Natural Reward Podcast
The Natural Reward podcast will focus on questions of innovation, progress and advancement in the evolution of life. We will discuss the evolution of scientific theories, how to think critically about science, and questions of progress and advancement in technology and human culture. The Natural Reward podcast will cover the philosophy and history of science, evolutionary theory, and economic theory. Music by Christian Bjoerklund.
Episodes
10 episodes
Composite-trait evolution in pitcher plants: Ulrike Bauer
Ulrike Bauer discusses the evolution and diversity of pitcher plants, focusing on the spring trapping mechanism found in some species. Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants that capture insects in a fluid-filled cavity. They have evolved indepe...
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1:48:08
Using Drones and AI to Find Illegal Dumping Sites: Interview with Brian Johnson
Illegal dumping is a widespread problem in cities throughout the world and differentially affects disadvantaged neighborhoods. Brian Johnson is a software engineer who moved to San Francisco nearly a decade ago. At the time, Brian could a...
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1:15:01
Supplement to "Updating the Software of Social Evolution"
In this episode, Jon and I discuss some of the background to the previous episode. We discuss generalized versions of Hamilton's rule, Fisher's fundamental theorem, and Wright's fitness maximization formula. W. D. Hamilton used Sewall Wright's ...
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28:18
Updating the Software of Social Evolution to Patch the Kin-Recognition Bug
In this episode, my brother Jon and I discuss my work on the evolution of kin recognition. Jon is a software engineer and likes to put my arguments in terms of debugging software. For many years, the mere finding of kin recognition in nature wa...
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1:00:48
Innovation in Technology, Science, and Nature with Chris Fortier
This is my first conversation with Chris Fortier, Vice President of the Web 3.0 company Rally. It begins when Chris questions me on what he calls my "natural forces" theory, which invokes two nonrandom forces of evolution: natural selection and...
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1:38:50
Addressing Inequality and Rising Costs of Living with Market-Based Approaches with Jon Gilbert
Today, my brother Jon Gilbert addresses problems of income inequality and rising costs of living in the USA. In the first half of this episode, Jon presents figures showing the problem as it has manifested since the 1950s. Jon then argues that ...
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1:40:22
Local-Scale Approach to Conservation in Costa Rica with Andrés Vega
Andrés Vega is a native Costa Rican who has devoted his life to conservation, education, and research in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. In this episode, I speak with Andrés about how he got interested in conservation and his new approac...
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1:44:34
Spatial Sorting with Nikunj Goel
In this episode, I speak with Dr. Nikunj Goel about about spatial sorting, which refers to the build up of dispersal morphs on expanding edges of populations. Dr. Goel is a postdoctoral researcher at UT Austin working with Tim Keitt. We begin w...
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1:19:41
Follow up with Komi German: reviewer’s reaction to her work
In this episode, I speak with Dr. Komi German about a reviewer’s reaction to her book proposal. All academics deal with rejection. How a researcher deals with rejection determines whether she gets her work published, and how it will appear. We ...
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58:14
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Academia with Komi German
In this episode, I speak with Dr. Komi German about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies in academia and related issues. Komi is a Research Fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Freedom (FIRE). Komi recently completed he...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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1:58:57