Hidden Brain

Mon, 2 Dec 2024

What makes ordinary people do evil things? It was a question that long fascinated the psychologi...

Mon, 25 Nov 2024

There's a tradition around many Thanksgiving dinner tables that's as consistent as stuffing and pump...

Mon, 18 Nov 2024

Neuroscientist Doug Fields was on a trip to Europe when a pickpocket stole his wallet. Doug, normall...

Mon, 11 Nov 2024

Many of us go to great lengths to be happy. But is our singular focus on feeling good actually makin...

Mon, 4 Nov 2024

Sometimes we feel just one single feeling with overwhelming force. We're joyously happy. We're crush...

Mon, 28 Oct 2024

For centuries, philosophers and theologians have warned about the dangers of pride and hubris. It’...

Mon, 21 Oct 2024

This week, we kick off our new series, Emotions 2.0, with a special double episode about the emotion...

Mon, 14 Oct 2024

We humans are a social species, and so it's not surprising that we care a lot about what other peopl...

Mon, 7 Oct 2024

I. Me. My. You. He. She. They. It. To. Of. For. These are all words we use without a second thought....

Mon, 30 Sep 2024

It can sometimes be exciting when we don't know what's coming next. Other times, the unknown can be ...

Mon, 23 Sep 2024

Money worries are one of the biggest sources of anxiety in our lives. Psychologist Brad Klontz says ...

Mon, 16 Sep 2024

Every morning, you wake up and face the world. What does it look like to you? Do you see a paradise ...

Mon, 9 Sep 2024

It happens to the best of us — we blank on someone's name, or forget an important meeting, or bomb...

Mon, 2 Sep 2024

Saying no to someone who asks for something is often easier said than done. Maybe it's a boss who wa...

Mon, 26 Aug 2024

Many of us feel like there aren't enough hours in the day. We struggle to make time for all the comp...

Mon, 19 Aug 2024

Are you someone who strikes up a conversation with the person next to you on the train? Or do you ke...

Mon, 12 Aug 2024

Whether in your personal life or at work, you've probably experienced what it’s like to have peopl...

Mon, 5 Aug 2024

When we meet new people, we’re often drawn to those with a commanding presence or a dazzling perso...

Mon, 29 Jul 2024

When we think about misinformation, we often focus on blatant errors or deliberate attempts to decei...

Mon, 22 Jul 2024

We're always told to reach for that next ring, work that third job, go to that boisterous party afte...

Mon, 15 Jul 2024

As we move through the world, it's easy to imagine we're processing everything that happens around u...

Mon, 8 Jul 2024

Cognitive scientist Nafees Hamid studies the minds of people drawn to radical or fringe ideas. This ...

Mon, 1 Jul 2024

You know that negative voice that goes round and round in your head, keeping you up at night? When t...

Mon, 24 Jun 2024

Across every domain of our lives, our minds have a tendency to get accustomed to things. In fact, th...

Mon, 17 Jun 2024

Some think of religious faith as just that: a leap of faith. But psychologists are increasingly fill...

Mon, 10 Jun 2024

Have you ever had an unexplainable feeling of emptiness? Life seems perfect - and yet - something is...

Mon, 3 Jun 2024

Thinking is a human superpower. On a daily basis, thinking and planning and effort bring us innumera...

Mon, 27 May 2024

The human drive to invent new things has led to pathbreaking achievements in medicine, science and s...

Mon, 20 May 2024

Most of us love to brainstorm with colleagues. But so often, our idea-generating sessions don't lead...

Mon, 13 May 2024

Think about the last time you asked someone for something. Maybe you were nervous or worried about w...

Mon, 6 May 2024

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt that people wrote you off? Maybe a teacher suggeste...

Mon, 29 Apr 2024

Why is it so hard to guess where we're meant to be? To predict where we'll end up? Nearly all of us ...

Mon, 22 Apr 2024

If you're a parent or a teacher, you've probably wondered how to balance play and safety for the kid...

Mon, 15 Apr 2024

We've all had those days when all we want is a little treat. Maybe it's a bag of chips, an ice cream...

Mon, 8 Apr 2024

Anthropologist Tom Pearson was devastated after his daughter Michaela was diagnosed with Down syndro...

Mon, 1 Apr 2024

If you've ever taken an economics class, you were probably taught that people are rational. But abou...

Mon, 25 Mar 2024

Have you ever sat across from your spouse, colleague or friend and realized that while they may be h...

Mon, 18 Mar 2024

Many of us believe we know how we’d choose to die. We have a sense of how we’d respond to a diag...

Mon, 11 Mar 2024

A little more than a decade ago, researchers began tracking an alarming trend: a dramatic uptick in ...

Mon, 4 Mar 2024

Fear is a normal and healthy response to things that may harm us. But fear can also hold us back fro...

Mon, 26 Feb 2024

Over the past few weeks, we've been exploring the psychology of partisanship, and how to effectively...

Mon, 19 Feb 2024

We typically divide the country into two distinct groups: Democrats and Republicans. But what if the...

Mon, 12 Feb 2024

Conflicts are inevitable — both at a global scale and in our personal lives. This week, in the lat...

Mon, 5 Feb 2024

There's a saying that's attributed to the Dalai Lama: in the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is t...

Mon, 29 Jan 2024

The United States, we’re told, is increasingly a house divided. Conservatives and progressives are...

Mon, 22 Jan 2024

We rely on our memory to understand the world. But what if our memories aren't true? This week, we t...

Mon, 15 Jan 2024

We spend more and more of our lives staring at screens. Our cellphones, smartwatches and laptops all...

Mon, 8 Jan 2024

Most of us feel that our emotions are reactions to those outside of us. Someone cuts us off in traff...

Mon, 1 Jan 2024

When we're learning, or trying new things, mistakes are inevitable. Some of these mistakes provide u...

Mon, 25 Dec 2023

Humans have wrestled with questions about identity and purpose for millennia. So it’s no surprise ...

Mon, 18 Dec 2023

When was the last time you set a goal and struggled to reach it? Perhaps you're trying to write a no...

Mon, 11 Dec 2023

We like to tell kids, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But from a very early age, we humans ...

Mon, 4 Dec 2023

Think about the last time you were struck by a gorgeous painting in a museum, or heard a song that b...

Mon, 27 Nov 2023

Why is it so hard to say 'I'm sorry?' In the final episode of our Healing 2.0 series, we talk with p...

Mon, 20 Nov 2023

In 2019, Justin Harrison's mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer. But by the time she died, he had ...

Mon, 13 Nov 2023

You've probably heard that people who lose a loved one may go through what are known as the "five st...

Mon, 6 Nov 2023

We’ve all heard the saying, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” But is there any tru...

Mon, 30 Oct 2023

We all tell stories about ourselves, often without realizing we’re doing so. How we frame those st...

Mon, 23 Oct 2023

One of the mysteries of human behavior is that it’s often easier for us to focus on what’s going...

Mon, 16 Oct 2023

As we move through our lives, we have to make decisions both big and small. Some are banal: What wil...

Mon, 9 Oct 2023

We like to think that con artists only prey upon the weak, or gullible. But psychologist Dan Simons ...

Mon, 2 Oct 2023

Perfectionism is everyone’s favorite flaw. It’s easy to assume that our push to be perfect is wh...

Mon, 25 Sep 2023

It's easy to think that the best teams are collections of highly accomplished or talented individual...

Mon, 18 Sep 2023

After we make a decision, we often tell ourselves a story about why our choice was the right one to ...

Mon, 11 Sep 2023

Think about the last time you did something you knew was wrong. How did you explain your actions to ...

Mon, 4 Sep 2023

How often do you say something negative to yourself that you'd never utter to someone else? Self-cri...

Mon, 28 Aug 2023

Sorrows have a way of finding us, no matter how hard we try to avoid them. Joys, on the other hand, ...

