Unpopular Neuroscience

Patrick D. Watson

English Life Sciences Philosophy Science Social Sciences Society & Culture

Apple Podcasts Website RSS

Episodes 11

Avg. Duration 1h 3m

Activity Moderate

Since Jul 2024

Latest Episode Jan 2026

Publishing Details

Schedule

Every 2 Months

Format

Episodic

Consistency

46%

Hosting

feed.podbean.com

About This Podcast

Neuroscientists Katie McAllister and Patrick Watson discuss the nervous system, scrutinize pop neuroscience, and attempt to understand why—despite millions of published articles and advances in artificial intelligence—everyone still seems to think the brain is a mysterious organ.

Explore Statistics

English Podcasts Report Life Sciences Report Philosophy Report Science Report Social Sciences Report Society & Culture Report English Life Sciences Report

Recent Episodes

Slug Fest

Jan 26, 2026 57m

This week on Unpopular Neuroscience, Katie and Patrick welcome special guest Matt Baumann with a deep question from his son, Calvin. When a slug remembers something, is it reliving the experience, or…

S2E5 I, Robot.

Sep 29, 2025 1h 3m

Large attentional transformers like ChatGPT generate text that seems surprisingly human-like. On this episode Katie and Patrick ask which bits of the brain work like large language models, which bits…

Lots of People in Your Head

Aug 25, 2025 56m

Neuroscientists don't believe in Artificial General Intelligence because they don't believe in General Intelligence. Instead they think the brain has multiple, specialized systems that work together…

Consciousness, Man.

Jun 23, 2025 1h 10m

What is consciousness? To the general public it's one of the most profound and enduring mysteries of the human psyche. To specialists it's something we don't worry about much. In this episode, Katie…

Cognitive Biases: Why Everyone Is Stupid Except Me!

Apr 20, 2025 57m

On this episode Katie & Patrick discuss why cognitive biases are so popular—at least when applied to other people—even though these reasoning foibles are not exclusive to humans, probably not…

S2E1 Learning Science, Learning Magic

Mar 28, 2025 1h 9m

Everyone knows that learning takes hard work, deep reading, study, and repeated practice. But wouldn't it be rad if it didn't? On this episode Katie and Patrick talk about the science of learning and…

AI Winter is Coming

Jan 20, 2025 1h 4m

AI oscillates between impressive breakthroughs and laughable failures. In this episode Katie & Patrick discuss AI booms and winters and what makes the technology so brittle. What can AI learn…

S1E4 Hat Trick

Nov 18, 2024 1h 9m

What's so great about having a "normal" brain? Katie & Patrick discuss a trio of patients from Oliver Sacks' iconic book The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat who have adapted to unusual…

All the brains I've loved before.

Sep 27, 2024 1h 10m

We sometimes talk about "the brain" as if there's only one of them, but there's tremendous diversity in nervous systems between species, and even between individuals. On this episode of Unpopular…

S1E2 Weird Little Guys: Vehicles by Valentino Braitenberg

Aug 24, 2024 1h 6m

How hard is it to build a working, thinking brain from simple parts like wires, sensors, and motors? According to Valentino Braitenberg, author of this week's Book Vehicles, it's actually easier to…

S1E1 Why Study Unpopular Neuroscience?

Jul 12, 2024 57m Transcript

Everyone is curious about the brain, but what would understanding the brain even look like? On the first episode of Unpopular Neuroscience, neuroscientists Katie and Patrick discuss what it would…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Unpopular Neuroscience have?

Unpopular Neuroscience has published 11 episodes since July 2024, covering topics in Life Sciences, Philosophy.

Is Unpopular Neuroscience still active?

Unpopular Neuroscience is currently moderate with new episodes every 2 months. Average episode length is 1h 3m.