. >> sunday night on q and a, in his latest book, edward slingerland, professor of philosophy at theversity british columbia, looked at the purpose of intoxication and the role drinking has played through history. >> alcohol makes it harder to live. the prefrontal cortex, it is harder to make up a lie. it can be more surprising, making people better at detecting lies. humans are not focusing consciously on detecting lies, we don't do a good job of it. but if we relax and taken the cues, we do a better job. in the same way that when we meet, we shake hands to show we are not holding a weapon in our right hand. culture uses intoxicants at meetings, business meetings, wherever hostile people need to cooperate as a cognitive deterrent. >> edward slingerland, sunday night. you can listen to q&a and all of our podcasts on our c-span now app. >> congress returns next week facing a friday midnight deadline on government funding. the house and senate must pass legislation to avert a government shutdown. the house gavels in tuesday afternoon and plans to take up legislation earlier in the week

in his latest book, edward slingerland looks at the evolutionary purpose of the role the drinking has played throughout history. >> alcohol makes it harder to live. this is maybe more surprising, it makes them better at detecting lies. we don't do a very good job of detecting lies but if we just relax and take in hues, we do a better job stop i'm arguing alcohol and when we meet, we shake hands to show we are not holding a weapon in our right hand step intoxicants are used at meetings where potentially hostile people need to figure a way to cooperate as a disarmament. >> sunday night at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span's q&a. you can listen to the podcast on our new c-span now at stop >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government, we are funded by these television companies and more including comcast. you think this is >> >> just a community center? . >> it's way more than that>> comcast is parting with 1000 committee centers to create wi-fi hotspots so students can be ready for anything. comcast supports c-span as a public service, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >>

announcer: edward slingerland at 8:00 eastern on q&a. you can listen to all of our podcasts on the new c-span now have. ♪ ♪ host: good morning and welcome to washington journal. a new variant of covid-19 has emerged in africa, raising concerns of another uncontrollable epidemic. the world health organization has designated this omicron and countries around the world are enacting travel bans in the hopes of slowing the spread. the variant is worrying doctors and researchers because it could be more contagious and less likely to be impacted by current vaccines. our question to you this morning, how concerned are you about this new variant? are you worried the world health organization has designated this new covid-19 strain a variant of concern? we open regional lines this morning which means if you are in the eastern or central time zones, your telephone number is going to be (202)-748-8000. if you are in the mountain or pacific time zones, you can call in at (202)-748-8001. keep in mind you can always text as at (202)-748-8003 and we are

. ♪ host: edward slingerland, your new book entitled "drunk, how we stumbled our way through civilizationhas an eye-popping opening. people like to masturbate. they like to get drunk and eat twinkies. not typically at the same time but that is a matter of personal preference. from a scientific perspective, we have been told that these all have one thing in common. they are evolutionary mistakes. sneaky ways that humans have figured out how to get something for nothing. you have been researching why people drink. were the scientists right or wrong? guest: they are wrong. that is my argument. for a variety of reasons. if alcohol is a mistake, it is a costly mistake. unlike masturbation which is relatively harmless. evolution will not get too worried about people and other species gaming the system so getting a pleasure reward for no good reason or something the reward is not designed for. in the case of twinkies, it is more serious because it leads to diabetes, all these problems but it is a really recent problem. the taste for sugar and fat that drives us to eat twinkies is a relatively re

announcer: edward slingerland at 8:00 eastern on q&a. of our podcasts on the new c-span now have. ♪

. >> tonight on q&a, in his latest book drunk, edward slingerland professor of philosophy looks at thevolutionary purpose of intoxication and the role that drinking has played throughout history. >> alcohol makes it harder to lie, for instance. it's harder to make up a lie. also, this is more surprising, it makes us better and detecting lies. so humans it turns out are not focusing consciously on detectiving lies, but if we relax and take in a variety of cues we do a better job, and so i am arguing alcohol in the same way that when we meet, we shake hands to show that we are not holding a weapon in our right hand. cultures use intoxicants at treaty meetings or business meetings, anything where potentially hostile people figure out a way to cooperate. >> tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. you can listen to our podcasts on our new c-span now app. >> abraham lincoln and his wife were the parents of four boys. only one, robert, lived beyond his 18th birthday. author jason emerson spent a decade visiting and researching in numerous archives, museums and historic places. he was studyin

. ♪ ♪ >> tonight on "q&a," in his latest book, the professor of philosophy edward slingerland, lookse role that drinking has played throughout history. >> alcohol has made it harder to live. it is harder to make up a lie. and even more surprising, it makes as better at detecting lies. humans, and when we are focused on consciously detecting lies, we do not a good job of it. but if we take -- relax and take in a variety of cues, we do a better job identifying lies. cultures use intoxicants at treaty meetings, business meetings, anything where potentially hostile people need to figure out a way to cooperate as a kind of cognitive disarmament. >> tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span's "q&a." you can listen to it and all our programs on our new c-span now app. >> abraham lincoln and his wife were the parents of four boys. only one lived beyond his 18th birthday. one author spent nearly a decade traveling across the united states, visiting numerous archives and museums and historic places, studying the 82 plus years in the life of robert lincoln, focusing on the president's oldest son as a u