Mon, 21 Aug 2023

It’s understandable that we sometimes dwell on things that upset us. But our negative emotions can...

Mon, 14 Aug 2023

Have you ever set a goal and had a really difficult time sticking to it? Maybe you decide you want t...

Mon, 7 Aug 2023

There are times in life when the challenges we face feel insurmountable. Authors succumb to writer's...

Mon, 31 Jul 2023

Think about how often you hold back honest opinions of someone else because you don’t want to hurt...

Mon, 24 Jul 2023

No matter who you are, it's guaranteed that at some point in life you'll make a mistake. Many of us ...

Mon, 17 Jul 2023

This week, we bring you the second part of our conversation on the perils of too much pleasure. Psyc...

Mon, 10 Jul 2023

All of us think we know what addiction looks like: it’s the compulsive consumption of drugs, alcoh...

Mon, 3 Jul 2023

It's not easy to know how we come across to others, especially when we're meeting people for the fir...

Mon, 26 Jun 2023

Aging isn’t just a biological process. Our outlook and emotions also change as we age, often in wa...

Mon, 19 Jun 2023

Think about the last time you resisted watching yet another episode of your favorite TV show, or dec...

Mon, 12 Jun 2023

Determination, hard work and sacrifice are core ingredients in the story of the American dream. But ...

Thu, 8 Jun 2023

In the second part of our series on the science of meditation, Richard Davidson continues his endeav...

Mon, 5 Jun 2023

In graduate school, neuroscientist Richard Davidson learned to use scientific tools as a way to exam...

Mon, 29 May 2023

There are plenty of talented people in the world. So why do only a tiny percentage of us reach the h...

Mon, 22 May 2023

We all have times when we feel like a fraud. In the latest installment of our Success 2.0 series, we...

Mon, 15 May 2023

Think about the last time you tried to bring up an idea at work, and it was shot down. What did you ...

Sun, 14 May 2023

Do you love the ideas we explore on Hidden Brain and want more of them? Then please join Hidden Brai...

Mon, 8 May 2023

We all rely on incentives to get people to do things they might otherwise avoid. Parents reward kids...

Mon, 1 May 2023

American culture celebrates those who persevere in the face of adversity. So how do we know when to ...

Mon, 24 Apr 2023

We all have moments in our lives when we see someone who could use a helping hand. It could be a fri...

Mon, 17 Apr 2023

It happens to the best of us — we blank on someone's name, or forget an important meeting, or bomb...

Mon, 10 Apr 2023

It used to be that we tried our best to conceal disadvantages, hardships, and humiliations. But new ...

Thu, 6 Apr 2023

Why do some companies become household names, while others flame out? How do certain memes go viral?...

Mon, 3 Apr 2023

At every stage of life, there are moments when we need buy-in from other people. Yet most of us make...

Mon, 27 Mar 2023

When James and Donovan first met, they knew little about each other, except that Donovan had stolen ...

Mon, 20 Mar 2023

Stories help us make sense of the world, and can even help us heal from trauma. They also shape our ...

Tue, 14 Mar 2023

In the second part of our series on implicit bias, we explore the relationship between beliefs and b...

Mon, 13 Mar 2023

Would you consider yourself to be prejudiced against people who are different from you? Most of us w...

Mon, 6 Mar 2023

As you move through the world, it's inevitable that your way of seeing things won't always align wit...

Mon, 27 Feb 2023

Many of us rush through our lives, chasing goals and just trying to get everything done. But that ca...

Thu, 23 Feb 2023

Sometimes, life can feel like being stuck on a treadmill. No matter how hard you try to feel happier...

Mon, 20 Feb 2023

Having a sense of purpose can be a buffer against the challenges we all face at various stages of li...

Mon, 13 Feb 2023

It's natural to want to run away from difficult emotions such as grief, anger and fear. But what hap...

Mon, 6 Feb 2023

Many of us believe that hard work and persistence are the key to achieving our goals. But is that tr...

Mon, 30 Jan 2023

When we want something very badly, it can be hard to see warning signs that might be obvious to othe...

Mon, 23 Jan 2023

Think back to the last time someone convinced you to do something you didn't want to do, or to spend...

Mon, 16 Jan 2023

We all exert pressure on each other in ways small and profound. We recommend movies or books to a fr...

Mon, 9 Jan 2023

If you think about the people in your life, it's likely that they share a lot in common with you. Ma...

Mon, 2 Jan 2023

We all have to make certain choices in life, such as where to live and how to earn a living.  Paren...

Mon, 26 Dec 2022

It's the time of year when many of us make resolutions for the year ahead. We pledge to quit smoking...

Mon, 19 Dec 2022

We often look down on people who complain a lot. Yet when something goes wrong in our own lives, man...

Mon, 12 Dec 2022

People in every country and culture mark important milestones, such as births, marriages and deaths,...

Mon, 5 Dec 2022

With the holidays upon us, many of us are hunting for that special something for the special someone...

Mon, 28 Nov 2022

Everyone wants to be loved and appreciated. In the final episode of our Relationships 2.0 series, we...

Mon, 21 Nov 2022

No one will deny that marriage is hard. In fact, there's evidence it's getting even harder. This wee...

Mon, 14 Nov 2022

When you go to a medical appointment, your doctor may ask you several questions. Do you smoke? Have ...

Mon, 7 Nov 2022

As you're going about your day, you likely interact with family, friends and coworkers. These relati...

Mon, 31 Oct 2022

When it comes to conflict, most of us just want to shut it down. But psychological research is incre...

Mon, 24 Oct 2022

Anxiety is an uncomfortable emotion, which is why most of us try to avoid it.  But psychologist Tra...

Mon, 17 Oct 2022

We all face tough decisions in life, whether we're juggling the demands of work and family or decidi...

Mon, 10 Oct 2022

Have you ever been falsely accused of something? Many of us think there’s only one way we’d act ...

Mon, 3 Oct 2022

If you're bilingual or multilingual, you may have noticed that different languages make you stretch ...

Mon, 26 Sep 2022

Many of us feel like there aren't enough hours in the day. We struggle to make time for all the comp...

Mon, 19 Sep 2022

So often, we think we know what other people are thinking. But researchers have found that our attem...

Mon, 12 Sep 2022

We like to think that all humans are born with the same core emotions: anger, fear, joy, sadness and...

Mon, 5 Sep 2022

All of us want to feel safe in our daily lives. Yet when we think about crime, our first response is...

Mon, 29 Aug 2022

In the United States, we often praise people with strong convictions, and look down on those who exp...

Mon, 22 Aug 2022

The pressure. The expectations. The anxiety. If there’s one thing that many of us have in common, ...

Mon, 15 Aug 2022

Some challenges can feel insurmountable. But psychologist Emily Balcetis says the solutions are ofte...

Mon, 8 Aug 2022

How well do we know ourselves? Maybe the better question to ask is how well can we truly know oursel...

Mon, 1 Aug 2022

You know that negative voice that goes round and round in your head, keeping you up at night?  When...

Mon, 25 Jul 2022

We often assume that we see ourselves and the world around us accurately. But psychologist Alia Crum...

Mon, 18 Jul 2022

We often assume that we see ourselves and the world around us accurately. But psychologist Alia Crum...

Mon, 11 Jul 2022

Have you ever gotten into a heated argument about politics? Maybe you’ve said something you're not...

Mon, 4 Jul 2022

We've all heard the saying, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." But is there any truth to th...

Mon, 27 Jun 2022

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." Those words, penned by Th...

Mon, 20 Jun 2022

When Paul Burnham was a teenager, he received what felt like a premonition: he would die at the age ...

Mon, 13 Jun 2022

From the time we are schoolchildren, we are ranked and sorted based on how smart we are. But what if...

