The Psychosphere
The Psychosphere
Melanie Challenger
What is it like to be an octopus or an elephant? What kinds of minds and perceptions do they have and how can we understand these other worlds? Why do living beings behave so differently to the material world that surrounds them? And how did all this remarkable, intelligent life emerge in the first place? If you are interested in these questions, join writer and broadcaster, Melanie Challenger, in conversation with some of the world's foremost scientists and philosophers as they enter The Psychosphere...The world won't look the same again.
Agency in Nature
A special finale episode with groundbreaking philosophers, Alan Love, Denis Walsh, John Dupre and Helen Steward. Melanie hosts a roundtable discussion on the new science of agency in nature. How did all this intelligence emerge in the first place and why do we ignore the role of the intelligence and agency of other species in our understandings of ecosystems and evolution? Why do other animals pursue their goals and where did all this purposiveness come from in the first place. Listen in to some of the best minds approaching one of the most exciting areas of new research in science.
Jun 13, 2023
1 hr 28 min
Demystifying Consciousness
So where did all this intelligence and agency come from in the first place? How did consciousness emerge on our planet and is it only a human property? Melanie gets into these ideas with researcher Todd Feinberg. Is it possible that the we exist in a thinking universe?
Jun 13, 2023
39 min
Something to crow about
Cambridge University professor Nicky Clayton discusses her pioneering work on the minds of crows and other corvids. Melanie and Nicky even get round to discussing the possibility of jackdaws performing magic tricks...
Jun 13, 2023
35 min
Minds in miniature
Do honeybees dream? When bees perform their famous waggle dance, is it a form of swarm intelligence? Is it a kind of language? In this episode, Melanie discusses insect intelligence with pioneer and veteran researcher Randolf Menzel. Honey will taste even sweeter...
Jun 13, 2023
43 min
Hearing Voices
Novelist and psychologist Charles Fernyhough discusses his fascinating research on the phenomena of hearing voices. Some people have a "voice in their head" and others don't. Some people "hear voices" other than their own and don't view it as a pathology. Others find it distressing. This episode considers what the research has to say about human consciousness and subjectivity.
Jun 13, 2023
36 min
Animal personhood
In this episode, Brandon Keim and Melanie talk about the new science on animal personhood. How do other animals relate to one another as subjects, and how do we relate to them as intelligent beings?
Jun 13, 2023
41 min
Mind Myths
Science writer Philip Ball discusses his writing life and his work on diverse kinds of minds and on the biological studies of agency in nature.
Jun 13, 2023
40 min
Beyond Words
Well-known scientist and animal advocate Carl Safina discusses his work on animal cultures with Melanie. Carl makes a case for why humans aren't the only species with cultures. Are the cultures of other species overlooked in conservation? What would it mean not to only work to save animal populations but their ways of life too?
Jun 13, 2023
33 min
Creaturely connections
Best-selling science writer Sy Montgomery discusses the idea of the psychosphere with Melanie. Sy has written about the minds and intelligence of a diverse range of animals from octopuses to goshawks. Do we need new paradigms for our understanding of the intelligence in nature and how it matters?
Jun 13, 2023
31 min
Something fishy
Calum Brown is a pioneer researcher on fish cognition. He brings Melanie up to speed on the latest research on the diverse intelligences of fishes, the prejudices that still hold us back from acknowledging the mental attributes of sea creatures, and what this might mean morally.
Jun 13, 2023
37 min
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