iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

"Is AI making us dumber?" This is just the latest version of the "Is [new technology] making us dumber?" question. What can we learn from earlier cases? Consider the calculator. Just one of the topics discussed in our latest episode, with @samgilbert.bsky.social! Listen: disi.org/cognitive-of...

073

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

3yo: "Remember that time when you took me to school and I barfed?" Mom: "When was that?" 3yo: "Tomorrow!" (Reader, this did happen—8 months ago. Still in that disorienting phase when tomorrow & yesterday both mean "not today.")

140

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

What do "mama" and "papa" mean when young infants first use them? A less-discussed idea in Jakobson's classic paper: "papa" = present parent "mama" = a request for fulfillment of some need

110

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Which top 5 is of course not the same as my **personal** top 5—but I don't talk about that! (Unless you ask me in person, in which case I'll gladly talk your ear off about it.)

032

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

"All the best" had a good run, but there are increasing signs that it's fading out as the safe professional salutation. What will take its place? Any predictions?

101

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Roope Kaaronen @roopekaaronen.net · 28/09/2026

A fun episode on one of my favourite topics, cognitive offloading. Offloading (to our body, culture, technology, environment!) is one of the human superpowers, if you may. And now, for better or for worse, it's being taken to the extreme.

0134

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

One of the most thought-provoking points that @samgilbert.bsky.social makes here is about calculators. Despite widespread fears, calculators do not seem to harm children's math abilities—in fact they improve them. But the timing of the introduction seems to be critical...

163

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

This is great advice from @kensycoop.bsky.social -- for all stages of the scientific life!

062

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Urvi Maheshwari ツ @urvi.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Lots of good stuff in here. 5th year me needs this advice just as much as 1st year me did!

041

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

It's "advice to grad students" season! Here's a post I wrote several geological epochs ago, in 2019. My advice gets harder and harder to follow every year (even for me). But I think that means it gets better and better? kensycooperrider.com/blog/advice-...

kensycooperrider.com

Advice to a young scholar — Kensy Cooperrider

Ten tips for young scholars on doing good work (and living well at the same time).

21910

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This episode of @manymindspod.bsky.social featuring @damianblasi.bsky.social is IMO the best I've listened to, and I'm saying that despite having been a previous guest on the podcast! I'll admit to some bias as a fellow-traveller in this field, but still, it's absolutely a banger!

0104

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

kensycooperrider.com

Advice to a young scholar — Kensy Cooperrider

Ten tips for young scholars on doing good work (and living well at the same time).

21910

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

A truly puzzling behavior. I suggested it might be driven by something like the zugunruhe ("migratory restlessness") that birds experience. @rachnare.bsky.social's proposal was more surprising / interesting...

152

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Andrew Riggsby @antiquethought.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

An absolutely first rate podcast. manymindspodcast.substack.com/p/many-minds...

manymindspodcast.substack.com

Many Minds podcast: A starter pack

A guide for new listeners

092

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

A great closing to a great book. An engaging read, but also changed my thinking and stuck with me.

031

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

152

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Urte Laukaityte @laukas.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Come one, come all - it's a great place to start!

053

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Laurie O'Neill @laurieoneill.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Can't recommend this podcast enough!

042

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Stoked for this! Among other impetuses, hoping to create a better forum for listeners to engage with us (and each other).

082

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Had a ton of fun with this one! Touching on: - the enigmatic "pant-grunt" greeting - deference, reassurance, rejection - playing "airplane" - boundary patrolling - the Ngogo "civil war" - social curiosity and how it peaks in adolescence - why adolescent females one day just up and leave home - etc.

1104

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

1104

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

New episode!! 🎉🎙️ A conversation w/ @rachnare.bsky.social about chimpanzee adolescence. Coming of age is intense and turbulent—and not just for us humans. What are the parallels between chimpanzee and human adolescence? And what do these tell us about ourselves? Listen: disi.org/coming-of-ag...

0115

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I have a grudging respect for people that ignore my emails. Email kinda sucks—I get it.

041

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

What if we approached our species' 7000+ languages as a natural historian might? What could we learn? We partnered with @cogscisociety.bsky.social to bring you this interview with @damianblasi.bsky.social, winner of this year's FABBS Early Career Impact Award! Listen: disi.org/the-natural-...