Mon, 6 Jun 2022

The human drive to invent new things has led to pathbreaking achievements in medicine, science and s...

Mon, 30 May 2022

What do the things you buy say about you? Many of us like to think of ourselves as immune to slick a...

Mon, 23 May 2022

Where do you stand on the income ladder? Do you think of yourself as rich, as poor, or as somewhere ...

Mon, 16 May 2022

What’s the point of money? The answer might seem obvious: we need it to get paid for our work and ...

Mon, 9 May 2022

Have you had a recent surprise expense? You're not alone. More than half of American households repo...

Mon, 2 May 2022

Money worries are one of the biggest sources of anxiety in the lives of Americans. This week, we kic...

Mon, 25 Apr 2022

Neuroscientist Doug Fields was on a trip to Europe when a pickpocket stole his wallet. Doug, normall...

Mon, 18 Apr 2022

Have you ever been in a position where you had to choose between someone you care about and a value ...

Thu, 14 Apr 2022

We all self-censor at times. We keep quiet at dinner with our in-laws, or nod passively in a work me...

Mon, 11 Apr 2022

It’s not your imagination: rudeness appears to be on the rise. Witnessing rude behavior — whethe...

Mon, 4 Apr 2022

We’ve all heard about the five stages of grief. But what happens when your experience doesn’t fo...

Mon, 28 Mar 2022

When disaster strikes — from the explosion of a space shuttle to the spread of a deadly virus — ...

Mon, 21 Mar 2022

Does power truly flow from the barrel of a gun? Pop culture and conventional history often teach us ...

Thu, 17 Mar 2022

Social media sites offer quick and easy ways to share ideas, crack jokes, find old friends. They can...

Mon, 14 Mar 2022

We've all been in situations where we experience mixed emotions. Maybe you've felt both joy and sadn...

Mon, 7 Mar 2022

Do you ever stop to wonder if the way you see the world is how the world really is?  Economist Abhi...

Mon, 28 Feb 2022

Do you ever struggle to communicate with your mom? Or feel like you and your spouse sometimes speak ...

Mon, 21 Feb 2022

Turn on the news, and you'll be bombarded with stories of people who lie, cheat, and kill. Most of o...

Mon, 14 Feb 2022

It’s easy to spot bias in other people, especially those with whom we disagree.  But it’s not s...

Mon, 7 Feb 2022

It's not easy to know how we come across to others, especially when we're meeting people for the fir...

Mon, 31 Jan 2022

As we go through life, we’re constantly trying to figure out what other people are thinking and fe...

Fri, 28 Jan 2022

Sanaa is on her train ride home when an angry man begins threatening her. Before he gets too close, ...

Tue, 25 Jan 2022

Life is often filled with hardships and tragedies. For thousands of years, philosophers have come up...

Mon, 17 Jan 2022

Everyone wants to be loved and appreciated. But psychologist Harry Reis says there’s another ingre...

Fri, 14 Jan 2022

It's 1979, and Wendy is eight years old, crying alone in an airport. Then she sees a woman in white ...

Mon, 10 Jan 2022

The rift between police and Black Americans can feel impossible to bridge. But in his work with poli...

Mon, 3 Jan 2022

All of us make choices all the time, and we may think we're making those choices freely. But psychol...

Mon, 27 Dec 2021

At the beginning of the year, many of us make resolutions for the months to come. We resolve to work...

Fri, 24 Dec 2021

Justin is  sitting on the side of the freeway, hoping someone will help him fix his busted wheel. R...

Mon, 20 Dec 2021

Bababa, dadada, ahgaga. Got that? Babies are speaking to us all the time, but most of us have no clu...

Mon, 13 Dec 2021

We all have times when we feel like a fraud. Psychologist Kevin Cokley studies the corrosive effects...

Fri, 10 Dec 2021

It's 1994, and two men corner Leah on a dark street as she's walking home. Then she sees a car, and ...

Mon, 6 Dec 2021

It’s psychologically simpler to see the world in black and white. But reality often comes in shade...

Mon, 29 Nov 2021

If you’re working from home, you might be reveling in your daily commute to the dining room table....

Wed, 24 Nov 2021

Tony is angry at his English teacher, Mrs. Holman, for making him stay after class. But on the last ...

Mon, 22 Nov 2021

Editor’s Note August 7, 2023: In 2023, a group of academic researchers publicly shared concerns ab...

Mon, 15 Nov 2021

Many of us spend our workdays responding to a never-ending stream of emails and texts. We feel stres...

Fri, 12 Nov 2021

Today we're sharing another episode of our new podcast, My Unsung Hero. To hear more stories like th...

Mon, 8 Nov 2021

The world of play and the world of work are often seen as opposites. But they may have more in commo...

Mon, 1 Nov 2021

Introducing new ideas is hard. Most of us think the best way to win people over is to push harder. B...

Mon, 25 Oct 2021

We’ve grown accustomed to viewing climate change as an enemy we must urgently defeat. But is that ...

Fri, 22 Oct 2021

Today we're sharing another episode of our new podcast, My Unsung Hero. Subscribe, and enjoy! In 200...

Mon, 18 Oct 2021

In 1978, Judy, Lyn and Donna Ulrich were driving to a volleyball game when their Ford Pinto was hit ...

Mon, 11 Oct 2021

Self-criticism is often seen as a virtue. But psychologist Kristin Neff says there’s a better path...

Fri, 8 Oct 2021

My Unsung Hero is here! We're excited to share one of the first episodes of our new podcast. Episode...

Mon, 4 Oct 2021

When we want something very badly, it can be hard to see warning signs that might be obvious to othe...

Mon, 27 Sep 2021

Many Americans feel an obligation to keep up with political news. But maybe we should be focusing ou...

Fri, 24 Sep 2021

Longtime Hidden Brain listeners know that for years, we've thanked an unsung hero at the end of ever...

Mon, 20 Sep 2021

How do the groups you identify with shape your sense of self? Do they influence the beer you buy? Th...

Mon, 13 Sep 2021

Casual sex typically isn't about love. But what if it's not even about lust? Sociologist Lisa Wade s...

Mon, 6 Sep 2021

We all think we know what will make us happy: more money. A better job. Love. But psychologist Sonja...

Mon, 30 Aug 2021

We all have regrets. By some estimates, regret is one of the most common emotions we experience in o...

Mon, 23 Aug 2021

Our memories are easily contaminated. We can be made to believe we rode in a hot air balloon or kiss...

Mon, 16 Aug 2021

Marriage is hard — and there are signs it's becoming even harder. In the third episode of our You ...

Mon, 9 Aug 2021

In a fit of anger or in the grip of fear, many of us make decisions that we never would have anticip...

Mon, 2 Aug 2021

Having a sense of purpose can be a buffer against the challenges we all face at various stages of li...

Mon, 26 Jul 2021

As floods, wildfires, and heatwaves hit many parts of the world, signs of climate change seem to be ...

Mon, 19 Jul 2021

The pressure. The expectations. The anxiety. If there's one thing that connects the athletes gatheri...

Mon, 12 Jul 2021

What is it like to be the only woman at the (poker) table? Or a rare man in a supposedly "feminine" ...

Mon, 5 Jul 2021

Think about the resolutions you made this year: to quit smoking, eat better, or get more exercise. I...

Mon, 28 Jun 2021

Think about the last time you asked someone for something. Maybe you were nervous or worried about w...

Thu, 24 Jun 2021

In December 1988, two sets of identical twins became test subjects in a study for which they had nev...

Mon, 21 Jun 2021

Why is it so hard to say 'I'm sorry?' In part two of our series on forgiveness and apologies, we tal...

Mon, 14 Jun 2021

Granting forgiveness for the wrongs done to us can be one of the hardest things we face in life. But...

