Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute #DISI

📣📣📣 Applications for the 2026 Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) are now open! Are you interested in intelligence and cognition in all its forms? Early-career scholars and storytellers—in any field or medium—are encouraged to apply! disi.org

Update: we've extended our timeline! Review of applications will now begin March 24. Still plenty of time to put together an app! disi.org/apply/

Happy 6th anniversary to us!! 🎉🎉 Thanks for spending time with us, friends! As we celebrate this milestone, we've launched a short audience survey to get your thoughts on the show (and its future). We would be grateful for your participation! forms.gle/Nnd5vdiDMpQkUe…

📣📣📣 Applications for the 2026 Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) are now open! Are you interested in intelligence and cognition in all its forms? Early-career scholars and storytellers—in any field or medium—are encouraged to apply! disi.org

Application review begins in one week (Mar 16)! (Review will continue until all spots are filled.)

@pan_cancer We are currently an in-person program only.

@DivIntelligence Would like to apply. Can this be done remotely or it has to be in-person?

This would be a cool opportunity for #swarmintelligence or #basalcognition folks to attend!

New episode, first of 2026!! 🎉🎙️ A deep dive into metaphor with @steve_flusberg! Metaphors delight, provoke, captivate, shock, and galvanize us. What does it say about the human mind that we can't escape them—and frankly don't want to? Listen: disi.org/the-aura-of-...

New episode!! 🎉🎙️ An audio essay from @kensycoop all about names. The search for "name-like" symbols in animals is intensifying. But if the enterprise is to succeed, we first need to pause and ask ourselves: What even is a name? Listen: disi.org/in-search-of...

New episode!! 🎙️🎉 A chat w/ @PBrakes about animal cultures and animal conservation. Culture was once thought to be uniquely human. No longer. We now know it is found throughout the natural world. How does this complicate conservation? Listen: disi.org/the-value-of...

New episode!! 🎉🎙️ A conversation with @aliboyle6 & @JoBMahr about the functions of memory. We may not immediately think of memory as an evolutionary puzzle. But in certain respects it is quite puzzling indeed. Listen: disi.org/what-is-memo...

It was long thought that domestication leads to reductions in brain size. As we understand dog brains better, the truth is proving more complicated—and more interesting. Just one of the topics discussed in our latest episode, w/ @LabHecht! Listen: disi.org/of-breeds-an...

New episode!! 🎙️🎉 A conversation w/ @LabHecht about the diversity and evolution of canine brains. We've lived with dogs for 15,000+ years, sculpting their brains and bodies along the way. What can we learn from their singular story? Listen: disi.org/of-breeds-an...

New episode!! 🎉😱 A conversation with Surekha Davies & @the_manticore_ about monsters of all kinds. Monsters are everywhere—our myths, our maps, our children's books, our political discourse. What do they tell us about ourselves? Listen: disi.org/monsters-and...

Many fear that AI companions will lead to social "deskilling," particularly in young people. But could we harness these bots for "upskilling" instead? Just one of the topics discussed in our latest episode, w/ Dr. Henry Shevlin (@dioscuri)! Listen: disi.org/the-age-of-soc…

New episode!! 🎙️🎉 A conversation with @dioscuri about "social AI." Digital lovers. AI coaches and tutors. Griefbots and artificial friends. What will this mean for our relationships, our social skills, and our society as a whole? Listen: disi.org/the-age-of-s...

Bird brains aren't the same as mammal brains. They took their own twisty evolutionary path. So what can they teach us about brains in general? A lot, it turns out. Discussed in our latest episode, w/ Andrew Iwaniuk & Georg Striedter! Listen: disi.org/brains-of-a-...

New episode!! 🎉🎙️ A chat w/ Andrew Iwaniuk & Georg Striedter about avian neuroscience. Birds do some astonishing things. They sing, fly, migrate, cache food, and hunt in total darkness. How do their brains make all this possible? Listen: disi.org/brains-of-a-...

Nature is good for us. It can lift our spirits, reset our attention, even help us heal. But what drives these effects? Can we isolate nature's active ingredients? Just one of the topics from in our latest episode, with Dr. Marc Berman! Listen: disi.org/how-nature-r...