Changed My Mind explores a powerful idea: changing your mind isn't a weakness - it's a superpower. Each episode features accomplished thinkers sharing pivotal moments when they changed their mind about something important. We explore the evidence that tipped the scales, the emotional journey, and how seeing the world from a new perspective impacted their lives. Join us for conversations that will challenge your assumptions and expand your perspective.
Why a techno-optimist started taking AI risk seriously (with Rufus Griscom)
Rufus Griscom, writer and podcaster, discusses his evolving perspective on AI, moving from techno-optimism to acknowledging potential catastrophic risks after engaging with AI pioneers in an interview with Thom and Aidan.
7 Sept 2025
Magic underwear, eternal divorce, and the cost of dissent (with Nemo the Mormon)
Host Thom and Aidan interview Nemo the Mormon about his journey from devout believer to excommunicated dissenter, exploring the cost of challenging institutional truth.
12 Aug 2025
The beliefs so strong they bend reality around them (with Spencer Greenberg)
Hosts Thom and Aidan interview Spencer Greenberg, entrepreneur and mathematician, about why people resist changing their minds and how his work makes rational thinking practical for better decision-making.
31 Jul 2025
How a teacher lost faith in education (with Freddie deBoer)
Writer and former teacher Freddie deBoer discusses his loss of faith in education as a societal equalizer, arguing intelligence is largely inherited, in this interview.
1 Jul 2025
Can a trivia game fight polarisation? (with Josh Greene)
Harvard psychologist Josh Greene discusses his shift from explaining moral clashes to actively building tools for cooperation, like a bipartisan trivia game, in an interview with Thom and Aidan.
17 Jun 2025
Can a worldview ever be beyond doubt? (with Jamie Woodhouse)
Sentientism advocate Jamie Woodhouse discusses his journey from Christianity to Sentientism with hosts Thom and Aidan, highlighting the importance of intellectual flexibility when questioning core beliefs in this interview.
10 Jun 2025
How a learning athlete prepares to interview Nobel Prize winners (with Joe Walker)
Podcast host Joe Walker shares his intensive preparation methods for interviewing Nobel Prize winners and deep thinkers, revealing how this process shapes his perspectives on complex issues in this interview.
2 Jun 2025
How a decade of progressive politics went wrong (with Noah Smith)
Economist Noah Smith discusses his evolving views on political progress and the shift towards conservatism, even before Trump's election, in an interview with hosts Thom and Aidan.
27 May 2025
Who really decides what's on your plate? (with Mark Bittman)
Food expert Mark Bittman discusses his evolving perspective on the food system, shifting from individual consumer choices to recognizing the impact of corporate power and government policy in this interview.
20 May 2025
Can uncomfortable conversations change our minds? (with Josh Szeps)
Josh Szeps is a seasoned broadcaster who left traditional media to start Uncomfortable Conversations, a project which aims to create a space for people who disagree on sensitive issues to engage in good-faith dialogue where participants and listeners can understand different perspectives, potentially change their minds, and discover common ground.
In this episode, we explore how Josh's views have evolved on how to create an information ecosystem that promotes understanding and mutual respect, rather than confusion and division. We'll discuss the different roles that traditional and new media play, and the roles they ought to play given their comparative advantages. We’ll discuss the value of public disagreement, the craft of doing it constructively, and its limits for actually changing our minds. We'll also discuss the boundaries of free speech and how to navigate a world where attention, not truth, is often the currency that matters most.
(https://open.spotify.com/show/2I6TDCnC5EuGHNhAsBmKl5)
(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/uncomfortable-conversations-with-josh-szeps/id1002920114)
(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvdg1pCqYBn5lBYt_Fe0NVQ)
About the hosts:
Thom and Aidan left boring, stable careers in law and tech to found FarmKind (www.farmkind.giving), a donation platform that helps people be a part of the solution to factory farming — regardless of their diet. While the podcast isn’t about animal welfare, it’s inspired by their daily experience grappling with a fundamental question: Why do people so rarely change their minds, even when confronted with compelling evidence? This curiosity drives their exploration of intellectual humility and the complex factors that enable (or prevent) meaningful belief change.
