Conversations with Mensa

Forensic psychology is where psychology and the law interact. Forensic psychologists play an important role in the criminal justice system, and interest in the field has been fueled recently by popular movies, television programs and books. This Conversation will help listeners delve into the numerous aspects of the field, including legal principles, expert witness testimony, psychological assessment, mental healthcare and other court-ordered evaluations.

This conversation begins to touch on the myriad facets of gifted education, including the design and development of curriculum and programming in line with the new common core, philosophical attitudes that may be hindering student growth, the differences and similarities in domestic and foreign education and the division in research goals between those gifted educators with education-specific and psychology-specific backgrounds.

Based on early-20th-century Italian movements in the arts and society, the field of futurism has grown to encompass an evolving number of spectrum-spanning concentrations. From design to sustainability, futurism highlights acclaimed themes associated with contemporary concepts of the future, including ecological conservation, technological growth and changes in industry. This conversation touches on the numerous facets, geo-politics, the arts and societal issues instrumental to growing civilizations.

As a follow-up to the February 2011 Colloquium -- and as a forerunner to the 2012 AG Colloquium titled "Social and Video Games" -- this Conversation explores the evolution of social games and the people who play them. Mensa member Gordon Walton, VP and Executive Producer at Playdom Austin, joins Dr. Mia Consalvo, Visiting Associate Professor of Comparative Studies at MIT, to discuss Dr. Consalvo’s research with regard to the development of social interaction and communities via online gaming.

While the general population is made up of approximately 75 percent extroverts and 25 percent introverts, the membership of Mensa is the nearly the reverse: approximately 65 percent introverts and 35 percent extroverts. This Conversation will help listeners both within and outside Mensa understand and appreciate the wonderful gifts that introverts have to offer, and to make sense of the frequently confusing and uneasy feelings that introverts experience.

In this Conversation, Warren Madden -- Weather Channel® meteorologist, "Hurricane Hunter" and Mensan -- discusses changing weather patterns and new technologies and concepts with Dr. Josh Wurman, creator of the Doppler on Wheels program and the founder of the Center for Severe Weather Research.

The Music Genome Project™ is enjoyed by millions of users through Pandora® Internet Radio. In this Conversation, founder and Chief Strategy Officer Tim Westergren talks about the phenomenal scope, success and synergy of the twin projects with composer and pianist Aaron Dai.

What a long, bright trip it's been for Richard Lederer, Mensa's best known "verbivore." From pre-med student to radio personality to internationally recognized author and punster, Richard has spent a lifetime evolving his interests and pursuits. Mensa member and child actor Myles Jeffrey, now an 18-year-old sophomore at UCLA, talked to Richard about "Reinventing Yourself" and about the success of Richard's evolutions.

Following up on the 2006 Colloquium titled "Revolution in Cosmology," this Conversation tackles topics such as superstring theory and supersymmetry, black holes and dark energy, and what comes after the Large Hadron Collider. Heather Preston – a NASA researcher, astronomy instructor and Mensan – discusses all this and more with George Musser, editor for Scientific American magazine and author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to String Theory. Musser was the keynote speaker for the 2006 event.

Attention deficit disorder (ADD) is a major challenge for many families. The needs of children with ADD affect virtually every school in the nation, and many issues in the workplace have been linked to adult ADD. In this Conversation, Dr. Frank Lawlis and Robin Crawford examine ADD — its causes and what can be done to manage it at any age.

Entrepreneur, writer and Mensan Tarek Saab converses with the Mensa Foundation's 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Dr. Jane Piirto, about the ramifications of her life's work in creativity and giftedness.

Renowned actor and Mensan Alan Rachins discusses the area where psychology and poker intersect with internationally recognized poker professional Howard Lederer.