Figuring out what makes a terrorist tick is not easy, but law enforcement and counterterrorism officials have been turning to psychologists to try to do just that. Psychologist John Horgan, PhD, has spoken face-to-face with former members of violent extremist organizations in an effort to understand how and why people become involved in terrorism as well as ... Show More
Oct 8
Dyslexia myths, misconceptions and facts, with Tim Odegard, PhD
Dyslexia is one of the most common learning differences, yet it’s still widely misunderstood. Tim Odegard, PhD, talks about how dyslexia is diagnosed and defined; his own experience growing up with dyslexia; how kids at risk can be identified early; what interventions work best; ... Show More
39m 5s
Oct 1
Lefties, righties and mixed-handers: The psychology of brain asymmetry, with Sebastian Ocklenburg, PhD
Left-handers make up about 10.6 percent of the world’s population. Sebastian Ocklenburg, PhD, talks about why handedness and other brain asymmetries exist; the genetic and environmental factors that influence handedness; whether there’s any truth to the stereotype that lefties ar ... Show More
36m 46s
Sep 24
Teens, AI and the science of risky decisions, with Valerie Reyna, PhD
You might think the best way to make decisions is to know all the facts. But psychologists’ research suggests that getting the “gist” – the core meaning behind the facts – is more important than focusing on every last detail. Valerie Reyna, PhD, talks about why gist matters; how ... Show More
34m 33s
Dec 2021
E157. Jesse Morton Regrets Being A Terrorist
Jesse Morton was once an American born, jihadist propagandist who ran Revolution Muslim, a New York City-based organization active in the 2000s and connected to a number of terrorism cases. He and Bridget talk about his upbringing, how he discovered Islam and the process of his r ... Show More
2h 23m
Sep 2021
Counterterrorism Twenty Years after 9/11
Twenty years after the deadly terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, how has the global terrorist threat, and American strategy against it, evolved? And what lessons can we learn from the successes and failures of U.S. counterterrorism policy as we enter the third decade since ... Show More
37m 11s
Jul 2023
Tarek Younis, "The Muslim, State, and Mind: Psychology in Times of Islamophobia" (Sage, 2022)
Mental health is positioned as the cure-all for society’s discontents, from pandemics to terrorism. But psychology and psychiatry are not apolitical, and neither are Muslims. This book unpacks where the politics of the psy-disciplines and the politics of Muslims overlap, demonstr ... Show More
35m 49s
Jul 2023
Tarek Younis, "The Muslim, State, and Mind: Psychology in Times of Islamophobia" (Sage, 2022)
Mental health is positioned as the cure-all for society’s discontents, from pandemics to terrorism. But psychology and psychiatry are not apolitical, and neither are Muslims. This book unpacks where the politics of the psy-disciplines and the politics of Muslims overlap, demonstr ... Show More
35m 49s