Serious Inquiries Only

Everyone's favorite biologist and dinosaur enthusiast Dr. Eric Jaffe is back! Project Hail Mary is a very fun, and quite good, sciency movie that is cleaning up at the box office right now. You should see it! Eric is going to take us through the biology of the movie (and book) and what it gets right, and what it gets quite wrong.

“Yes we can” vote and protest our way out of authoritarianism. It’s a classic case of academic literature never making it to mainstream consumption. Hang around social media long enough and you’ll hear that we’re basically screwed. A complete fascist take over is either extremely likely, inevitable, or it’s already here. And there’s not much we can do about it. Unless some other country invades us, we’ll be waiting for a civil war or a bloody military coup to hopefully maybe turn things around. That’s what history teaches us, right? Literally the opposite. An incredible data set that a team of thousands of academics have been assembling for over a decade provides a unique opportunity to examine these questions with fresh eyes. To look at wannabe dictators and see how many succeeded, how many eventually lost power, how democracy returned (if ever), and why. With this systematic approach, we see that strengthened democracy specifically because of authoritarian episodes is increasingly common. In fact, in the last 30 years it’s the most common response to autocratization, and most often achieved by internal democratic actors. Taking this into account, events once viewed as episodes of successful stand-alone autocratization, with resistance ultimately futile, are actually better characterized as failures that caused a wave of democratic sentiment in the populace. Successful civil resistance that just took time. Jenessa takes us through the paper that has her jumping for joy this week. Resist! Nord, M. Angiolillo, F., Lundstedt, M., Wiebrecht, F., & Lindberg, S.I. (2025). When autocratization is reversed: episodes of U-Turns since 1900. Democratization, 32, 1136-1159. Frequently asked questions. Varieties of Democracy Institute. The Episodes of Regime Transformation (ERT) dataset. Varieties of Democracy Institute. V-Dem. Electoral Democracy Index, 2024. Our World in Data. Sato, Y., Lundstedt, M., Morrison, K., Boese, V.A., & Lindberg, S.I. (2022). Institutional order in episodes of autocratization. The Varieties of Democracy Institute. Armitage, C. (Aug. 13, 2025). I researched every attempt to stop fascism in history. The success rate is 0%. The Existentialist Republic. Further reading: Nord, M., Angiolillo, F., Good God, A., & Lindberg, S.I. (2025). State of the world 2024: 25 years of autocratization – democracy trumped? Democratization, 32, 839-864. Anti-Pluralism. European Center for Populism Studies. Coppedge, M. (2023). V-Dem’s conceptions of democracy and their consequences. The Varieties of Democracy Institute. Lührmann, A. & Lindberg, S.I. (2019). A third wave of autocratization is here: What is new about it? Democratization, 26, 1095-1113. Croissant, A. & Lott, L. (2025). Democratic resilience in the twenty-first century: Search for an analytical framework and explorative analysis. Political Studies, 0, 1-28. Tomini, L., Gibril, S. & Bochev, V. (2023). Standing up against autocratization across political regimes: A comparative analysis of resistance actors and strategies. Democratization, 30, 119-138. Wiebrecht, F., Sato, Y., Nord, M., Lundstedt, M., Angiolillo, F., & Lindberg, S.I. (2023). State of the world 2022: Defiance in the face of autocratization. Democratization, 30, 769-793. Gamboa, L. (2017). Opposition at the margins: Strategies against the erosion of democracy in Colombia and Venezuela. Comparative Politics, 49, 457-477. Laebens, M.G., & Lührmann, A. (2023). What halts democratic erosion? The changing role of accountability. In Lührmann, A. & Merkel, W. (Eds.), Resilience of democracy: Responses to illiberal and authoritarian challenges (pp. 40-61). Routledge. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here!

It's part 2 of the Minnesota fraud stuff. We get a little more Nick Shirley, dumbest person ever to testify in congress. And then I debunk the main claims against Gov. Walz and AG Ellison. Did Walz un-stop the payments to Feed Our Future? Did Ellison meet with, and then get campaign donations from the fraudsters?

So now that we've covered a real hearing with brave whistleblowers that got NO attention, it's time to look at what happens over on the other side of the aisle.

