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Start Here: The Best of Cognitive Revolution

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Start Here: The Best of Cognitive Revolution

My fifteen favorite episodes from the show so far.

Cody Kommers
Dec 30, 2021
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Start Here: The Best of Cognitive Revolution

codykommers.substack.com

New to Cognitive Revolution? Here are the episodes I recommend starting with: my personal favorites. Some of them are among the most popular episodes, and some aren’t. They all feature interviews with people I found truly compelling. Some I knew quite well before our conversation, some I didn’t. They’re a representative set of the interviews I’d done for the show through the end of 2021.

If you’d like to find episodes on a specific topics, I have lists of my best-of episodes for: cognitive science, social psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, sociology, and non-fiction authors.


15. Christof Koch—A one man symphony. I was so excited when he agreed to be on the show, and he did not disappoint. What a guy.

The New Kommers
#19: Christof Koch on Incandescent Intellectualism
Listen now (70 min) | This is Cognitive Revolution, my show about the personal side of the intellectual journey. Each week, I interview an eminent scientist, writer, or academic about the experiences that shaped their ideas. The show is available wherever you listen to podcasts…
Read more
3 years ago · Cody Kommers

14. Wade Davis—He’s one of these guys where you simply find yourself in awe of his intellectual prowess. His career has spanned a ton of different topics and mediums (including documentary filmmaking). One of the coolest people I’ve had the chance to meet through the show.

The New Kommers
#60: Wade Davis on Becoming an Entrepreneur of Knowledge
Listen now (58 min) | This is Cognitive Revolution, my show about the personal side of the intellectual journey. Each week, I interview an eminent scientist, writer, or academic about the experiences that shaped their ideas. The show is available wherever you listen to podcasts…
Read more
2 years ago · Cody Kommers

13. Michael Tomasello—He is one of my favorite cognitive scientists of all time. This is the kind of academic I started to show hoping to talk to.

The New Kommers
#18: Michael Tomasello on Writing for Young People
Listen now (52 min) | This is Cognitive Revolution, my show about the personal side of the intellectual journey. Each week, I interview an eminent scientist, writer, or academic about the experiences that shaped their ideas. The show is available wherever you listen to podcasts…
Read more
3 years ago · Cody Kommers

12. Don Norman—His Design of Everyday Things is an all-time classic. It was a huge honor to talk to him for the show.

The New Kommers
#34: Don Norman
Listen now (66 min) | This is Cognitive Revolution, my show about the personal side of the intellectual journey. Each week, I interview an eminent scientist, writer, or academic about the experiences that shaped their ideas. The show is available wherever you listen to podcasts…
Read more
2 years ago · Cody Kommers

11. Chantel Prat—Meeting her was like, “Oh wow, this podcasting thing is going to be fun!” But then I realized: that was just Chantel. She’s so cool, and there’s no one else like her. A national treasure.

The New Kommers
#3: Chantel Prat on Unexpected Advantages
Listen now (54 min) | This is Cognitive Revolution, my show about the personal side of the intellectual journey. Each week, I interview an eminent scientist, writer, or academic about the experiences that shaped their ideas. The show is available wherever you listen to podcasts…
Read more
3 years ago · Cody Kommers

10. Julia Shaw—The only person who gives Chantel a run for her money in terms of cool-factor is Julia Shaw. I loved the breadth of Julia’s mind. She deserves to be an intellectual influencer of the highest order.

The New Kommers
#20: Julia Shaw on Who We Are and Why It Matters
Listen now (77 min) | This is Cognitive Revolution, my show about the personal side of the intellectual journey. Each week, I interview an eminent scientist, writer, or academic about the experiences that shaped their ideas. The show is available wherever you listen to podcasts…
Read more
3 years ago · Cody Kommers

9. Nancy Kanwisher—One of my most popular episodes, and it’s obvious why. Nancy is a superstar. She’s one of the most eminent neuroscientist in the game. It’s difficult to underestimate her impact on the field—both in terms of scientific findings and the influential scholars who got their training in her lab.

The New Kommers
#57: Nancy Kanwisher on Finding Your Niche
Listen now (68 min) | This is Cognitive Revolution, my show about the personal side of the intellectual journey. Each week, I interview an eminent scientist, writer, or academic about the experiences that shaped their ideas. The show is available wherever you listen to podcasts…
Read more
2 years ago · Cody Kommers

8. Mark Granovetter—Probably the most influential sociologist of the later-twentieth century. And now a personal friend of mine. Listen to this episode to hear Mark’s backstory, which evolves into a friendly exchange in which I share quite a bit as well.

