POPULARITY
When Hunter went to Peru this summer, he naturally went looking for books to read in preparation. Universally, the consensus was that THE book on the Inca Empire was Kim MacQuarrie's Last Days of the Inca. It was amazing. And apparently, Hunter wasn't the only one who thought so. In his latest book, Life and Death in the Andes, Kim MacQuarrie draws together a lifetime of researching and writing about the South of American continent. During his trip all the way down the mountain range that serves as the continent's spine, he draws together the greatest stories the continent has to offer from the cop who risked death to hunt down Pablo Escobar to how Darwin nearly didn't discover the theory of evolution and Thor Heyerdahl's epic journey on the Kon Tiki. Along the way, MacQuarrie discovers the impact of his own work. Contacted by a member of the infamous Maoist group The Shining Path, MacQuarrie finds out that Last Days of the Inca has become must reading among Peru's political dissidents. Life and Death in the Andes isn't just a great read; it's an overview of a fascinating continent still reeling for the upheaval of Columbus' "discovery" of the New World. Kim MacQuarrie has won four Emmy's and The Last Days of the Inca is currently being turned into a live action series by FX. It should be awesome. Guest Links Website: http://www.kimmacquarrie.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/kimmacq Guest Promo Product 1: http://www.amazon.com/Life-Death-Andes-Bandits-Revolutionaries/dp/143916889X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448080750&sr=8-1&keywords=kim+macquarrie Product 2: http://www.amazon.com/Last-Days-Incas-Kim-MacQuarrie/dp/0743260503/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1448080764&sr=8-2&keywords=kim+macquarrie Product 3: http://www.amazon.com/Where-ANDES-meet-AMAZON-Bolivias/dp/8489119147/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389052672&sr=1-4&keywords=kim+macquarrie
Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, Hari Seldon figures out how to create a mathematical model that can predict the future. Well, Wired magazine has described today's guest as a 'real-life Hari Seldon." Peter Turchin began his career as a biologist but is currently at the forefront of a field called cliodynamics which uses the past as a data set to develop mathematical models that can predict how societies behave. In his latest book Ultrasociety: How 10,000 Years of War Made Humans the Greatest Cooperators on Earth, Turchin examines how the forces of history have driven humans to forge the cultural tools that make the truly massive societies we see today possible. Besides providing a bold new view of history, Ultrasociety provides an excellent lens through which to understand human history informed by everything from evolutionary science to economics and anthropology. Guest Links Website: http://peterturchin.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Peter_Turchin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peter.turchin Guest Promo Product 1: http://www.amazon.com/Ultrasociety-Years-Humans-Greatest-Cooperators-ebook/dp/B0185P69LU/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 Product 2: http://www.amazon.com/War-Peace-Rise-Fall-Empires/dp/0452288193/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448079035&sr=8-1&keywords=war+and+peace+and+war Product 3: http://www.amazon.com/Secular-Cycles-Peter-Turchin/dp/0691136963/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448079049&sr=8-1&keywords=secular+cycles
Growing up in Italy, Luigi Zingales got to experience firsthand something that looked a lot like capitalism but definitely wasn't. Government subsidies, regulations tailored to serve the interests of existing corporations and a system in which connections were more important than merit combined to ensure a capitalism that was anything but inclusive or competitive. Wanting to live in the most competitive and inclusive system on the planet, Zingales moved to the United States. However, during his time here, Professor Zingales has seen the United States start to look worryingly like Italy. In his latest book, A Capitalism for the People, Professor Zingales draws a distinction between being pro-market and pro-business. Being pro-business means using government power to support the already rich. Being pro-market means designing the system to maximize competition. Berlusconi is pro-business…and so are a lot of American politicians. In fact, American politicians who are truly pro-market are incredibly rare. In this interview, Hunter (Bryan is too successful as an actor to be able to do his own podcast) gets Professor Zingales to explain this essential distinction and some of the other important aspects of his superb book. Guest Links Website: http://research.chicagobooth.edu/stigler Twitter: https://twitter.com/zingalesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/luigi.zingales/ Guest Promo Product 1: http://www.amazon.com/Capitalism-People-Recapturing-American-Prosperity/dp/0465085954 Product 2: http://www.amazon.com/Saving-Capitalism-Capitalists-Unleashing-Opportunity/dp/0691121281/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Natalie gets all Jersey and flies into LA for an audition and Wayne discloses his non-disclosure about his Fallout 4 voiceover work. Special guest, music producer and songwriter Dane Diamond shares what it’s like to be a Weapon Factory for Ninjas! Featuring Music – Dane Diamond Featured Link #1: Check out past guest, Judy Kain's new book – I Booked It! The Commercial Actor's Handbook Guest Links Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danediamondofficial Instagram: https://instagram.com/danediamondofficial Guest Promo Product 1: Get The Weapon Factory for Ninjas "Strikes Again" on iTunes
