Robert Sapolsky is one of the world’s leading neuroscientists, with a focus on the physiological effects of stress. (For years, he spent his summers in Kenya, alone except for the baboons he was observing.) Steve asks Robert why we value human life over animals, why he’s lost faith in the criminal justice system, and how to look casual when you’re about to blow-dart a very large and potentially unhappy primate.

This episode was originally published March 5, 2021.
For a full transcript, resources, and more, visit: https://freak.ws/3WQAjmF

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00:00 Robert Sapolsky bio
01:37 Baboon research in Kenya
3:03 Baboon social rank and health
4:14 Blow-dart sedation challenges
7:40 Why human and animal stress are similar
11:09 Why Sapolsky only studied male baboons
12:42 Affiliation vs. rank in baboons
14:08 Tragic end of research with first baboon troop
17:38 Why humans prioritize human lives
19:25 How humans prioritize pets
19:47 Prioritization of tigers in India
21:00 Harambe the gorilla
22:19 Chronic stress research
25:08 Ways to respond to stress
26:00 Genetic influence on stress
26:45 ACE score to quantify stress
28:49 Addressing PTSD to reduce crime
29:35 Behave- Sapolsky book on violence
29:56 Free will and violence
30:35 Abolishment of criminal justice system
30:54 The frontal cortex and impulse control
31:31 Frontal cortex trauma in death row inmates
32:29 Purposes of punishment
32:46 Retribution
32:59 Incapacitation and deterrence
33:35 Quarantine model of punishment
34:10 “Biological luck” in blame and reward
34:51 Epilepsy, schizophrenia, and dyslexia misunderstood
37:06 How to be a better storyteller