Kaleidoscience: Conversations on Cognitive Science

About Kaleidoscience: Conversations on Cognitive Science

Kaleidoscience is a podcast interviewing guests across the field of Cognitive Science. We explore questions such as what it means to be conscious, what AI might think, how the brain processes language - and much more. Find the answers to questions you may or may not have asked yourself. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaleidoscience_pod/ Produced by: Imogen Hüsing, Clara Kühne, Sophie Kühne, Sönke Lülf and Elisa Palme Logo by: Annika Richter Music by: Jan-Luca Schröder

Publisher

Imogen Hüsing, Sophie Kühne, Sönke Lülf, Elisa Palme

Category

education · science · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

13 Aug 2023

Latest episode

18 Jul 2026

Latest episodes

95 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   18 Jul 2026

   Has it been three years already? Bonus-to-brain with Clara, Elisa, Imogen, Sönke and Sophie.

   The book Yesteryear: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yesteryear_(novel) The slime mold: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slime_mold The interview with Chomsky: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xuSPX-2oFM0&pp=ygUWQ2hvbXNreSB1bmkgb3NuYWJyw7xjaw%3D%3D The "Frisch an die Arbeit" Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0eRStmStqFdRjcjX4mYSRU?si=ezAtPo0sRFG4NyucdC23GQ&utm_source=copy-link Sönke’s favorite paper: Evans, G. (1978). Can there be vague objects. Analysis, 38(4), 208. Podcast Credits: Produced by: Imogen Hüsing, Clara Kühne, Sophie Kühne, Sönke Lülf and Elisa Palme Logo by: Annika Richter Music by: Jan-Luca Schröder Write us an email to: kaleidopod@uos.de Contact us on Instagram: @kaleidoscience_pod

2. 

   11 Jun 2026

   S3 #49 How does playing make birds smarter? Brain-to-brain with Prof. Gisela Kaplan.

   Some book publications: Kaplan, Gisela (2019) Bird Bonds: Sex, mate-choice and cognition in Australian native birds. Macmillan/Pan Macmillan Australia, Sydney. (ISBN 978-1-76055-420-0, pbk. 354 pp) Kaplan, Gisela (2019) Australian Magpie: Biology and Behaviour of an Unusual Songbird. 2nd edition, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne. 2nd ed., ISBN 9781486307241, pbk., 270 pp. Kaplan, G. (2018) Tawny Frogmouth. 2nd ed., CSIRO, Melbourne. ISBN 9781486308163, pbk. 168 pp. (1st ed. 2007, ISBN 9780643092396, pbk. 155 pp.) Kaplan, G. (2015) Bird Minds. Cognition and Behaviour of Australian Native Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne. 286 pp. (incl. a 15-page Appendix on brain size and life history data of Australian birds). ISBN 9781486300181. Reprint with corrections of 2015 publication (epdf: 9781486300198; epub: 9781486300204) Some relevant papers: 1. Kaplan, G. (2024). The evolution of social play in songbirds, parrots and cockatoos- emotional or highly complex cognitive behaviour or both? Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105621 2. Rogers, L.J. and Kaplan, G. (2024) Advances in understanding cognition in animals. Ch.4 in L.Levitt, D. B. Rosengard, J.Rubin (eds.) Animals as Crime Victims: Multidisciplinary implications of moving beyond the property paradigm. (pp.53-66) Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802209884.00012 3. Kaplan, G. (2023). Evolution of human language: duetting as part of prosociality and cognition. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2023.1004384 4. Kaplan, G., Rogers L.J. (2021) Brain size associated with foot preferences in Australian parrots, Symmetry, 13, 867. https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13050867 5. Kaplan, G. (2021) Psittacine (Parrot) cognition (10,000 word entry) Encyclopaedic essays (by invitation only)-Encyclopaedia of Animal Behaviour and Animal Cognition. Ed. by Jennifer Vonk, Todd K. Shackelford, Springer International Publishing AG/Nature , 6330 Cham, Switzerland Springer 6. Kaplan, G. (2020). Play behaviour, not tool using, relates to brain mass in a sample of birds. Scientific Reports, 10, 20437. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-76572-7 7. Kaplan, G. (2020) Visual recognition (5,000 word entry). Encyclopaedic essays (by invitation only)-Encyclopaedia of Animal Behaviour and Animal Cognition. Ed. by Jennifer Vonk, Todd K. Shackelford, Springer International Publishing AG/Nature , 6330 Cham, Switzerland Springer 8. Kaplan, G. (2020) Of great apes and magpies: initiations into animal behaviour. Animals, 10, 848; Special Issue: 'Encountering Animals', Ed. L. Irvine. doi:10.3390/ani10050848 9. Kaplan, G. (2020) Mimicry (5,000 word entry). Encyclopaedic essays (by invitation only)-Encyclopaedia of Animal Behaviour and Animal Cognition. Ed. by Jennifer Vonk, Todd K. Shackelford, Springer International Publishing AG/Nature, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Springer 10. Kaplan, G. (2020) Long-term attachments and complex cognition in birds and humans are linked to pre-reproductive prosociality and cooperation. Constructing a hypothesis. Annals of Cognitive Science 4 (2), 127-142. https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/29577 11. Kaplan, G. (2018). Passerine Cognition. (10,000 word entry): In: Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Ed. by Jennifer Vonk, Todd K. Shackelford, Springer International Publishing AG/Nature , 6330 Cham, Switzerland. Podcast Credits: Produced by: Imogen Hüsing, Clara Kühne, Sophie Kühne, Sönke Lülf and Elisa Palme Logo by: Annika Richter Music by: Jan-Luca Schröder Write us an email to: kaleidopod@uos.de Contact us on Instagram: @kaleidoscience_pod

3. 

   30 Apr 2026

   S3 #48 What happens in the brain of your cat? Brain-to-brain with Dr. Sevim Isparta and Prof. Nadja Freund.

   The study on cat sleeping position that we talked about: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)00507-X The study on cats and problem solving abilities that was mentioned: https://www.bio.psy.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/bpsy/mam/content/papers/isparta_et.al.2020_12072.pdf The press release (in german): https://news.rub.de/presseinformationen/wissenschaft/2025-07-28-citizen-science-projekt-katzenvideos-machen-fuer-die-forschung Podcast Credits: Produced by: Imogen Hüsing, Clara Kühne, Sophie Kühne, Sönke Lülf and Elisa Palme Logo by: Annika Richter Music by: Jan-Luca Schröder Write us an email to: kaleidopod@uos.de Contact us on Instagram: @kaleidoscience_pod

Who has been a guest on Kaleidoscience: Conversations on Cognitive Science

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Carol Hay
• Robert-Paul Juster
• Mina Guérin
• Pascal Nieters
• Dr Nadja R Ging-Jehli

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Spotify

4.8 / 5

19 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 51 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

70

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

77

Contact Kaleidoscience: Conversations on Cognitive Science

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.