Skip to main content

Podcast Recap (February 2019): The Alter-Ego Effect and the Flexibility of Human Sexuality

The Psychology Podcast recap for February 2019

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


This month at The Psychology Podcast we discussed how to use your alter ego to harness your best self with Todd Herman, and the flexibility of human sexual strategies with Wednesday Martin.

The Alter Ego Effect with Todd Herman

“At the end of your life, you won’t remember the thoughts or intentions you had. You’ll remember the actions you took. You’ll judge yourself by how you showed up, by what you did, what you said, how you acted, and whether you performed the way you knew you could in any of the stages of life.”


On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.


Todd Herman is a performance advisor to Olympians, pros, and business leaders, and he creates proven systems to help teams & achievers win with less stress. Herman’s latest book is “The Alter Ego Effect: The Power of Secret Identities to Transform Your Life.”

  • How alter egos are part of the human psyche

  • The difference between childish and childlike

  • Why having an alter ego is about being the best version of yourself

  • Multiple self theory and the importance of context

  • The Core Self vs. The Trapped Self vs. The Heroic Self

  • How to go from an ordinary world to an extraordinary world

  • How to activate the person you truly want to become

  • How to get into the “wow” mindset

  • Todd’s traumatic backstory and how it has led to his superpower

  • The hidden forces of the enemy

  • How the creative imagination is like the backdoor to performance

The Flexibility of Female Sexuality with Wednesday Martin

“There can be no autonomy without the autonomy to choose, without coercion or constraint, or in spite of it, who our lovers will be.” — Wednesday Martin

Wednesday Martin has worked as a writer and social researcher in New York City for more than two decades. The author of Stepmonster and the instant New York Times bestseller Primates of Park Avenue, she writes for the online edition of Psychology Today and her work has appeared in The New York Times and Time.com. Dr. Martin’s latest book is called “Untrue: Why Nearly Everything We Believe About Women, Lust, and Infidelity Is Wrong and How the New Science Can Set Us Free.”

In this episode we discuss:

  • How Wednesday tries to make the sex research “delicious and fun”

  • How female infidelity is mired in so much misunderstanding

  • How Millenial women are more sexually adventurous compared to Millennial men

  • What’s the consensual non-monogamy movement?

  • How we evolved to be “cooperative breeders”

  • What is “female flexuality”?

  • Why we need to stop pathologizing those who embrace non-monogamy

  • How women are driving the polyamory movement

  • The good reasons why monogamy is hard and the other options that exist

  • How your attachment style and sociosexuality are linked to consensual non-monogamy

  • Disagreeable women and sociosexuality

  • Rethinking sex differences in the drive for sexual novelty

  • Pornography viewing differences between men and women

  • Common triggers of violence in relationships

  • Rethinking the motivations underlying sex differences in cheating

  • How better science can help us all have hotter sex

Scott Barry Kaufman is a humanistic psychologist exploring the depths of human potential. He has taught courses on intelligence, creativity and well-being at Columbia University, N.Y.U., the University of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. He hosts the Psychology Podcast and is author and/or editor of nine books, including Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization, Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (with Carolyn Gregoire), and Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined. Find out more at http://ScottBarryKaufman.com. In 2015 he was named one of "50 groundbreaking scientists who are changing the way we see the world" by Business Insider. He wrote the extremely popular Beautiful Minds blog for Scientific American for close to a decade. Follow him on X.

More by Scott Barry Kaufman