Last month, there was a devastating hearing featuring a victim of ICE, an ICE whistleblower, and a previous DHS attorney. It revealed what, in any other time, would have been a massive scandal likely resulting in multiple firings. But we live in the bad times, which means this hearing took place in a maintenance shed barely on Congressional property during lunchtime put on by a ragtag team of the few remaining people who give a shit about constitutional rights. I take you through the hearing, and then next episode we're going to compare this to the Minnesota fraud hearings, of which the MAGA controlled congress has had... 3? 4? There is a marked difference in the seriousness of the people involved.

Part 2! Even more fun Quibbies. Allergies Bansal, A.S., Chee, R., Nagendran, V., Warner, A., & Hayman, G. (2007). Dangerous liaison: Sexually transmitted allergic reaction to Brazil nuts. Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology, 17, 189-191. Testosterone University of Zurich (2009, December 9). Testosterone does not induce aggression, study shows. ScienceDaily. Eisenegger, C., Naef, M., Snozzi, R., Heinrichs, M., & Fehr, E. (2010). Prejudice and truth about the effect of testosterone on human bargaining behavior. Nature, 463, 356-359. ADHD and TikTok Verma, S. & Sinha, S.K. (2024). How evidence-based is the “hashtag ADHD test” (#adhdtest). A cross-sectional content analysis of TikTok videos on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) screening. Australian Psychiatry, 0, 1-7. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here!

It's Quibi Time (tm) with Jenessa! (Don't worry, I'll explain...) It's 2 debunks for the price of 1, or actually 5 debunks for the price of 2, because this is a two-parter! Here are the first two: AI girlfriend Caramela, S. (2025, January 31). Most Men Would Marry Their AI Girlfriend if it were Legal. Vice. Fiorillo, C. & Bartlett, S. (2025, January 28). AI girlfriends could be a thing of the future as men admit they would marry robot lovers. The Mirror. Koetsier, J. (2025, April 29). 80% Of Gen Zers Would Marry An AI: Study. Forbes. Mashable. (2025, May 22). Majority of Gen Z would marry an AI, survey says. Yahoo!Life. (2025, May 11). GenZ Believes They Could Marry AI, Replace Human Connections: Report. NDTV World. Ulanoff, L. (2025, May 22). Would you marry an AI? A recent survey says most Gen Z-ers would - here's why that's a ridiculous idea. Techradar. Texas voter registration (2025, August 7). Texas. Independent Voter Project. (Thomas saw this viral Reddit post about it) Texas by the Numbers. L2. January 2025 Voter Registration Figures. Texas Secretary of State. Turnout and Voter Registration Figures (1970 - current). Texas Secretary of State. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here!

I had a lot I needed to say about the ICE murders of Rene Good and Alex Pretti. And about the fascists who lie to our faces and know we can't do anything about it. And the concentration camps we already have. I did video because there was so much visual element to this, so watching would be best.

Subject of much sci-fi media and philosophy discussions, the "hive mind" is also a key element of Vince Gilligan's (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) new show, Pluribus. Dr. Jenessa Seymour joins the pod to walk us through examples that we have studied of hive mind behavior (in the insect world), and why we can reasonably assert that you could not maintain your individuality if our brains directly communicated with each other (in the human world). Wolman, D. (2012). A tale of two halves. Nature, 483, 260-263. Split brain patient video demonstration Wittlinger, M., Wehner, R., & Wolf, H. (2006). The ant odometer: Stepping on stilts and stumps. Science, 312, 1965-1967. Penick, C.A. & Smith, A.A. (2015). The true odor of the odorous house ant. American Entomologist, 61, 85-87. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!

Brain pics, or they didn't happen? There's a recent study that demonstrates that some brain region activity might interact differently with oxygen than previously assumed. This could upend significant neuroscience research spanning decades. Thankfully SIO has Dr. Jenessa Seymour to come in and break it all down for us! We start with a primer on the science of neuroimaging tools and the images they produce. How in the WORLD can we get a picture of a brain while a person is still alive? What are the things we need to know when evaluating scholarly articles or popular media coverage about the brain that uses these brain "scans" in discussing their results? And what do we need to see next to support the findings of this study that could have incredible ramifications across our understanding of the brain? Epp, S.M., Castrillón, G., Yuan, B. et al. BOLD signal changes can oppose oxygen metabolism across the human cortex. Nat Neurosci (2025). Example structural MRI (sMRI) of a human brain Güttler, F.V., Heinrich, A., Rump, J., de Bucourt, M., Schnackenburg, B., … Teichgräber, U.K. (2012). Magnetic resonance imaging of the active second stage of labour: Proof of principle. European Radiology, 22, 2020–2026 Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) example image Example functional MRI (fMRI) Example fMRI with a more-appropriately blurry sMRI underneath After Warping Options, Configurable Pipeline for the Analysis of Connectomes (0, 4, and 8mm filter images) Jenessa's Brain: Jenessa's brain sMRI Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!

