In this episode we welcome back author Will Storr whose new book, The Status Game, feels like required reading for anyone confused, curious, or worried about how politics, cults, conspiracy theories communities, social media, religious fundamentalism, polarization, and extremism are affecting us - everywhere, on and offline, across cultures, and across the world.
What is The Status Game? It’s our primate propensity to perpetually pursue points that will provide a higher level of regard among the people who can (if we provoked such a response) take those points away. And deeper still, it’s the propensity to, once we find a group of people who regularly give us those points, care about what they think more than just about anything else.
In the interview, we discuss our inescapable obsession with reputation and why we are deeply motivated to avoid losing this game through the fear of shame, ostracism, embarrassment, and humiliation while also deeply motivated to win this game by earning what will provide pride, fame, adoration, respect, and status.
247 - Narcissism (rebroadcast)
246 - Ideaflow - Jeremy Utley
245 - The Conspiracy Theorist Who Changed His Mind - Tim Harford
244 - Quit - Annie Duke
243 - Psychological Tweetathon with Jay Van Bavel
242 - Survival of the Richest - Douglas Rushkoff
241 - The Status Game - Will Storr
240 - QAnon and Conspiracy Narratives (rebroadcast)
239 - You're Invited - Jon Levy
238 - Chess Queens - Jennifer Shahade
237 - Reactance - Michele Belot
236 - How Minds Change
235 - Tough - Terry Crews
234 - The Truth Wins - Tom Stafford
233 - The Puzzler - A. J. Jacobs
232 - Think Again - Adam Grant
231 - On Being Certain - Robert Burton (rebroadcast)
230 - The Science of Stuck - Britt Frank
229 - What's Your Problem? - Jacob Goldstein
228 - The Power of Regret - Daniel H. Pink
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