Fri, 11 Jun 2021

Coincidences can feel like magic. When we realize that a co-worker shares our birthday or run into a...

Mon, 7 Jun 2021

Have you ever opened your computer with the intention of sending one email — only to spend an hour...

Mon, 31 May 2021

What do the things you own say about who you are? Psychologist Bruce Hood studies our relationship w...

Mon, 24 May 2021

No matter how hard we work, we won’t always achieve the goals we set for ourselves. When cognitive...

Fri, 21 May 2021

In the past weeks, headlines around the world have focused on the violent conflict between Israelis ...

Mon, 17 May 2021

Psychologist Daniel Kahneman says there are invisible factors that distort our judgment. He calls th...

Mon, 10 May 2021

Have you ever felt as if someone else was writing your personal narrative? Controlling what you do, ...

Fri, 7 May 2021

At the end of every episode, we take a moment to thank an Unsung Hero: someone who’s not on the st...

Mon, 3 May 2021

Your brain is divided in two: a left hemisphere and a right hemisphere. In this 2019 episode of Hidd...

Fri, 30 Apr 2021

In every episode of Hidden Brain, we thank an Unsung Hero — a colleague, a friend or a family memb...

Mon, 26 Apr 2021

Do you ever struggle to communicate with your mom? Or feel like you and your spouse sometimes speak ...

Fri, 23 Apr 2021

In every episode of Hidden Brain, we thank an Unsung Hero. Many listeners have written to say they l...

Mon, 19 Apr 2021

Hahaha! The average four-year-old child laughs 300 times a day. By contrast, it takes more than two ...

Mon, 12 Apr 2021

More than a century ago, millions of people around the world died in a massive influenza pandemic. T...

Mon, 5 Apr 2021

Podcast hosts are used to being the ones asking the questions. This week, though, we’re going to f...

Mon, 29 Mar 2021

Stories help us make sense of the world, and can even help us to heal from trauma. They also shape o...

Mon, 22 Mar 2021

We can’t go back and change the past. We can’t erase trauma and hardship. But what if there was ...

Mon, 15 Mar 2021

Why is my friend late? How does nuclear fission work? What occurs when I sneeze? We all need to unde...

Tue, 9 Mar 2021

For generations, it was difficult, even dangerous, to express a sexual orientation other than hetero...

Mon, 1 Mar 2021

Why do some companies become household names, while others flame out? How do certain memes go viral?...

Fri, 26 Feb 2021

We get messages all the time from listeners who say Hidden Brain has helped them to think differentl...

Mon, 22 Feb 2021

If you've taken part in a religious service, have you ever stopped to think about how people become ...

Tue, 16 Feb 2021

Being able to see what’s happening around us can help us make smart decisions. But knowledge — e...

Sat, 13 Feb 2021

Why do some relationships last, while others falter? In this bonus episode, Shankar looks at one thi...

Mon, 8 Feb 2021

Stereotypes are all around us, shaping how we see the world – and how the world sees us. On the su...

Mon, 1 Feb 2021

Physicist Richard Feynman once said, “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and ...

Mon, 25 Jan 2021

Around the world, people are grappling with the risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. How do our min...

Mon, 18 Jan 2021

All of us are surrounded by brands. Designer brands. Bargain-shopper brands. Brands for seemingly ev...

Mon, 11 Jan 2021

It’s human nature to hide parts of ourselves that produce shame or anxiety. We tend to skip over d...

Mon, 4 Jan 2021

It's easy to spot bias in other people, especially those with whom we disagree. But it’s not so e...

Mon, 28 Dec 2020

At the beginning of the year, many of us make resolutions for the months to come. We resolve to work...

Tue, 22 Dec 2020

For so many people across the globe, 2020 has been a year of waiting and uncertainty. Waiting to see...

Mon, 14 Dec 2020

Life is filled with hardships and tragedies — a fact that 2020 has made all too clear for people a...

Mon, 7 Dec 2020

Turn on the news or look at Twitter, and it's likely you'll be bombarded by outrage. Many people hav...

Mon, 30 Nov 2020

We all self-censor at times. We keep quiet at dinner with our in-laws, or nod passively in a work me...

Mon, 23 Nov 2020

Many of us struggle with self-control. And we assume willpower is the key to achieving our goals. B...

Mon, 16 Nov 2020

If you're one of the 40 percent of Americans now working from home, you might be reveling in your da...

Mon, 9 Nov 2020

Determination, hard work and sacrifice are core ingredients in the story of the American dream. But ...

Mon, 2 Nov 2020

As election season comes to a close, we explore our contradictory relationship with winners and lose...

Mon, 26 Oct 2020

We typically divide the country into two distinct groups: Democrats and Republicans. But what if the...

Mon, 19 Oct 2020

Most of us have a clear sense of right and wrong. But what happens when we view politics through a m...

Mon, 12 Oct 2020

There’s no question that 2020 has been a tough year. We're grappling with a global pandemic. A dee...

Mon, 5 Oct 2020

Neuroscientist Doug Fields was on a trip to Europe when a pickpocket stole his wallet. Doug, normall...

Fri, 2 Oct 2020

It’s been five years since we launched this podcast. Today, we want to take a moment to thank the ...

Mon, 28 Sep 2020

If you listen closely to giggles, guffaws, and polite chuckles, you can discern a huge amount of inf...

Mon, 21 Sep 2020

Judy, Lyn and Donna Ulrich were driving to a volleyball game when their Ford Pinto was hit from behi...

Mon, 14 Sep 2020

If you've ever flown in economy class on a plane, you probably had to walk through the first class c...

Mon, 7 Sep 2020

The United States spends trillions of dollars on healthcare every year, but our outcomes are worse t...

Mon, 31 Aug 2020

Some people are good at putting themselves in another person's shoes. Others may struggle to relate....

Mon, 24 Aug 2020

American culture is all about positive affirmations. Dream big! Shoot for the stars! But do positive...

Mon, 17 Aug 2020

Maya Shankar was well on her way to a career as a violinist when an injury closed that door. This we...

Mon, 10 Aug 2020

Some challenges feel insurmountable. But psychologist Emily Balcetis says the solutions are often ri...

Mon, 3 Aug 2020

Sometimes, life can feel like being stuck on a treadmill. No matter how hard you try to get happier,...

Mon, 27 Jul 2020

There is great comfort in the familiar. It's one reason humans often flock to other people who share...

Mon, 20 Jul 2020

In 2019, a novel by a new author, Gail Shepherd, arrived in bookstores. The True History of Lyndie B...

Mon, 13 Jul 2020

How do you change someone's behavior? Most of us would point to education or persuasion. But what if...

Mon, 6 Jul 2020

Not long after his sixteenth birthday, Fred Clay was arrested for the murder of a cab driver in Bost...

Mon, 29 Jun 2020

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." These words, pe...

Mon, 22 Jun 2020

Policymakers have a tried-and-true game plan for jump-starting the economy in times of severe recess...

Mon, 15 Jun 2020

In the past few weeks, the nation has been gripped by protests against police brutality toward black...

Fri, 12 Jun 2020

President Trump said this week that a few "bad apples" were to blame for police killings o...

Mon, 8 Jun 2020

If we do a favor for someone we know, we think we've done a good deed. What we don't tend to ask is:...

Mon, 1 Jun 2020

When we are asked to make a moral choice, many of us imagine it involves listening to our hearts. To...

Sat, 30 May 2020

In recent months, many of us have looked back with longing at our lives before COVID-19. For many of...

Mon, 25 May 2020

Far from being "the great equalizer," COVID-19 has disproportionately sickened and killed ...

Mon, 18 May 2020

In the months since the spread of the coronavirus, stories of selfishness and exploitation have beco...

Wed, 13 May 2020

Commencement ceremonies allow us to take stock of what we've accomplished and where we're headed. Th...

