Smart People Podcast
About This Show
Show Info:
Smart People Podcast is simply a place to hear cool stuff from some of the smartest people on earth. We are reaching out to leading professionals in various industries to pick their oversized brains and pass that information along to our listeners. You will hear top notch advice from M.D.’s and CFP’s, athletes and intellectuals, porn stars and Buddhists and everything in between.
Most Recent Episode
Episode 279 - Dr. Allen Frances - Trump, Mental Illness, and the End of Reason
Sep 11
·
54 minutes
"Calling Trump crazy allows us to avoid confronting the craziness in our society—if we want to get sane, we must first gain insight about ourselves. Simply put: Trump isn’t crazy, but our society is." - Dr. Allen Frances
This week on the show we interview one of the men who literally wrote the book on mental illness as we answer the question - Is Trump crazy? And what does it say about America that he was elected to the highest office in the land? Psychiatrist Dr. Allen Frances analyzes the national psyche, viewing the rise of Donald J. Trump as darkly symptomatic of a deeper societal distress. Drawing on his vast experience, Dr. Frances explains American society’s collective slide away from sanity and offers an urgently needed prescription for reclaiming our bearings.
Dr. Allen Frances chaired the task force that produced the fourth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders, which is is published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and offers a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders. He then became critical of later versions, and he warned that we are currently "over-treating" mental disorders and finding problems where there are none. Dr. Frances is professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Duke University School of Medicine.
He is author of the new book, Twilight of American Sanity: A Psychiatrist Analyzes the Age of Trump.
Rated 5 out of
5
by
DU454 from
Always interesting
One of my favorite podcasts, I am always surprised at how I might hold off on listening to an episode because the topic doesn't seem incredibly relevant or interesting to me and 9/10 I am blown away. It is captivating, informative and importantly there is an underlying theme of self-improvement, not just to help listeners, but also the hosts. I am a relatively new listener, but with an 1 1/2 commute each day, I find plenty of time to listen in and learn cool stuff and feel inspired to make positive changes.
Date published: 2015-01-06
Rated 5 out of
5
by
JanetM from
Brainy Boys
The Smart People hosts are really smart themselves but their most endearing (and enduring) characteristic is their modesty. It allows them to engage both their guests and their listeners in very down to earth discussions at a very high level. They are like really good friends who you can have over for dinner and not worry about what to serve because gourmet food isn't necessary to improve the evening. Spaghetti is fine because they will spice it up.
Date published: 2013-12-22
Rated 5 out of
5
by
DynamicNerd from
By Far One of The Best Podcasts I've Found
When I catch up on all of my pod casts, this is one of the few that I go back and listen to. Jon and Cris are both very down to earth in their interviews while still hitting relevant information from great guests and helping make even complex concepts easier to understand just by being honest with their guests when they are lost. Add the quality of guests and questions and I can not recommend these guys enough.
Date published: 2014-05-03
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Boneyard from
Sweet Ride
These guys remind me of the surfers who do the commentary during contests. You never know what they are going to say; I don't think they do either. They listen and react like the rest of us - authentic, genuine, and most importantly, fun.
Date published: 2014-01-28
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Kevin4353 from
Excellent interview show
Such a great contribution to the podcast world. Great content on a wide variety of topics - it's a fascinating way to make sure you're learning something new and insightful to help spark your own ideas and curiosity.
Date published: 2014-09-30
Rated 5 out of
5
by
MateusD from
Just great!
One of the best shows that I ever listened. Chris and Jon have an unique chemistry and the guests are always interesting. It is amazing to see how the interviews flows smoothly, very informative and fun.
Date published: 2014-05-08
Rated 5 out of
5
by
GQ_Papi from
Intoxicatingly Addictive!!
Short time listener (3wks) 120 episods
later. This podcast is intoxicatingly
addictive!! Great hosts and great
guests! Only problem I'm going to run
out of podcast to listen to!! Keep up the great work!!
Date published: 2014-05-01
Rated 5 out of
5
by
opus from
Great Show
One of the best Podcast's out there. They were able to take a pretty complex subject such as P & NP computational algorithms and simplify it better then I have ever heard anyone else do.
Date published: 2014-02-04