0124

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I try not to talk too much on my podcast—and mostly succeed, I think? On the off chance that someone out there would actually like to hear me say more, here I am in conversation with Alexa Firmenich on her (delightful) podcast 'Lifeworlds': open.spotify.com/episode/39fV...

open.spotify.com

Soulfire Sessions III: Many Minds – with Kensy Cooperrider

Lifeworlds · Episode

182

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Damián Blasi @damianblasi.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Had a great time chatting with the inimitable @kensycoop.bsky.social on my favorite podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social about linguistic diversity!

0112

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Season 8 off to a great start! In which we discuss: the "golden age" of linguistic diversity, teeth, pronouns, the (mistaken?) idea that children change language, mono- vs polygenesis, linguistic inequality, Babel, scientific aesthetics, and the (wilder than we realize?) design space of language.

0104

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

For the annals of over-regularization: 3yo: "We’re playing with our dress-up clothes! I’m going to get a different dress-up clo on!"

050

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Fascinating finding that we're speaking less than we used to. 28% reduction in daily spoken words between 2005 and 2019 (~338 fewer words per year). The authors connect this to a rise in loneliness—plausible, but could also be a shift in "language diet." 1/2 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

4195

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

4195

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

We humans are not really tuned in to electricity, but many other creatures are. And scientists are starting to appreciate the many roles it plays in diverse habitats and lifeworlds. A listener favorite conversation from our archives w/ @samjakeengland.bsky.social! Listen: disi.org/electric-eco...

1228

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Still trying to figure out which platforms (if any!) our listeners are using these days...

251

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

This was the most-often-mentioned favorite episode in our recent listener survey, ICYMI!

083

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

This is excellent! A synthesis I've been waiting for for some time.

030

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

One of Darwin's most powerful insights was that small changes— accumulated over large swaths of time—can have huge impacts. Where did that idea come from? Just one of the topics discussed in our latest episode—a discussion of Darwin's life and mind w/ Janet Browne! Listen: disi.org/the-origins-...

1136

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Janet is easily my favorite Darwin biographer—her two-volume biography is among my favorite non-fiction books of all time. Needless to say, I was quite tickled to interview her!

1153

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

A favorite tidbit from this one: The most abundant vertebrates on the planet are small, bony, bioluminescent fish known as bristlemouths. One estimate I found is that there are 12 per square meter of ocean.

063

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Hugo Spiers @hugospiers.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

As ever these discussions are excellent. Fascinating research!

053

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

These have been some of our most popular episodes—and they're all evergreen!

051

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

The ethnographic record shows that women do hunt, sometimes for big game. Does that mean that 'Man the Hunter' was a myth all along? Just one of the topics discussed in our latest episode, w/ @vivek123.bsky.social! Listen: disi.org/is-man-the-h...

0105

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Pat Savage @patrickesavage.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

This is a great episode - fascinating paper and topic, and Kensy does a good job of pushing beyond the paper for some frank discussions about things like the responsibility of scientists for how academic research is (mis)represented in the popular consciousness.

263

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Really enjoyed this chat with @vivek123.bsky.social! We work through the history of Man the Hunter ideas, the current status of the evidence (archaeological, ethnographic, etc.), and three splashy recent "debunkings." Also, of course, some fun detours along the way.

0113

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

What heuristics should we be using when deciding whether to accept a review request? I toggle between a few: - Does it look cool? - Would I be helpful to the authors? - Am I especially well-positioned to comment? But these are often in conflict. Anyone have helpful frameworks / rules of thumb?

120

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Which kinds of words are the easiest to learn? Which prove harder? And is it the same for dogs and infants? Just one of the topics discussed in our latest episode, w/ Claudia Fugazza & @bergelsonlab.bsky.social! Listen: disi.org/babies-dogs-...

094

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

So many chewy questions in this one! Generally fascinated by the idea of "cryptic" word knowledge—understanding that's hard to detect. I suspect there's a lot more of this out there than we've uncovered so far, especially in dogs...

052

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

The many functions of bioluminescence at sea (some not yet observed but inferred). Especially love the sacrificial tag—I glow so that if you eat me, your stomach will glow and someone else will eat you. Source: digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcont...

171

Reposted by Kensy Cooperrider

Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Human hands have partnered with tools for millions of years, allowing us to do things we otherwise could not. Is this a case of brain "plasticity"? Or perhaps "motor abstraction"? Just one of the topics discussed in our latest episode, w/ @mattlongo.bsky.social! Listen: disi.org/the-inner-li...

0187

Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Me: You absolutely have to time-box your teaching prep. It will take as much time as you give it. Also me: Spends half of day's time-box searching for marginally better photo of Benjamin Lee Whorf, mentioned on single slide.

1150