Talk Psych to Me (Scarlet Moon Things Co.)
Explore every episode of Talk Psych to Me
| Pub. Date | Title | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Feb 2022 | Self-Love & Self-Compassion: What's (self-) love got to do with it? | 00:58:40 | |
In this episode we investigate whether there's truth to the saying "you can't love someone until you love yourself." Join the conversation to discover your love style and build your self-compassion skills. Show us some love: Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 17 Feb 2022 | Celebrating Black History Month with Black-led Research | 00:56:43 | |
In this episode, we celebrate Black History Month by spotlighting some Black psychologists whose research has had profound impacts. We talk stereotype threat, implicit bias, Optimal Psychology, and attempt to recreate the famous Doll Test on an adult(ish) man. Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 25 Feb 2022 | [RERUN] Hope & Helplessness | 00:40:35 | |
With a war looming in Ukraine (where Tania was born), many of us need a whole lot more hope right now. So we're pulling one of our earliest episodes from our archive on the psychology of hope, first aired on Jan 25, 2020. We talk about the difference between hope and optimism, the truth behind learned helplessness, and how to bulk up our hope muscles. | |||
| 12 Mar 2022 | Power & Powerlessness: Escaping the power paradox | 01:00:50 | |
What happens to us when we get pumped up on power or deflated by powerlessness? Does power corrupt us or does it set us free? And how can we escape, what psychologist Dacher Keltner calls, the "power paradox"? You have the power to talk to us: Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 25 Mar 2022 | Compassion: Sharing your fries and comics | 00:55:40 | |
Why is it that so many of us have the urge to help others, and what stands in our way? Discover the many surprising benefits of compassion (from accelerating your healing factor to increasing your sexiness), and add even more meaning and fulfillment to your life. Come-pass-on some questions and feedback: Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 04 May 2022 | Toxic Positivity (with Whitney Goodman) | 00:41:08 | |
This week author and psychotherapist Whitney Goodman joins the show to talk about toxic positivity. Find out if your attempts to be positive actually cause harm and how to stop saying "everything happens for a reason" and "at least you still have your health"!
Share a healthy degree of positivity:
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 16 Jun 2022 | Rituals: Can deodorant swipes improve performance and connection? | 01:01:14 | |
Is Brian's morning ritual of doing a set number of deodorant swipes an odd quirk or is it a legitimate strategy to improve performance, reduce anxiety, and spark connection? Come learn about the psychology of ritual and how you can put it to good use in your own life. | |||
| 12 Jul 2022 | Changing public opinion: part 1 of 2 | 00:59:21 | |
In this two-parter, we explore findings on public opinion change. Is it even possible to change people's minds and, if so, how the heck do you do it? This is a great episode for anyone looking to change one mind or one million. | |||
| 26 Jul 2022 | Changing public opinion: part 2 of 2 | 00:55:42 | |
Calling all activists and change-makers! In our last episode, we tackled the topic of direct influence. This time, we explore the research on framing, protests, mass media, influencers, and public policy. Which of them has the power to change our minds? | |||
| 09 Aug 2022 | The positive side of negative emotions: Juicing the machine | 00:57:07 | |
What's good about feeling bad? In this episode, we explore the psychology of emotional complexity, how to benefit from unpleasant emotions, and the upside of being down. | |||
| 23 Aug 2022 | Parapsychology: Our most haunting research yet | 00:56:54 | |
Set your skepticism aside and come explore the psychology of the paranormal! From ghost sightings to clairvoyance, we examine the research behind our most mysterious human experiences. | |||
| 06 Sep 2022 | The Milgram Studies: Obedience, conformity, or ideology? | 00:43:41 | |
Were the infamous Milgram Experiments evidence of obedience, conformity, ideology, or something more sinister about human nature? | |||
| 20 Sep 2022 | Cold & Flu Psychology: Nothing to sneeze at | 00:50:57 | |
In honor of Brian’s sniffles, we’re exploring the psychology of “sickness behavior.” What are the psychological symptoms of colds and flus? What makes some of us more susceptible to sickness than others? And is it possible that our germs are controlling our actions? | |||
| 04 Oct 2022 | [RERUN] Aging: Water other people's tulips | 00:39:45 | |
Tania's birthday is this week, so we're rerunning our episode on the psychology of age and aging. | |||
| 18 Oct 2022 | Smell & Odor Psychology: The nose knows | 00:56:19 | |
Over the next few episodes, we'll be talking about the psychology of our senses. This week, we're stopping to admire and explore the little-known psychology of smell, including: smell evolution, odor evaluation, smell and memory, social odors, olfactory dysfunction, and the world's worst scent. | |||
| 01 Nov 2022 | Touch Psychology: Our most hands-on research | 00:49:39 | |
Over the next few episodes, we'll be talking about the psychology of our senses. | |||
| 16 Nov 2022 | [RERUN] Melancholy: The uplifting psychology of sadness | 00:35:52 | |
Lots of sad things are happening in our lives right now and in the lives of many people we love. So this week, we're replaying our 2020 episode on the psychology of melancholy. | |||
| 29 Nov 2022 | Taste & Flavor Psychology: Food for thought | 00:52:14 | |
The next episode in our exploration of the human senses: this time we dig into the psychology of taste. We discuss neurogastronomy, how emotions and sensations impact flavor, comfort foods, super tasters, picky eaters, food aversions, and Brian's stance on the best sodas. | |||
| 05 Jan 2020 | Cuteness Psychology: Of cute mice and ugly babies | 00:47:00 | |
Tania explains the psychology of cuteness, cute aggression, happy tears, and dimorphous expressions. Brian tries to understand how being ugly as a baby might have impacted his life. Together, they explore how cuteness is saving the world.
