Shows / unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc
unSILOed is a series of interdisciplinary conversations that inspire new ways of thinking about our world. Our goal is to build a community of lifelong learners addicted to curiosity and the pursuit of insight about themselves and the world around them.*unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*
Episodes
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc331. Inflation Strikes Back feat. Stephen D. King
Even though central banks have become independent over the years, is it fair to say they still face political challenges? Could inflation be viewed as a…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc330. Saving Lives With Outsider Ideas feat. Charles Barber
Sometimes, the ideas that end up being the most revolutionary come from outside the scientific mainstream. People who can approach the problem with different…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc329. What Good is Pessimism? feat. David Benatar
Humans have a tendency to see the glass as half full. What arguments can be made on behalf of the half-empty perspective? Whether it's evaluating your life or…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc328. How To Fail The Right Way feat. Amy Edmondson
As risk-averse individuals, we tend to try to avoid failure at all costs. But failing is an essential part of learning. So, how can we get better at it? And…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc327. What Actually Makes A College The Best? feat. Colin Diver
Does the way we rank colleges prioritize status over educational quality or the public good? Colin Diver is the Charles A. Heimbold, Jr., Professor of Law and…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc326. How Epigenetics Drive Your DNA feat. Nessa Carey
The double helix of DNA twists in the heart of every human cell, and it comes with some editing software known as epigenetics that power what parts turn on and…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc325. Privacy Meets Security: Keeping Our Data Safe feat. Daniel J. Solove
When it comes to data privacy laws these days, it’s still sort of like the Wild West out there. There’s no federal agency holding software makers responsible…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc324. A History of Interest Rates feat. Edward Chancellor
Is finance really just the economics of time and risk? How do you price things like time and risk?Edward Chancellor is a columnist with Reuters and is the…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc323. Learning from the South Sea Bubble feat. Thomas Levenson
The financial revolution in Europe was an outgrowth of the scientific revolution, and the greatest minds of the time were studying, commenting on, and even…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc322. A Course in Wisdom feat. Thomas Gilovich
Is the smartest person in the room also the wisest? Not necessarily. So what does it mean to be wise, and how do you go about finding that wisdom in life?…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc321. The Power of Creative Problem-Solving with Tina Seelig
From an early age, students are taught the major academic disciplines like math, science, history, and art. But one thing that often gets overlooked or not…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc320. The Origins of Fitness Culture feat. Natalia Mehlman Petrzela
Society’s view on fitness swings wildly from era to era throughout history. There were times when caring about your body was considered feminine, times when it…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc319. The Future Repeats Itself feat. Tom Standage
A new era of technology brings about advancements that both thrill and concern society. Some see the oncoming innovations as the solution to our problems…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc318. Discovering the Artist’s Eye feat. Lincoln Perry
In order to fully appreciate art, does one have to have first-hand experience creating art oneself? How does experiencing art help artists with their own work?…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc317. Cultivating Humanity in a More Natural Way feat. Charles Foster
The prevalence of spending ample time indoors, engaging in screen-based activities, is narrowing our experiential landscape.As we constantly underutilize our…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc316. The Future is Sustainable feat. Andrew S. Winston
Is the practice of making a company sustainable a performative act, one motivated by a company's true values, or a move made for profit? And furthermore, does…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc315. Science Writing as a Discipline feat. Philip Ball
It’s one thing to talk about the science and physics behind the notion of invisibility, it’s another thing to examine the cultural place that idea occupies in…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc314. The Risks and Rewards of Data in Real Time feat. Mohan Subramaniam
The future has a landscape that is navigated as it comes, but across industries, legacy firms, and newly formed start-ups will do that very differently. All…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc313. Closing Opportunity Gaps Through Early Childhood Skill Development feat. Nate G. Hilger
The significance of early childhood skill development and its influence on long-term income and success differentials is widely recognized today. However…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc312. The Origins of Human Rights feat. Samuel Moyn
The concern for human rights seems to be deeply rooted in history and based on longstanding moral concerns, but the modern human rights movement has very…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc311. What Exactly is Violence? feat. David Alan Sklansky
The importance of the division between violent and non-violent crimes seems to have existed for as long as we’ve had laws, but in reality, its legal salience…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc310. Understanding the Gender Wage Gap feat. Claudia Goldin
It’s 2023, and women still only make 83 cents for every dollar a man makes in the U.S. While that gender wage gap has shrunk over time, why does it still…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc309. The Roots of Our Desires feat. Luke Burgis
Where do our desires come from? Babies don’t come into this world with an inherent drive to found tech companies. How much do our environment and the people…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc308. Understand Others / Understand Yourself feat. Thomas Erikson
What if the key to understanding the way other people behave is understanding your own behavior first? Author Thomas Erikson has spent decades studying how…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc307. The Socioeconomic Diversity Problem at Elite Colleges feat. Evan Mandery
Colleges and universities, especially ivy league ones, make a point of accepting the “best and brightest” students. But what if they’re missing a whole slew of…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc306. The Permanently Inadequate Human Body feat. Clare Chambers
In a society where our bodies are constantly scrutinized and judged, surrounded by filtered images and surgically-enhanced features, we face overwhelming…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc305. Navigating a World of Deception feat. Daniel Simons
From social media disinformation and phishing emails to grand-scale scams such as multimillion-dollar counterfeit art, Ponzi schemes or scientific fraud, our…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc304. What Happened To University Teaching? feat. William Deresiewicz
There has been an undeniable shift in priorities throughout Higher Education during the 21st century. As schooling gets more and more expensive, the pathways…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc303. The Selection Markets, Corruption, and Toy Models feat. Raymond Fisman
How do economists understand complex phenomena like selection markets and corruption? With frameworks often called toy models. These models often point toward…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc302. Sentient Creatures & Phenomenal Consciousness feat. Nicholas Humphrey
