David O'Brien, higher education policy scholar with the California Community Colleges System, is back to answer the question Thomas posed last time: why is college so expensive? They get into tuition vs. total cost of attendance, the dirty little secret of private university pricing, administrative bloat, the amenities arms race, and why the people loudest about college costs are likely well-off, but getting very little financial aid. Mentioned: The Daily: College, Student Loans, and Trump Sara Goldrick-Rab's research on college costs and student basic needs Cal Grant program (California) Pell Grant Americans with Disabilities Act Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on Patreon! You get ad-free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/seriouspod

I cannot stop thinking about Cody from Some More News's video in which he could not stop thinking about Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Cody is INCREDIBLY sure that you're an idiot incapable of watching movies or consuming art if you don't agree with his conception of what the ending of Brand New Day meant. The problem is... Cody gets about a billion things wrong and his arguments are terrible. This was going to be just a Patreon bonus of Serious Inquiries Only but I wanted to put it up on YouTube so it's going out to everyone! WATCH HERE! Cody's video: "How Did Everyone Become So Bad at Watching Movies" Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on Patreon! You get ad-free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/seriouspod

... and other autism/ADHD research! So pleased to have Dr. Jenessa Seymour back - this time with a variety of studies in the Autism and ADHD realms. Jurek, L., Duchier, A., Gauld, C., Henault, L., Giroudon, C., Fourneret, P., … Nourredine, M. (2025). Sensory processing in individuals with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder compared with control populations: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 64, 1132-1147. Le Cunff, A., Russell, C. & Dommett, E.J. (2026). Hyperactive–impulsive ADHD traits predict Higher curiosity in adults: evidence from a cross-sectional study. BMC Psychology, 14, 1-11. White, R.C. & Remington, A. (2018). Object personification in Autism: This paper will be very sad if you don't read it. Autism, 23, 1042-1045. Botha, M. & Cage, E. (2022). "Autism research is in crisis": A mixed method study of researcher's constructions of autistic people and autism research. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1-22. Devlin, H. (July 5, 2026). Pioneer of 'extreme male brain' theory of autism now says phrase unhelpful. The Guardian. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on Patreon! You get ad-free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/seriouspod

Part 2! Dr. Eric Jaffe returns to actually treat the cancer this time: why radiation is basically catching your kid smoking and making him finish the carton, how CRISPR turns your own T cells into an assassin squad, and why oncolytic viruses are just Jurassic World Dominion for tumors. Haven't heard Part 1 yet? Start there or you'll be lost. Mentioned: CAR-T therapy RAS inhibitor drugs Oncolytic viruses mRNA cancer vaccines Red Queen hypothesis Cancer-sniffing dogs Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on Patreon! You get ad-free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/seriouspod

Part 1! Dr. Eric Jaffe, the biology teacher who keeps naming proteins after cartoon characters, returns for a two-part cancer deep dive. Today: what cancer actually is at the cellular level, why elephants barely get it, why whales get it even less, and why the "they're hiding the cure" conspiracy falls apart the second you learn who actually funds the research. Mentioned: Peto's paradox HeLa cells The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks XKCD cancer comic Part 2, the cure, is already up for Patreon supporters! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on Patreon! You get ad-free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/seriouspod

Part 2! Thomas is joined again by David O'Brien, a higher education policy scholar with the California Community Colleges system, to finish dismantling The Daily's take on Trump's student loan crackdown. Reagan, Pell Grants, and decades of quiet state defunding all get their due, plus a theory on why tuition keeps climbing that has nothing to do with cosmetology degrees. Mentioned: The Daily college episode Gainful employment rules Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on Patreon! You get ad-free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/seriouspod

Thomas is joined by David O'Brien, a higher education policy scholar who works for the California Community Colleges system, to pick apart Trump's new rules threatening to cut off student loans and Pell grants from "low-earning" degree programs, and to fact-check The Daily's recent take on the same story. The real history runs through Reagan, Prop 13, and decades of quiet austerity nobody on that podcast wants to mention. Mentioned: The Daily college episode Reagan 1966 campaign clip Prop 13 CUNY tuition history California Master Plan for Higher Education Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on Patreon! You get ad-free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/seriouspod

Thanks so much to the folks at SkeptiCal for inviting me! Though the talk does deal with the Butler shooting, I thought some way different stuff for this including a ridiculously overwrought hypothetical, my favorite kind! And, I found a Young Turks video where they are apparently Joe Rogan now!

The "nice guy" is the villain. We watched Obsession and cannot stop thinking about it. It has so much to say about gender, consent, "nice guys" and more. And it scarred Lydia for life. WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on Patreon! You get ad-free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/seriouspod

Thomas is joined by Dr. Eric Jaffe, biologist, dinosaur enthusiast, and high school biology teacher, for a conversation that starts with a deceptively simple question: what are biological definitions actually doing? It turns out that biology is far more like history than math, and that difference has enormous consequences for anyone trying to weaponize phrases like "the biological definition of sex." Dr. Jaffe walks through why definitions in inductive sciences are descriptive, not prescriptive, and what that means for species, chromosomes, fungi, LeBron James, and trans people. "Exceptions aren't the exceptions in biology. They are built into what we call biological systems." Plus: Patreon Q&A questions on alien DNA, how new chromosomes evolve, the 97% chimp figure, CRISPR vs. what came before, and Trump's research budget cuts. Cells at Work (anime recommended by Dr. Jaffe) Project Hail Mary (film referenced) Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show on Patreon! You get ad-free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/seriouspod