The New Kommers
#27: Mark Granovetter on Why There Are Revolutions
Listen now (81 min) | Mark and I recorded this interview about a month ago, before the outbreak of protests across the world in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. A lot has changed since then. Conversations are different, as are the topics under discussion. This interview does not reflect those changes, at least not directly. Even so, a number of the topics in our c…
Read more
3 years ago · Cody Kommers

7. Mahzarin Banaji—She’s an eminent Harvard social psychologist, and she has an unparalleled backstory. Absolutely one of a kind.

The New Kommers
#33: Mahzarin Banaji
Listen now (81 min) | In this episode, I go in-depth with Mahzarin Banaji on her life story. Mahzarin started off just about as far away from life as a Harvard professor as you can imagine. And while she's a superstar of social psychology now, her introduction to the field was a chance encounter with a set of the five volume Handbook of Social Psychology, which she haggled d…
Read more
2 years ago · Cody Kommers

6. Annie Duke—She dropped out of her psychology PhD with only a couple months left before graduating. Then she became a professional poker player. Now she’s a successful author of books on decision-making. Total badass.

The New Kommers
#35: Annie Duke on Betting on Your Best Self
Listen now (77 min) | This is Cognitive Revolution, my show about the personal side of the intellectual journey. Each week, I interview an eminent scientist, writer, or academic about the experiences that shaped their ideas. The show is available wherever you listen to podcasts…
Read more
2 years ago · Cody Kommers

5. Brad Voytek—He was early in on the data science game. He also takes his mentorship very seriously, which is one of the attributes I admire most in a science. This was one of those interviews where I’d ask a single, innocuous question, then Brad would take it to another dimension and back. A ton of fun.

The New Kommers
#7: Bradley Voytek on Being a F**k up with Potential
Listen now (78 min) | Bradley Voytek is a professor of cognitive science, neuroscience, and data science at UC San Diego. He is the author of Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep? and was the first data scientist at Uber. In this episode, Cody talks to Brad about the neuroscience of zombies, community building, being an insanely good mentor, overcoming low grades or initial setb…
Read more
3 years ago · Cody Kommers

4. Steve Pinker—He’s the biggest name not only in cognitive science but probably in the whole public intellectual sphere. You know him. You love/detest him. He’s Steve Pinker.

The New Kommers
#28: Steven Pinker on Career Uncertainty
Listen now (71 min) | "Uncertainty" would not exactly be the first word that comes to mind when one thinks of Steven Pinker's current position in the world. But that wasn't always the case. There was actually a stretch in Steve's early career in which he found himself in the throws of uncertainty and anxiety. In this conversation, we dig into a lot of Steve's early career ex…
Read more
3 years ago · Cody Kommers

3. Daniel Everett—A hero of mine. He’s truly lived out his pursuit of ideas, as a Bible-translator-turned-anthropologist in the Amazon. It was so much fun to be able to ask him about his life and career.

The New Kommers
#30: Daniel Everett on Being Fully Immersed
Listen now (72 min) | Dan Everett is the closest thing we have to a real life Indiana Jones. He is an academic whose work has mostly taken place in the far reaches of the jungle, where few others dare to tread. His crowning achievement is learning the Pirahã language, which before Dan undertook it had never before been cracked by an outsider. Dan began his swashbuckling care…
Read more
3 years ago · Cody Kommers

2. Louis Menand—My favorite non-fiction writer of all time. He’s written my two favorite non-fiction books I’ve ever read: The Metaphysical Club and The Free World. A huge honor to talk with him.

The New Kommers
#56: Louis Menand on How to Write about Everything
Listen now (76 min) | This is Cognitive Revolution, my show about the personal side of the intellectual journey. Each week, I interview an eminent scientist, writer, or academic about the experiences that shaped their ideas. The show is available wherever you listen to podcasts…
Read more
2 years ago · Cody Kommers

1. Ben Moser—Since we’re picking favorites here, I’m going to go with Ben Moser. It was an uncommon pleasure. We cover, well, a range of topics. Ben can go on about anything and make it riveting. We developed a nice relationship after this conversation, and I’ve since visited him in Amsterdam.

The New Kommers
#52: Benjamin Moser on the Performance of Everyday Life
Listen now (132 min) | This is Cognitive Revolution, my show about the personal side of the intellectual journey. Each week, I interview an eminent scientist, writer, or academic about the experiences that shaped their ideas. The show is available wherever you listen to podcasts…
Read more
2 years ago · Cody Kommers

Have a favorite episode that didn’t make the list? Let me know in the comments!

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Start Here: The Best of Cognitive Revolution

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