Sentience lies at the core of the human experience, allowing us to experience conscious awareness, subjective experiences, and a deeper understanding of…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc301. What Neuroscience Has to Do With Company Culture feat. Paul J. Zak
What if brain chemicals like oxytocin and cortisol could predict how people will behave in social situations and the workplace? Does more testosterone lead to…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc300. Leadership Through Culture at SVB feat. Ken Wilcox
There are levels to leadership, and at the CEO level, the leadership needs are many, but it’s important to strike the right balance. CEOs must think about…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc299. What’s The Right Amount of Democracy feat. Garett Jones
Has the word “democracy” become a catch-all for good government? At this point, the idea is so romanticized that it may go unnoticed that the way America is…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc298. The Libertarian Roots of Cryptocurrency feat. Finn Brunton
If you start to dig into the origin story of cryptocurrency, don’t be surprised if you find the ideas and values of the American Libertarian movement all over…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc297. Balancing a Digital Future With Human Connections and Experiences feat. David Sax
The future is (not entirely) digital - The notion that digital technology will overtake every existing aspect of our lives is an oversimplified assumption.The…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc296. The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence feat. Peter Norvig
Questions around the possibilities and potential dangers of Artificial Intelligence cover the headlines these days, but are these actually new…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc295. Keeping the Conversation Going feat. Paula Marantz Cohen
Conversation and communication with others is a natural human urge, as well as a skill that can be developed and honed like any other. The power of…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc294. The Habit of Courage feat. Jim Detert
Courage is not a character trait that is limited to a select few but rather a skill that can be cultivated through deliberate practice.Unless we repetitively…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc293. Stop Torturing Data feat. Gary Smith
When scientists game the system to get publishable results, it undermines the legitimacy of science.. Data can be interpreted many different ways and sliced…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc292. Re-examining Human Exceptionalism feat. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz
While it is commonly assumed that prevalent health issues like heart disease, obesity, and depression are uniquely human experiences, they exist across…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc291. Embracing the Problems in Your Life feat. Bernard Roth
Life is all about solving problems—whether it’s what shirt to put on in the morning or how to solve a complex engineering question. And without problems, life…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc290. Evolution as the Tinkerer Not the Engineer feat. Marlene Zuk
Here’s the thing about evolution: It’s really complicated. And there’s so much about how humans have evolved and what causes certain behaviors that scientists…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc289. The Religious Roots of Economics feat. Benjamin M. Friedman
How much did the religious beliefs of the Enlightenment Age influence the evolution of modern economic theory? Can widespread economic growth lead to an…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc288. Politics, Economics, and Irrationality feat. Bryan Caplan
It may be rational to be ignorant, and it might even be rational to be irrational! This is quite prevalent in our highly polarized and tribalized current…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc287. Generational Differences and the Influence of Technology feat. Jean M. Twenge
From the Silent Generation to Gen Z, different generations have distinct behaviors, values, and attitudes that were shaped by the events during their formative…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc286. The Market as Miracle feat. Matthew Hennessey
The science of economics can be an intimidating topic to understand, but it can be broken down into basic motivations and forces that are understandable to…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc285. How the Buildings We Shape Shape Us feat. Sarah Williams Goldhagen
Is it a bad day that puts someone in a bad mood, or could it be the room they’re sitting in? The environments we place ourselves in function as much more than…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc284. What Racial Categories Say About Discrimination in America feat. David E. Bernstein
Most Americans have had to do it at some point: check the box that most closely describes how you identify your race or ethnicity. But those categories can be…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc283. Balancing Scientific Progress with Scientific Responsibility feat. Matthew Cobb
Throughout history, new advances in science, such as the advent of electricity, nuclear power, genetic engineering, or artificial intelligence, have often been…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc282. Fostering Corporate Innovation feat. Andrew Binns
Innovation is both extremely important to the life of a corporation and also extremely tricky to regularly achieve and maintain. There are certain strategies…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc281. The Plague Paradox feat. Kyle Harper
Over the course of history, as human civilization has developed and advanced, so have our microbial enemies. This has led to a vast and diverse disease pool…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc280. The Story of Money feat. Frederick Kaufman
Money is a mirage, and the harder and deeper you look into it, the hazier it can become. It is a human construct, a tool that we have all agreed to hold value…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc279. An Anthropological Look at Legal Systems feat. Fernanda Pirie
Is law an instrument of the state? Or is it broader than that? Fernanda Pirie is a professor of law and anthropology at the University of Oxford. Through her…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc278. The Real Value of Museums feat. Daniel H. Weiss
Museums are centers for culture, for art, and for conversation. They are places where the far ends of the earth come together in the same place and expose…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc277. Resilience Begins at Birth feat. Erica Komisar
Mental health disorders have become an epidemic in today's society. Yet, we often fail to recognize the critical impact of early childhood adversity and our…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc276. The Bubble Triangle feat. William Quinn
There are three necessary conditions for a fire to start – oxygen, heat, and fuel. The same can be said for financial bubbles. In order for them to happen…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc275. The Madness of Crowds feat. William Bernstein
What do financial bubbles and religious millenarianism have in common? They both involve collective delusion. When Charles Mackey wrote a book on the Madness…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc274. The New Science of Political Economy featuring James A. Robinson
Does a strong state mean a weak market? This is a common misconception amongst economists. Many view the state as either taxing and regulating the market too…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc273. Putting the Science into Political Science feat. Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
In order to make an impact in the political world, we need to understand the science of politics, which means setting aside emotion and designing general…
unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc272. Free Speech’s Complex Role on Campus feat. Ulrich Baer
What are the limits to free speech in a university setting? And how does our society define what is permissible speech and what is not? When Ulrich Baer wrote…