The Perkins Platform

Science journalist fascinated with brains, minds, and culture, David McRaney joins us to discuss his latest book, How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion. David created the blog/book/podcast You Are Not So Smart to get a better understanding of self delusion and motivated reasoning. It became an internationally bestselling book and then podcast, where he continues to interview scientists who study the psychology of reasoning, decision-making, and judgment. In the early days, David was a newspaper reporter covering Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast and in the Pine Belt region of the Deep South. Since then, he has been an editor, photographer, voiceover artist, television host, journalism teacher, lecturer, and tornado survivor. He has worked for several years as the head of digital media for WDAM-TV where he produced The Green Couch Sessions, a TV show about the music of the Deep South. He has also written for Heineken, Duck Tape and appeared in a Reebok ad that he helped write. Most recently, he wrote, produced, and recorded a six-hour audio documentary exploring the history of the idea and the word: genius. www.davidmcraney.com. Tune in on Wednesday, December 13 @ 6pm EST!

Associate Professor in the Communication, Media and Learning Technologies Design program at Teachers College and the Associate Director of the Media & Social Change Lab (MASCLab), Dr. Ioana Literat joins us to share insight on the younger generation's online political expression. Her research examines young people's creative and civic participation in online spaces. Key questions driving her research agenda are: How does online participation enable new forms of creativity, collaboration and learning? How do young people's creative and civic practices intersect online? How can we leverage an understanding of these creative and civic practices in order to better support the next generation of thinkers, voters and activists? Tune in on Wednesday, December 20 @ 6pm EST!