Person
Every book Stuart Ritchie recommended on podcasts
Stuart Ritchie appeared on podcasts such as Modern Wisdom and The Jordan Harbinger Show to unpack the complexities of behavioral genetics, scientific fraud, and the reliability of psychological research. During his conversation on Modern Wisdom, Ritchie recommended David Robson's The Expectation Effect, praising the science writer's exploration of how the placebo effect operates across multiple domains. He also discussed Angela Duckworth's widely popular book Grit, examining the cultural embrace of passion and persistence while critiquing the concept's empirical overlap with conscientiousness. Additionally, Ritchie referenced Irving Kirsch's The Emperor's New Drugs to contextualize criticisms surrounding antidepressant efficacy and effect sizes. While appearing on The Jordan Harbinger Show, Ritchie discussed Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow, noting how certain priming studies ultimately found their way into widely read and respected popular psychology literature despite subsequent replicability concerns in the scientific community. Across these appearances, Ritchie utilized literature on human behavior, medical research, and scientific methodology to emphasize the critical need for rigorous empirical scrutiny, helping listeners navigate the often murky boundary between pop-science claims and verified scientific evidence in psychological studies.
Books recommended by Stuart Ritchie
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The Expectation Effect
The Expectation Effect by David Robson is a popular science book that examines how human beliefs, mental framing, and psychological expectations can profoundly influence physical health, aging, and overall life outcomes.
Recommended“So he wrote a book science writer very good really really good And I would highly recommend you go and check it out uh and so he's talking about basically the placebo effect but across multiple different sorts of domains”
Where to get it
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Grit
Grit by Angela Duckworth is an influential psychology book that investigates the power of passion and perseverance, arguing that long-term success and achievement depend more on sustained dedication than on innate talent.
Discussed“so um there was this big book in like 20. Angela Duckworth Yes Angela with book um 16 something like that that came out that was that was great It's in every single School in the country everyone loves it like the power of persistence and passion and all that sort of stuff If you look at the studies like”
Where to get it
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The Emperor's New Drugs
The Emperor's New Drugs by Irving Kirsch is a critical examination of antidepressants and the methodologies used in pharmaceutical research, arguing that the therapeutic benefits of these medications are largely driven by the placebo effect.
Discussed“Irvin Kirsch the famous critic of um antidepressants published a book called the emperor's new drugs I think it's called about antidepressants and he said an effect size of 0.2 is the average that you get out of studies of antidepressants”
Where to get it
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Thinking, Fast and Slow
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman is a seminal psychology book that explores the two systems of human thought, detailing cognitive biases, prospect theory, and decision-making processes derived from decades of research.
Discussed“and you know it has made its way into loads of really popular books including by really reliable and respected people like daniel kahneman there's loads of stuff in thinking fast and slow his his like ultra popular and really good”
Where to get it
Books Stuart Ritchie wrote
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| Why Is Behavioural Genetics Such A Hated Science? - Dr Stuart Ritchie - #534 | Modern Wisdom | 2022-10-03 | 3 |
| Confessions of Scientists Faking Medical Research | Ep. 436 | The Jordan Harbinger Show | 2020-12-13 | 2 |
Other mentions (2: passing, ad reads, own books)
“well um I think Behavior genetics I wrote about this in my most recent book science fictions which is about the replication crisis exactly and um I I think Behavior genetics was one of the very first fields to be completely smashed by the replication crisis in one of its respects”
“and my book is uh science fictions came out a couple years ago”