In late September, shortly after declaring antifa a "domestic terrorist", Trump issued a memorandum directing the IRS to investigate tax-exempt organizations that could be "directly or indirectly financing political violence or domestic terrorism" and nonprofit organizations reasonably felt concerned of being targeted. A couple of weeks later, Lydia and Thomas ran into Nick Fish, President of the American Atheists, at California Freethought Day and asked how he and the organization were holding up in light of everything. We're pleased to have Nick on to discuss what nonprofit organizations can do to protect themselves, as well as the people who have supported their mission and the communities they serve, when it is feeling less and less paranoid that the federal government might be coming for you. How can organizations fortify themselves through governing documents and organizational structure to donor databases and retention policies when the President of the United States could very well declare your nonprofit a supporter of domestic terrorism? Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence (NSPM-7) (9/25/2025) Support American Atheists!

Dr. Jenessa Seymour is on to teach us more about the brain! What do hallucinations, ear-worms, and phantom limbs have in common? And is "hallucinating" really a good term for what AI does when it makes something up?

Part 2 of Asra Nomani's insanely terrible Fox News article. Make sure you listened to part 1! This is big, folks. Think Watergate combined with Deflate-gate combined with Christina Applegate combined with the Bowling Green Massacre. THAT's how big of a scandal this is. You thought Zohran Mamdani was just an innocent 34 year old assemblyman who rose to stardom by being an incredibly good candidate and relentless campaigning an economic message in a positive way. But you were an idiot. Dummy. Asra Nomani broke it here, but let Jenessa and I explain it to you because clearly your feeble, gullible brain can't process. information properly.

Part 1. This is big, folks. Think Watergate combined with Deflate-gate combined with Christina Applegate combined with the Bowling Green Massacre. THAT's how big of a scandal this is. You thought Zohran Mamdani was just an innocent 34 year old assemblyman who rose to stardom by being an incredibly good candidate and relentless campaigning an economic message in a positive way. But you were an idiot. Dummy. Asra Nomani broke it here, but let Jenessa and I explain it to you because clearly your feeble, gullible brain can't process. information properly.

Stormy Decisis AKA Dr. Alan Smerbeck is back! With multiple stories in the news of AI Chatbots potentially driving people to delusion or psychosis, Stormy wanted to explain to us what's going on and what the actual differences are between psychosis, delusions, schizophrenia, and more. Visit Stormy's amazing project, sharebannedbooks.com!

***This is a two-parter. Listen to part 1! Previously, the leading theory was that kids with autism and/or ADHD had mental health struggles due to emotional regulation issues or other direct elements of their neurodivergence. But what if it's actually that they have to deal with more stressors than the other kids? Dr. Jenessa Seymour, fellow haver of ADHD, is here to break it down for us!

Previously, the leading theory was that kids with autism and/or ADHD had mental health struggles due to emotional regulation issues or other direct elements of their neurodivergence. But what if it's actually that they have to deal with more stressors than the other kids? Dr. Jenessa Seymour, fellow haver of ADHD, is here to break it down for us! This is a 2-parter! Get part 2 on patreon.com/seriouspod, or just wait a little!

Part 2 of my thoughts and observations based on all the info I could gather on Tyler Robinson. I think there's an aspect to him that isn't being emphasized enough that might help explain why he did what he did.

The public has gone through several phases of evolution on what the shooter's motive was. At first, it was assumed he was a leftwing terrorist. Then it seemed clear he was on the right. Or maybe nihilist. Then, the charging documents were released. These contained some selected texts with Robinson's transgender roommate who he seems to have been in a romantic relationship with. They are... weird. But what is going on here? What can we actually reasonably conclude at this time?