Mon, 11 May 2020

In recent months, many of us have become familiar with the sense of fear expressing itself in our bo...

Mon, 4 May 2020

An abundance of choices is a good thing, right? In the United States, where choice is often equated ...

Mon, 27 Apr 2020

Amidst the confusion and chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have sought out a long-trusted l...

Mon, 20 Apr 2020

Confined to our homes, many of us are experiencing a newfound appreciation for our social relationsh...

Mon, 13 Apr 2020

From stone statues to silicone works of art, we have long sought solace and sex from inanimate objec...

Mon, 6 Apr 2020

We all know people who prefer to follow the rules, and others who prefer to flout them. Psychologist...

Mon, 30 Mar 2020

A silver lining of social distancing: you may have more time and space to pursue the projects you've...

Mon, 23 Mar 2020

A virus is more than a biological organism. It's a social organism. It detects fissures in societies...

Mon, 16 Mar 2020

It sounds like a movie plot: police discover the body of a young man who's been murdered. The body t...

Tue, 10 Mar 2020

We know that we live in an ever-changing world, but one thing we often overlook is demographic chang...

Tue, 3 Mar 2020

In 2009, an old man died in a California nursing home. His obituary included not just his given name...

Mon, 24 Feb 2020

Think about the last time you asked someone for something. Maybe you were nervous or worried about w...

Mon, 17 Feb 2020

Editor’s note: Since this episode first aired, researchers have raised concerns about a number of ...

Mon, 10 Feb 2020

Many Americans feel an obligation to keep up with political news. But maybe we should be focusing ou...

Tue, 4 Feb 2020

There can be a lot of psychological noise involved in teaching. But what if we replaced all that men...

Mon, 27 Jan 2020

Where is the line between what is real and what is imaginary? It seems like an easy question to answ...

Mon, 20 Jan 2020

After a disaster happens, we want to know whether something could have been done to avoid it. Did an...

Mon, 13 Jan 2020

What's the point of money? The answer might seem obvious: we need it to get paid for our work, and t...

Mon, 6 Jan 2020

What would drive someone to take another person's life? When researchers at the University of Chicag...

Mon, 30 Dec 2019

At the beginning of the year, many of us make resolutions for the months to come. We resolve to work...

Mon, 23 Dec 2019

Why do we fall for surprise endings? It turns out that our capacity to be easily fooled in books and...

Tue, 17 Dec 2019

Our memories are easily contaminated. We can be made to believe we rode in a hot air balloon or kiss...

Mon, 9 Dec 2019

There's a core belief embedded in the story of the United States — the American Dream. Today we lo...

Tue, 3 Dec 2019

In a fit of anger or in the grip of fear, many of us make decisions that we never would have anticip...

Mon, 25 Nov 2019

Envy is one of the most unpleasant of all human emotions. It also turns out to be one of the most di...

Tue, 19 Nov 2019

Many of us believe we know how we'd choose to die. We have a sense of how we'd respond to a diagnosi...

Mon, 11 Nov 2019

Anyone who's tried (and failed) to follow a diet knows that food is more than fuel. This week, we re...

Mon, 4 Nov 2019

Can we affect the rise and fall of the economy? This week on Hidden Brain, we talk with Nobel Prize-...

Mon, 28 Oct 2019

Have you ever had a job where you had to stop and ask yourself: what am I doing here? If I quit tomo...

Mon, 21 Oct 2019

What makes the mind of a human different from that of other animals? Psychologist Laurie Santos says...

Mon, 14 Oct 2019

Boys get the message at a young age: don't show your feelings. Don't rely on anyone. This week, we b...

Mon, 7 Oct 2019

Turn on the news or look at Twitter, and it's likely you'll be bombarded by outrage. Many people hav...

Mon, 30 Sep 2019

Babies are speaking to us all the time, but most of us have no clue what they're saying. To research...

Mon, 23 Sep 2019

Last week, we spoke with psychologist Sheldon Solomon about the fear of death and how it shapes our ...

Mon, 16 Sep 2019

Death may be inescapable, but we do our best to avoid thinking about it. Psychologist Sheldon Solomo...

Tue, 10 Sep 2019

Social media sites offer quick and easy ways to share ideas, crack jokes, find old friends. They can...

Mon, 2 Sep 2019

For the last episode in our You 2.0 series, we bring you a favorite conversation with Harvard resear...

Tue, 27 Aug 2019

When your phone buzzes or a notification pops up your screen, do you stop what you're doing to look ...

Mon, 19 Aug 2019

Editor’s Note August 7, 2023: In 2023, a group of academic researchers publicly shared concerns ab...

Mon, 12 Aug 2019

If you live in a big city, you may have noticed new buildings popping up — a high-rise here, a sky...

Mon, 5 Aug 2019

When you're hungry, it can be hard to think of anything other than food. When you're desperately poo...

Mon, 29 Jul 2019

Some people are good at putting themselves in another person's shoes. Others may struggle to relate....

Mon, 22 Jul 2019

Sometimes when we believe something, we resist data that can change our minds. This week, we look at...

Mon, 15 Jul 2019

At some point in our lives, many of us realize that the way we hear our own voice isn't the way othe...

Mon, 8 Jul 2019

The Greek poet Archilochus wrote that "the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one bi...

Mon, 1 Jul 2019

All of us are surrounded by brands. Designer brands. Bargain-shopper brands. Brands for seemingly ev...

Mon, 24 Jun 2019

More than 70,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2017 — many of them from heroin and other opioid...

Mon, 17 Jun 2019

Does living with animals really make us healthier? Why do we eat some animals and keep others as pet...

Mon, 10 Jun 2019

Are women named Virginia more likely to move to Virginia? Are people with the last name of Carpenter...

Mon, 3 Jun 2019

Generations of Americans have struggled against segregation. Most of us believe in the ideal of a co...

Mon, 27 May 2019

Many of us intuitively feel that the bitter partisanship of American politics is bad for our nation....

Mon, 20 May 2019

It happens to all of us: someone recognizes you on the street, calls you by name, and says hello. Yo...

Mon, 13 May 2019

Smarts matter. But other factors may play an even bigger role in whether someone succeeds. This week...

Mon, 6 May 2019

If you've taken part in a religious service, have you ever stopped to think about how it all came to...

Mon, 29 Apr 2019

Placebos belong in clinical trials, not in the doctor's office. That's the conventional wisdom, anyw...

Mon, 22 Apr 2019

If you've ever flown in economy class on a plane, you probably had to walk through the first class c...

Mon, 15 Apr 2019

The desire to find our tribe is universal. We like to know who we are and where we belong. This fasc...

Mon, 8 Apr 2019

For generations, living openly as a gay person in the United States was difficult, and often dangero...

Mon, 1 Apr 2019

Chaos is a part of all of our lives. Sometimes we try to control it. And other times, we just have t...

Mon, 25 Mar 2019

Twin studies aren't just for twins. They're a paradigm for all of us, a way to explore an old questi...

Mon, 18 Mar 2019

All social classes have unspoken rules. From A-list celebrities to teachers, doctors, lawyers, and j...

Mon, 11 Mar 2019

From stone statues to silicone works of art, we have long sought solace and sex from inanimate objec...

Mon, 4 Mar 2019

You own your body. So should you be able to sell parts of it? This week, we explore the concept of &...

Fri, 1 Mar 2019

Annie Duke was about to win $2 million. It was 2004, and she was at the final hand of the World Seri...

Mon, 25 Feb 2019

Our modern world is saturated with awards. From elementary school classrooms to Hollywood to the hal...

Mon, 18 Feb 2019

The eugenicists were utopians, convinced that they were doing hard but necessary things. And that in...

Mon, 11 Feb 2019

Today, more and more of us are living through the people on our screens and in our headphones. It's ...

