Desire, Dopamine and Addiction
In All In The Mind’s rebroadcast “Dopamine, detoxes and donuts,” clinical psychologist Dr Anastasia Hronis explains the brain’s dopamine system and its role in motivation, movement and behaviour. She argues that contemporary technology platforms exploit these circuits and that trendy detoxes or abrupt “raw dogging” detoxes cannot reset a chemical process the brain relies on.
On Huberman Lab, Stanford addiction psychiatrist Dr Anna Lembke presents a long conversation in “Overcome Addictions & Obsessions of All Kinds,” covering her pleasure–pain balance model, digital media addiction among adolescents and her case for a 30-day abstinence period. A substantial part of the discussion also touches on her new book, Radical Surrender: letting go of the need for control.
The week’s detox debate is not presented as a single verdict but rather as competing perspectives on how best to manage desire and dependency, reflecting a wider question many listeners have about their phones and habits.
What Consciousness Is
On Human Potential Lab, neuroscientist Christof Koch tells Scott Barry Kaufman that “Consciousness Isn’t in the Brain.” He outlines Integrated Information Theory and discusses how today’s AI could be intelligent without conscious feeling. The conversation also delves into attempts to detect consciousness in unresponsive patients, and Koch explains how his near-death experiences influenced his thinking about consciousness, even as he acknowledges tensions with IIT.
A more philosophical line is drawn in Modern Wisdom’s episode “Why Atheists Keep Finding God (in everything),” in which Alex O’Connor argues that consciousness represents the largest gap in materialist and other worldviews.
In Huberman Lab Essentials, “How Emotions & Social Factors Impact Learning,” USC’s Dr Mary Helen Immordino-Yang discusses how emotions, narrative and culture shape learning and the sense of self, including a vignette about her young daughter’s evolving descriptions of love.
The Scripts We Inherit
A short clip from Diary Of A CEO, “Most Replayed Moment: The Childhood Scripts Still Running Your Life! Chase Hughes,” features a former Navy behaviour expert who contends that authenticity is often a costume rooted in childhood beliefs and who offers exercises aimed at loosening those scripts.
The same show also features an episode focused on Katt Williams’s life and career, with Steven Bartlett reflecting on how early family dynamics can shape relationships.
Rapper Bugzy Malone’s Modern Wisdom appearance, “How To Turn Your Pain Into Greatness,” probes how children absorb family dysfunction and why some people dismiss successful peers.
Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel explores a long-running separation, as a couple of nearly 40 years faces divorce while remaining legally married; the discussion probes enmeshment beneath apparent differences in “I’ll Still Be Your Financial Partner, But I’m Done Being Your Wife.”
Connection, Fun and Feeling
Organisational psychologist Adam Grant joins The Rich Roll Podcast to discuss “The Secrets Of Strong Relationships In A Lonely World,” including insights from his forthcoming book on human connection and how screens can offer a facsimile of real social ties.
The Happiness Lab’s live Aspen session, “Are You Taking Fun Seriously Enough?” pairs journalist Catherine Price with psychologist Elizabeth Dunn to explore what makes days feel good, with Price drawing a distinction between true flow and the so‑called “junk flow” of binge-watching.
Speaking of Psychology features Tim Wildschut explaining how nostalgia can be beneficial, while also identifying the conditions under which it is not. The discussion adds a nuanced view to the role of memory and sentiment in well-being.
Sex and Psychology Podcast hosts Justin Lehmiller and coach Shelby Devlin address “What People Get Wrong About Dominance and Submission,” contrasting media portrayals of kink with the explicit consent and communication real power exchanges require, and warning how abusers can misuse language.
Therapy, Belief and Society
The Prof G Pod’s “Is Therapy Overrated?” brings Scott Galloway together with UCSF clinical psychologist Dr Jonathan Shedler to debate the value of psychodynamic approaches, with Shedler defending aspects of therapy as effective while acknowledging broader critiques. The same programme’s segment on inheritance, “Your Parents’ Wealth Matters More Than Your Salary,” with historian Eliza Filby, touches on inequality and the “financial nihilism” some anxious young adults feel about money and ambition.
On The Joe Rogan Experience, actor Gary Sinise discusses his career and USO work, with several segments addressing veterans’ mental health and Rogan’s skepticism about counselling and medication.
Comedian Jordan Klepper joins StarTalk for “Cosmic Queries – Curiosity, Conspiracies & the God Particle,” a discussion that considers curiosity, certainty and cognitive biases, with Neil deGrasse Tyson guiding a debate about pushing flat-Earth believers back towards inquiry.
Brain Health
In Diary Of A CEO’s “What Are The Five Lifestyle Habits Destroying Your Brain Right Now?”, neurologist Dr David Perlmutter argues dementias are largely preventable metabolic conditions. StarTalk’s “The Longevity Playbook” with Rhonda Patrick, released to subscribers this week, focuses on healthspan, diets and exercise, including a brain-related segment.
Across these episodes, childhood experiences recur as a theme, framed mostly through personal storytelling and self-help rather than formal research. The week also features notable scepticism about therapy from two different viewpoints, underscoring a broad debate within psychology and public discourse.
