Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast)

Actual evolutionary psychology by actual evolutionary psychologists. Hosted by Dave Pietraszewski and David Pinsof. Every week, Dave and David bring cutting-edge work in the evolutionary behavioral sciences to you. patreon.com/epthepod
Actual evolutionary psychology by actual evolutionary psychologists. Hosted by Dave Pietraszewski and David Pinsof. Every week, Dave and David bring cutting-edge work in the evolutionary behavioral sciences to you. patreon.com/epthepod
Episodes
Episodes
Jan 13, 2026
Peace with Luke Glowacki
Jan 13, 2026
Jan 13, 2026
1 hr 53 min
The evolution of war has occupied science. But what about the evolution of peace? In this episode, we talk to Luke Glowacki about his framing of peace as requiring just as much, if not more, explanation, than the evolution of war, and how it comes about via cultural technology interacting with our evolved psychology. Other topics include the distribution of conflict, the Omo valley research project, and how to think about our own species through the lens of other species--including mongeese (mongooses?)
More about Luke Glowacki:
https://www.hsb-lab.org/
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=DaCQ-UIAAAAJ&hl=en
https://www.bu.edu/anthrop/profile/luke-glowacki/
Jan 13, 2026
1 hr 53 min
Jan 6, 2026
Free Will with David Pietraszewski
Jan 6, 2026
Jan 6, 2026
2 hr 2 min
Free will: Do we really have it? And what is it, exactly? In this episode, co-host David Pietraszewski takes the role of guest and explains his recent evolutionary, adaptationist approach to the problem of free will, explaining what people are talking about when they talk about free will, why different people have different opinions about whether it really exists in light of science, and what an evolutionary approach has to say about how to study it in the first place. If you love or hate the study of free will--or think it is a forever-unsolvable mystery-- then this episode is for you!
More about David Pietraszewski:
https://cal.psych.ucsb.edu/david-pietraszewski
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rGFYm8AAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Jan 6, 2026
2 hr 2 min
Dec 30, 2025
Moralizing Self-Control with Léo Fitouchi
Dec 30, 2025
Dec 30, 2025
1 hr 50 min
Why do we care about delaying gratification? Why do we judge others for moral failings that have no apparent consequences on us? In this episode, we talk to Lêo Fitouchi (IAST Toulouse) about all things moral, including guzzling french fries.
More about Léo Fitouchi: https://sites.google.com/view/leofitouchi/home
Dec 30, 2025
1 hr 50 min
Dec 23, 2025
Evolutionary Social Sciences with Dan Nettle
Dec 23, 2025
Dec 23, 2025
1 hr 44 min
Poverty? Universal basic income? Do we really crave sugar because of evolutionary mismatch? How do you train for an 800meter and a 100K running race? We cover this and much more with Dan Nettle (Jean Nicod).
More about Dan Nettle:
https://www.danielnettle.eu/
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rl3kkv4AAAAJ&hl=en
Dec 23, 2025
1 hr 44 min
Dec 16, 2025
Culture, Killing, and PTSD with Sarah Mathew
Dec 16, 2025
Dec 16, 2025
2 hr 1 min
How do evolutionary behavioral scientists think about the interplay between our psychology and culture? What causes some cultural norms to persist and spread? Do non-Western combatants in war have something like PTSD? In this episode, we explore all of these questions and more with Sarah Mathew (ASU), who talks about her work with the Turkana, and her long-term interest in the interplay between our evolved psychology of cooperation and violence, and the social norms and institutions that push and pull on our evolved psychology.
More about Sarah Mathew:
https://search.asu.edu/profile/2208359
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FqTZawEAAAAJ&hl=en
Dec 16, 2025
2 hr 1 min
Dec 9, 2025
Dec 9, 2025
1 hr 37 min
Is the evolved mind prone to believing misinformation? Are people gullible? What is reasoning, anyway? And what is it for? In this episode, we talk all things reasoning with Hugo Mercier (Institute Jean Nicod). If you have an opinion about whether people are reasonable (or not) this episode is for you.
More about Hugo Mercier:
https://sites.google.com/site/hugomercier/
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=b3o24EEAAAAJ&hl=en
Dec 9, 2025
1 hr 37 min
Dec 2, 2025
Love and Regret with Cari Goetz
Dec 2, 2025
Dec 2, 2025
1 hr 50 min
What is love? What is regret? What are we missing in our understanding of mating? In this episode we talk to Cari Goetz (Cal State San Bernardino) about the (still largely unexplored) emotions surrounding romance, sex, commitment, and parenting. Topics include: the field's current overemphasis on the early stages of mating, the cultural propaganda surrounding love and related emotions, deliberate ignorance about infidelity, the rehearsal of the social consequences of dating earlier in development, mate ejection strategies, and what love might be at a functional/software level.
More about Cari Goetz:https://www.csusb.edu/profile/cgoetz
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=BIKau3cAAAAJ&hl=en
Dec 2, 2025
1 hr 50 min
Nov 25, 2025
Exploitation with Hannes Rusch
Nov 25, 2025
Nov 25, 2025
1 hr 57 min
What is exploitation? Why does it happen? And how can we better understand what makes it more or less likely? In this episode, we talk to Hannes Rusch (Max Planck Crime, Security, & Law) about all things exploitation and group-y. Other topics include jobs, mopping, scapegoating, bravery, and how much people care about their group identities.
More about Hannes Rusch:
https://hrusch.de/
https://csl.mpg.de/en/hannes-rusch
Shownotes:
Metallica "Man Unkind":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUVr2xnGIEo
Exploitation: Theory and Practice
https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_3655768_1/component/file_3655769/content
Nov 25, 2025
1 hr 57 min







