Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
David McRaney is a writer and podcaster who has been covering important work in psychology for many years. Although he was a guest on Opinion Science a few months ago (Episode 58: How Minds Change with David McRaney), I also used the opportunity to ask him about his process for communicating psychological research to the public. So, the first 15 minutes of this episode is a repeat of his earlier appearance, but the rest of the interview hasn’t been released until now.
We talk about the challenges of knowing what your audience already knows, how to situate science reporting within accessible narratives, and the big question of why it’s worth engaging with social science in a public setting at all.
David’s new book, How Minds Change, comes out tomorrow and is definitely worth picking up. You should also throw his podcast You Are Not So Smart on your podcast app now because it’s great.
Originally aired June 20, 2022
For more, head to this episode's webpage: opinionsciencepodcast.com/hot-scicomm-summer
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Opinion Science is a psychology podcast exploring the science of our opinions, where they come from and how they change. Each week I talk to social scientists and professional communicators about how the work they do reveals key insights about public opinion and persuasion.
Follow this psychology podcast...
Website: opinionsciencepodcast.com
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/opinion-science/id1506227206
Twitter: twitter.com/OpinionSciPod
Facebook: facebook.com/OpinionSciPod
David McRaney is a writer and podcaster who has been covering important work in psychology for many years. Although he was a guest on Opinion Science a few months ago (Episode 58: How Minds Change with David McRaney), I also used the opportunity to ask him about his process for communicating psychological research to the public. So, the first 15 minutes of this episode is a repeat of his earlier appearance, but the rest of the interview hasn’t been released until now.
We talk about the challenges of knowing what your audience already knows, how to situate science reporting within accessible narratives, and the big question of why it’s worth engaging with social science in a public setting at all.
David’s new book, How Minds Change, comes out tomorrow and is definitely worth picking up. You should also throw his podcast You Are Not So Smart on your podcast app now because it’s great.
Originally aired June 20, 2022
For more, head to this episode's webpage: opinionsciencepodcast.com/hot-scicomm-summer
==================
Opinion Science is a psychology podcast exploring the science of our opinions, where they come from and how they change. Each week I talk to social scientists and professional communicators about how the work they do reveals key insights about public opinion and persuasion.
Follow this psychology podcast...
Website: opinionsciencepodcast.com
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/opinion-science/id1506227206
Twitter: twitter.com/OpinionSciPod
Facebook: facebook.com/OpinionSciPod
