Episode 277 – Your Brain on Caricature, with Jacob Shaw

April 9, 2026

Episode Summary:

After some chit-chat about teleporting FEMA officials and Bigfoot folks with heels dug in, we have a fascinating talk with Jacob Shaw. One of the very few people studying and teaching the intersection of caricature art and neuroscience, Jacob geeks out with Celestia and Ben about what he calls the most psychological art form. There are many points of interest that overlap with skepticism, from pareidolia to the reliability of our perception to a well-known middle school ritual in front of a darkened bathroom mirror. We also ruminate on the power of caricature as propaganda, how it has been weaponized in modern history, and how we can separate the art from its complicated past.

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art, beauty, beauty standards, Bigfoot, Bloody Mary, caricature, cartooning, cartoons, faces, facial recognition, FEMA, Jacob Shaw, Jews, Nazi propaganda, neuroscience, Pareidolia, Perception, propaganda, psychology, ugly

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