Books and Ideas with Dr. Ginger Campbell

Books and Ideas with Dr. Ginger Campbell

Ginger Campbell, MD host of the highly rated Brain Science Podcast, uses this podcast to explore her love of reading and ideas, including science, philosophy, history, and what ever else she is reading. This podcast comes out about once a month and often contains interviews of authors and scientists. Check http://booksandideas.com for details.

Episodes

April 17, 2020 37 mins

This episode of Books and Ideas is an interview with David Shariatmadari author of "Don't Believe a Word: The Surprising Truth About Language." We explore some of the common myths about language. This includes a follow up of our recent discussion on Brain Science about the evidence against the assumption that language is an instinctive.

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Several years ago I interviewed Terrence Deacon about his fascinating book Incomplete Nature: How Mind Emerged from Matter. His goal was to propose a theory of how purpose evolved in a universe without purpose. His argument was persuasive, but highly technical. In this month’s episode of Books and Ideas I interview his longtime colleague Jeremy Sherman. His book Neither Ghost nor Machine: The Emergence and Nature of Selves makes De...

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    This episode of Books and Ideas is a follow up of my previous interview of Becky Hale, past-president of the American Humanist Association (AHA). I am fascinated by the relationship between modern Humanism and Unitarian Universalism. Listen to my interview with Amanda Poppei from the Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association (UUHA) to learn why.


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    This month's episode of Books and Ideas is an interview with astronomer Brian Keating about his memoir Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science's Highest Honor. His book is a first hand look at the hard work behind the scientific effort to determine how the universe really began, but as the title implies, it also contains a candid account of how striving for the Nobel Prize can be both motiv...

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    This episode of Books and Ideas is an interview with Susan Schneider, author of a fascinating new book called Artificial You: AI and the Future of Your Mind. Schneider's book goes beyond the question of whether AI might become conscious to issues that might affect us on a more personal level.

    I am cross posting this in the feed for Brain Science because there is an obvious overlap with the issue of consciousness, which we often dis...

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    This episode of Books and Ideas features Adele Brand, author of the new book The Hidden World of the Fox. Foxes are surprisingly widespread even in urban areas. This episode reveals their surprising story.

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    An...

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    This episode is an adapted version of the talk I gave last week at the first annual She Podcasts Live event, which was held October 10-13, 2019, in Atlanta, Georgia. I was asked to share my experience of podcasting "through life's rollercoaster." This gave me a chance to reflect on what I have learned over the last 13 years. Though the talk was originally aimed at podcasters, I have adapted it for a general audience.

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    September 16, 2019 38 mins

    This is an interview with historian Liz Covart about her highly respected podcast "Ben Franklin's World." We explore what it means to be an historian in the 21st Century and the challenges of sharing early American history via podcasting.

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    August 15, 2019 49 mins

    This episode of Books and Ideas features the return of Podcasting Hall of Famer, Dr. Pamela Gay. Dr. Gay is co-host of the long running show Astronomy Cast. As a professional astronomer she has dedicated her career to public outreach and she is very involved with the citizen science project Cosmos Quest. Her passion for science is contagious.

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    Books and Ideas 68 is an interview with psychologist Dr Pete Etchells about his new book Lost in a Good Game: Why we play video games and what they can do for us. We explore both the myths and the science behind video games and consider why the effects of video games are actually quite difficult to study. It seems strange that many people in this field don't play games themselves. Most of the bad things you have heard about video g...

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    In honor of Pride month I am sharing an interview I recorded earlier this year with LGBT historian Lillian Faderman about her latest book Harvey Milk: His Lives and Death. Milk was the first openly gay man elected to public office, but unfortunately he was assassinated in 1978, after less than a year in office. We discuss some of the highlights of his short career and explore why many consider him the Martin Luther King of the figh...

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    One of the things I love about Books and Ideas is that it gives me the chance to interview people from a wide variety of fields. In BI 66 I talk with Sarah Rhea Werner, a very talented young writer and podcaster. She is the author of Girl in Space, which is a serialized audio drama, and she hosts Write Now, a podcast for aspiring writers.

    Be sure to listen for the Girl in Space trailer at the end.

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    This is an interview with my friend Jody Cole, founder of Wild African Rainbow Safaris. We explore how she built her business from the ground up based on her love of Sub-Saharan Africa. I think you will find her story inspiring.

    Note: a slightly longer version of this interview was posted as Graying Rainbows 16.

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    Episode 64 of Books and Ideas is an interview with Ryder Carroll, author of The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future. He describes how he developed this popular method that combines to-do lists and journaling.

    I have never featured a "self-help" like title before, but I decided to make an exception this month because I have found bullet journaling to be an effective method for organizing my co...

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    Books and Ideas is back with an interview of Jonathan Losos, author of Improbable Destinies: Fate, Chance, and the Future of Evolution. This fascinating book reveals the surprising world of experimental evolutionary biology. We explore how experiments both in the laboratory and in the wild are answering long-standing questions about how evolution works.

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    This episode of Books and Ideas is an interview with Rhodes Perry, author of Belonging At Work: Everyday Actions You Can Take to Cultivate an Inclusive Organization. Human beings are wired to be social, which means feeling like we belong is actually essential to our physical and emotional health. In this interview we discuss some of the obstacles to "Belonging at Work" and practical steps toward improvement. Rhodes also shares the ...

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    December 26, 2018 1 min

    I had hoped to relaunch Books and Ideas before the end of 2018, but I want to relaunch with a return interview with Podcasting Hall of Famer, Dr. Pamela Gay of Astronomy Cast.

    Please stay subscribed so you won't miss it when the show returns.

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    Books and Ideas #61 is an interview with author Mur Lafferty, who just published a new novel called Six Wakes, which she calls a "clone murder mystery." In this interview Mur reflects on her writing career so far and she also shares the surprising impact that podcasting has had on her writing career.

    Please visit http://virginiacampbellmd.com for more detailed show notes and links.

    Send me email at docartemis@gmail.com or record vo...

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    Episode 60 of Books and Ideas is an interview with Matthew Cobb, author of Life's Greatest Secret: The Race to Crack the Genetic Code. We focus on some of the unsung scientists who made essential discoveries.

    Matthew Cobb was the first person I ever interviewed back in Episode 7, so it was special to have him on to help me celebrate the 9th Anniversary of Books and Ideas.

    Show notes and free episode transcripts are available at h...

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    October 26, 2015 70 mins

    This episode introduces Phenomenology, a philosophical tradition that focuses on the nature of experience. We talk with Dr. Anthony Chemero, co-author of Phenomenology: An Introduction, which is a new book that not only puts phenomenology into historical perspective but argues that it is a living tradition, which continues to make valuable contributions to fields like psychology and embodied cognitive science. This interview is app...

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