Moral panics are not uncommon. Back in the 1980’s there was a moral panic over the game Dungeons and Dragons. Some parents believed D&D was the work of the devil, a gateway to joining a Satanic cult. It wasn’t “but this didn’t stop people from worrying about it,” says my guest on this episode, Dr. Kurt Gray, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

I got a chance to speak to Dr. Gray about new research from he and his postdoc, Curtis Puryear, titled Virality Drives Moral Panics on Social Media (currently under peer review) showing a connection where social media virality causes moral panics, prompting expression of moral outrage.

You don’t want to miss this episode. Professor Gray has some terrific insights.

Episode 006

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Many thanks to my production assistant, Austin Chen.