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
Podcast Description
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
Dec 30, 2025
Moralizing Self-Control with Léo Fitouchi
Dec 30, 2025
Dec 30, 2025
1hr 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 23, 2025
Evolutionary Social Sciences with Dan Nettle
Dec 23, 2025
Dec 23, 2025
1hr 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 16, 2025
Culture, Killing, and PTSD with Sarah Mathew
Dec 16, 2025
Dec 16, 2025
2hr 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 9, 2025
Dec 9, 2025
1hr 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 2, 2025
Love and Regret with Cari Goetz
Dec 2, 2025
Dec 2, 2025
1hr 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
Nov 25, 2025
Exploitation with Hannes Rusch
Nov 25, 2025
Nov 25, 2025
1hr 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 18, 2025
Polygamy with Brooke Scelza
Nov 18, 2025
Nov 18, 2025
1hr 51 min
Are humans designed to be monogamous? Polygamous? In this episode, we talk to Brooke Scelza (UCLA) about her work with the Himba and the complex web of social norms at play in that society and what it can teach us about our evolved psychology. Other topics include parental investment, the state of cross-talk between evolutionary anthropology and psychology, and the sometimes perverse incentives in science and the resulting replication crisis. If you think you do (or do not) understand mating markets and social norms, then this episode is for you.
More about Brooke Schelza:
https://bscelza.weebly.com/
https://anthro.ucla.edu/person/brooke-scelza/
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=v8E5934AAAAJ&hl=en
Nov 11, 2025
Leadership with Zach Garfield
Nov 11, 2025
Nov 11, 2025
1hr 46 min
Are mothers the evolutionary crucible of leadership psychology? And is leadership more misunderstood and cryptic than we might think? In this episode, we talk to Zach Garfield (UM6P, Morocco) about all things lead-y and follow-y, and the new and amazing Omo Valley Research Project.
More about Zach Garfield:https://zhgarfield.github.io/
The Omo Valley Research Project (with Luke Glowacki)https://www.omovalleyresearchproject.org/