Dr. Bryan Gillis is back after far too long! But instead of space, he's here to talk about the problems in academia that lead to women and minority groups being underrepresented at astonishing and depressing levels.

Dr. Jenessa Seymour joins to discuss why TikTok's move here is aligned with what we know about eating disorders from the literature, and what happens when the internet doesn't draw a line like this. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!

Lydia and I invite one of our good friends, Holly, to share her recent viral story of harassment at a public park in Glendale, California. We discuss what happened that day, the spread and impact of the video, as well as the broader issue at hand and how it has shifted with a new Trump administration coming into office. After the main show, Holly sticks around for a special discussion for patrons only because Lydia has A LOT to talk about after recently seeing Thunder From Down Under in Las Vegas (with Holly)! How exactly did a male exotic dance show lead to Lydia feeling so much girl power and sisterhood? What lessons can be learned from that experience? Note: As Holly mentions in the episode, her TikTok account was stolen and the original video is unfortunately gone. However, here's the reply from Danesh which includes the video in full: https://www.tiktok.com/@thatdaneshguy/video/7524505778430971150?lang=en Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!

We had like, a mini war over Iran's nuclear situation and it is barely even a memory in today's news cycle. But what happened there? Did Iran have nuclear weapons? What does it take for them to make some? Was Obama's Iran Nuclear Deal good? And what happened after it was no longer in place? What might happen now? Joining is Evan McDonell, a former nuclear engineer with the US Naval nuclear program to give us the breakdown!

... what? Yep that's right. They say there is no college affordability crisis. And I guess then, presumably no student debt crisis as well? You can read for yourself here, and/or you can sit back and let Dr. Jenessa Seymore break down why this article is so... incorrect.

Part 2: The Data Dr. Jenessa Seymour continues her breakdown of the supposed voting discrepancies that a New York organization has "discovered". Her expertise in statistics gets the spotlight in this episode! Be sure to check out the graphs! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse, or other harm on their hotline at (617) 249-4255, or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org.

Part 1: The Legal Stuff Dr. Jenessa Seymour is here to break down something that even our moms are spreading on social media: a group in New York claims to have uncovered discrepancies in the vote count for the 2024 election, and they're suing over it! Dr. Seymour hits ALL of the expert boxes for this one - statistics, voting rights, the law, and New York. Want part 2 early? Head to Patreon.com/seriouspod! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse, or other harm on their hotline at (617) 249-4255, or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org.

We're going to take a look at Jordan Peterson's debate techniques and his arguments for God and have some fun along the way!

We're going to take a look at Jordan Peterson's debate techniques and his arguments for God and have some fun along the way!

Was that whole thing legitimate? Was it BS? Or something in between? Dr. Eric Jaffe is the perfect expert to give us the objective facts on this and help us understand everything going on!

Inspired by an Opening Arguments episode during the heartbeat bills, Dr. Nathan Thompson and soon-to-be-Dr. Rachel Feltman embarked on research where they collated "facts" from abortion legislation across the country and examined its medical/anatomical accuracy and misleadingness. Their work was published (read it here!) in the February 2025 issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse, or other harm on their hotline at (617) 249-4255, or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org.

Gary Chapman's model of five love languages has been well-embraced by people as they navigate dating, marriage, and other relationship moments. Dr. Sharon Flicker joins the show to discuss what exactly they are, how Chapman came up with them, and her research in evaluating whether your partner's ability to "speak" your love language actually results in a happier relationship. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse, or other harm on their hotline at (617) 249-4255, or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org.

It's part 2 with Alejandro and Julia from theluddite.org! We get the worst AI "research" of all, we talk big picture, and then Alejandro and Julia give us some tools for spotting bad AI research and coverage on our own! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse, or other harm on their hotline at (617) 249-4255, or on their website atcreatoraccountabilitynetwork.org.

Alejandro and Julia of theluddite.org join us to debunk some terrible AI research, and the bad reporting compounding the problems on top of that. Also, what is AI? Can it ever think for itself? Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse, or other harm on their hotline at (617) 249-4255, or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org.

