Books and Ideas #19: Interview with author Dan Ariely

Dan Ariely is a professor of behavioral economics at MIT and author of the bestseller, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions. He was my guest for episode 19 of Books and Ideas. During the interview he explains how his came to study human behavior. He uses examples from his book to explore the question "What makes a good experiment?" He also discusses how he hope that his findings can help strengthen our society despite our human tendency to make "irrational" choices.

Listen to Episode 19 Now.

Links:

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely

Dan Ariely

• Faculty page at MIT
• Predictably Irrational blog

Listen to Books and Ideas Episode 19

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Books and Ideas #18: Interview with Tabitha Grace Smith of Buffy Between the Lines

Tabitha Grace Smith

Episode 18 of Books and Ideas is an interview with writer and podcaster Tabitha Grace Smith. Tabitha is the creator of Buffy Between the Lines, an award-winning podcast set in the universe of my favorite TV show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She is also a writer and works on several other podcasts. In her interview we talk about writing, podcasting, and why we love the work of Joss Whedon.

Included in this episode is the Valentine episode of Buffy Between the Lines, which is the episode in which I had my voice-acting "debut."

Listen to Episode 18 Now.

Links:

Jane Espenson's blog: (Jane is one of our favorite TV writers)

The Myth of Free Will: Revised & Expanded Edition (2008) by Cris Evatt (I have a short chapter in this edition.)

Buffy Between the Lines

Tabitha Grace Smith

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Books and Ideas #17: Interview with author Mur Lafferty

Ginger and Mur

Episode 17 of Books and Ideas is an interview with writer Mur Lafferty. Mur's podcasts I Should Be Writing and Geek Fu Action Grip helped inspire me to start podcasting, so I was excited to get a chance to talk with her about her new novel, Playing for Keeps. We also talk a little about the challenges of podcasting.

Listen to episode 17

Part 1 of the audio version of Playing for Keeps is included in this episode. It starts at 30:48. You can find the novel at http://playingforkeepsnovel.com or at http://podiobooks.com.

Mur emphasized that her "street team" has done a lot to promote Playing for Keeps. Special thanks go to Natalie Metzger and Jarod Axelrod for artwork, and to Chris Miller for the companion video podcast, which is available on youtube.

Mur co-wrote Tricks of the Podcasting Masters with Rob Walch.

She has also had several great stories on Escape Pod. My favorite is "I look Forward to Remembering You," which is scheduled to become a video on http://strangerthings.tv.

To find more of Mur's work go to http://murlafferty.com.

Listen to Episode 17 of Books and Ideas

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