This episode takes a deep dive into the concept of “worldview”, based on the research and work done by Annick de Witt: researcher, writer, teacher, and founder of the organization Worldview Journeys. Topics discussed include: conceptualizing the idea of worldview; how our worldview might affect our beliefs and behaviors; examples of types of worldviews; methods of uncovering our own worldview and the worldviews of others we communicate with; how an awareness of worldviews can help us examine our own beliefs while also improving our dialogues with others.

Even though they affect all of our lives, most of us know almost nothing about how policies are made, especially policy made by our state and federal governments. So, Julia and Bob learned a lot from this conversation with guest: Robert MacCoun, Law Professor at Stanford University. With a Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD degree in Psychology, professor MacCoun has long worked at the nexus between law and psychology and specialized in bringing evidence-based policy making into policy decisions, including controversial areas such as military policy debates about allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the US military and drug policy. His book, "Drug War Heresies" is considered a landmark scholarly analysis of the drug legalization debate.

This discussion with philosopher, former tenured professor at Iowa State University, and now independent critical thinking educator and consultant, Kevin deLaplante, revisits the importance and benefits of critical thinking in today’s post-truth world, reviews the basic skills involved with critical thinking and understanding of human cognitive vulnerabilities, while also introducing more recent ideas about human cognition like the Predictive Processing Model and Extended Mind Theory. The resources for learning and practicing critical thinking, found at Kevin’s Argument Ninja Dojo membership program, are also discussed.