The Studies Show LIVE! Get your tickets for our live show in London on Friday 9 May at this link.Blaze it up! It’s time for an episode on cannabis. And just to be clear, not “on cannabis”, but “on, as in about, cannabis”. What’s the evidence that this incredibly popular drug will lower your IQ? What about the question of whether it causes psychosis?In this toked-up episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart try to find out—and gracefully refrain from any “drug humour” while doing so.The Studies Show is brought to you by Works in Progress magazine. Why does all that steam come out of the ground in New York City? Why are pineapples the greatest fruit? What on Earth was the Hanseatic League? All of these questions and more are answered in their most recent issue, available 100% free at www.worksinprogress.co.Show notes* A summary of the endocannabinoid system* 2015 review of the evidence on the psychological effects of cannabis* Famous 1987 study of Swedish soldiers on cannabis and psychosis* The NEMESIS study* 2007 systematic review of longitudinal studies of cannabis and psychosis* 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis with results on dose-response* Study finding earlier use predicts higher psychosis risk* 2023 study on sex differences in the cannabis-psychosis relation* Example of a Mendelian Randomisation study on cannabis and psychosis* Data on cannabis exposure over time in the UK* Dunedin Cohort study on cannabis and IQ* And a response to some controversy over the data* 2021 systematic review of IQ decline after smoking cannabisCreditsThe Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe
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Invitation to The Studies Show LIVE
The Studies Show. Live. In London. With Jesse Singal. Talking about controversial science. Friday 9 May 2025. What more need we say? Well actually, we say a bit more in this brief podcast.Get your tickets HERE!Or go to bit.ly/tss_live.See you there! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe
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Paid-only Episode 18: Abortion
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thestudiesshowpod.comAs if the basic “pro-life vs. pro-choice” issue wasn’t controversial enough, there’s been a decades-long scientific debate on the impact of abortion on mental health. Does getting an abortion cause a lifetime of depression? Or do most women think that in retrospect it was the correct choice?As it happens, this issue opens up some massive questions about meta-analysis, bias, and the impact of legal threats on science. Tom and Stuart discuss them in this paid-only episode of The Studies Show.To hear the full episode and read the show notes, you’ll need to become a paid subscriber at thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe.With apologies from Tom for lateness because he forgot to press send.
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Episode 67: Seed oils
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. thinks that seed oils—like sunflower or soybean oil—are causing terrible damage to people’s health. And now he’s the US Health Secretary (wait, what?!) we should probably take him seriously.In this episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart trace the origins of the idea that seed oils are uniquely unhealthy, and look at all the best evidence from randomised trials on whether it’s remotely true.The Studies Show is sponsored by Works in Progress magazine, where you can find detailed, beautifully-written essays on technology and progress. If you need something to read that’s full of unexpected and inspiring ideas about how science and technology can make the world better, you can be confident that you’ll find it at worksinprogress.co.Show notes* Joe Rogan’s interview with the aptly-named dietary influencer Paul Saladino* A typical anonymous tweet about the supposed effects of seed oils* Article about Ray Peat’s advice on how often to measure your temperature for optimum health* Guardian article on RFK Jr. and his views on seed oils* Dynomight on seed oils* 2013 systematic review on linoleic acid and inflammation* 2017 systematic review on randomised trials of linoleic acid* 2015 meta-analysis of cohort studies looking at linoleic acid and coronary heart disease* 2020 meta-analysis of saturated fat and health outcomes* The safflower oil study beloved of seed oil worriers* And the Minnesota Coronary SurveyCreditsWe’re very grateful to Stevie Miller for helping us with the research for this episode. The Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe
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Episode 66: Superforecasting
Whether it’s the 1903 New York Times article that claimed a flying machine was ten million years away, or the record executive who (allegedly) told the Beatles in the early 1960s that guitar bands were on the way out, predictions are hard.In this episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart discuss the psychologist Philip Tetlock’s research on superforecasters, the people who make the most accurate predictions of all. Even if you can’t become a superforecaster yourself, it turns out there’s a lot we can learn from them about how to form beliefs—and how to be right more often.The Studies Show is brought to you by Works in Progress magazine, where this week Tom has written a review of the new book, Doctored, about fraud in Alzheimer’s research. Read that and many other short pieces on the Works in Progress Substack at worksinprogress.news.Show notes* A book chapter on the “Expert Political Judgement” study from Philip Tetlock* Research on how people interpret terms like “a serious possibility” and “likely”* Research that argues against the idea that teaming up makes superforecasters better* Study on the correlates of being a good superforecaster (i.e. having a low Brier score)* A paper on “small steps to accuracy”: how people who update their beliefs more often are better forecasters* Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner’s book Superforecasting* Julia Galef’s book The Scout Mindset* Tom’s book, Everything is Predictable* Tom’s review of Mervyn King’s book, Radical UncertaintyCreditsThe Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe
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