Born and Raised
What is happening at the intersection between genetics and the social sciences? In this podcast series, hosts Rafael and Aysu talk to leading researchers in the exciting new field of social science genetics about their life and work. Born and Raised is produced by the European Social Science Genetics Network.
Episodes

Feb 6, 2026
Feb 6, 2026
40 min
In this episode, our hosts visit economist Sjoerd van Alten in his office at the Vrije Universiteit. Why would an economist be interested in genetics? How does one use molecular genetic data to study genetic effects on complex social and economic traits? What are genome-wide association studies, polygenic indexes, and how do we get from correlation to causation? These and many more questions are answered in this episode!

Jan 23, 2026
Jan 23, 2026
31 min
In this very first episode of Born and Raised, hosts Rafael and Aysu visit behavior geneticist Abdel Abdellaoui in his office at the Amsterdam University Medical Center. They talk about the nature of social science genetics as a field, about responsible research communication, and we also get to learn some shocking facts about Abdel's past!
Brought to you by the European Social Science Genetics Network: https://essgn.org/

Jan 15, 2026
Jan 15, 2026
1 min
What is happening at the intersection between genetics and the social sciences? In this upcoming podcast series, hosts Rafael and Aysu talk to leading researchers in the exciting new field of social science genetics about their life and work. Born and Raised is produced by the European Social Science Genetics Network.






