The Escaped Sapiens Podcast

Who Controls What You Eat? | Marion Nestle | Escaped Sapiens Podcast #27 (part 1)

Our food system is complicated, and there are many competing interests that determine which products end up on shelves for purchase. In this episode of the podcast Marion Nestle discusses the different factors that control the food that ends up on your plate. We cover the influence of advertising, corporate influence on health research and policy, and positive the impact that individual consumers are able to have. Marion Nestle was the Paulette Goddard professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. She was also a professor of Sociology at NYU and a visiting professor of nutritional sciences at Cornell University.
►Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/OpO028GYt-o

►Find out more about Marion's research here: https://www.foodpolitics.com/

►And here: https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/people/marion-nestle

►Marion's books can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Marion-Nestle/e/B001ILIEEY%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

►Follow Marion on twitter: @marionnestle

How Did Life Begin and Where Are All The Aliens? | David Catling | Escaped Sapiens Podcast #26

How did life begin? Where are all the aliens? For most of human history these questions have been the realm of speculation. Today however, we have rovers on Mars, large space telescopes, and a deep understanding of evolution and biochemistry. So what does the science say? In the episode of the podcast I speak with Professor David Catling, astrobiologist, and planetary scientist at the University of Washington, whose research focuses on understanding the differences between the evolution of planets, their atmospheres, and their potential for life.

►Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/jN6YMa16CM8

►Find out more about David's work here: http://faculty.washington.edu/dcatling/

►David's astrobiology textbook can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Astrobiology-Very-Short-Introduction-Introductions/dp/0199586454 http://faculty.washington.edu/dcatling/

How Disgust Has Evolved to Help you Survive | Dan Fessler | Escaped Sapiens Podcast #25

How do the different kinds of disgust (sexual, political, hygiene, insects, cultural, etc) relate to each other? How are our feelings of disgust formed, and what role do genetics and upbringing play? How is it that disgust is switched off or even inverted when interacting with family members or during sex, and how are studies on disgust are actually done?

►Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/RQAZhDh3rVQ

►Find out more about Dan's work here: http://www.danielmtfessler.com/ https://anthro.ucla.edu/person/daniel-m-t-fessler/

Can We Beat Climate Change? | Ketan Joshi | Escaped Sapiens #24

Ketan Joshi is a full time communications consultant, freelance writer, analyst, researcher and author. For the past decade Ketan has been researching everything that has gone wrong in the fight against climate change, with the hope of using our past mess to highlight realistic paths towards a Fossil Free Future. In this episode of the podcast Ketan provides a realistic picture of climate change, and outlines some of the less obvious social blockades to decarbonizing. We end on a brief overview of the personal steps that can be taken to lower one's own carbon footprint, touching on divestment, lifestyle changes, and the decision to have children.
►Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/sLF2d3xcxSA 
►For More information on Ketan's work: https://ketanjoshi.co/
►Ketan's Book Windfall: https://www.newsouthbooks.com.au/books/9781742236469/ https://www.amazon.com/Windfall-Unlocking-fossil-free-Ketan-Joshi-ebook/dp/B08GPTHJNP
►The AR6 Climate Change 2021: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/

The Science of Propaganda | Oliver Boyd-Barrett | Escaped Sapiens Podcast #23 (Part 1)

This episode of the podcast focuses on the effects of developments in science and technology on our society - and in particular on the science of propaganda. I speak with Professor Oliver Boyd-Barrett from Bowling Green State University about the influence that social media, cyber warfare and hacking, bot armies, troll farms, and other technologies have on the spread of disinformation and misinformation throughout our society. Who is it that really wields power in the world? Note: At 01:41:50 Oliver introduces a thought experiment in which he describes the western view of the treatment of Uyghur's in China's Xinjian province as being a product of western propagandists. Oliver wishes to make clear that this is a thought experiment and that he is unable to say with certainty that the Xinjiang narrative actually is such a product. Oliver wrote an article on this topic in which his concerns and uncertainties are better articulated, which can be found here:
►Watch this episode on Youtube:  https://youtu.be/QkO29wwiEt0 
►https://citizentruth.org/the-uyghur-question-struggling-to-monopolize-the-narrative/
►Find out more about Oliver's work here: https://www.bgsu.edu/arts-and-sciences/media-and-communication/faculty-and-staff/oliver-boyd-barrett.html ►Oliver's books can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/102104.Oliver_Boyd_Barrett

The Science of Propaganda | Oliver Boyd-Barrett | Escaped Sapiens Podcast #23 (Part 2)

