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This is a podcast aimed at better understanding other people and better understanding ourselves. 

I’m Zach Elwood. On this podcast, I talk to people from a wide range of professions and backgrounds about behavior and psychology.

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About me

I’m most known for my work on poker tells (aka, poker behavior). My first poker tells book, Reading Poker Tells, has been translated into eight languages. I’m also known for my work on political polarization (for example, my book Defusing American Anger). My independent research on deceptive online activity has been featured in NY Times, Washington Post, Buzzfeed, and more.

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Post List #1

Deep dives include summaries, transcripts, source and resource links, and listening options.

The Polarization of Keith Olbermann: Reviewing some of his incendiary, conflict-deranged behaviors

In March of 2024, the newsman and sports commentator Keith Olbermann tweeted that the “Supreme Court had betrayed democracy” and called for it to be “dissolved.” This was the second time he’d called for the Supreme Court to be dissolved: he did that also in 2022. This is a review of some of Olbermann’s more…

Mirror selfies, duck faces, and party pics: On signals in online dating profiles

I talk to Dr. Jess Snitko, who has researched online dating and other online communication, about the signals and messages we send, intentionally and unintentionally, with dating app profiles and pictures. Jess earned her Ph.D. in Media, Technology, and Society from Purdue University in 2020. Topics discussed: Factors in pictures and profiles that cause people…

Is the left-right spectrum concept a Matrix-like illusion?

Is the idea of a left-right political spectrum an illusion? Is there actually no consistent idea of “left” and no consistent idea of “right”? My guest is Hyrum Lewis, co-author of “The Myth of Left and Right: How the Political Spectrum Misleads and Harms America.” He argues the left-right spectrum idea is a simplistic, faulty…

Does Trader Joe’s pressure employees to talk to customers?

Every time I go in Trader Joe’s, the checkout person asks me a question of some sort. I used to think everyone there was just happy and friendly, but then I heard reports that it was more of a rule or strong encouragement that employees talk to customers. I read conflicting reports about this online…

The charlatan Chase Hughes featured on shows “Diary of a CEO,” Patrick Bet-David, others

The fraud Chase Hughes, whose major lies and unethical behaviors I’ve examined in past episodes (first episode and its text summary) continues to succeed in getting popular podcasts with large audiences to interview and promote him. Chase recently appeared on the podcast The Diary of a CEO with host Steven Bartlett; he also appeared on…

Elon Musk’s polarization: Examining his contemptuous approaches to political disagreement

In June of 2024, I got an op-ed published in TheHill.com about Elon Musk’s polarization — specifically his affective polarization, which refers to how he perceives and treats his political opponents. Like many people in our highly polarized, angry society, Elon Musk treats the “other side” with much contempt and disdain. You can often find…

“Gimbal” UFO video and other famous videos explained in new documentary

Brian Dunning, creator of the Skeptoid podcast, has a documentary out that brings a skeptical, analytical eye to the recent UFO craze – including those three famous UFO videos that got a lot of attention in a 2017 New York Times article. His documentary has the tongue-in-cheek title “The UFO Movie They Don’t Want You…

A dumb 1960s book on reading physical aspects of faces

I thought it’d be interesting to read a very dumb book from 1969 called “Face Reading: A Guide to How the Human Face Reveals Personality, Sexuality, Intelligence, Character, and More.” To be clear: this is a very bad book with no sense/logic to it, basically astrology-like, and I’m reading it just because I was curious…

I ask an 8-year-old about her belief in Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, and more

I interrogate an 8-year-old about her belief in magical creatures, including: Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, the Boogey Man, mermaids, gods and devils, and more. We also get on the subject of dreams and the nature of her mental imagery (e.g., aphantasia). Episode links: This was a segment of an interview from…