Two Guys on Your Head on “If It’s Unsustainable, Why Does It Feel So Good?”

What is the talk about?

What is it about human behavior that causes us to ignore the realities of our changing environment and other aspects of sustainability that affect our lives? How does the brain work when it comes to understanding what is happening in the world around us? These and other questions will be explored by Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke, along with KUT Radio’s Rebecca McInroy. This Hot Science - Cool Talks event is in collaboratiion with KUT and the Butler School of Music.

About our presenters

Dr. Art Markman

After getting a B.S. in Cognitive Science from Brown University in 1988, Dr. Markman went on to graduate school in the Psychology Department at the University of Illinois, where he received his PhD in 1992. He went on to spend five years as an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at Columbia University. Dr. Markman's research has focused on four main areas. First, he is interested in the way people see things to be similar, and how they process similarity and analogy comparisons. While the study of similarity is interesting for its own sake, it is also interesting because of what it can tell us about other psychological processes. In order to look at the way that our ability to make comparisons affects our cognitive processing, Dr. Markman also does research on category learning and decision making.

Dr. Bob Duke

Dr. Duke is the Marlene and Morton Meyerson Centennial Professor and Head of Music and Human Learning at The University of Texas at Austin, where he is University Distinguished Teaching Professor, Elizabeth Shatto Massey Distinguished Fellow in Teacher Education, and Director of the Center for Music Learning. He is also directs the psychology of learning program at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles. The most recent recipient of UT's Friar Centennial Teaching Fellowship, Dr. Duke has directed national research efforts under the sponsorship of such organizations as the National Piano Foundation and the International Suzuki Institute. His research on human learning and behavior spans multiple disciplines, including motor skill learning, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience. His most recent work explores procedural memory consolidation, the cognitive processes engaged during musical improvisation, and the allocation of visual gaze in teaching and learning. A former studio musician and public school music teacher, he has worked closely with children at-risk, both in the public schools and through the juvenile justice system. He is the author of Scribe 4 behavior analysis software, and his most recent books are Intelligent Music Teaching: Essays on the Core Principles of Effective Instruction and The Habits of Musicianship, which he co-authored with Jim Byo of Louisiana State University. He is a co-host, with Art Markman and Rebecca McInroy, of the public radio program Two Guys on Your Head, produced by KUT radio in Austin.

Rebecca McInroy

Rebecca McInroy is a host, show creator, and senior producer, who produces a wide range of content for KUT, KUTX and KUT.ORG. Rebecca believes it is important that Public Radio directly connects with the community it serves. Many of her programs combine the talent, and knowledge of the Austin community, with the production arm of KUT/X Radio to produce content that bridges the gaps that lie between the world of news and entertainment. She is the co-creator, and executive producer for: Two Guys on Your Head, with Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke; Liner Notes, with Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe; and The Write Up with Owen Egerton.