The Michael Shermer Show

Common knowledge is necessary for coordination, for making arbitrary but complementary choices like driving on the right, using paper currency, and coalescing behind a political leader or movement. It...

23 Sep 20251h 35min

Jim Lampley's story is a 50-year travelog of an unlikely career that catalogs the evolution of sports television—from his emergence as the first sideline reporter, through hosting and covering 14 Olym...

20 Sep 20251h 22min

In this solo commentary, Michael Shermer reflects on the assassination of Charlie Kirk and places it in the larger context of political violence, the psychology of radicalization, the dangers of false...

17 Sep 202527min

Science writer Nicholas Wade explains how human nature continues to shape—and sometimes destabilize—modern civilization, and argues that ignoring the effects of human nature on politics is one of soci...

13 Sep 20251h 37min

Parenting today often feels like an uphill battle, with technology invading every corner of our kids' lives. From the rise of social media addiction to the growing mental health crisis among children ...

9 Sep 202530min

In this episode of The Michael Shermer Show, Michael Shermer interviews Alan Stern, a prominent planetary scientist and astronaut. Stern discusses his recent suborbital flight, the differences between...

6 Sep 20251h 5min

In a radical new story about the birth of our species, evolutionary biologist Madeleine Beekman argues that it was not hunting, fighting, or tool-making that forced early humans to speak, but the ines...

2 Sep 20251h 11min

Economist Dean Spears explains the forces driving global population change, from past fears of overpopulation to today's concerns about declining birth rates. He contrasts the perspectives of biologis...

30 Aug 20251h 16min