In this episode I'm dipping my toes into a new topic a little bit outside my range, but we can still use the tools of science and evidence to assess. The economy and Modern Monetary Theory. It is a new idea that clashes with classical economics. It can be summarized as the idea that governments whose dollar is not linked to a gold standard don't need to worry about deficits. It encompasses the idea of guaranteed employment for all. The discussion will also explore the failure of the capitalism system. My guest is an expert on this topic. Let's get grounded in the facts.

Jamie Merchant is a writer living in Chicago who writes about political economy and radical political theory. His writing has appeared in many publications including The Baffler, The Brooklyn Rail, The Nation, and In These Times. His book, Endgame: Economic Nationalism and Global Decline, was published by Reaktion Books in 2024.

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In this episode I am interviewing a neuroscientist and a writer who has done a lot of work on synesthesia, or the melding of sense perceptions. His most recent book delves into how we can take back control of our attention from addictive social media. This should be of interest to most of us, and especially to parents of young children and teenagers who don’t know what to do to help their kids put down the devices and engage with life.

Dr. Richard E. Cytowic, a pioneering researcher in synesthesia, is Professor of Neurology at George Washington University. He is the author of Synesthesia, The Man Who Tasted Shapes, The Neurological Side of Neuropsychology, and, with David M. Eagleman, the Montaigne Medal–winner Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia. His new book is entitled, ‘YOUR STONE AGE BRAIN IN THE SCREEN AGE: Coping with Digital Distraction and Sensory Overload’.

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In this episode I’m returning to the mysterious and challenging topic of consciousness and awareness, the elusive theory of mind that philosophers have chased for centuries, and is now coming to heel under the tools of neurobiology and the framework of modern physics. My guest today has performed experiments on rats that lend credence to the intriguing idea that quantum mechanics could play a basic role in the function of the mind. Are our brains quantum computers? This is a question for The Rational View.

Dr. Micheal Weist received his PhD in Theoretical High-Energy Physics from University of Michigan and is an associate professor of Neuroscience at Wellesley College. His research is focused on learning about the physical basis of consciousness. What is it about the matter in a living brain that makes it experience perceptions, feelings, and thoughts? His research focuses on sensory integration in rats, attempting to understand how neural activity in different parts of the brain gets combined or coordinated to generate a single coherent perception.

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