Podcast
Science Fictions
Hosted by Tom Chivers and Stuart Ritchie · EN
A weekly podcast about the latest scientific controversies, with Tom Chivers and Stuart Ritchie
sciencefictionspod.substack.com
sciencefictionspod.substack.com
27episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Unpaywalled: The science of Johann Hari
2d ago01:10:50Tap to summarizeWe are sorry we’ve been missing so many episodes recently! Stuart’s been busy and Tom’s been… also busy. We’re busy. Hopefully back to normal service next week. In the meantime, here’s an old paid episode, unpaywalled. Apologies.…Johann Hari is a journalist with an interesting past who has now written four very popular books on scientific topics (addiction, depression, attention, and obesity). Are those books any good?In this paid-subscriber-only episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart—who have both written reviews of Hari’s books—discuss Hari’s career, his sudden emergence as a science writer, and exactly how many miles you need to travel around the world to ensure your book becomes a New York Times bestseller.Show Notes* The funniest bad book review ever, of The Meaning of Disgust by Colin McGinn (review by Nina Strohminger)* Hari’s corrections page for his new book where he discusses the Jay Rayner debacle* Article about Hari’s quotations of Antonio Negri* Brian Whelan’s criticism of Hari from 2011* And another article by the same author on the same topic* Guy Walters on Hari in the New Statesman* David Allen Green on Hari and the allegations of sockpuppeting and Wikipedia editing* Hari’s “personal apology” from 2011 where he admits to the Wikipedia editing and some of the sloppiness with quotes* Telegraph blog on Hari and the translation in his article on the Central African Republic (Hari denies making up the quote)* Amazon pages for Chasing the Scream, Lost Connections, Stolen Focus, and Magic Pill* Jeremy Duns on quotations in Chasing the Scream* Dean Burnett’s viral criticism of Lost Connections* Stuart’s tweets from 2018 where he attempts to find the source of Hari’s depression-relapse numbers* Stuart’s Unherd review of Stolen Focus* Collection of Matthew Sweet’s criticisms of the studies behind Stolen Focus* Even more tweets from Matthew Sweet* Stuart’s tweet on the “average American worker” study cited by Hari* Tom’s Guardian review of Magic Pill* Study of body image distortions in 100 people… done in 1987* 2018 study of whether a parenting intervention reduces child BMICreditsThe Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.com/subscribe
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Episode 100: Replication, replication, replication
2w ago01:17:07Tap to summarizeWe made it: triple figures! And as luck would have it, Nature just simultaneously published four major meta-science papers that are right up our street. Aw. Thanks, Nature. You shouldn’t have.How screwed is social/behavioural science? We read all four papers to find out.We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who’s been listening for all this time. See you for the next hundred!Show notes* The four Nature papers:* Replication* Reproducibility* Robustness* The non-DARPA oneCreditsThe Science Fictions podcast—all 100+ episodes of it!—is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.com/subscribe
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Episode 99.5: Candidate genes
3w ago01:13:09Tap to summarizeHere’s another one for the annals of “entire scientific field becomes totally misguided for decades”. How could it have been possible that so many scientists fell for the idea of candidate genes—that there were individual gene variants that explained huge chunks of variation in depression, aggression, intelligence, and many more psychological traits? How could they have written literally hundreds of peer-reviewed papers based on completely false “results”?Well, they did. Here’s the story.(Why 99.5? We’re putting off doing Episode 100, just so we can mark the occasion with an even better topic).The Science Fictions podcast is brought to you by Works in Progress magazine, the journal of underrated ideas for making the world a better place. Today we talked about the new article on why Japan’s railways are so good and what other countries can learn from them. Read all their articles, for absolutely zero cost, at worksinprogress.co.Show notes* The first study on 5HTTLPR and depression, from 1996* Caspi et al.’s seminal 2003 Science paper on gene-environment interaction with 5HTTLPR and depression* “Orchid genes” in The Atlantic; Wired; The New York Times* Caspi et al’s 2002 paper on MAOA, the “warrior gene”* Article on the Maori people and MAOA* 2009 story on an Italian court reducing a sentence due to MAOA* Though no such luck in New Mexico in 2021* Scott Alexander’s classic 2019 article on candidate genes* Failure to replicate the 5HTTLPR GxE as early as 2005* 2009 meta-analysis with flat-as-a-pancake results for 5HTTLPR* Letter about the lopsided nature of its citations* 2011 “critical review” of candidate gene studies* 2019 Border et al. study attempting to replicate depression candidate genes* 2025 GWAS of depression* A Google Scholar search for “5HTTLPR depression”, restricted to articles published in 2026CreditsThe Science Fictions podcast is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.com/subscribe