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 12 Jan 2020 | Emotional Misattribution: Your brain is hanging upside down | 00:47:16 | |
Tania and Brian explore emotional misattribution - when we think we're feeling one thing, but we're actually feeling something else. They talk about hanger, nervous-excitement, sexy fear, The Ramones, and much more.
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 20 Jan 2020 | Self-Control: Dangling your own carrot | 00:41:50 | |
What is self-control, when do you need it, and how do you get it? In this episode, Brian and Tania talk amygdala hijacking, road rage, delay of gratification, and willpower hacking. Collect new self-control tools, and see what happens when our hosts attempt to re-create the famous Marshmallow Test.
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 26 Jan 2020 | Hope & Helplessness: Thunderdome babies | 00:40:35 | |
Understand learned helplessness and its flip-side, learned hope. Discover a new thing you can blame on your parents. Find out why optimism can get us into trouble, but hope can make us live longer. And learn the best self-motivation hack.
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 31 Jan 2020 | Winning & Losing: How to lose like a champion | 00:38:12 | |
Let's talk winning and losing psychology, including body language, power posing, almost losing, almost winning, BIRGing, CORFing, and how to be a great loser.
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 10 Feb 2020 | Time Perception: Time is on your side | 00:45:24 | |
Ever feel like you don’t have enough time or that time is dragging on? Sure, we can’t control clock time, but we can learn to control brain time.
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 16 Feb 2020 | Cognitive Dissonance: Busting makes you feel good | 00:37:44 | |
Got cognitive dissonance? Learn helpful tips for either lying to yourself about it or growing as a person.
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 24 Feb 2020 | Popularity: Stop trying to make popular happen | 00:44:47 | |
What makes someone popular or unpopular? What are the pros and cons of popularity? And what was Brian's social status in high school?
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 02 Mar 2020 | Nonverbal Communication (Part I): Professor X skillz | 00:34:36 | |
Is 93% of all communication really nonverbal? Find out if this famous psych stat is truth or lore. See why Professor X puts the x in proxemics: the study of space in communication. Then head over to PART II of this episode.
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 08 Mar 2020 | Nonverbal Communication (Part II): Doctors without neck tats | 00:33:16 | |
Continuing from PART I of the episode on nonverbal communication, Brian and Tania talk about the significance of time in communication (aka chronemics), artifacts, paralinguistics, and cross cultural differences.
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 15 Mar 2020 | Panic Psychology: Hold onto your peanuts | 00:46:28 | |
We are up again two infections right now: COVID-19 and panic. In this episode, Tania and Brian break down the psychology of mass panic (like panic shopping, dance plague, and penis panic), moral panic (like xenophobia), and individual panic. They explain why mental health = physical health and share their favorite ideas for how to keep your cool.
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 15 Mar 2020 | Outtake: the laughing plague | 00:04:23 | |
A strange thing happened while we were recording Episode 11 on the topic of infectious mass reactions. We had one ourselves. | |||
| 23 Mar 2020 | Profanity: The importance of being f*@king earnest (with Vaneeta Sandhu) | 00:46:51 | |
Special guest, psychologist Vaneeta Sandhu, joins the show this week to talk about the psychology of cursing. Why do we do curse (or is it cuss)? Can other animals swear? How does profanity impact us and our teams? Does it shape how people see us? And why does it feel so f@#king good?
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 29 Mar 2020 | Luck Psychology: As luck would have it | 00:47:20 | |
Just what is luck, exactly? How does it play a role in our lives? Are some people luckier than others? Can an overdose of luck result in 'luck guilt'? And what can all of us do to become luckier?