Mon, 4 Feb 2019

This week, we search for the answer to a deceptively simple question: why is the brain divided? Psyc...

Fri, 1 Feb 2019

What happens when we connect with people whose view of the world is very different from our own? We ...

Mon, 28 Jan 2019

All of us think back to turning points in our lives, and imagine how things could have unfolded diff...

Mon, 21 Jan 2019

We like to think that science evolves in a way that is...rational. But this isn't always the case. T...

Mon, 14 Jan 2019

This week, a scientific look at what makes us laugh. Here's a hint — a lot of it isn't funny. We t...

Mon, 7 Jan 2019

In 2009, an old man died in a California nursing home. His obituary included not just his given nam...

Mon, 31 Dec 2018

Maya Shankar was well on her way to an extraordinary career as a violinist when an injury closed tha...

Mon, 24 Dec 2018

This week, we look at the science of compassion, and why doing good things for others can make a big...

Fri, 21 Dec 2018

We dig into the psychology that determines the foods that make us salivate and the scents that make ...

Mon, 17 Dec 2018

Arguments and bickering can sour family gatherings during the holiday season. This week, we share ti...

Mon, 10 Dec 2018

When a newspaper shuts down, there are obvious costs to the community it serves: job losses, fewer l...

Mon, 3 Dec 2018

Why do we always fall for surprise endings? It turns out that our capacity to be easily fooled in bo...

Mon, 26 Nov 2018

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." These words, pe...

Fri, 23 Nov 2018

We try to translate the mysterious language of babies. And we ask, when should we step back and just...

Mon, 19 Nov 2018

Gender is one of the first things we notice about the people around us. But where do our ideas about...

Mon, 12 Nov 2018

There's a core belief embedded in the story of the United States: the American Dream. This week we ...

Mon, 5 Nov 2018

We're used to the idea that rhetoric sways voters. But what about another element of language: a can...

Mon, 29 Oct 2018

More than 70,000 people died of drug overdoses last year — many of them from heroin and other opio...

Fri, 26 Oct 2018

Have you ever noticed that when something important is missing in your life, your brain can only see...

Mon, 22 Oct 2018

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." It's a popular quote that's made its way ont...

Mon, 15 Oct 2018

There is one truth that has endured through the first two years of Donald Trump's presidency: he has...

Mon, 8 Oct 2018

We often assume our life experiences are the root of our political ideologies. But what if there is ...

Mon, 1 Oct 2018

You've certainly heard some variation of the phrase "be a man." But what does that even me...

Mon, 24 Sep 2018

Nearly a quarter century ago, a group of women accused a prominent playwright of sexual misconduct. ...

Fri, 21 Sep 2018

When Randy Gardner was 17, he won a world record for going eleven days without sleeping. On this Rad...

Mon, 17 Sep 2018

After a disaster happens, we want to know whether something could have been done to avoid it. Did an...

Tue, 11 Sep 2018

If you live in a big city, you may have noticed new buildings popping up — a high-rise here, a sky...

Tue, 4 Sep 2018

Have you ever had a job where you had to stop and ask yourself: what am I doing here? If I quit tomo...

Tue, 28 Aug 2018

The simple "to-do" list may be one of humanity's oldest tools for getting organized. But c...

Tue, 21 Aug 2018

What does it mean to be an original? As part of our summer series, You 2.0, we talk with psychology...

Tue, 14 Aug 2018

There are signs it's getting even harder. In this episode, we explore how long-term relationships ha...

Tue, 7 Aug 2018

Ignorance is bliss, but knowledge is power...right? As part of our summer series, You 2.0, we try to...

Tue, 31 Jul 2018

Finding a new job may be the solution to your woes at work. But there may also be other ways to get ...

Tue, 24 Jul 2018

Editor’s Note August 7, 2023: In 2023, a group of academic researchers publicly shared concerns ab...

Fri, 20 Jul 2018

If you're bilingual or multilingual, you may have noticed that different languages make you stretch ...

Tue, 17 Jul 2018

If you've taken part in a religious service, have you ever stopped to think about how it all came to...

Tue, 10 Jul 2018

Look down at what you're wearing. You picked out that blue shirt, right? And those sandals — you d...

Tue, 3 Jul 2018

There is great comfort in the familiar. It's one reason humans often flock to other people who share...

Tue, 26 Jun 2018

Fake news may seem new, but in reality, it's as old as American journalism. This week, we look at a ...

Fri, 22 Jun 2018

Why are we so often pulled into memories of the past? This week, two emotions we just can't shake: r...

Tue, 19 Jun 2018

As many as 40 percent of students who intend to go to college don't actually show up to their new ca...

Tue, 12 Jun 2018

Anyone who's tried (and failed) to follow a diet knows that food is more than fuel. This week, we di...

Tue, 5 Jun 2018

There can be a lot of psychological noise involved in teaching. But what if we replaced all that men...

Tue, 29 May 2018

Many parents think they can shape their child into a particular kind of adult. Psychologist Alison G...

Tue, 22 May 2018

All of us are time travelers. We go back in history to turning points in our lives, and imagine how ...

Fri, 18 May 2018

How many ads have you encountered today? On this week's radio replay, we discuss the insidiousness o...

Tue, 15 May 2018

Babies are speaking to us all the time, but most of us have no clue what they're saying. To research...

Tue, 8 May 2018

Olutosin Oduwole was an aspiring rapper and college student when he was arrested in 2007. He was cha...

Tue, 1 May 2018

The Greek poet Archilochus wrote that "the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one bi...

Tue, 24 Apr 2018

In 1924, a 17-year-old girl was admitted to the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminde...

Fri, 20 Apr 2018

Political correctness. Free speech. Terrorism. On this week's Radio Replay, we look at the language ...

Tue, 17 Apr 2018

How do you change someone's behavior? Most of us would point to education or persuasion. But what if...

Tue, 10 Apr 2018

Editor’s note: Since this episode first aired, researchers have raised concerns about a number of ...

Tue, 3 Apr 2018

When you're hungry, it can be hard to think of anything other than food. When you're desperately poo...

Tue, 27 Mar 2018

Imagine seeing a cockroach skitter across your kitchen counter. Does that thought gross you out? Thi...

Tue, 20 Mar 2018

Boys get the message at a young age: don't show your feelings. Don't rely on anyone. This week, we t...

Fri, 16 Mar 2018

A culture of racism can infect us all. On this week's Radio Replay, we discuss the implicit biases w...

Tue, 13 Mar 2018

Do humans act rationally? Economic theory has long told us the answer is "yes." But a half...

Tue, 6 Mar 2018

More women are running for political office than ever before in American history. But in politics an...

Tue, 27 Feb 2018

Envy is one of the most unpleasant of all human emotions. It also turns out to be one of the most di...

Tue, 20 Feb 2018

Several years ago, sociologist Brooke Harrington decided to explore the secret lives of billionaires...

Tue, 13 Feb 2018

Marriage is hard — and there are signs it's becoming even harder. This week on Hidden Brain, we ex...

Tue, 6 Feb 2018

Nearly a quarter century ago, a group of women accused a prominent playwright of sexual misconduct. ...

Tue, 30 Jan 2018

Learning new languages can help us understand other cultures and countries. Cognitive science profes...

Fri, 26 Jan 2018

Call it adulation, adoration, idolization: we humans are fascinated by glamour and power. But this t...

Tue, 23 Jan 2018

We've all experienced miscommunications. Their consequences can range from hilarious... to disastrou...

Tue, 16 Jan 2018

Our airwaves are filled with debates about immigrants and refugees. Who should be allowed in the Uni...

Fri, 12 Jan 2018

Do you ever catch yourself yelling at your Alexa? Or typing questions into Google that you wouldn't ...

Tue, 9 Jan 2018

The tone of American politics can be...nasty. But is this nastiness really worse than in previous er...

