FULL EPISODE: Reduce, Reuse, Re-Star - August 17, 2026

Astronomy and physics professor Pieter van Dokkum goes over his observations showing how a dying star is fueling the galaxy's cosmic recycling system. Psychiatry professor Dr. Joe Pierre reveals why some people believe AI chatbots are conscious and why that can be problematic. (Find Joe's book False: How Mistrust, Disinformation, and Motivated Reasoning Make Us Believe Things that Aren't True here.) New York-based clinical psychologist Dr. Lindsay Weisner discusses how true crime content may reduce symptoms of anxiety, fear, and insecurity. (Listen to Lindsay's podcast Crimes of Long Island here.) Professor of counseling psychology Joel Wong explains how to see your life as a miracle. Psychology professor Dr. Shane Kraus from the Behavioral Addictions Lab talks about phone addiction: how severe they can get, and how to overcome them. Then, journalist and translator Eric Stone gives a personal example of overcoming phone addiction and tells David what worked for him. For Conspiracy Corner, professor of conspiracy studies Nathan Radke outlines how scams we might have seen in the back of comic books years ago have grown up for the digital age. (Check out Nathan's new book Uncover Up: How to Think Clearly in an Age of Conspiracies here.) Segments: (00:00) Introduction (01:33) Pieter van Dokkum (10:00) Dr. Joe Pierre (20:00) Dr. Lindsay Weisner (30:00) Joel Wong (39:50) Dr. Shane Kraus (49:50) Eric Stone (59:50) Nathan Radke pt. 1 (1:09:50) Nathan Radke pt. 2 (1:19:14) Sign-off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices