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

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I’m Zach Elwood. I talk to people from a wide range of professions and backgrounds about their views on behavior and psychology. Some episode compilations you might like:

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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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Episode deep Dives

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

Evaluating psychiatric patients in the ER, with Dr. Rob Tarzwell

On this episode, I talk with Dr. Rob Tarzwell, a psychiatrist and psych researcher. This is the second time I’ve talked to Dr. Tarzwell: the first was this talk about SPECT brain imaging and his research correlating brain images with conditions affecting mental health. In this episode, I talk with Canadian doctor Rob Tarzwell about…

Examining factors behind offensive speech, with Dr. Timothy Jay

This People Who Read People podcast interview is of Dr. Timothy Jay, a psychologist and expert on the phenomenon of cursing. He has written several books, including Why We Curse, Cursing in America, and We Did What? (here is Dr. Jay’s Amazon author page). On social media, we often see videos of someone saying or…

Can you predict schizophrenia by analyzing language?, with Dr. Neguine Rezaii

The latest People Who Read People podcast episode is an interview with Dr. Neguine Rezaii, a psychiatrist and psychology researcher, about her team’s 2019 research using machine learning finding speech patterns in young adults that were predictive of later psychosis and schizophrenia diagnosis. The two language patterns found in the subjects’ speech were 1) a…

Reading thought patterns in fMRI brain imaging, with Dr. Marcel Just

The 19th “People Who Read People” podcast episode is an interview with Dr. Marcel Just, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, about his work using function magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to look for brain activity related to specific thoughts. For example: differentiating the brain activity of someone thinking about an apple versus thinking about other…

Indicators of native Russian authorship in English language text, with Dr. Brian Baer

The 18th “People Who Read People” podcast episode is an interview with Dr. Brian Baer, a skilled Russian-to-English translator. Dr. Baer is a Professor of Russian and Translation Studies at Kent State University, where he’s a member of the Institute for Applied Linguistics. He also has worked on several literary translations (see his books on…

SPECT brain imaging, with Dr. Rob Tarzwell

The 17th “People Who Read People” podcast episode is an interview with Dr. Rob Tarzwell. about his work using single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) brain imaging to find indicators of traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and brain changes related to dynamic psychotherapy. His research on traumatic brain injury and PTSD appeared 19th…

Rock Paper Scissors: Predicting and influencing opponent behavior

This People Who Read People podcast episode is an interview with Jason Simmons, aka Master Roshambollah, arguably the most well-known Rock Paper Scissors (RPS) player in the world. Links to the episode: YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Topics include:

Psychology and behavior-analysis in bus-driving

The 15th “People Who Read People” episode is an interview with Brendan Bartholomew, a San Francisco bus driver. Besides driving buses, Brendan has written articles for CityLab and the San Francisco Examiner. For a transcript, see this post. Links to the episode: iTunes Spotify Stitcher Google Play In this podcast episode, we talk about the…

The use of electrodermal activity (aka galvanic skin response) in psychology research

The 14th “People Who Read People” episode is about electrodermal activity (EDA), also known as galvanic skin response (GSR). I interview Dr. Christopher Moyer, PhD, a counseling psychologist with expertise in treatment research and has published research on the anxiety-reducing effects of massage therapy and the neurological effects of meditation. He also happens to be…