Tue, 2 Jan 2018

Have you ever opened your computer with the intention of sending one email — only to spend an hour...

Sat, 30 Dec 2017

Unpredictable things happen to us all the time. In the process of getting back on your feet, you may...

Tue, 26 Dec 2017

There are some topics about which it seems no amount of data will change people's minds: things like...

Fri, 22 Dec 2017

Chaos is a part of all of our lives. Sometimes we try to control it. And other times, we just have t...

Tue, 19 Dec 2017

All social classes have unspoken rules. From A-list celebrities to teachers, doctors, lawyers, and j...

Tue, 12 Dec 2017

Many parents think they can shape their child into a particular kind of adult. Psychologist Alison G...

Fri, 8 Dec 2017

In this week's Radio Replay, we bring you stories of fakes, phonies, and con men — and the people ...

Tue, 5 Dec 2017

The desire to find our tribe is universal. We like to know who we are and where we belong. This fasc...

Fri, 1 Dec 2017

What price do we pay for the constant interruptions we get from our phones and computers? And is the...

Tue, 28 Nov 2017

How do you spend your money? On shoes, cars, coffee, fancy restaurants? You might think you use mone...

Tue, 21 Nov 2017

All countries have national myths. The story of the first Thanksgiving, for example, evokes the warm...

Fri, 17 Nov 2017

In moments of anger, it can be hard to take a deep breath or count to ten. But public health researc...

Tue, 14 Nov 2017

What does the song "Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones have in common with the periodic t...

Tue, 7 Nov 2017

Randy Gardner broke a world record in 1963, when he was only 17 years old. His feat? Going 11 days w...

Fri, 3 Nov 2017

Discussions about healthy living usually revolve around diet and exercise. Social interaction is oft...

Tue, 31 Oct 2017

The simple "to-do" list may be one of humanity's oldest tools for keeping organized. But c...

Fri, 27 Oct 2017

Coincidences can make the everyday feel extraordinary. But are they magical, or just mathematical? O...

Tue, 24 Oct 2017

We don't always do what we're supposed to do. We don't save enough for retirement. We order dessert ...

Tue, 17 Oct 2017

Is nostalgia an emotion that's bitter, or sweet? Why are we so often pulled into memories of the pas...

Tue, 10 Oct 2017

Gender is one of the first things we notice about the people around us. But where do our ideas about...

Tue, 3 Oct 2017

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." It's a popular quote that's made its way ont...

Tue, 26 Sep 2017

We all know casual sex isn't about love. But what if it's not even about lust? Sociologist Lisa Wade...

Tue, 19 Sep 2017

Ignorance is bliss, but knowledge is power...right? In this episode of Hidden Brain, we explore why ...

Tue, 12 Sep 2017

We all have regrets. By some estimates, regret is one of the most common emotions experienced in our...

Tue, 5 Sep 2017

Several weeks ago, white supremacists took to the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia, in a demonst...

Tue, 29 Aug 2017

At one time or another, many of us feel stuck: in the wrong job, the wrong relationship, the wrong c...

Tue, 22 Aug 2017

In the latest in our You 2.0 series, we bring you a favorite conversation with Harvard researcher Da...

Tue, 15 Aug 2017

Many of us have heard that we should think positively and visualize ourselves achieving our goals. B...

Tue, 8 Aug 2017

Many of us spend lots of time and energy trying to get organized. We tell our kids to clean their ro...

Tue, 1 Aug 2017

Why do you work? Are you mostly in it for the money, or do you have another purpose? Popular wisdom ...

Tue, 25 Jul 2017

When your phone buzzes or a notification pops up your screen, do you stop what you're doing to look ...

Tue, 18 Jul 2017

According to research from Harvard, as many as 40% of kids who intend to go to college at the time o...

Tue, 11 Jul 2017

Will we one day create machines that are essentially just like us? People have been wrestling with t...

Tue, 4 Jul 2017

It happens to all of us: someone recognizes you on the street, calls you by name, and says hello... ...

Tue, 27 Jun 2017

Pundits and prognosticators make predictions all the time: about everything from elections, to sport...

Tue, 20 Jun 2017

In a five year period from 2011 to 2016, just twelve percent of terrorist attacks in the United Stat...

Tue, 13 Jun 2017

Olutosin Oduwole was an aspiring rapper and college student when he was arrested in 2007. He was giv...

Tue, 6 Jun 2017

After a police-involved shooting, there's often a familiar blame game: Maybe the cop was racist. May...

Tue, 30 May 2017

In the early 1980s, a couple of researchers wrote an article in The Atlantic that would have far-rea...

Tue, 23 May 2017

It's normal to feel drawn to people you share something with — whether that's a name, or a birthda...

Tue, 16 May 2017

The Greek poet Archilochus is known for the phrase, "The fox knows many things; the hedgehog on...

Tue, 9 May 2017

This week on Hidden Brain: coincidences. Why they're not quite as magical as they seem, and the reas...

Tue, 2 May 2017

Have you ever googled something that you would never dream of saying out loud to another human being...

Tue, 25 Apr 2017

How do you spend your money? On food, transportation, or housing? On shoes, cars, coffee, fancy rest...

Tue, 18 Apr 2017

Millions of people around the world use social media every day to stay in touch with friends and fam...

Tue, 11 Apr 2017

This week, Hidden Brain considers the power of touch. First, Alison MacAdam tells us the story of he...

Tue, 4 Apr 2017

Imagine a concrete room, not much bigger than a parking space. You're in there 23 hours a day, 7 day...

Tue, 28 Mar 2017

Editor’s note: Since this episode first aired, researchers have raised concerns about a number of ...

Tue, 21 Mar 2017

When you're hungry, it can be hard to think of anything other than food. When you're desperately poo...

Tue, 14 Mar 2017

There are some topics about which it seems no amount of data will change people's minds: things like...

Tue, 7 Mar 2017

Nearly a year ago, we ran an episode about one of the world's most intractable divides: the Israeli–...

Tue, 28 Feb 2017

Making jokes about politics is a tradition as old as America itself. These days, of course, comedian...

Tue, 21 Feb 2017

What would drive someone to take another person's life? When researchers at the University of Chicag...

Tue, 14 Feb 2017

We all know casual sex isn't about love. But what if it's not even about lust? Sociologist Lisa Wade...

Tue, 7 Feb 2017

A recent paper found that black patients receive less pain medication for broken bones and cancer. B...

Tue, 31 Jan 2017

Barely a week after assuming office, President Donald Trump set off a worldwide firestorm when he de...

Tue, 24 Jan 2017

In the months since the presidential election, many have noted that lots of Americans live in bubble...

Tue, 17 Jan 2017

It's inauguration season, which means balls, parades, and celebrations. We may love the pomp and cir...

Tue, 10 Jan 2017

Young people have always used language in new and different ways, and it has pretty much always driv...

Tue, 3 Jan 2017

At one time or another, many of us feel stuck: in the wrong job, the wrong relationship, the wrong c...

Tue, 27 Dec 2016

Maya Shankar was well on her way to an extraordinary career as a violinist when an injury closed tha...

Tue, 20 Dec 2016

There is a replication "crisis" in psychology: many findings simply do not replicate. Some...

Tue, 13 Dec 2016

Look down at what you're wearing. You picked out that blue shirt, right? And those boots — you dec...

Tue, 6 Dec 2016

It sounds like the plot of a movie: police discover the body of a young man who's been murdered. The...

Tue, 29 Nov 2016

Many of us spend lots of time and energy trying to get organized. We KonMari our closets, we strive ...

Tue, 22 Nov 2016

It happens to all of us: someone recognizes you on the street, calls you by name, and says hello... ...

Tue, 15 Nov 2016

On the morning after election day, pundits, pollsters, politicians, and citizens woke up feeling stu...