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 06 Apr 2020 | Perseverance: My dad's voice in your head | 00:42:27 | |
As quarantine drags on, we have to shift out of crisis mode and into Perseverance Mode. In this episode, we learn from neuroscience, prisoners of war, homelessness, and Brian's dad to unpack the psychology of persistence.
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 13 Apr 2020 | Empathy: Step outside your yard | 00:52:08 | |
Come join the Luna family debate about empathy. Does it do more good or harm in a zombie apocalypse? How about in today's world? What exactly is empathy anyway? And how can we learn to use it well?
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 19 Apr 2020 | Aging: Water other people's tulips | 00:39:45 | |
In honor of Brian's birthday, we talk about the psychology of age and aging. Does being slightly older or slightly younger than your classmates in school impact you later in life? (Spoiler alert: yes!) What are some of the benefits of aging? And what advice do older adults have that we should all pay attention to today?
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 27 Apr 2020 | Problem Solving: Unicorn flute problems (with Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg) | 00:44:19 | |
Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg, author of What's Your Problem? joins us this week to talk about the psychology of problem solving. Learn his top tips for problem reframing and how to become a skillful problem solver.
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 04 May 2020 | Discussing Disgust: Onions, poop, and Hitler's sweater | 00:30:57 | |
Mucus. Puss. Maggots. Feces. Eating bats. Eating cows. Racism. In this episode, we discuss the benefits and dangers of disgust and tackle some tough questions like: Is anything objectively disgusting? Why are some people more easily disgusted than others? And... what's that smell?
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 10 May 2020 | Dreaming: Demons and brain dumps | 00:33:28 | |
Can psychology help us understand the mysterious worlds we visit and lives we lead while we're asleep? In this episode, we tackle questions like: Why do we dream? What do our dreams mean? Why didn't Brian join The Smurfs when he had the chance? And how can we become better dreamers?
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 17 May 2020 | Sloth: Luna's Inferno Part I | 00:35:28 | |
Feeling lazy? Tune in to understand why as we explore the psychology of the seven deadly sins, starting with sloth. At best, you'll walk away with greater motivation or self-acceptance. At the very least, you can put off doing more important things for 35 minutes! | |||
| 25 May 2020 | Greed: Luna's Inferno Part II | 00:40:48 | |
We continue our journey through the psychology of the seven deadly sins. This week, we're talking greed! Is greed the root of all progress or the root of all suffering? What makes someone greedy, and just how greedy are you? | |||
| 01 Jun 2020 | Wrath: Luna's Inferno Part III | 00:40:34 | |
In the wake of more black deaths and ongoing protests and riots - we tackle the psychology of anger, rage, and outrage. Should wrath really be categorized as a sin, or can be it be fuel for progress? Does violence lead to more violence, or can it propel social change? And is there such a thing as learning to be angry well? | |||
| 07 Jun 2020 | Melancholy: Luna's Inferno Part IV (bonus sin!) | 00:35:52 | |
So many of us are feeling weary and on the brink of hopelessness. This week, we talk about the psychology of melancholy - one of the original Eight Deadly Sins. We discuss the benefits of sadness, cultural norms, and how to use our small hope windows right now to stay in the fight. | |||
| 15 Jun 2020 | Pride: Luna's Inferno Part V | 00:33:41 | |
We're celebrating Pride Month with an exploration of the psychology of pride. Is it the deadliest of the 7 Deadly Sins or is it one of our greatest virtues? Come find out! | |||
| 21 Jun 2020 | Envy: Luna's Inferno Part VI | 00:34:31 | |
Let's unpack the psychology of envy. Is it a psychological poison? A sin? A catalyst for resentment, gossip, hostility, and crime? Or is it fuel for social progress and personal growth? Tania and Brian reveal their own envy episodes and discuss the #1 secret to transforming envy into empathy. | |||
| 29 Jun 2020 | Gluttony: Luna's Inferno Part VII | 00:34:39 | |
Eating too much causes more illness worldwide than eating too little. So, why do we do it and, how can we stop? In this episode, Brian and Tania take on the psychology and sociology of gluttony! | |||
| 12 Jul 2020 | Lust: Luna's Inferno Part VIII | 00:33:54 | |
In our final episode of the Psychology of the 7+ Deadly Sins, we take on lust. We tackle sexy questions like: what makes us lust after some people and not others? Does lust really make us stupid? How can you feel more lust in your relationship? And just how lusty is Brian? | |||
| 09 Aug 2020 | Labels & Identity: Don't label me (with Irshad Manji) | 00:51:50 | |
Author Irshad Manji shares her vision for honest diversity and a pluralistic society that doesn't treat labels as our finish line. Tune in to learn how our most common change tactics will probably backfire and how to engage in courageous conversations instead. Talk psych to us: | |||
| 16 Aug 2020 | Facial Feedback Hypothesis: Express yourself! | 00:20:34 | |
It's clear that feelings impact our facial expressions, but can it work the other way around? Can fake smiles turn to real happiness? Can Botox treat depression? And what do facial expressions have to do with empathy? | |||
| 29 Aug 2020 | Reminiscence & Anticipatory Joy: Psychological time travel | 00:20:15 | |
Do you know how to be a psychological time traveler? Spend 20 minutes with us today learning how reminiscence and anticipatory joy impact our mental health, relationships, and happiness. (And find out about that one time Brian and Tania both got food poisoning.) | |||
| 06 Sep 2020 | Music Psychology: Bacon vs Lithgow | 00:30:39 | |
In this episode, we'll help you get the most out of music and answer tough questions like: Did we evolve to make music? Does music help or harm our performance? What causes chills (aka skin orgasms)? And - most importantly - whose character had it right in Footloose, Kevin Bacon or John Lithgow?
Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||
| 13 Sep 2020 | Motivation: Cash, comics, or pigs? | 00:21:34 | |
Let's talk about the psychology of motivation! We explore the research behind intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and answer big questions like: What truly motivates us? Should we stop paying people for performance? And why did we adopt a pig? | |||
| 20 Sep 2020 | Narcissism: You probably think this podcast is about you | 00:28:10 | |
What is narcissism? Why do so many people suspect their partner is a narcissist? Are we becoming more narcissistic as a society? And most importantly... are YOU a narcissist? | |||
| 12 Oct 2020 | Operant Conditioning: Reinforcers, punishers, and pigeon missiles | 00:31:17 | |
Since we've been busy training our pig, Outlaw Josey, we wanted to break down the psychology of learning through Operant Conditioning. We talk about reinforcement, punishment, the difference between punishers and aversives, and the power of shaping. We even test out B.F. Skinner's theory of language acquisition by trying to teach Brian to say a word. | |||
| 01 Nov 2020 | Gottman's 4 Horsemen: Relationship poisons and antidotes | 00:36:33 | |
In honor of Halloween, we're talking about the spookiest of subjects: John Gottman's theory of the 4 Horsemen of the Relationship Apocalypse. Find out the biggest predictors of a relationship downfall and how to prevent these common romance killers from creeping into your life. | |||
| 15 Nov 2020 | The Way Through: Q&A with a real-life therapist! | 00:40:56 | |
Brian's therapist, Dr. Lynn Saladino, joins the show to answer our therapy and mental health questions with special guest, Dr. Alyssa Greene, co-creator of our web series The Way Through. Don't miss out on this great deal. It's basically free therapy.
Come talk psych with us: | |||
| 03 May 2021 | Grief & Mourning: Don’t forget the lasagna | 01:00:17 | |
Tania and Brian are back this week to talk about the psychology of grief and mourning. Brian opens up about his father’s death, we explore the psychology of grief, funeral faux pas, coping with loss, and how to be there for others. Share your stories, questions, and feedback (and tell us how you define "list"): | |||
| 04 Jul 2021 | Boredom: Diddling the devil's playground | 01:01:30 | |
In this not-at-all-boring episode, Tania and Brian explore the psychology of boredom. They answer fascinating questions like, "what is boredom?" "is it good or bad for us?" "how can we become less boredom-prone?" and "what will happen if you leave Brian in a room for 15 minutes with nothing to do?" | |||
| 19 Jan 2022 | Procrastination: Tomorrow, tomorrow, not today | 01:00:47 | |
94% of people admit that procrastinating is bad for them. So why do so many of us still do it, how do we stop, and is there any way to get Brian to finally go to the dentist? | |||
| 27 Jan 2022 | Placebo & Nocebo Effects: The power of nothing | 00:55:56 | |
In this episode, Tania attempts to induce the nocebo effect -- placebo's evil twin -- on Brian. They explore placebo research (in areas ranging from pain to creativity), why it works, and how to put it to good use! It turns out "mind over matter" really does matter. | |||
| 03 Feb 2022 | Guilt Proneness & Hyper-Responsibility: Thanks a lot, Uncle Ben | 00:52:18 | |
Do you ever feel like no matter how much you do, you’re still not doing enough? To get to the bottom of that emotion, Tania and Brian talk about the psychology of guilt, guilt proneness, and hyper-responsibility. Come take a guilt trip with us to discover the benefits, risks, and alternatives to chronic guilt. We spent hours making this episode -- the least you can do is listen ;) Produced by Scarlet Moon Things | |||