Macmillan Learning Podcasts

Podcast from Carl Zimmer, New York Times columnist and coauthor of Evolution: Making Sense of Life, talks about COVID-19 as a study in evolution.

Dr. Andrew Pomerantz (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville) talks with Dr. Éva Szeli (Arizona State University) and Dr. Nicole Brandt (Columbus State Community College) about My Psychology Chapter 15, “Therapy.” They talk about topics that include a story about working with children with ADHD, the importance of ethics in the field of mental health, and common factors in therapy. They wrap up with brief discussions of the importance of finding a therapist that is a good fit and avoiding stigma.

Dr. Andrew Pomerantz (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville) talks with Dr. Éva Szeli (Arizona State University) and Dr. Stephen Bonnette (San Jacinto College) about My Psychology Chapter 14, “Psychological Disorders.” They share their personal stories and best examples from the intro psych classroom on topics that include the criteria for diagnosing a psychological disorder, the issue of medical school syndrome and problems with self-diagnosing, and how the DSM was created and revised.

Dr. Andrew Pomerantz (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville) talks with Dr. Éva Szeli (Arizona State University) and Dr. David Tom (Columbus State Community College/The Ohio State University in Columbus) about Chapter 13, “Social Psychology.” They discuss the fundamental attribution error and interpersonal conflict; attitudes, persuasion, and the receiver’s role; social loafing in group projects; group polarization, even in dyads; conformity and obedience; and stereotyping and prejudice.

Dr. Andrew Pomerantz (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville) talks with Dr. Éva Szeli (Arizona State University) and Dr. Alan Whitehead (Southern Virginia University) about My Psychology Chapter 12, “Personality.” They share stories and examples from the classroom about the Big Five model of personality, the importance of a continuum in discussing personality, and how psychology is about more than Sigmund Freud. They conclude with how to apply the topic of the locus (“location”) of control to our lives.

Dr. Andrew Pomerantz (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville) talks with Dr. Debra Roberts (Howard University) and Dr. Jessamy Comer (Rochester Institute of Technology) about My Psychology Chapter 11, “Stress and Health.” They discuss how to differentiate between stress and stressors and how to view stress as an opportunity. They explain the general adaptation syndrome, share a story of stress and the nervous system, and discuss primary and secondary appraisal, stress and diversity, and coping strategies.

Dr. Andrew Pomerantz (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville) talks with Dr. Debra Roberts (Howard University) and Dr. David Tom (Columbus State Community College/The Ohio State University in Columbus) about Chapter 10, “Diversity in Psychology: Multiculturalism, Gender, and Sexuality.” They share examples of the aspects of a culture and worldview, use stories to explain microaggressions and how to avoid them, clarify between sex and gender, and discuss acculturation strategies as life hacks.

Rob Lue of Harvard University discusses the science of viruses in general and the specifics of the COVID-19 virus

It might sound fun to have the ability to learn more about your own personal genome. But are you risking your personal privacy by doing so? Dan Hartl of Harvard University discusses some of the pros and cons of personal genetic testing.

Climate change seems to always be in the news and it can be tough to separate truth from fiction. In this episode, Andy Knoll of Harvard University sets the record straight about what scientific research teaches us about global climate change.

In this episode, Dr. Jim Morris talks about what he wishes everybody knew about genetics.

Andrew Pomerantz talks with Éva Szeli and Jessamy Comer about Chapter 9, “Development Across the Life Span.” They share stories and examples from the classroom about Piaget’s developmental stages, schemas and our understanding of the world, and the danger of teratogens in prenatal development. They conclude by discussing parenting styles.

Dr. Andrew Pomerantz (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville) talks with Dr. Debra Roberts (Howard University) and Dr. Alan Whitehead (Southern Virginia University) about Chapter 8, “Motivation and Emotion.” They explain motivation and emotion, tell the story of Olympian Derek Redmond, and discuss motivation theories. They then talk about intrinsic emotion, the Yerkes-Dodson law in relation to sports psychology, and conclude with how environment and culture affect hunger and eating.

Andrew Pomerantz talks with Debra Roberts and Alan Whitehead about Chapter 7, “Cognition: Thinking, Language, and Intelligence.” They discuss the concept of concepts in connection to the recent NBA championship, how geography can lead to different language usages, and share stories about brand names and language. They explain affective forecasting, and conclude with multiple intelligences.

Andrew Pomerantz talks with Éva Szeli and Nicole Brandt about Chapter 6, “Learning.” They share a moving story about blue latex gloves and classical conditioning and then break down the concept for students. The professors go on to clarify confusing aspects of operant conditioning, reinforcement schedules, and discuss the important topic of observational learning.

Dr. Andrew Pomerantz (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville) talks with Dr. Éva Szeli (Arizona State University) and Dr. Anita Tam (Tri-County Technical College, Clemson University) about Chapter 5, “Memory.” They discuss the importance of the levels of processing, the problems with eyewitness testimony, the usefulness of the spacing effect and how it can help with studying, forgetting and other memory problems, and tell a great story about the misinformation effect.

Dr. Andrew Pomerantz (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville) talks with Dr. Debra Roberts (Howard University) and Dr. Stephen Bonnette (San Jacinto College) about Chapter 4, “Consciousness.” They share their personal stories and examples from the intro psych classroom on topics that include the dangerous consequences of sleep deprivation, circadian rhythms and the sleep problems associated with using screens at night, and the surprising fact that alcohol is actually a depressant.

Chapter 3 of My Psychology, “Sensation and Perception.” Selective attention, discuss the important differences between sensation and perception, and share family stories about food smells and adaptation. Narrative, visual and auditory systems. Learn about difference thresholds, as well as some sound advice about how damaging loud noises can be for hair cells.

Andrew Pomerantz talks with Eva Szeli (Arizona State University) and Kelly Anne Barnes (San Jacinto College) about Chapter 2 of My Psychology, “Brain and Behavior.” They explain the ways in which the brain sends messages throughout the body, discuss the surprising prevalence of spinal cord injuries, and share a powerful family story about brain plasticity.

Listen to our podcast from the new co-authors of The American Promise, Sarah Igo and François Furstenberg. In this episode, Sarah and François address questions from the history teaching community on becoming textbook authors, teaching American history, and the complications of education today.

If evolution by natural selection seems too slow and boring, there's another way. In this episode, Dr. Andrew Berry discusses ways in which populations can quickly breed their way to successful adaptation. 

Jim Morris and Andy Knoll, authors of "Biology: How Life Works" discussing life on mars.  The search for life on mars has a lot of relevance to concepts in Introductory Biology.

Jim Morris, Professor of Biology at Brandeis University and author of Biology: How Life Works discusses some common misconceptions about the process of evolution. 

Andrew Pomerantz talks with Eva Szeli and Anita Tam about Chapter 1 of My Psychology, “The Science of Psychology.” They share their personal stories and best examples from the intro psych classroom on topics that include the importance of psychology as a science and the public’s general misunderstanding of what psychology is versus what psychology actually is.