Tue, 8 Nov 2016

We didn't hear very much about climate change during this election cycle — and social science rese...

Tue, 1 Nov 2016

In the early 1980s, a couple of researchers wrote an article in The Atlantic that would have far rea...

Tue, 25 Oct 2016

Several years ago, sociologist Brooke Harrington decided to explore the secret lives of billionaires...

Tue, 18 Oct 2016

A century after women won the vote in the US, we still see very few of them in leadership roles. Res...

Tue, 11 Oct 2016

Our airwaves are filled with debates about migrants, refugees, and undocumented immigrants... Who sh...

Tue, 4 Oct 2016

We have lots of ways to describe the good that can come from bad: a blessing in disguise, a silver l...

Tue, 27 Sep 2016

This week on Hidden Brain, coincidences. Why they're not quite as magical as they seem... and the re...

Thu, 22 Sep 2016

We have an anniversary to celebrate. We've been bringing you Hidden Brain for a year now, and we are...

Tue, 20 Sep 2016

A few months ago, Hidden Brain investigated claims that Airbnb users were facing discrimination on t...

Tue, 13 Sep 2016

In the midst of a rancorous election, we present a new theory to explain why the two sides of the ai...

Tue, 6 Sep 2016

We've all heard the old adage that "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolut...

Tue, 30 Aug 2016

Derek Amato wasn't born a musical savant. He became one—almost instantly—after hitting his head ...

Tue, 23 Aug 2016

This week, Harvard researcher Dan Gilbert tells us why we're bad at predicting our future happiness,...

Tue, 16 Aug 2016

This week on Hidden Brain, we explore real and fake, from fine art to fine wine. Shankar speaks with...

Tue, 9 Aug 2016

While everyone is focused on the Olympic winners in Rio, we're zooming in on loss. We have the story...

Tue, 2 Aug 2016

The rush of victory or crush of defeat in the Olympics can flash by very quickly. But if you slow th...

Tue, 26 Jul 2016

Jesse always wanted to fall in love. So when the perfect woman started writing him letters, it seeme...

Tue, 19 Jul 2016

Summer vacations often take time, energy and money to plan. Expectations can run unreasonably high. ...

Tue, 12 Jul 2016

It doesn't take a psychologist to see narcissism in our culture of selfies. But we decided to talk t...

Tue, 5 Jul 2016

Six months ago, Hidden Brain's Max Nesterak made a resolution to quit smoking. But as we all know......

Tue, 28 Jun 2016

This week on Hidden Brain, we find out what makes humans of all ages cheat. Plus in Stopwatch Scienc...

Tue, 21 Jun 2016

This week, Hidden Brain considers the power of touch. First, Alison MacAdam tells us the story of he...

Tue, 14 Jun 2016

In the wake of the mass shooting in Orlando, we explore how groups such as the Islamic State explici...

Tue, 7 Jun 2016

This week on Hidden Brain, Shankar talks to Google's Laszlo Bock for insider tips and insights about...

Tue, 31 May 2016

What do large tables, large breakfasts, and large servers have in common? They all affect how much y...

Tue, 24 May 2016

Lots of psychology studies fail to produce the same results when they are repeated. How do scientist...

Tue, 17 May 2016

Uber is built on the scourge of surge. When demand is high, the company charges two, three, even NIN...

Tue, 10 May 2016

Many of us have heard that we should think positive... Visualize ourselves achieving our goals. But ...

Tue, 3 May 2016

Traffic. You hate it, we hate it, the rest of the world hates it, and unfortunately, our best effort...

Tue, 26 Apr 2016

The sharing economy is great. It gives us opportunities to connect with strangers... to pool resourc...

Tue, 19 Apr 2016

Human beings would be better at fighting climate change if we weren't so, well, human. In this episo...

Tue, 12 Apr 2016

From eating marshmallows to spending lottery winnings, Shankar Vedantam talks with behavioral econom...

Tue, 5 Apr 2016

Grit is a quality that parents strive to teach to their children, and teachers strive to teach their...

Tue, 29 Mar 2016

Why do you work? Are you just in it for the money, or do you do it for a greater purpose? Popular wi...

Tue, 22 Mar 2016

This week on Hidden Brain, two remarkable stories of empathy... And why showing empathy for another ...

Tue, 15 Mar 2016

We've all been there: bored in class, bored at work, bored in standstill traffic. But why do we find...

Tue, 8 Mar 2016

Hidden Brain host Shankar Vedantam talks to comedian Aziz Ansari — star of Master of None and coau...

Tue, 1 Mar 2016

Adam Grant, author of Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, tells us what makes an original...

Tue, 23 Feb 2016

Derek Amato wasn't born a musical savant. He became one—almost instantly—after hitting his head ...

Tue, 16 Feb 2016

J. Marion Sims is remembered as the father of modern gynecology. Forgotten are the mothers—the ens...

Tue, 9 Feb 2016

It's almost Valentine's Day, but this week we're not talking about love. Instead, we explore the oth...

Tue, 2 Feb 2016

Shankar Vedantam explores "almosts" and "not quites" on this episode of the Hidd...

Tue, 26 Jan 2016

After more than a decade of brutal civil war, perpetrators and victims attempted to find peace aroun...

Tue, 19 Jan 2016

Today is the perfect day to (re)start your resolution. Here's how.

Tue, 12 Jan 2016

From eating marshmallows to spending lottery winnings, Shankar Vedantam talks with behavioral econom...

Tue, 5 Jan 2016

Annie Duke was often the only woman at the poker table, which influenced the way people saw her, and...

Tue, 29 Dec 2015

Maya Shankar was well on her way to an extraordinary career as a violinist when an injury closed tha...

Tue, 22 Dec 2015

This is the time of year for giving--whether that's a holiday gift for someone we love, or a charita...

Tue, 15 Dec 2015

Why do young people join ISIS? Is it nihilism, or, as social scientists suggest, a perverse idealism...

Tue, 8 Dec 2015

This week on Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam looks at what we find funny and what, well, crosses the ...

Tue, 1 Dec 2015

This week on Hidden Brain, we explore real and fake, from fine art to fine wine. Shankar speaks with...

Tue, 24 Nov 2015

The holidays are all about generousity, gratitude, and spending time with the people we love. But we...

Tue, 17 Nov 2015

Hidden Brain host Shankar Vedantam talks to comedian Aziz Ansari — star of a new Netflix show and ...

Tue, 10 Nov 2015

This week on Hidden Brain, researcher Katy Milkman explains why backup plans may make us less motiva...

Tue, 3 Nov 2015

Jesse always wanted to fall in love. So when the perfect woman started writing him letters, it seeme...

Tue, 27 Oct 2015

This week, for Halloween, the Hidden Brain podcast gets spooky. We explore the science of fear — t...

Tue, 20 Oct 2015

On this week's episode of Hidden Brain, we'll explore the science of compassion, and how being kind ...

Tue, 13 Oct 2015

In this episode of the Hidden Brain podcast, the connections between students and teachers, and how ...

Tue, 6 Oct 2015

Annie Duke was often the only woman at the poker table, which influenced the way people saw her, and...

Fri, 2 Oct 2015

In time for your Friday commute, we introduce you to a new segment called Magic Brain. Shankar explo...

Tue, 29 Sep 2015

Shankar Vedantam explores "almosts" and "not quites" on this episode of the Hidd...

Tue, 22 Sep 2015

The first episode of Hidden Brain explores switchtracking: a common pattern in conversations you'll ...

Fri, 4 Sep 2015

Check out a few minutes of the latest podcast from NPR: Hidden Brain. Shankar Vedantam explores what...

Sun, 9 Aug 2015

A conversation about life's unseen patterns. Discover what's inside your Hidden Brain... subscribe n...