Good morning, everybody. I'm not sure who scheduled this for 8.30 and a Friday morning,

but thank you all for being here. My name is Rick Eckstein, and it's a real pleasure to be here

with you, and a true privilege to be able to introduce someone who has made it his life's mission

to explore what makes us tick, buy, believe, and sometimes lose our minds.

Professor God saw it as many things.

A world-renowned evolutionary behavioral scientist,

a best-selling author, prolific public intellectual,

and probably one of the most original voices

in academia today.

He's a professor of marketing at Concordia University, where he holds the prestigious

research chair and evolutionary behavior science and Darwinian consumption.

Over the past two decades, Professor SAD has carved out a unique space where biology, consumer behavior, and cultural

commentary collide. His work helps explain everything from why we're drawn to certain brands,

to how ideologies spread like viruses, bypassing reason and hijacking our minds in the process.

He's published in top academic journals. He's

contributed to major media outlets and reached millions through his lectures, bestsellers,

and of course his bold, irrelevant podcast, The Sad Truth. And what makes him stand out is not

just the depth of his knowledge, but it's his fearless

approach to truth-telling, whether dissecting consumer habits or confronting campus orthodoxy,

he does it all with clarity, humor, and courage.

In his powerful book, The Parasitic Mind, he lays out a stark warning.

Bad ideas can spread like pathogens.

...