Comedian Joe Kilgallon joins Dwayne and TK to talk about Arnold’s head choppin-est movie to date, “Conan The Barbarian.” Follow Joe on Twitter @JoeKilgallon and find out where you can see him live at JoeKilgallon.com. Watch Conan on Netflix Buy/Rent Conan on Amazon Buy/Rent Conan on iTunes Guest Links Website: http://www.joekilgallon.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/joekilgallon Guest Promo Product 1: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/pay-attention/id1033269756
Natalie sees Janet Jackson in concert and Wayne's back and guess what…he's talking Star Wars. Entertainment lawyer and podcaster Gordon Firemark joins them in studio for some juicy legal talk. Featuring Music – Shevyn Roberts Guest Links Website: http://firemark.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/gfiremark Guest Promo Product 1: Power Podcasting for Lawyers Product 2: Theatre Producer Academy
Geoffrey Miller studies the evolutionary psychology of sex and since sex is the cornerstone of evolution his work ends up having implications that affect pretty much everything. If you've wondered why women's evolutionary programming makes them spend more time shopping and makes men want to get the heck out of the store as quickly as possible, then, in this podcast, Geoffrey Miller will tell you why. If you've wondered why people buy cars like Hummers when they are so wasteful, it's precisely because being wasteful is the key to attracting a mate…and in this podcast Geoffrey Miller will tell you why. Besides writing an excellent book called Spent about how consumerism taps into evolutionary psychology, Geoffrey Miller co-hosts a podcast with Tucker Max (yes, Tucker Max) called The Mating Grounds where they use the latest evolutionary psychology to help listeners become the men women want. From that podcast, they have now written a book called Mate. Whether you're looking to understand consumerism, mating or some other aspect of why we do what we do then Geoffrey Miller is one of the best resources on the planet. Featured Link #1: http://thematinggrounds.com/ Featured Link #2: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mating-grounds-podcast/id894712811?mt=2 Guest Links Website: http://thematinggrounds.com/ Guest Promo Product 1: http://www.amazon.com/Spent-Sex-Evolution-Consumer-Behavior/dp/0143117238 Product 2: http://www.amazon.com/Mate-Become-Man-Women-Want/dp/0316375365/
Both Daron Acemoglu (MIT economist and co-author of Why Nations Fail) and Dacher Keltner (Berkeley psychologist and author of many books including Born to Be Good) have appeared on The Bryan Callen Show before. They both were amazing and that is reason enough to bring them back and put them on together to see what happens. But, wait. There's more. Because these two together have the power to do something unprecedented in human history. At least since Plato's Republic, humans have debated the best form of government. (Plato thought it was a "Philosopher King" aka give someone like Plato or Bryan absolute power but recognized that democracy was the least bad system.) However, this has long been an endless debate in which people make the case for the system of government they're biased towards and then dismiss every other opinion as biased. In fact, this highly predictable criticism was leveled at Daron Acemoglu and his co-author James Robinson in the wake of Why Nations Fail. Acemoglu and Robinson build a fantastic case for why politically and economically inclusive societies outperform societies that aren't in their book. However, as American academics at MIT and Harvard respectively, it is easy (if you're so inclined) to dismiss them as being biased towards democracy and capitalism. Acemoglu and Robinson have given the argument for politically and economically inclusive institutions new force but there is a way to make their argument irrefutable. And that ladies and gents is where Dacher Keltner comes in. Professor Keltner studies (among other things) the psychology of power. For a long time, humans have recognized as Lord Acton put it, "That absolute power corrupts absolutely." What was mere observation has now (thanks to Keltner and others) become established scientific fact. We can now no longer deny that power changes the way people think. They become less empathetic and more impulsive. This problem was naturally solved in hunter-gatherer societies by mechanisms like teasing, gossip and nicknaming. These hardwired human desires exist to help bring ballooning egos back into check. However, as societies expanded, and leaders became more remote, it became easier for leaders to wall themselves off, proclaim themselves as Gods and to have people who had never seen them poop believe it. As communications technology has improved, the opportunity to check that power has improved. Martin Luther succeeded where other religious reformers failed, in part, because he was able to take advantage of the printing press. With the internet, we now have more of a mechanism to keep our leaders in check. In a village of 150 hunter-gatherers, it's pretty much impossible to keep a secret for long. In the global village, the same is coming to be true. While the downsides of that are personally obvious, it may be the key to keeping our leaders from suffering the negative psychological effects of power. Of course, as Acemoglu makes clear in this interview, it is