Thoughts? Feedback? Guest recommendations? Email us at hello@changedmymindpod.com
13 May 2025
Why facts don’t change minds, but stories do (with Melanie Joy)
Psychologist and author Melanie Joy joins us to explore how unconscious belief systems shape our behavior. While known for developing the concept of 'Carnism' - the invisible belief system conditioning people to eat certain animals - her work extends to examining psychological dynamics behind various forms of oppression and dysfunction. After decades in academia and activism, Joy is now turning to fiction writing, believing storytelling may be more effective at helping people recognize and transform harmful belief systems.
Want more Melanie Joy?
Check out her new novel, A Half-Hearted Death Wish (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F6KKGNM5)
Check out her TED talk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0VrZPBskpg)
Check out her website (https://carnism.org/)
About the hosts:
Thom and Aidan left boring, stable careers in law and tech to found FarmKind (www.farmkind.giving), a donation platform that helps people be a part of the solution to factory farming — regardless of their diet. While the podcast isn’t about animal welfare, it’s inspired by their daily experience grappling with a fundamental question: Why do people so rarely change their minds, even when confronted with compelling evidence? This curiosity drives their exploration of intellectual humility and the complex factors that enable (or prevent) meaningful belief change.
Thoughts? Feedback? Guest recommendations? Email us at hello@changedmymindpod.com
8 May 2025
What’s happening in your brain when you change your mind? (with Rick Hanson)
Clinical psychologist and New York Times best-selling author Rick Hanson joins us to discuss how remarkably plastic our brains are, despite how fixed they often feel. We discuss what's doing on mechanistically when people change their minds, and what we can learn from this about how to be more open to change as individuals.
Want more Rick?
Listen to Being Well with Forrest Hanson and Dr. Rick Hanson on Apple (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/being-well-with-forrest-hanson-and-dr-rick-hanson/id1120885936) and Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/5d87ZU1XY0fpdYNSEwXLVQ)
Check out his books (https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B002I5X2X2?ccs_id=70a14d3b-d7c5-411f-8935-989caa4f36bd) like Hardwiring Happiness and Neurodharma
About the hosts:
Thom and Aidan left boring, stable careers in law and tech to found FarmKind (www.farmkind.giving), a donation platform that helps people be a part of the solution to factory farming — regardless of their diet. While the podcast isn’t about animal welfare, it’s inspired by their daily experience grappling with a fundamental question: Why do people so rarely change their minds, even when confronted with compelling evidence? This curiosity drives their exploration of intellectual humility and the complex factors that enable (or prevent) meaningful belief change.
Thoughts? Feedback? Guest recommendations? Email us at hello@changedmymindpod.com
4 May 2025
Are you morally ambitious enough? (with Rutger Bregman)
Historian and bestselling author Rutger Bregman joins us to discuss his dramatic shift from believing humans are fundamentally selfish to championing a radically optimistic view of human nature. We chart his evolution across three books: "Humankind," which establishes his optimistic perspective; "Utopia for Realists," advocating bold policies based on our potential for good; and his latest, "Moral Ambition," which calls on people to stop wasting their careers and start transforming the world for the better.
We strongly recommend you read Rutger's new book (https://www.amazon.com/Moral-Ambition-Wasting-Talent-Difference/dp/031658035X), Moral Ambition. It's a certified banger.
About the hosts:
Thom and Aidan left boring, stable careers in law and tech to found FarmKind (www.farmkind.giving), a donation platform that helps people be a part of the solution to factory farming — regardless of their diet. While the podcast isn’t about animal welfare, it’s inspired by their daily experience grappling with a fundamental question: Why do people so rarely change their minds, even when confronted with compelling evidence? This curiosity drives their exploration of intellectual humility and the complex factors that enable (or prevent) meaningful belief change.
