017 - Dr. Cathryn van Kessel (aka. Dr. Evil)

Today on Powerful Jeff sits down with Dr. Cathryn Van Kessel and together they conceptualize good and evil and societal ideas surrounding death and the impacts on one's life. Cathryn is a professor at the University of Alberta where she teaches and researches all things evil. In this episode Cathryn discusses how as humans we have a natural biological response to death and that we want to feel stable and permanent and don’t want to die. Cathryn introduces listeners to the fascinating concepts that make up Terror Management Theory and how it illustrates how a direct reminder of death makes humans do weird and quirky things. Give this episode a listen and click on the resources if you want to find out more about this week's topic.

Resources

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrEvilAcademic

Cathryn Van Kessel profile at U of A: https://www.ualberta.ca/education/about-us/professor-profiles/cathryn-van-kessel

The Grim Educator Website: https://pressbooks.library.ualberta.ca/grimeducator/

The Worm at the Core by Sheldon Solomon: https://www.amazon.ca/Worm-Core-Role-Death-Life/dp/1400067472/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=CjwKCAiAyeTxBRBvEiwAuM8dnW60T7qRWs_aHT9CSRfKvxrUoNzsabE1IGphNxrqAYjt2_Sj2Us8ixoCAboQAvD_BwE&hvadid=208264203762&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9001343&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=8482690808591347758&hvtargid=aud-854586742982%3Akwd-300604677728&hydadcr=22430_9261609&keywords=worm+at+the+core&qid=1580874806&sr=8-1

Wecroak App Cathryn talked about in Episode: https://www.wecroak.com/