Gordon Pennycook is an Associate Professor at Cornell University. We talk about his upbringing in rural Northern Canada, how he got into academia, and his work on misinformation: why people share it and what can be done about it.

BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.

Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreon

Timestamps

0:00:00: Straight outta Carrot River: From Northern Canada to publishing in Nature

0:37:01: Exploration vs focusing on one topic: finding your research topic

0:48:57: A sense of having made it

0:54:17: Why apply reasoning research to religion?

0:59:45: Starting working on misinformation

1:08:20: Defining misinformation, disinformation, and fake news

1:15:52: Social media, the consumption of news, and Bayesian updating

1:24:48: Reasons for why people share misinformation

1:35:57: Are social media companies listening to Pennycook et al?

1:38:19: Using AI to change conspiracy beliefs

1:44:59: A book or paper more people should read

1:46:33: Something Gordon wishes he'd learnt sooner

1:48:12: Advice for PhD students/postdocs

Podcast links

• Website: https://geni.us/bjks-pod
• BlueSky: https://geni.us/pod-bsky

Gordon's links

• Website: https://geni.us/pennycook_web
• Google Scholar: https://geni.us/pennycook-scholar
• BlueSky: https://geni.us/pennycook-bsky

Ben's links

• Website: https://geni.us/bjks-web
• Google Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholar

References

Costello, Pennycook & Rand (2024). Durably reducing conspiracy beliefs through dialogues with AI. Science.

Dawkins (2006). The God Delusion.

MacLeod, ... & Ozubko (2010). The production effect: delineation of a phenomenon. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition.

Nowak & Highfield (2012). Supercooperators: Altruism, evolution, and why we need each other to succeed.

Pennycook, ... & Fugelsang (2012). Analytic cognitive style predicts religious and paranormal belief. Cognition.

Pennycook, Fugelsang & Koehler (2015). What makes us think? A three-stage dual-process model of analytic engagement. Cognitive Psychology.

Pennycook, Cheyne, Barr, Koehler & Fugelsang (2015). On the reception and detection of pseudo-profound bullshit. Judgment and Decision making.

Pennycook & Rand (2019). Lazy, not biased: Susceptibility to partisan fake news is better explained by lack of reasoning than by motivated reasoning. Cognition.

Pennycook & Rand (2021). The psychology of fake news. Trends in cognitive sciences.

Rand (2016). Cooperation, fast and slow: Meta-analytic evidence for a theory of social heuristics and self-interested deliberation. Psychological Science.

Stanovich (2005). The robot's rebellion: Finding meaning in the age of Darwin.

Tappin, Pennycook & Rand (2020). Thinking clearly about causal inferences of politically motivated reasoning: Why paradigmatic study designs often undermine causal inference. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences.

Thompson, Turner & Pennycook (2011). Intuition, reason, and metacognition. Cognitive Psychology.

Renzo Huber is a staff scientist at NIH. We talk about his work on layer-fMRI: what it is, how Renzo got into it, how to do it, when it makes sense to do it, what the future holds, and much more.

Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreon

Timestamps
0:00:00: How Renzo got into high-resolution fMRI
0:11:28: The difference between 3T and 7T fMRI
0:22:46: Is a bigger fMRI scanner always better?
0:33:35: Layer-fMRI
0:56:28: For what types of research is layer-fMRI most useful?
1:02:35: How to do layer-fMRI and make it reproducible
1:19:21: The future of layer-fMRI
1:27:02: A book or paper more people should read
1:30:37: Something Renzo wishes he'd learnt sooner
1:33:11: Advice for PhD students/postdocs

Podcast links

• Website: https://geni.us/bjks-pod
• Twitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twt

Renzo's links

• Website: https://geni.us/huber-web
• Google Scholar: https://geni.us/huber-scholar
• Twitter: https://geni.us/huber-twt

Ben's links

• Website: https://geni.us/bjks-web
• Google Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholar
• Twitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twt

References and links mentioned
Episode with Peter Bandettini: https://geni.us/bjks-bandettini
Episode with Emily Finn: https://geni.us/bjks-finn
Renzo's blog about layer fMRI: https://layerfmri.com/
YouTube channel on layer fMRI: https://www.youtube.com/@layerfmri/

Bastos, ... & Friston (2012). Canonical microcircuits for predictive coding. Neuron.
Bollmann & Barth (2021). New acquisition techniques and their prospects for the achievable resolution of fMRI. Progress in Neurobiology.
Boulant, ... & Le Bihan (2024). In vivo imaging of the human brain with the Iseult 11.7-T MRI scanner. Nature Methods.
Finn, ... & Bandettini (2019). Layer-dependent activity in human prefrontal cortex during working memory. Nature Neuroscience.
Feynman (1985). "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!": adventures of a curious character.
Haarsma, Kok & Browning (2022). The promise of layer-specific neuroimaging for testing predictive coding theories of psychosis. Schizophrenia Research.
Huber, ... & Bandettini (2017). High-resolution CBV-fMRI allows mapping of laminar activity and connectivity of cortical input and output in human M1. Neuron.
Huber, ... & Möller (2019). Non-BOLD contrast for laminar fMRI in humans: CBF, CBV, and CMRO2. Neuroimage.
Huber, ... & Bandettini (2020). Sub-millimeter fMRI reveals multiple topographical digit representations that form action maps in human motor cortex. Neuroimage.
Huber, ... & Kronbichler (2023). Evaluating the capabilities and challenges of layer-fMRI VASO at 3T. Aperture Neuro.
Huber, ... & Horovitz (2023). Laminar VASO fMRI in focal hand dystonia patients. Dystonia.
Persichetti, ... & Martin (2020). Layer-specific contributions to imagined and executed hand movements in human primary motor cortex. Current Biology.
Polimeni, ... & Wald (2010). Laminar analysis of 7 T BOLD using an imposed spatial activation pattern in human V1. Neuroimage.

Ella Marushchenko is a scientific illustrator who runs a studio of artists and scientists that creates cover art, scientific and illustrations, and more. We talk about her unlikely path from artist in Russia to scientific illustrator in the US, digital vs classic art, how to interact as scientists with illustrators, how to improve scientific figures, and much more.

BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.

Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreon

Timestamps
0:00:00: Ella's unlikely path to doing scientific illustrations
0:33:17: Running a studio for scientific illustrations
0:36:30: The process of commissioning a scientific figure
0:46:44: The changing landscape of scientific publications and communication
0:50:15: Unhelpful things to avoid when interacting with a science illustrator
0:59:06: Who are scientific illustrations for?
1:06:36: The purpose of illustrations in science
1:16:09: How to learn to improve scientific figures
1:22:30: How to become a scientific illustrator
1:26:10: A book or paper more people should read
1:27:48: Something Ella wishes she'd learnt sooner
1:29:10: Advice for PhD students/postdocs

Podcast links

• Website: https://geni.us/bjks-pod
• Twitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twt

Ella's links

• Website: https://geni.us/marushchenko-web
• Twitter: https://geni.us/marushchenko-twt

Ben's links

• Website: https://geni.us/bjks-web
• Google Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholar
• Twitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twt

References and links

Some pictures by Sergey Krasnov: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sergey_krasnov/

Sergiy Minko: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=TMotc_wAAAAJ

Science diagrams that look like shitposts: https://x.com/scienceshitpost

My photo of the elephant at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle: https://www.bjks.blog/nature/3n6ljuy6noa5470tdsbcuicltu48df

Episode about Cajal: https://geni.us/bjks-ehrlich

Bulgakov (1967). The Master and Margarita.