326: The War on Empathy

17 septembre 2026 · 1 h 8 min

Notes de l’épisode

Humans are social animals. We’re not the strongest, fastest, or even best adapted to our environment. But what we excel at is our ability to work together, which means we’ve been able to adapt to every environment, a true outlier in the animal kingdom. And a big reason for that is our ability to empathize with others.

Basically, empathy is the ability to step into someone else's shoes, understand what they are thinking or feeling, and share in that emotional experience. The main types of empathy are cognitive, affective (or emotional), and somatic.

Derek looks at the first two in segment two through the lens of Paul Bloom’s work, but given a recent book by Lebanese-born Canadian marketing professor, Gad Saad (which Matthew covers in segment three), we thought we’d look at how empathy is being used, and potentially distorted, in modern society. Or, as Julian starts with, how it’s being weaponized on social media by Christian nationalists.

Show Notes

This Lebanese-Canadian Behavioral Scientist Is Gaining World Fame

Gad Saad: Google Scholar profile

Jews safer in Mississippi than Canada, says Jewish prof who left Montreal for Ole Miss

He's Canada's number one author, and he's leaving Canada for safety reasons

David Saad: Olympedia (official Olympic biographical record)

Gad Saad thread on his brother's Olympic/antisemitism story

Trump Says There Are 25 Million Illegal Immigrants

Fact Check: Did 20 Million Illegal Immigrants Enter US Under Biden?

Record 14 Million Unauthorized Immigrants Lived in the US in 2023

Vance magnifies false claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets

ADL's Global 100 Survey: What Does It Actually Say About Muslim Attitudes Toward Jews?