If I’m Really Honest

"Professor Dave" Farina of @ProfessorDaveExplains is one of the internet’s largest science education and debunking channels.

In this episode, I sit down with Dave Farina (Professor Dave Explains) to talk about conspiracy theories, anti-science thinking, Joe Rogan, flat earth, the psychology of belief, and why intelligent people can still fall for ideas that don’t hold up under scrutiny.

We also discuss:

* Why misinformation spreads...

Dr. Daniel Whiteson is a theoretical physicist at CERN, a professor at University of California, Irvine, and a contributor to the discovery of the Higgs boson. He is also the co-host of the podcast “Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe” and author of popular science books exploring the limits of human understanding.

What if physics isn’t actually “real”… but just the way humans happen to describe reality?

In this conversation,...

Mark Sargent  ⁨@markksargent⁩  is a leading figure in the Flat Earth movement. Rather than focusing on proving or disproving claims, this conversation dives into the experience of belief - what leads someone there, what keeps them there, and what it costs relationally.

From frustration and fear to community and identity, this is a conversation about how humans make sense of the world, even when that world stops making sense.

Mark's...

In this conversation, I sit down with Dr. Joshua Bowen to explore - Where the Bible came from. - Whether the Bible actually endorses slavery - How ancient people thought about morality - Why stories like the flood appear across multiple cultures ...and why the Bible might become more interesting after belief, not less

Guest Links: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DigitalHammurabi Website: https://digitalhammurabi.com Patre...

Jonathan Rauch and I explore: *What happens when we lose religion… but still need meaning *Why truth feels harder to find right now *Whether Christianity is helping or hurting society *The role of religion in sustaining democracy *What deconstruction actually costs ...And whether it’s possible to keep the values of a belief system… without believing it’s literally true

Cross Purposes: https://www.amazon.com/Cross-Purposes-Chr...

Michael Shermer joins me to talk about truth - what it is, how we know it, and why so many of us get it wrong.

We explore the difference between empirical truth and religious truth, why conspiracy theorists are often wrong (but sometimes right) and what actually causes people to change their minds. Along the way, we get into Bayesian reasoning, the role of emotion in belief formation, and whether religion is helping or hurting soci...

In this conversation, I sit down with Eduardo Briceño to unpack what’s really going on there—and why that instinct might be the very thing holding us back. We talk about:

*The hidden cost of “pretending” instead of being curious

*How growth mindset actually works (and what people get wrong about it)

*The role of gratitude in learning, resilience, and emotional stability

*What it means to live a life where you’re not sure you’re rig...

In this episode of If I’m Really Honest, I sit down with neurologist Adam Zeman, the researcher who coined the term aphantasia — the inability to form voluntary visual mental imagery. We explore what it means to lack a “mind’s eye,” how it affects memory and emotion, why many people with aphantasia dream visually, and what this reveals about consciousness itself.

We also dive into Global Workspace Theory, Integrated Information The...

Derek Lambert (host of MythVision) joins If I’m Really Honest for a candid conversation about myth, meaning, and why the “Historical Jesus” debate makes so many people lose their minds. We get into mythicism vs historicism, why stories feel true in the body before they’re true on paper, and what to do when certainty dies but curiosity doesn’t.

@MythVisionPodcast https://www.youtube.com/mythvisionpodcast

Superfan page: https://Jami...

In this episode of If I’m Really Honest, Jamin talks with bestselling science writer Mary Roach about curiosity, writing, research, and the surprising human stories behind science reporting. Mary’s books combine humor, science, and storytelling in a way that makes complex topics accessible without oversimplifying them. This conversation explores the mindset behind that work, and why curiosity might be one of the most important trai...

In this episode of If I’m Really Honest, Jamin Coller talks with regenerative farmer Will Harris about changing course after decades of industrial farming, the ethics of animal welfare, soil health, and what it means to follow your conscience even when it costs you financially and socially. Will shares the story of transforming White Oak Pastures from an industrial cattle operation into a vertically integrated regenerative farm, an...

Dr. Loftus has spent decades studying how memories can be distorted by suggestion, imagination, and time. Her research on the “misinformation effect” helped reshape how courts evaluate eyewitness testimony and recovered memories. We also talk about sleep paralysis, therapy-induced memories, and how understanding memory can make us more compassionate toward people we disagree with.

Dr. Loftus's Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/E...

In this episode of If I’m Really Honest, Jamin talks with behavioral economist Dan Ariely about misbelief, trust, COVID-era polarization, and why admitting mistakes is so difficult for individuals, institutions, and governments. They explore how mistrust grows, why social media accelerates conflict, and whether curiosity and conversation can rebuild trust between neighbors - even when agreement seems impossible.

Guest Links

Dan Ari...

Geoffrey West, physicist and former president of the Santa Fe Institute, joins Jamin Coller to explore scaling laws, sustainability, innovation, and the accelerating pace of modern civilization.

West explains why cities and economies speed up as they grow, why innovation repeatedly postpones collapse while making future crises arrive faster, and what a mathematical “singularity” actually means — as distinct from popular AI narrativ...

In this episode of If I’m Really Honest, Jamin Coller and cognitive psychologist Jonathan Lewis-Jong unpack belief—what it is, how it functions in the human mind, and why it persists across cultures. Jonathan explains how the science of religion treats belief as natural psychological processes that can be measured and studied without making claims about metaphysical truth. They discuss cognitive theories of religion, terror managem...

Neuroscientist and trauma researcher Dr. Willoughby Britton joins Jamin Coller to discuss the hidden risks of meditation, spiritual bypassing, and the psychology of religious and wellness communities. Drawing on her groundbreaking Varieties of Contemplative Experience study, Britton explains why meditation sometimes causes panic, dissociation, insomnia, and psychosis — and why communities often blame the victims instead of addressi...

In this episode of If I’m Really Honest, Jamin Coller sits down with M.E. (Jamie) Thomas, a lawyer, educator, musician, and author of Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight, to discuss the psychology of psychopathy, what it really means to live without empathy as commonly understood, and how identity and morality are shaped by experience rather than instinct. Jamie shares her journey from academia and law in...

Lawyer, musician, and author of Confessions of a Sociopath, M.E. Thomas joins me to talk about psychopathy without fear, caricature, or moral panic. This is not a conversation about monsters. It’s a conversation about meaning, identity, empathy, boundaries, stories we tell ourselves, and what happens when a sense of self is missing—or too rigid. Topics include: Psychopathy vs sociopathy (and why the words matter less than people th...