This piece will explain why I believe A.R. Moxon’s @JuliusGoat Twitter account is a spreader of unreasonable and polarizing liberal-side political rhetoric, and why I believe he’s a contributor to American polarization. Why did I write this? I’m someone who’s interested in reducing polarization and political anger. …

I’ve thought about political polarization a lot the last few years. It’s been a frequent focus of mine for my psychology podcast People Who Read People, and I’m currently working on a book about healing American divides. One thing I’ve come to believe is that a key part of reducing…

“How strange it is to be anything at all.” ‐ from Neutral Milk Hotel lyrics This is a piece that examines the idea that our awareness of, and anxiety about, the strangeness of our existence may be a key type of stressor, in existential psychology terms. This stressor might be…

My name is Zachary Elwood and I host a psychology podcast called People Who Read People (site is at behavior-podcast.com). I’ve done many talks with people about political polarization, and about American divides specifically. I’ve also talked to quite a few American citizens to better understand their views (for example…

If broadcast TV was an opiate of the masses, is social media an amphetamine? — For an audio version, see this podcast episode. If you’re interested in political polarization, check out my polarization-related podcast episodes. Does social media play a role in amplifying our divides and increasing political polarization? Much of the thinking around this idea has focused on specific product features, like the use…

This will be a place where I examine indicators of videos being deceptive or staged. There’s only one here now but I will add to this over time. If you have ideas for interesting videos to examine, send them my way and I’d appreciate it. My experience and interest in fake/staged videos To skip to the video…

If broadcast TV was an opiate of the masses, is social media an amphetamine? — I have an abridged version of this piece here, which I recommend. For an audio reading, see my podcast. If you’re interested in polarization, check out all my podcast episodes related to that. Does it feel like everyone is becoming more angry? It’s not your imagination, and it’s not confined…

I’m using this page as a place to compile work that I’ve done related to researching and investigating deceptive online activity, including fake news and fake accounts. Who am I? My name is Zachary Elwood. My main claim to fame is that I’ve written some books on poker behavior (aka “poker tells”). You…

This will be a compilation and analysis of the best and most logical anti-vegan arguments. The arguments examined are: A vegan diet is, or may be, unhealthy. The morality of a behavior is decided by society. Plant-based agriculture still causes harm to animals. Not everyone can be vegan; it’s an…