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Episode 99: Power posing
Mar 3101:13:01Tap to summarizeFor a while in the early-to-mid 2010s, the most prominent psychology research in the world was on power posing. Harvard’s Amy Cuddy did a TED talk that reached tens of millions; her exhortation to “fake it til you make it” struck a chord and produced endless book sales from readers fascinated to hear how, just by adopting an expansive posture, you could revolutionise your own psychology and succeed at life.In this episode, with the benefit of hindsight, we ask: what was that all about?This podcast is sponsored by Works in Progress magazine. In today’s episode we mentioned “The Perks of Being a Mole Rat”, Aria Shrecker’s entertaining new piece on what makes some animals live for an inordinately long time. Find it and endless other fascinating pieces on human progress at worksinprogress.co.Show notes* Dana Carney (not Carvey)’s 2016 letter on changing her mind about power posing* The 1996 study about walking more slowly down the hallway after reading words to do with old people* Tom’s first and second pieces in Nature* Daryl Bem’s piece on “Writing the Empirical Journal Article”* Amy Cuddy’s TED talk (the third most-watched ever)* Two studies we mentioned on the facial feedback hypothesis* 2014 NYT article on power posing and Amy Cuddy* Amy Cuddy’s bestselling book, Presence* UK Conservative Party politicians power posing for some reason* The original 2010 power posing paper in Psychological Science* A re-examination of the robustness of the results* Ranehill et al.’s 2015 replication attempt* Cuddy et al.’s “summary and review” from the same issue* Simmons & Simonsohn on the whole evidence base on power posing* Cuddy’s strategic retreat* Meta-analysis on expansive vs. “lack of contractive” posingCreditsThe Science Fictions podcast is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.com/subscribe
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Paid-only episode 28: Tourette's syndrome
Mar 2400:10:21Tap to summarizeThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.comHave you seen the award-winning film I Swear, about a Scottish man with Tourette’s? (The less said about what happened at the ceremony where it won said award, the better). If so, you might want to know more about this very weird medical condition. We’ve got you covered.In this paid-only episode, we go into the competing neurological theories of what causes Tourette’s, the troubles with diagnosing it, what if anything can be done to treat it, and whether you can “catch” it by watching too many videos on TikTok.Become a paying subscriber at sciencefictionspod.com (or click the button below) to hear the full episode and read the full show notes.
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Episode 98: Dark oxygen
Mar 1700:58:38Tap to summarizeIn 2024, researchers claimed to find something mysterious at the bottom of the ocean. It was “dark oxygen”—oxygen produced where there’s no chance of photosynthesis. So what could possibly be producing it?Natural batteries—at least according to the scientists. This bizarre discovery seemed to upend everything we knew about the abyssal floor, had big implications for deep sea mining, and might even have helped explain the origin of aerobic life. But (and look, you know what we’re going to say here) could there have been something a little more mundane explaining the findings?The Science Fictions podcast is brought to you by Works in Progress magazine. On this week’s episode we talked about the new article on the genetics of cabbages, and how the wild cabbage has been selected into so many of the familiar vegetables we know today. Find this and so many more articles, all for free, at worksinprogress.co.Show notes* The 2024 dark oxygen paper in Nature Geosciences* Media coverage: BBC, Guardian, New Scientist* Andrew Sweetman’s piece in The Conversation discussing his research* On the deep seas of Enceladus and Europa* The UN and Greenpeace discussing the implications of dark oxygen* The “extraordinary claims” critical paper in Frontiers in Marine Science from 2025* Huge European investigation into marine mining from 2023* Critical EarthArXiv preprint from 2025* Norwegian interview with Andrew Sweetman, addressing some criticisms* PubPeer discussion of the paper; Wikipedia page with some rather harsh language* Paper on the expected amount of oxygen on the ocean floor, and on how the process itself needs oxygen to get started* Reanalysis of Sweetman’s raw data in another EarthArXiv preprintCreditsThe Science Fictions podcast is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.com/subscribe
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Episode 97: The 2D:4D digit ratio