This is a part 2! Make sure to catch the previous episode in the feed. If you're on the left and at all active on the internet, you have probably seen this shared. It's called "Trump Lost. Vote Suppression Won." Here's the first bit: "Trump lost. That is, if all legal voters were allowed to vote, if all legal ballots were counted, Trump would have lost the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Vice-President Kamala Harris would have won the Presidency with 286 electoral votes."Dr. Jenessa Seymour has the perfect expertise to examine these claims critically. Do they hold up? We learn a ton about voting rights along the way! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse, or other harm on their hotline at (617) 249-4255, or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org.

If you're on the left and at all active on the internet, you have probably seen this shared. It's called "Trump Lost. Vote Suppression Won." Here's the first bit: "Trump lost. That is, if all legal voters were allowed to vote, if all legal ballots were counted, Trump would have lost the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Vice-President Kamala Harris would have won the Presidency with 286 electoral votes." Dr. Jenessa Seymour has the perfect expertise to examine these claims critically. Do they hold up? We learn a ton about voting rights along the way! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse, or other harm on their hotline at (617) 249-4255, or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org.

Katherine Stewart joins us again (she was on episode 439) to talk about her new book, Money, Lies, and God! Katherine's books have been vital to understanding the Right. This book tackles different factions - the billionaires, Christian Nationlists, and the New Right, among others - and their strange alliances that have successfully taken over our country. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!

And the unending moral cowardice of Republican politicians means he gets to do what he wants. It's a Thomas needs to say things one again, sorry.

The absolute man-babies who make up the anti-woke movement are always crying about some very minor thing that makes other people's lives better and is no actual burden to them, but is different than the past. This week, that thing happens to be... ASL interpreters at press conferences and such? It's hard to imagine how sensitive you'd have to be to have a problem with this, but their victimhood complex gives Dr. Jenessa Seymour a chance to teach us some really interesting science! It turns out, ASL interpreters are very necessary and closed captioning is not sufficient. There's so much here that you might not have considered before! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!

SIO471 - I just can't anymore with this. It's so fucking pathetic that mainstream media and a whole bunch of pundits, even on the left, have to do this thing where they play dumb and pretend people like Elon have any sort of credibility. There is no plausible deniability on this and to pretend otherwise isn't good journalism or skepticism. It's... bad... those. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!

Buckle up because we have so many Health and Human Services nominees to get into on this episode, and surprisingly nearly all of them are actually doctors of medicine! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!

We're back with Dr. Rick to continue our discussion of what we might be facing with the next Trump administration's HHS, but he refuses to leave the recording without giving us something to feel happy about! Then we kick off Lydia's cabinet nominee deep dive with Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Trump's nominee for the Surgeon General. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!

Lydia has spread Opening Arguments' fashwatch to SIO, and we're calling in a doctor to keep it under control! Dr. Rick Sullivan joins us to walk through the Health and Human Services Agency, its various entities, and what kind of impact we might be looking at under the next Trump administration. ProPublica obtained Project 2025 private training videos. Click here to check them out if you dare! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!

I've felt like I wanted to say a ton about this since day 1, but keep holding back. I finally hit brain saturation and just need to share. I think I have a useful way of looking at this whole thing, hope you'll consider it. Oh and also, f--- UnitedHealthcare and f--- the for profit healthcare industry in its entirety. Please read this incredible ProPublica piece. I finally started a monthly donation to them, which I should have long ago. https://www.propublica.org/article/unitedhealth-healthcare-insurance-denial-ulcerative-colitis Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!

SIO466 - Dr. Gary Slutkin has been cited in Salon and other outlets as an expert epidemiologist who runs an impressive NGO that helps reduce violence. While he may be an epidemiologist, almost everything else about him and his claims seems to be... very likely bull shit. Dr. Jenessa Seymour joins us to break this down. It gets more and more bull shit as we go, and eventually we're both live debunking parts of this nonsense. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!

Hey folks, this is more of an SIO, but I recorded a solo show because I have to debunk this myth about Kamala losing 10-15m Democratic votes, and Trump only keeping his same voters from 2020. That isn't correct at all. I also have a million other thoughts that I really just want to get out there and that I hope will be helpful.

Dr. Jenessa Seymour is back to talk more about synesthesia! There are some absolutely fascinating case studies that Jenessa covers in this episode, and we theorize how in the world synesthesia happens. The brain is impossible. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!