important that we never conclude that any of this is inevitable. Institutions are fragile and humans have a dual nature in them. We are capable of great kindness and terrible despotism. We must remain ever vigilant and that is why it is so essential that everyone on the planet read everything these guys have ever written right now. Also, I'm starting a campaign to have them write a book together. James Robinson should come along too. Tweet them with #RealHolyTrinity if you want them to do it. Guest Links Website: http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/drdaronacemoglu Guest Promo Product 1: http://www.amazon.com/Why-Nations-Fail-Origins-Prosperity-ebook/dp/B0058Z4NR8 Product 2: http://www.amazon.com/Born-Be-Good-Science-Meaningful-ebook/dp/B001NLKTVU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1439040927&sr=1-1&keywords=dacher+keltner Product 3: http://www.amazon.com/Compassionate-Instinct-Science-Human-Goodness-ebook/dp/B00333NCUQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1439040927&sr=1-3&keywords=dacher+keltner
Comic Andy Peters joins Dwayne and TK to talk about a movie set in a more innocent time when all you had to worry about were abusive parents and dead bodies, "Stand By Me." Featured Link #1: http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Stand-by-Me/994992 Featured Link #2: http://www.amazon.com/Stand-By-Me-Wil-Wheaton/dp/B000I9YV30 Guest Links Website: http://www.andypeterscomedy.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/andy_peters Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andypeterscomedy?fref=ts YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/andypeters/videos Instagram: http://www.andypeterscomedy.com/instagram/ Guest Promo Product 1: http://astrecords.bigcartel.com/product/exclamation-mark-question-point-12-vinyl-record
Director and writer Ray Lai joins Dwayne and TK to talk about the movie filled with would be stars and weed. Featured Link #1: http://www.amazon.com/Dazed-Confused-Jason-London/dp/B003WLQGC0 Guest Links Website: http://www.raymondclai.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CFriendlyImages YouTube: https://vimeo.com/raymondclai Instagram: https://instagram.com/raymondclai/ Guest Promo Product 1: http://www.raymondclai.com/short-of-the-week/
There's no doubt in any modern person's mind that the justice of the Medieval era was unjust. The court considered spiritual evidence, pigs were considered legally competent and tried as adult humans and guilt was often determined by seeing whether the defendant would float or sink in holy water. We think of our modern legal system as far more rational and just but, according to Adam Benforado, we will soon look back at our own present-day legal system with same horror with which we look at the legal system of the Medieval era. In this episode, we examine the neurological and psychological research and the actual legal cases in Adam's book Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice. It's a truly stupendous book. In it, Adam examines the ways in which subtle, arbitrary differences in interrogation methods, police cameras and whether or not judges have had lunch yet can make the difference between a person being set free or sent to prison. A fairer criminal justice system which reduces crime while also saving money is possible but it requires us to be honest about how human nature works. Fortunately, Benforado's book makes that science very accessible and enjoyable to read. It's a real treat to have him on the show. Guest Links Twitter: https://twitter.com/benforado Guest Promo Product 1: http://www.amazon.com/Unfair-The-Science-Criminal-Injustice/dp/0770437761
It's probably no surprise that Californians have no shame. In fact, as Jennifer Jacquet writes in her latest book, shame has been found to be a central part of the emotional lives of Indonesians but to play virtually no role in the lives of Californians. The question that Jacquet asks is whether the West should in very specific instances bring shame back, in particular when dealing with corporations. Jennifer Jacquet is an assistant professor at NYU. Her website is jenniferjacquet.com. You can follow her on twitter @jenniferjacquet. And, most importantly, you can find her book Is Shame Necessary?: New Uses for an Old Tool on Amazon. Guest Promo Product 1: http://www.amazon.com/Is-Shame-Necessary-Uses-Tool/dp/0307907570
Comedian, writer, director Neal Brenner joins Dwayne and TK to talk about the animated movie that tries to explain why women are crazy, “Inside Out.” Featured Link #1: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/inside_out_2015/ Guest Links Website: http://nealbrennan.com/about/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/nealbrennan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Neal-Brennan-Comedy/160497197330204?sk=app_169547158020 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/nealbfree Instagram: https://instagram.com/nealbrennan/?hl=en Guest Promo Product 1: http://www.amazon.com/Neal-Brennan-Women-Black-Dudes/dp/B00M9NRF36
Comedian Ed Galvez joins Dwayne and TK to talk about the movie where humans make dinosaurs...again and they dinosaurs kill us…again, "Jurassic World." Featured Link #1: http://www.fandango.com/jurassicworld_174160/movieoverview Guest Links Website: http://www.edgalvez.net Twitter: https://twitter.com/edgalvez Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/egalvez?fref=ts YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/EdGalvez Instagram: https://instagram.com/edgalvez/ Guest Promo Product 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr7QpRwWcV8
