episode of How We’re Wired, join evolutionary anthropologist Dr Anna Machin as she explores the beginnings of the human brain. We’ll visit an ultrasound ... Show More
26m 10s
Feb 2025
523. Why We Dream, Learn, and Adapt Faster Than Any Other Species | Dr. David Eagleman
Dr. Jordan B. Peterson sits down with neuroscientist, bestselling author, and PBS presenter Dr. David Eagleman. They discuss brain plasticity, how perception works, whether free will exists (and if it’s superordinate), how willingness to engage with higher entropy indicates sophi ... Show More
1h 35m
Jul 2025
Episode 312: MechaSkeptic
David and Tamler return to David Hume's somewhat slippery brand of skepticism, this time focusing Chapter 12 of his Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. Plus speaking of things to be skeptical about, we dive into a recent paper called "Your Brain on ChatGPT" – does neuroscienc ... Show More
1h 16m
Sep 2025
Unpacking the Brain’s Role in Inventing Your Perception
Human brains don’t just perceive reality—they invent it. In this episode of Science Quickly, cognitive neuroscientist Daniel Yon speaks with host Rachel Feltman about how perception is an active process of prediction in which the brain constructs theories about the world that can ... Show More
15m 37s
Oct 6
What's worth remembering?
We like to think of memory as a record of the past. But that’s not really what it is. Memory doesn’t keep the past — it can also remake it. It stitches fragments into stories, and those stories — true or not — are what we end up calling our life, and sometimes, our collective his ... Show More
58m 54s