Thoughts? Feedback? Guest recommendations? Email us at hello@changedmymindpod.com
28 Apr 2025
Do disruptive protests make the world a better place? (with James Ozden)
What would it be like to believe something strongly enough to get arrested for it 11 times, but then change your mind? This episode features James Ozden, a former leading member of Extinction Rebellion and Animal Rising - groups known for disruptive protests and non-violent civil disobedience advocating for climate justice and animal rights. We discuss James's journey from deep involvement in disruptive protest, to questioning its efficacy, and deciding to found a research organization to get to the bottom of what makes some social movements succeed and others fail.
Want more from James?
Check out his blog, Understanding Social Change (https://jamesozden.substack.com/), on Substack
Learn about the movement to fix factory farming on the podcast he host, called How I Learned to Love Shrimp (https://www.howilearnedtoloveshrimp.com/)
About the hosts:
Thom and Aidan left boring, stable careers in law and tech to found FarmKind (www.farmkind.giving), a donation platform that helps people be a part of the solution to factory farming — regardless of their diet. While the podcast isn’t about animal welfare, it’s inspired by their daily experience grappling with a fundamental question: Why do people so rarely change their minds, even when confronted with compelling evidence? This curiosity drives their exploration of intellectual humility and the complex factors that enable (or prevent) meaningful belief change.
Thoughts? Feedback? Guest recommendations? Email us at hello@changedmymindpod.com
22 Apr 2025
50 years of changing the world through philosophy (with Peter Singer)
Peter Singer, one of the most influential philosophers alive today, joins us to discuss how his views have evolved during the past 50 years of his career. We explore his changing perspectives on the value of sharing controversial views, the effectiveness of rational versus emotional appeals, whether its possible to transform our relationship with charity for the better, and his recent engagement with Buddhist philosophy. Singer offers rare insights into the mind of someone who has spent decades refining his thinking on how we can live more ethical lives.
Want more Peter Singer?
Check out the Lives Well Lived (https://open.spotify.com/show/7vjHLWnd6B0atmbj1jIulc) podcast, which Peter co-hosts
His latest book, Consider the Turkey (https://www.amazon.com/Consider-Turkey-Peter-Singer/dp/0691231680), is a short but powerful read
But it's hard to beat his 'greatest hits': Animal Liberation (https://www.amazon.com/Animal-Liberation-Now/dp/1847927769) (first published in 1975 but updated in 2023), and his 1972 article Famine, Affluence and Morality (https://rintintin.colorado.edu/~vancecd/phil308/Singer2.pdf)
About the hosts:
Thom and Aidan left boring, stable careers in law and tech to found FarmKind (www.farmkind.giving), a donation platform that helps people be a part of the solution to factory farming — regardless of their diet. While the podcast isn’t about animal welfare, it’s inspired by their daily experience grappling with a fundamental question: Why do people so rarely change their minds, even when confronted with compelling evidence? This curiosity drives their exploration of intellectual humility and the complex factors that enable (or prevent) meaningful belief change.
Thoughts? Feedback? Guest recommendations? Email us at hello@changedmymindpod.com
12 Feb 2025
Preview
Changed My Mind will be launching at the beginning of May, with guests such as the historian and author Rutger Bregman, the philosopher Peter Singer and the psychologist Melanie Joy
Who has been a guest on Changed My Mind
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Rufus Griscom
Nemo the Mormon
Spencer Greenberg
Freddie deBoer
Josh Greene
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
7 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 33 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
53
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
Contact Changed My Mind
Guest appearances
Does not typically book guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Questions about Changed My Mind
Who hosts Changed My Mind?
Aidan and Thom host the show. Published by Changed My Mind Podcast.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes weekly, based on its RSS feed.
Does Changed My Mind take guests?
The show does not typically feature guests, based on episode analyses.
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