178 - Julia Nolte: Why We Avoid Difficult Decisions

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1. 

   7 Aug 2026 · 50 min

   181 - Nomisha Kurian: Critical Hope for the Future of Children & AI

   Adani chats with Nomisha Kurian, Assistant Professor in Education Studies at the University of Warwick, Associate Fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, and Associate at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Research in Digital Education. Nomisha has been at the forefront of research on children’s safety and well-being, elucidating what it means for up-and-coming AI technologies to support children’s development and align with their best i...

2. 

   E180 · 24 Jul 2026 · 39 min

   180 - Andrew Lampinen: Translating Cognitive Psychology to AI

   In this episode, Elizabeth chats with Dr. Andrew Lampinen as a part of our Alumni in Industry series. Andrew is currently a Member of Technical Staff at Anthropic. Prior to joining Anthropic, he worked as a Staff Research Scientist at Google DeepMind, and before that he earned his PhD here at Stanford and researched how humans are able to learn new things rapidly. His work bridges cognitive science and artificial intelligence, often with a focus on how the complex behaviors and representation...

3. 

   9 Jul 2026 · 53 min

   179 - Cynthia Osborne: Translating Evidence Into Early Childhood Policy

   Adani chats with Cynthia Osborne, Professor at Vanderbilt University and Executive Director of the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center. Prof. Osborne’s work focuses on translating developmental science into effective, evidence-based policies for families and young children in the U.S. We discuss what the field of Early Childhood Policy entails, the ongoing work that Prof. Osborne and the Impact Center conduct, and why the first three years of childhood are so critical. Prof. Osborne also tells...

4. 

   12 Jun 2026 · 41 min

   177 - Alison Gopnik: How Can Understanding Childhood Help Us Build Better AI? (REAIR)

   In this re-air (but more timely than ever!) episode from 2021, Anjie chats with Alison Gopnik, Professor at the Department of Psychology and Affiliate Professor at Department of Philosophy at UC Berkeley. Alison is not only a great cognitive scientist and philosopher who has made many groundbreaking contributions to the field, but also a great science communicator. Alison authored multiple bestselling books, including The Scientist in the Crib, The Philosophical Baby, The Gardener, ...

5. 

   30 May 2026 · 46 min

   176 - Elizabeth Bonawitz: How to Have Fun While Studying How Children Learn so Much From so Little

   Adani chats with Elizabeth Bonawitz, Professor of Learning Sciences at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Elizabeth’s work focuses on basic theories of learning with the broader goal of informing educational practice. She uses computational, behavioral, and neural methods to study a broad variety of things within cognitive development, from children’s curiosity and belief revision to their exploration and play. We discuss Elizabeth’s view of cognitive development research and, most importa...

6. 

   14 May 2026 · 56 min

   175 - Nicholas Epley: A Little More Social

   Nick Epley is the John Templeton Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. He studies social cognition—how thinking people think about other thinking people—to understand why smart people so routinely misunderstand each other. Nick is one of the “World’s Best 40 under 40 Business School Professors” by Poets and Quants. He just published his second book for a popular audience called "A Little More Social." In this ep...

7. 

   9 Oct 2026 · 55 minNew

   185 - Brian Knutson: What Neuroscience Reveals About Our Decisions

   This week, Katia Kriakova has a conversation with Brian Knutson, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Stanford University. In this episode, we explore the neuroscience of decision-making, how brain activity can predict behavior and relapse in addiction, and why our choices don’t always align with how we want to live. Brian Knutson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-knutson-8b87762a5/ Brian Knutson’s Lab Website: https://spanlab.stanford.edu/people/brian-knutson/&nbsp...

8. 

   18 Sep 2026 · 49 min

   184 - Tamar Schapiro: What Philosophy Can(not) Tell us About Children, Adults, and the Root of All Evil

   In this week’s episode, Julie and Adani chat with Tamar Schapiro, professor of philosophy at MIT! Tamar is interested in a wide range of things, from what it means to make good decisions in everyday life to ethical theory and the history of ethics (especially Kant and the British Moralists). We discussed Tamar’s work on why we treat children differently from adults, dig into whether and how reactivity might be the root of all evil, and close with some practical life advice based on Tamar’s ow...

9. 

   3 Sep 2026 · 51 min

   183 - William Damon: How to Live a Purposeful Life

   This week, Katia Kriakova has a conversation with William Damon, a professor at Stanford University. He is one of the world's leading researchers on human development across the lifespan and has pioneered the scientific study of purpose in life. In this conversation, we explore how we can make our own lives more purposeful and expand purpose beyond ourselves. William Damon’s book on purpose: The Path to Purpose: How Young People Find Their Calling in Life William Damon’s paper: The Psych...

10. 

    21 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 8 min

    182 - Bill Burnett: How to Design a Meaningful Life

    This week, Katia has a conversation with Bill Burnett, an adjunct professor at Stanford University. He is the co-founder of Stanford's Life Design Lab and also the co-author of Designing Your Life and How to Live a Meaningful Life. In this conversation, Bill shares how we can live in alignment with our values and compass, how prototyping can help us embrace uncertainty, and how to design a life that is more meaningful to us. Designing Your Life Website: https://designingyour.life/...

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