This is part two of an interview with Oliver Boyd-Barrett. This episode of the podcast focuses on the effects of developments in science and technology on our society - and in particular on the science of propaganda. I speak with Professor Oliver Boyd-Barrett from Bowling Green State University about the influence that social media, cyber warfare and hacking, bot armies, troll farms, and other technologies have on the spread of disinformation and misinformation throughout our society. Who is it that really wields power in the world?
►Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/KdS5epaoYGY
►Find out more about Oliver's work here: https://www.bgsu.edu/arts-and-sciences/media-and-communication/faculty-and-staff/oliver-boyd-barrett.html ►Oliver's books can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/102104.Oliver_Boyd_Barrett

Survival at Sea, Human Endurance and Ingenuity | Steve Callahan | Escaped Sapiens Podcast #22

Steve Callahan is an inventor, sailor, Naval architect, and author. In 1981 Steve lost `Napoleon Solo', a ship he designed and built, during a storm in the mid Atlantic, and spent the next 76 days adrift on an inflatable rescue boat. Steve very kindly agreed to share his story. We discuss the event itself, but also the way that it has shaped his view of the world, and subsequently coloured his life - from further world travels and sailing, to working on set of `The Life of Pi'. This is a conversation that ranges from the gritty realism of eating raw sea birds to survive, to touching philosophical thoughts about life and facing adversity.
►Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/doyhLBmOAyk
►Find out more about Steve here: https://www.stevencallahan.net/schome.html ►Steve's book `adrift' can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0618257322/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwstevencall-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399353&creativeASIN=0618257322

Deep Fakes and Manipulated Media | Matthew F. Ferraro | Escaped Sapiens Podcast #21

Matthew F. Ferraro is an attorney and former intelligence officer who writes widely on national security and legal issues. Matt is currently a counsel at the international law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, and a visiting fellow at the National Security Institute at George Mason University. (The views Matt expressed here are his own.) In this episode of the podcast we discuss the development of deep fake technology from a policy and legal standpoint. What impact does deepfake technology have on the spread of disinformation and misinformation? What are the implications of this new technology for the balance of global power? Does manipulated media only have malicious uses or might it be used as a tool for good? What policy and legal frameworks are being implemented to ensure a positive outcome?
►Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RwVMo7wwZUU
►Information about Matt's work can be found here: https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/people/matthew-ferraro
►Matt's personal website can be found here: http://matthewfferraro.com/
►At 0:36:20 Matt discusses a news story which can be found here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/syrian-electronic-army-hackers-attack-guardian-twitter-accounts-8597629.html

Environmental pragmatism and living a good life | Tim Flannery | Escaped Sapiens Podcast #20

Tim Flannery is a Mammologist, palaentologist, environmentalist, conservationist, and explorer. He was named Australian humanist of the year in 2005 and Australian of the year in 2007. Tim served as chief commissioner of the Australian Climate Commission and is currently leading the Climate council. He has discovered more than 30 mammal species, and and discovered cretaceous fossils that that extended the Australian mammal fossil record back 80 million years. In 2018 Tim played a key role in putting an end to a 91 year old cycle of killings in the Solomon islands. In this episode of the podcast we discuss first contact with indigenous tribes, tribal ceremonies, discovering species, climate change, the value of money, and how to have a good life.
►Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/9rMXtmlRpJE
►Find out more about Tim's work at the Climate Council here: https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/author/tim-flannery/
►A list of Tim's books can be found here: https://groveatlantic.com/author/tim-flannery/
►Find out more about Tim's work as a professorial fellow at University of Melbourne here: https://www.climatecollege.unimelb.edu.au/speaker/prof-tim-flannery

Space Junk | Jonathan McDowell | Escaped Sapiens Podcast #19

Jonathan McDowell is an astrophysicist at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who studies black holes, quasars and X-ray sources in galaxies, as well as supporting the development of data analysis software for the X-ray astronomy community. In addition to his research Jonathan runs `Jonathans Space Report', which is a newsletter that has been running since 1989 that reports on recent space launches, International Space Station activities and space craft developments. In this episode of the podcast Jonathan discusses space junk, where it comes from, why it is a problem, and possible solutions for cleaning it up.

►Watch this episode on Youtube:
https://youtu.be/BMdw1VueAiw

►Check out Jonathan's space report here:
https://www.planet4589.org/space/jsr/jsr.html

►Find out more about Jonathan's research here:
https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/people/jonathan-mcdowell

►Visit Jonathan's personal website here:
https://planet4589.org/jcm/index.html