Do we make safer or riskier choices when deciding for someone else? Erik Wengström discusses the economics of loss aversion, why financial incentives don't always explain risky behavior, and whether social preferences actually predicted who wore masks during the pandemic.

Was Raskolnikov's crime truly premeditated, or was it a moment of frantic compulsion? We revisit the first two parts of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, dissecting the psychological breakdown of the protagonist and why a misprinted pentagonal book cover might be the perfect metaphor for the novel.

Can we fix peer review with blockchain? Bianca Trovo discusses the broken incentives of academic publishing, her project "Ants-Review" , and why decentralized science (DeSci) might be the only way to save the scientific record from for-profit publishers.

Why do people bond after a painful experience? Brock Bastian discusses the unexpected social benefits of shared pain, why happiness might require suffering, and the ethical dilemmas of a "pain-free" future.

Why do rats have a built-in compass? Kate Jeffery discusses the discovery of grid cells and place cells , how rodents navigate 3D space, and why the history of science is often messier than the Nobel Prize suggests.

Do we actually need to read minds to be social, or are we just following simple rules? Tessa Rusch discusses "Theory of Mind" in decision science, the rapid setup of the "COVID-Dynamic" longitudinal study , and the reality of moving to the US right before a global pandemic.

Is science self-correcting, or are we just catching the stupid fraudsters? Joe Hilgard discusses the detective work of spotting data fabrication, why smart fraud is almost impossible to catch , and the messy reality of trying to correct the scientific record.

Are mental disorders real things in the world, or just "convenient fictions"? Eiko Fried discusses the theoretical crisis in psychology, why depression isn't a single thing , and the dangers of conflating statistical models with reality.

Does the brain navigate space and make decisions using the same underlying code? Jesse Geerts discusses the link between spatial navigation and reinforcement learning , why he switched from electrophysiology to computational modeling, and the unexpected benefits of getting stuck in a PhD project.

What happens when an academic leaves the university for the government? Hanne Watkins discusses her transition from researching the morality of war to designing behavioral interventions for the Australian government. We cover the real-world impact of "nudge units," the clearance process vs. peer review, and the value of Registered Reports.

What happens when scientists pick up paintbrushes and artists step into the lab? Corinna Kühnapfel and Ian Stewart discuss the Edge Neuroscience Art project , the emerging field of neuroaesthetics, and why the boundary between rigorous research and creative expression is thinner than we think.

Why is psychology full of imprecise theories? Paul Smaldino argues that "models are stupid" (and why we need more of them). We discuss the parable of the Cubist Chicken , the difference between a theory and a theoretical framework, and why social sciences often outsource their best ideas to economics.

Do we avoid harm because it's wrong, or simply because we don't want to be the ones causing it? Jonathan Berman discusses the psychology of harm avoidance, how "unavoidable harm" changes our moral calculus, and his journey working in a literary agency to becoming an experimental psychologist.

How do you study a global crisis while you're living through it? Toby Wise discusses the race to collect psychological data during the first week of the COVID-19 pandemic , the challenges of rapid-response science, and whether lab-based theories of threat hold up in the real world.

What happens to your identity when your face becomes a commodity? Antonia Wesseloh discusses the psychological reality of the high-fashion industry, the disconnect between personal self-worth and professional "beauty," and her transition from walking for Prada at age 15 to studying psychology.

Why do we separate the science from the scientist? Cody Kommers discusses the art of the long-form interview, the concept of "thick description" in anthropology, and why psychology often falls short by ignoring the individual stories behind the data.

Can we trick the brain into owning an invisible hand, a monkey hand, or a body of a different size? Catherine Preston explains the malleability of body representation, the mechanics of the "Rubber Hand Illusion" , and how the link between perception and emotion offers new insights into eating disorders and pregnancy.

Does the famous "Readiness Potential" actually prove that our brains decide before we do? Aaron Schurger challenges the classic interpretation of Libet’s experiment , proposing that this neural buildup is actually just random noise—a finding that bridges crayfish, the stock market, and the philosophy of free will.

How does the brain derive a stable representation of the world from constantly moving visual inputs? Matthias Nau discusses visual grid cells, the mechanics of DeepMReye, and why the future of neuroscience requires bridging biology, physics, and computer science.