Episodes 11
Avg. Duration 1h 17m
Activity Highly Active
Since Aug 2021
Latest Episode Feb 2026

Publishing Details

Schedule
Semi-Annually
Format
Episodic
Hosting
feeds.buzzsprout.com

About This Podcast

The Natural Reward podcast will focus on questions of innovation, progress and advancement in the evolution of life. We will discuss the evolution of scientific theories, how to think critically about science, and questions of progress and advancement in technology and human culture. The Natural Reward podcast will cover the philosophy and history of science, evolutionary theory, and economic theory. Music by Christian Bjoerklund.

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Recent Episodes

Hamilton’s Rule and Inclusive Fitness, Part I: What Did Hamilton (1964) Actually Define?

Feb 24, 2026 17m

KeywordsInclusive fitness, Hamilton’s rule, kin selection, altruism, social evolution, population genetics, gene substitution, Fisher’s average effect, relatedness, evolution of cooperation,…

Composite-trait evolution in pitcher plants: Ulrike Bauer

Mar 01, 2024 1h 48m

Ulrike Bauer discusses the evolution and diversity of pitcher plants, focusing on the spring trapping mechanism found in some species. Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants that capture insects in a…

Using Drones and AI to Find Illegal Dumping Sites: Interview with Brian Johnson

May 11, 2023 1h 15m

Illegal dumping is a widespread problem in cities throughout the world and differentially affects disadvantaged neighborhoods.  Brian Johnson is a software engineer who moved to San Francisco nearly…

Supplement to "Updating the Software of Social Evolution"

Feb 15, 2023 28m

In this episode, Jon and I discuss some of the background to the previous episode. We discuss generalized versions of Hamilton's rule, Fisher's fundamental theorem, and Wright's fitness maximization…

Updating the Software of Social Evolution to Patch the Kin-Recognition Bug

Feb 15, 2023 1h

In this episode, my brother Jon and I discuss my work on the evolution of kin recognition. Jon is a software engineer and likes to put my arguments in terms of debugging software. For many years, the…

Innovation in Technology, Science, and Nature with Chris Fortier

May 19, 2022 1h 38m

This is my first conversation with Chris Fortier, Vice President of the Web 3.0 company Rally. It begins when Chris questions me on what he calls my "natural forces" theory, which invokes two…

Addressing Inequality and Rising Costs of Living with Market-Based Approaches with Jon Gilbert

Dec 26, 2021 1h 40m

Today, my brother Jon Gilbert addresses problems of income inequality and rising costs of living in the USA. In the first half of this episode, Jon presents figures showing the problem as it has…

Local-Scale Approach to Conservation in Costa Rica with Andrés Vega

Nov 16, 2021 1h 44m

Andrés Vega is a native Costa Rican who has devoted his life to conservation, education, and research in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. In this episode, I speak with Andrés about how he got…

Spatial Sorting with Nikunj Goel

Oct 04, 2021 1h 19m

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Nikunj Goel about about spatial sorting, which refers to the build up of dispersal morphs on expanding edges of populations. Dr. Goel is a postdoctoral researcher at…

Follow up with Komi German: reviewer’s reaction to her work

Aug 27, 2021 58m

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Komi German about a reviewer’s reaction to her book proposal. All academics deal with rejection. How a researcher deals with rejection determines whether she gets…

S1E1 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Academia with Komi German

Aug 13, 2021 1h 58m

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Komi German about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies in academia and related issues. Komi is a Research Fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Natural Reward Podcast have?

Natural Reward Podcast has published 11 episodes since August 2021, covering topics in Life Sciences, Natural Sciences.

Is Natural Reward Podcast still active?

Natural Reward Podcast is currently highly active with new episodes semi-annually. Average episode length is 1h 17m.

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