Me, Myself, and Why (Rebroadcast) #370

May 20, 2016

This week, we're revisiting a previous episode and exploring genetics, neuroscience, and psychology, to find out what makes every person - and personality - unique. We'll talk to science writer Jennifer Ouelette about her newest book "Me, Myself and Why: Searching for the Science of Self." And science writer Ed Yong takes a critical look at the hype surrounding the hormone oxytocin.

Guests:

  • Jennifer Ouellette
  • Ed Yong

Guest Bios

Jennifer Ouellette

Jennifer Ouellette is the author of four popular science books for the general public: "Me, Myself and Why: Searching for the Science of Self", "The Calculus Diaries: How Math Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse", "The Physics of the Buffyverse", and "Black Bodies and Quantum Cats: Tales from the Annals of Physics". Jennifer's work has appeared in the Washington Post, Slate, Smithsonian, Mental Floss, Discover, Salon, Nature, Physics Today, Symmetry, Physics World, and New Scientist, among other venues. She maintains a personal science-and-culture blog at Scientific American called Cocktail Party Physics, featuring her avatar altar-ego/evil twin, Jen-Luc Piquant.

Ed Yong

Ed Yong is an award-winning science writer who reports for The Atlantic. His work has also appeared in National Geographic, Wired, the New York Times, Nature, Scientific American, among many others. He is the author of the bestselling book “I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life”.