Mar 1001:03:23Tap to summarizeThe last few episodes have been pretty heavy. So here’s… well, here’s the 2D:4D ratio. Does the difference in length between your index finger and your ring finger reveal a huge amount about your personality (and much more besides)?Perhaps you won’t be surprised by the answer. But we promise you’ll be surprised by just how much effort scientists have put into finding out…The Science Fictions podcast is brought to you by Works in Progress magazine. And now, articles from Works in Progress magazine are read aloud to you by… Stuart from Science Fictions. Every week, a new audio version of a WiP article will be released for your listening enjoyment. Find out more at www.worksinprogress.news.Show notes* Anthropological paper from 1888 on hands* A “preliminary investigation” of digit ratio and personality (2002)* Meta-analysis on the topic of aggression from 2017* PNAS study on the digit ratios of London City traders* Vastly bigger, null study on 2D:4D and economic preferences* Study of digit ratio in orchestral musicians* Follow-up study with contradictory results on musical abilities* 2D:4D and the wearing of wedding rings* Original paper on sexuality and digit ratio* 2025 meta-analysis* Digit ratio and penis size* Manning’s 2020 paper on COVID-19 and digit ratio* Critical follow-up letter* 2010 meta-analysis on athletic ability* Using 2D:4D to understand prehistoric cave paintings* 2021 BMJ Christmas Issue study on digit ratio and luck* Comparing inter- and intra-observer reliability for digit ratios across different measures (and Manning’s concerns about similar)* Debate over “allometric scaling”: concerned; less concerned* 2024 meta-analysis on whether this even relates to other testosterone measures* 2026 meta-analysis still using 2D:4D (among other measures)CreditsThe Science Fictions podcast is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.com/subscribe
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Paid-only episode 27: Antidepressants
Feb 2400:09:06Tap to summarizeThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.comAnd now… following last week’s episode on ECT, here’s part two of our double episode on depression treatments. This time we’re looking at antidepressants. You’ll be delighted to hear that we immediately encounter our favourite thing—dueling meta-analyses.To hear the whole episode and read the show notes, become a paying subscriber at www.sciencefictionspod.com/subscribe.
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Episode 96: Electroconvulsive therapy
Feb 1701:13:25Tap to summarizeOpen up some scientific papers, and you’ll hear electroconvulsive therapy described as the most effective treatment for depression (especially very severe depression). But open up others, and you’ll see it described as completely useless—and a sad indictment on a medical establishment who’ve completely failed to provide proper evidence on it. Not only that, but they’ve exposed patients to serious side effects, like memory loss, for no good reason.Who’s right? In this episode, we look into the most controversial psychiatric treatment since lobotomy.NEXT WEEK: we’ll follow this with an episode on another controversial psychiatric treament: antidepressants.On this week’s episode we discussed the article “The Perks of Being a Mole Rat”, from our sponsor, Works in Progress magazine. As ever, we’re very grateful for their support. You can find many more excellent articles at worksinprogress.co.Show notes* 1937 article by Egas Moniz, lobotomy Nobel Prize-winner* Weird 1998 article defending him on the Nobel Prize website* Megan McArdle on Walter Freeman* The ECT scene in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest* 2024 article discussing the possible mechanisms of ECT’s effect* 2010 review about sham ECT studies* 2019 review of each individual sham ECT study and the meta-analyses that include them* 2022 response to the review* Response to the response* Contemporary news article about the controversy* 2021 article in defense of ECT* The parachute RCT* 2010 meta-analysis on cognitive effects* 2025 meta-analysis on autobiographical memory lossCreditsThe Science Fictions podcast is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.com/subscribe
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Episode 95: Critical thinking
Feb 1001:01:00Tap to summarizeThis episode is dedicated to Justin Eldridge.We like to think that, in often hamfisted ways, we’re applying critical thinking on this show. But what even is “critical thinking”? Can you measure it? Can you teach it to kids—or for that matter, to anyone? Can teaching critical thinking help people defend themselves against misinformation and disinformation? It would be very ironic if “critical thinking” had become a buzzword in the world of education—a buzzword that people used, er, uncritically…The Science Fictions podcast is brought to you by the marvellous Works in Progress magazine. The article on Swiss vs. Japanese watches that we mention in the episode can be found at this link, and all the other Works in Progress articles can be found at worksinprogress.co.Show notes* NY Times article on schools teaching critical thinking* UK Government Curriculum Review from 2025* Daisy Christodoulou on teaching students to spot misinformation* Daniel Willingham’s 2007 article on critical thinking* His book Why Don’t Students Like School?* The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus study* The tree octopus website* 2017 Dutch replication study* Two bigger studies in 2016 and 2019* 2015 meta-analysis in Review of Educational Research* Woodworth and Thorndike (1901) - a psychological classic* Herbert Simon on “problem isomorphs”* The Stanford Civic Online Reasoning programmeCreditsWe’re very grateful to Daisy Christodoulou for talking to us for this episode. Any mistakes are, of course, our own. The Science Fictions podcast is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.com/subscribe
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