logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2020
1h 17m

From the Vault: The Secret Intellect of ...

iHeartPodcasts
About this episode

In the second of two classic episodes, Joe and Christian continue their discussion of animal cognition, including animal morality, tool use, mental time travel, culture, and other strange clues to the intellectual complexity of our cousins in the animal kingdom. Afterwards, they speak to Dutch-American primatologist Frans de Waal about his book and his thoughts on the future of animal intelligence research. (Originally published 2/23/2017)

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Yesterday
The Devil You Know, Part 1
In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the psychological, economic and decision theory phenomenon known as ambiguity aversion. Find out how it relates to the Ellsberg paradox, madman theory and the balance of power in our world.See omnystudio.com/liste ... Show More
51m 30s
Aug 25
Weirdhouse Cinema Rewind: Venom (1981)
In this classic episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe wrestle with their first full-blown snake movie: 1981’s “Venom.” It stars Oliver Reed, Klaus Kinski and a live black mamba snake from the London Zoo. Film historians still debate which was the more difficult actor of the t ... Show More
1h 16m
Aug 23
From the Vault: Ancient Oars on the Wine-Dark Sea, Part 1
In this classic episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the mysteries and marvels of oar-powered galleys and warships in the ancient Mediterranean world. How many oars did they depend on? How many rowers and how many levels of rowers? And what are we to make of ... Show More
40m 59s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2022
Justin Gregg on Animal Intelligence and Human Stupidity
Ryan talks to Justin Gregg about his new book If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal: What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity, what we can learn from the nature of animals, the double edge sword of human intelligence, and more.Justin Gregg is science writer and author. He wri ... Show More
1h 9m
Jul 2023
Tom Mustill, "How to Speak Whale: A Voyage into the Future of Animal Communication" (Grand Central Publishing, 2022)
What if animals and humans could speak to one another? Tom Mustill—the nature documentarian who went viral when a thirty‑ton humpback whale breached onto his kayak—asks this question in his thrilling investigation into whale science and animal communication.“When a whale is in th ... Show More
53m 45s
Feb 2024
G: The World's Smartest Animal
This episode begins with a rant. This rant, in particular, comes from Dan Engber - a science writer who loves animals but despises animal intelligence research. Dan told us that so much of the way we study animals involves tests that we think show a human is smart ... not the ani ... Show More
50m 20s
Apr 2024
On humans and animals | Peter Singer, Mary Midgley
Should we treat animals and humans equal?Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimesAlmost forty years after these two philosophers helped create the idea of animal rights, what do they believe would constitute further progress in our at ... Show More
37m 7s
Jul 2023
Animal Enigmas
From the bugs in our backyards to prehistoric reptiles, animal biology and behavior are full of puzzles and conundrums. On this episode, we hear from experts solving the mysteries of the animal kingdom. Guests include paleontologist Dean Lomax, biochemical engineer Saad Bhamla, h ... Show More
50m 21s
Sep 2023
249 | Peter Godfrey-Smith on Sentience and Octopus Minds
The study of cognition and sentience would be greatly abetted by the discovery of intelligent alien beings, who presumably developed independently of life here on Earth. But we do have more than one data point to consider: certain vertebrates (including humans) are quite intellig ... Show More
1h 28m
Jun 2021
How do animals know where to go?
As part of a massive new global tracking project, scientists are monitoring animals from a receiver on the International Space Station, mapping the incredible, previously unknown journeys that animals undertake. They’re beginning to tackle questions like how far do animals actual ... Show More
28m 56s
Jun 2020
Do animals have consciousness?
What exactly it means to be conscious has long been a question of profound debate amongst philosophers, and more recently, scientists. There are no easy answers, and it gets even trickier when you start asking whether animals are conscious: how can you find out about their subjec ... Show More
36m 43s