Sizing Up the Notion of Tailoring Your Brain with Emily Willingham

Sizing Up the Notion of Tailoring Your Brain with Emily Willingham

Author: Indre Viskontas December 13, 2021 Duration: 33:37
In this episode, Emily Willingham joins Indre to talk about tailoring the brain, a subject on which she’s an expert and about which she writes extensively in her book The Tailored Brain: From Ketamine, to Keto, to Companionship, A User's Guide to Feeling Better and Thinking Smarter. Emily is a journalist, a science writer, the author of previous books, including Phallacy: Life Lessons from the Animal Penis, a coauthor of The Informed Parent: A Science-Based Resource for Your Child's First Four Years, and is a regular contributor to Scientific American and other publications. She is the joint recipient with David Robert Grimes of the 2014 John Maddox Prize which is awarded by the science charity Sense About Science to those who stand up for science in the face of personal attacks. If you want to learn how to to feel better and think smarter – and, really, who doesn’t? – then today’s episode of Inquiring Minds is definitely a ‘must listen’.   Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. The Tailored Brain: From Ketamine, to Keto, to Companionship, A User's Guide to Feeling Better and Thinking SmarterSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds

Hosted by neuroscientist and communicator Indre Viskontas, Inquiring Minds digs into the questions that shape our lives, where hard data meets human experience. This isn't just about lab results or abstract theories; it's about how scientific thinking directly influences our culture, our social structures, and the daily choices we all face. Every episode is a deep, thoughtful conversation that starts with curiosity and follows the evidence wherever it leads. You'll hear from researchers, thinkers, and sometimes skeptics, all in service of untangling complex issues with clarity and nuance. The goal is to move beyond headlines and hype to examine what we really know, what remains a mystery, and how that knowledge empowers us. Tuning into this podcast means joining a community that values rigor and open-minded inquiry, recognizing that understanding the mechanisms of our world is the first step toward navigating it more thoughtfully. It's for anyone who has ever wondered how science actually informs policy, art, relationships, and our sense of self, presented not as a lecture but as an engaging, ongoing exploration.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Inquiring Minds
Podcast Episodes
Up to Date | Social Parrots; Empathetic Rodents; Microbiome Analyses [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:10
This week we delve into a study with a citizen science element regarding the evolution of a social behavior in parrots, followed by a collaborative study regarding empathy in rodents, particularly toward those with whom…
Opening Up the World of Quarantine with Nicola Twilley [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:40
In the summer of 2019—before Covid-19 had emerged—author, researcher, and ‘Gastropod’ co-host Nicola Tilley and her husband and co-author Geoff Manaugh told a rapt audience, “You and everyone around you is going to be qu…
Building Up Your Mental Health Immunity with Andy Norman [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:38
Among COVID-19’s many side effects are two that seem to be in direct conflict – on the one hand we’ve all become armchair epidemiologists, and on the other, conspiracy theories are at an all time high. In the common sear…
Generating the Element of Harmonic Surprise with David Rosen [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:23
Over the years, music producers have tried to predict what audiences want to hear while at the same time advances in science and technology have taught us a lot about what happens in the brain when we listen to music tha…
Thinking about Thinking about Yourself with Iris Berent [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:16
What are your thoughts regarding the relationship between the mind and the brain? For that matter, what are your thoughts? Iris Berent has definitely done some deep thinking on these questions, unearthing the stories we…
‘The Untapped Science of Less’ with Leidy Klotz [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:14
Joining Indre on the podcast today is University of Virginia Professor, Leidy Klotz. A former professional soccer player, Leidy has gone on to pursue his interest in studying how we transform things from how they are to…
Mom Genes: Abigail Tucker on the Science of Motherhood [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:04
We all know how babies are made, but science is only now exploring how mothers are. Abigail Tucker discusses her latest book, exploring the factors that shape the behaviors of mothers and other caregivers.
Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:58
Andy Weir, science fiction writer and author of The Martian, joins us to talk about his new book Project Hail Mary: A Novel.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The future artificial intelligence may lead to [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:20
We talk to writer and technologist Gary Bengier about AI and his new science fiction novel Unfettered Journey.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds