Factually! with Adam Conover

Why do we have such a cultural aversion to human poop, when it’s so fascinating and useful? Stay with us: in this episode, science journalist Lina Zeldovich and author of the new book The Other Dark Matter educates Adam on why poop is an awesome substance, the history of sewage and how we should rethink poop’s role in our lives. Check out her book at http://factuallypod.com/books Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Around the world and for most of history, human societies have been dominated by men. Why? Professor and author of the forthcoming “The Great Gender Divergence”, Dr. Alice Evans, joins Adam to explain how male governance springs from systems of inheritance, why matrilineal systems tend to convert to patrilineal ones, and why we’re seeing progress on gender equality around the world. You can follow Alice's work on Twitter at @_alice_evans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

China is now one of the world’s most powerful nations. But how did its unique and formidable language shape its rise? Jing Tsu, the author of Kingdom of Characters, joins Adam to explain the history of the Chinese language, and the amazing innovations that brought it into the modern world. Check out her book at http://factuallypod.com/books Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Why is housing so expensive, when other human needs like food are relatively cheap? Brookings Senior Fellow and author of Fixer-Upper, Jenny Schuetz, joins Adam to explain why our entire system is tilted to protect wealth rather than provide housing, and how we can change the system to fix that. Pick up her book at http://factuallypod.com/books Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The American conversation about reparations is sadly narrow. But what if reparations could address not just the sins of the past, but the injustices of the present? Olufemi Taiwo, author of the new book Reconsidering Reparations, joins Adam to explain. Check out his book at http://factuallypod.com/books Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Despite how much our media talks about China, most Americans don't really know all that much about it. What is China’s view of itself and its recent history? What is life like in the country for the average Chinese citizen? On the show this week Kaiser Kuo, host of the Sinica podcast, joins Adam to help answer these questions and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What would our world look like if we paid more attention to the knowledge indigenous communities have discovered about the world around us? On the show this week is indigenous environmental scientist Jessica Hernandez. You can check out her book, Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes through Indigenous Science, at factuallypod.com/books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As we head into the third year of the pandemic, US workers are organizing and unionizing like it’s the early days of the Industrial Revolution. But can they reverse decades of labor erosion in America? On the show to answer that question is labor reporter Hamilton Nolan, who joins Adam to talk about how the pandemic has changed the labor movement and what the future might hold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We spend more time in digital, virtual spaces than ever. But are those places really real? If they are, does that mean we could be living in virtual reality right now? Or does it even make sense to ask such a question? Philosopher David Chalmers joins Adam to talk about consciousness, the nature of reality, and the limits of digital technology. Pick up David's latest book, Reality+, at http://factuallypod.com/books. Support Adam at http://patreon.com/adamconover Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Playing games is a fundamental human activity. But despite their ubiquity, they’ve never gotten the serious study from scholars they deserve. Why do we play them? And what, exactly, ARE games? On the show this week is C. Thi Nguyen, philosophy professor at University of Utah, and author of the book, Games: Agency as Art. Check it out at  factuallypod.com/books. You can also find the first chapter free online here: https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=NGUTAO-8&aid=NGUTAO-8v1.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.