It's the Natalie's got a secret, Wayne does not episode. They discuss blogs and binge watching summer television. Featured Link #1: http://www.songwritergirl.com Featured Link #2: https://www.facebook.com/jacob.davich.1?fref=ts Guest Links Twitter: https://twitter.com/JDavichMusic Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jacob.davich.1?fref=ts Guest Promo Product 1: https://www.facebook.com/events/794873577292710/
In 1759, while working as a tutor, Adam Smith wrote a book called The Theory of Moral Sentiments that begins as follows: "How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortunes of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it. Of this kind is pity or compassion, the emotion we feel for the misery of others, when we either see it, or are made to conceive it in a very lively manner. That we often derive sorrow from the sorrows of others, is a matter of fact too obvious to require any instances to prove it; for this sentiment, like all the other original passions of human nature, is by no means confined to the virtuous or the humane, though they perhaps may feel it with the most exquisite sensibility. The greatest ruffian, the most hardened violator of the laws of society, is not altogether without it." In 1776, that same Adam Smith would write The Wealth of Nations, the book that would establish capitalism. To a modern audience, for whom the idea of selfishness is synonymous with capitalism, this seems incredibly strange. However, it wasn't strange at all. Smith was primarily interested in improving the well-being of humanity. To him, it was clear that market forces were one of the great tools for doing this. However, this does not mean that Smith believed that humanity was entirely selfish. In fact, as the opening of The Theory of Moral Sentiments makes clear, he rejected a view of humanity as purely selfish as absurd. We help others for no benefit other than the joy of seeing it. Some might argue that this is, in and of itself, selfish. After all, we give as a way of increasing our own happiness but that we are wired to derive joy from that shows that that sort of altruistic behavior confers an evolutionary advantage. And whether or not altruism exists has been a matter of some controversy for some time in evolutionary circles. In his book, Does Altruism Exist? David Sloan Wilson examines why this controversy existed and provides a clear and simple way to understand why altruism does exist. Selfishness will allow you to win within the group but when groups compete an altruistic group will always beat a selfish one. This argument is of more than academic issue because it strikes right at the core of how we structure the economy. Unbridled selfishness might allow you to win in your own society but a society dominated by selfish behavior won't be able to beat societies whose members are more altruistic. Sometimes there are benefits to sacrificing for the common good. We all recognize that in times of war celebrating the soldiers willing to lay down their lives without hope of reward for the benefit of their country. If the willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice is good for your country, then might not lesser sacrifices also be good for your country? Selfishness is a part of who we are but it is not all of who we are and David Sloan Wilson's Does Altruism Exist?: Culture, Genes and The Welfare of Others does a great job of challenging the idea that man is purely selfish. Capitalism has wandered far from the vision of its founder. David Sloan Wilson helps use the latest science to bring our view of human nature back into line with reality. Best of all, that view of humanity is far more hopeful than the purely selfish vision that so many economists articulate. Guest Links Website: http://evolution.binghamton.edu/dswilson/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/david_s_wilson Guest Promo Product 1: http://www.amazon.com/Does-Altruism-Exist-Foundational-Questions/dp/0300189494
Comic and writer Nicholas Anthony joins Dwayne and TK to talk about the movie you thought was about one of the X-Men, but is just about a maniac with a camera, Nightcrawler. Follow Nicholas on Twitter @NickyTony and find out where you can see him live at NicholasAnthony.com. Nightcrawler on Netflix Nightcrawler on Amazon Instant Nightcrawler on iTunes Guest Links Website: http://www.nicholasanthony.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickytony Guest Promo Product 1: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/professional-child/id507279676
Comedian Dave Williamson joins Dwayne and TK to talk about the movie industry’s long overdue love letter to food trucks, Chef. Follow Dave on Twitter @DaveWComedy and find out where you can see him live at DaveWilliamsonComedy.com. Rent Chef on Netflix Rent/Buy Chef on Amazon Instant Rent/Buy Chef on iTunes Guest Links Website: http://www.davewilliamsoncomedy.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/davewcomedy Guest Promo Product 1: http://www.amazon.com/Thicker-than-Water-Explicit-Williamson/dp/B0088FY1UY
Comedian Michael Magid joins Dwayne and TK to talk about the movie set in an alternate world where we won in Vietnam and acid wash jeans never went out of style, “Watchmen”. Guest Links Website: http://michaelmagidcomedy.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelmagid Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fans-of-Michael-Magid/137677022960627 YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/goalkeeper290 Guest Promo Product 1: www.recycledbabies.com