On Wisdom

About On Wisdom

What does it actually take to think wisely? On Wisdom digs into the empirical science of wisdom, judgment, and decision-making, and what it means for how we live. Igor Grossmann runs the Wisdom & Culture Lab at the University of Waterloo. Charles Cassidy runs the Evidence-Based Wisdom project in London. Each episode pairs freewheeling conversation with guest spots from leading behavioural scientists working on reasoning, wellbeing, culture, and society. Past guests include Adam Grant, Jonathan Haidt, Paul Bloom, Shannon Vallor, Lisa Barrett, David Dunning, Mara Mather, Tom Gilovich, Laura Carstensen, Oliver Burkeman, Simine Vazire, Dacher Keltner, and more. This autumn: a five-episode special series built around the first Annual Review of Psychology chapter on wisdom since 2011, featuring fifteen scholars on narrative, metacognition, measurement, training, and the neuroscience of wise decisions.

Publisher

Charles Cassidy and Igor Grossmann

Category

science · society & culture · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

20 Apr 2018

Latest episode

19 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 72 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   19 Oct 2026

   72: Special Series Episode 4: Interventions and Training

   Welcome to a five-episode special series built around the first Annual Review of Psychology chapter on wisdom since 2011. Episode 4: Interventions and Training (with Judith Glück, Ethan Kross, and Kristján Kristjánsson) Can we actually learn to be wiser? Judith Glück, Ethan Kross, and Kristján Kristjánsson join Igor and Charles to explore what it takes to develop better judgment, and why getting older or going through difficult experiences doesn't necessarily make us wiser. Judith explains why even people with the right knowledge and reasoning skills can struggle to use them when emotions take over, Ethan reveals how stepping back from our own problems can help us see them in a new light, and Kristján explores the ancient idea of practical wisdom, why it matters for moral development, and how it might be cultivated. Igor and Charles reflect on why experience alone isn't enough, and what it takes to turn difficult situations into opportunities for wiser judgment. But can we take what we know about individual wisdom and use it to build wiser organizations and societies? Special Guests: Ethan Kross, Judith Glück, and Kristján Kristjánsson. Links: Navigating the Unknown: The Sociocultural and Metacognitive Architecture of Wisdom (accepted) | Annual Review of Psychology, Volume 78 - Igor Grossmann and Nic M. Weststrate The Wisdom Researchers and the Elephant: An Integrative Model of Wise Behavior - Judith Glück and Nic M. Weststrate (2022) Self-Distancing: Theory, Research, and Current Directions - E. Kross , O. Ayduk (2017) Exploring Solomon’s Paradox: Self-Distancing Eliminates the Self-Other Asymmetry in Wise Reasoning About Close Relationships in Younger and Older Adults - Igor Grossmann and Ethan Kross (2014) Phronesis (Practical Wisdom) as a Key to Moral Decision-Making: Comparing Two Models - Maria Silvia Vaccarezza, Michel Croce, Kristján Kristjánsson (2023)

2. 

   12 Oct 2026

   71: Special Series Episode 3: Measuring Wisdom

   Welcome to a five-episode special series built around the first Annual Review of Psychology chapter on wisdom since 2011. Episode 3: Measuring Wisdom (with Judith Glück, Monika Ardelt, and Eranda Jayawickreme) Can we actually measure wisdom, or are we just measuring how wise people think they are? Judith Glück, Monika Ardelt, and Eranda Jayawickreme join Igor and Charles to explore what happens when we try to turn wisdom into something we can quantify. Judith reveals the surprising differences between questionnaires, performance tests, and assessments of people in real situations, Monika makes the case that wisdom involves a stable quality of character built around reflection, cognition and compassion, and Eranda asks whether we might be better off thinking of traits as patterns of behaviour that change from one situation to another. Along the way, Igor and Charles confront a fundamental question about what a wisdom score is actually telling us, and discover that the answer may be less about choosing between traits and states than understanding how they fit together. But if wisdom is a pattern of states, can we change that pattern? Special Guests: Eranda Jayawickreme, Judith Glück, and Monika Ardelt. Links: Navigating the Unknown: The Sociocultural and Metacognitive Architecture of Wisdom (accepted) | Annual Review of Psychology, Volume 78 - Igor Grossmann and Nic M. Weststrate

3. 

   5 Oct 2026

   70: Special Series Episode 2: Metacognition and Judgment

   Welcome to a five-episode special series built around the first Annual Review of Psychology chapter on wisdom since 2011. Episode 2: Metacognition and Judgment (with Gord Pennycook, Steve Fleming, and Thomas Costello) Is thinking harder always the key to making better decisions, or can it sometimes make things worse? Gord Pennycook, Steve Fleming, and Thomas Costello join Igor and Charles to explore what happens when we start thinking about our own thinking. Gord reveals why intelligence and rationality aren't the same thing, and why simply thinking more isn't necessarily the answer, Steve takes us inside the machinery that helps us monitor and regulate our decisions, and Thomas explores what intellectual humility is, how we might recognize it, and why being confident about our own competence can be so misleading. Along the way, Igor and Charles uncover a three-part cycle at the heart of wise judgment: seeking input, resolving conflicts, and monitoring what happens next. So what does it take to become better at knowing what we know, and what we don't? Special Guests: Gord Pennycook, Steve Fleming, and Thomas Costello.

Inside a recent episode

Episode 19: The Individual and The Culture (with Adam Grant)

Published 30 Jul 2019 · Transcript excerpt

[…] It doesn't matter what leaders say and do if nobody follows them and enacts the culture that they're trying to create. And so, you know, I would then break this down and say there are probably three ways that you can influence a culture if you're at the middle or even the bottom of an organization. The first one is to recognize that it's hard to change the culture of a whole workplace. But it's much easier to influence the culture of your local team. And so I would think about what are the values and norms and practices that we engage in? And what are some small shifts that we can make that might move the needle a little bit? […]

Reach and audience

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

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

15 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

7 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 47 / 100

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

Quality

75

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

51

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Guest appearances

Books guests

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

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