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Devil’s Advocate

23 episodes

Our experts make the best argument against themselves, and then explain why that stance is less convincing than their own.

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All Episodes (23)

Fragmented image of the U.S. flag with white stars on a blue background and red and beige stripes, resembling weathered paint on a wall.

The one temptation to resist post-election: Good vs. evil

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4 min

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with

Microscopic view of a translucent, spiral-shaped Trichinella spiralis larva within a blue-stained muscle tissue.

What are the consequences of living as a human in an “always on” digital world?

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5 min

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with

Yuval Noah Harari

The overpopulation myth, debunked by a data scientist

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7 min

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with

Three red dice in mid-roll on a green surface.

Debunking the ‘billionaire = genius’ myth

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6 min

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with

A white lotus flower on a black background.

The most important idea in Zen Buddhism for today’s world

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5 min

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with

Robert Waldinger

A broken glass with the words contradictory ideas.

Have a controversial idea? Good. Here’s why you should share it.

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6 min

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with

The words boost your brain on a yellow background.

Could your workout routine give your brain a boost? This neuroscientist thinks so

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4 min

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with

A man in a tie is holding a tissue to his face.

How do you rationalize your unethical behaviors?

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4 min

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with

Kelly Richmond Pope

two hands reaching for each other on a black background.

I study longevity. Here’s the code science needs to crack.

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4 min

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with

a painting of two swans swimming in a lake.

Monogamy: How Christian sexual ethics took over the world

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5 min

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a pink brain with the words extend your mind.

The critical productivity skill nobody teaches you

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4 min

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Is science about to end?

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5 min

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with

Sabine Hossenfelder

How to use note-taking for crystal clear focus

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4 min

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The surprising reason secrets destroy us

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3 min

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with

Michael Slepian

Debate world champion: Why agreement is overrated

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4 min

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Why psychedelics are “freakishly safe”

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5 min

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Matthew W. Johnson

How to make space for “longpath” thinking

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4 min

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Debunking one of the Metaverse’s biggest myths

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5 min

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3 free will arguments, explained by physicist Sean Carroll

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7 min

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The case for and against cryptocurrency

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4 min

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Are near-death experiences just dreams or hallucinations?

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with

Dr. Bruce Greyson

Happiness study

The 2 biggest misconceptions about happiness

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3 min

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Fascist politics

Devil’s Advocate: Why worry about fascism?

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3 min

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Related

A man with short, grayish hair, wearing a dark blazer and black shirt, stares directly at the camera against a black background.

Sam Harris: Your mind is all you have. Is yours working?

“I think we need a truly open-ended conversation with 8 billion strangers, and what makes that hard to do increasingly is a level of political fragmentation and extremism and partisanship born of our engagement with these new technologies.”

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10 min

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Red ink disperses in water with the words "Menopause Chaos" overlaid in bold white font.

The science of menopause in 13 minutes

What can you do to support your health during menopause? “If exercise were a drug, that would be the one thing that we would be giving to everybody.”

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13 min

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Close-up of a multicolored, reflective surface depicting two human-like eyes with iridescent hues surrounding them.

Yuval Noah Harari: An AI scenario you should not ignore

“What happens if you incorporate an AI? It’s now a legal person, and it can make decisions by itself. So you start having legal persons in the U.S., which are not human, and in many ways are more intelligent than us.”

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11 min

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Yuval Noah Harari

Fragmented image of the U.S. flag with white stars on a blue background and red and beige stripes, resembling weathered paint on a wall.

The one temptation to resist post-election: Good vs. evil

“Most of us aren’t sure what to think about everything, but we don’t really see that modeled anywhere, right? You’re supposed to know for sure, and there’s very little intellectual humility on social media or on TV.”

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4 min

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A person sits pensively with name tags around them reading "Hello, I'm a... writer? bookstore owner? father?.

Ryan Holiday on the art of perception and self-reflection

How the successful marketer used ancient philosophy to overcome modern obstacles and change his mindset.

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5 min

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