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Hidden Brain

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Why do I feel stuck? How can I become more creative? What can I do to improve my relationships? If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions, you’re not alone. On Hidden Brain, we help you understand your own mind — and the minds of the people around you. (We're routinely rated the #1 science podcast in the United States.) Hosted by veteran science journalist Shankar Vedantam.

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20 episodes
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Avg 1 hr 22 min
English

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Monday · 1 hr 46 min
Why Conversations Go Wrong
Do you ever struggle to communicate with your mom? Or feel like you and your spouse sometimes speak different languages? This week, we revisit a favorite conversation with linguist...
September 7 · 1 hr 34 min
Blowing Up Your Life
Have you ever had a flash of insight that hit you when you least expected it? How did it change your life? Psychologist https://www.mgmt.ucl.ac.uk/people/anthonyklotz studies the "jolts" that shake us out of our routines, and how these moments can...
August 31 · 53 min
The Things We Don't Say
From childhood, we're taught that honesty is the best policy. Yet in everyday life, we hedge, soften our words, and leave things unsaid. This week, we talk with psychologist https://psychology.fas.harvard.edu/people/steven-pinker about why indirect...
August 24 · 54 min
What Art Does For Your Brain
Think about the last time a piece of music stopped you in your tracks, or a novel kept you up late at night. Why do these experiences feel so powerful? Psychobiologist https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/44526-daisy-fancourt says engagement with the arts can...
August 17 · 1 hr 29 min
How to Be A Better Partner
When we look at the people we love, how clearly do we really see them? This week, we talk with psychologist https://psyc.umd.edu/facultyprofile/lemay/edward about how our fears, desires, and insecurities can shape our perceptions of our partners —...
August 10 · 52 min
How Feelings Make Us Smarter
Some people are remarkably good at reading the emotional temperature of a situation. They can pick up on what others are feeling, manage their own emotions, and respond skillfully. What's their secret? This week, we explore the science of emotional...
August 3 · 1 hr 33 min
Making the Most of Your Mistakes
When you're learning, or trying new things, you're going to make mistakes. The trick is to try to fail in a way that gives you useful information. This week, we revisit a favorite conversation with researcher...
July 27 · 1 hr 42 min
You Are Not Ordinary
Stories about unlikely heroes have captivated people for thousands of years. This week, social scientist https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/carroll-school/faculty-research/faculty-directory/benjamin-rogers.html explores why the "hero's journey"...
July 20 · 55 min
How to Combat Pain
Pain feels like a simple message from the body. If your elbow hurts, there must be something wrong with your elbow. If your back is painfully stiff, you need some work done on your back. But psychologist https://www.zoffness.com/ says our minds play a...
July 13 · 1 hr 39 min
Changing Our Mental Maps
As we move through the world, it's easy to imagine we're processing everything that happens around us and then deciding how to respond. But psychologist and neuroscientist https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/psychology/people/norman-farb says our brains...
July 6 · 1 hr 41 min
Waking Up Your Spiritual Brain: Part 2
Last week, we talked with psychologist https://www.tc.columbia.edu/faculty/lfm14/ about the science of spirituality. Today, we explore what those ideas can look like in everyday life. Miller explains why moments of connection, spiritual practices, and...
June 29 · 51 min
Waking Up Your Spiritual Brain: Part 1
Food, safety, and strong relationships are essential to our survival. Psychologist https://www.tc.columbia.edu/faculty/lfm14/ says our brains also crave something else: transcendence. She suggests that spirituality is a universal human capacity, and...
June 22 · 1 hr 36 min
Stepping Out of the Shadows
Why does one bad experience have the power to overshadow an otherwise good day? Psychologist https://psychology.ucdavis.edu/people/alison-ledgerwood explores the negativity bias, the deeply human tendency to hold on to what went wrong and overlook...
June 15 · 1 hr 34 min
A Secret Source of Connection
We all have moments in our lives when we see someone who could use a helping hand. It could be a friend who recently went through a breakup, or an older person trying to load groceries into their car. We tell ourselves we should help, but then...
June 8 · 1 hr 41 min
Who Are You, Really?
You’re not the same person with your friends as you are with your co-workers or your kids. So who are you, really? This week, political scientist https://political-science.uchicago.edu/directory/Eric-Oliver explores why we often feel divided within...
June 1 · 54 min
Unleashing Your Creativity
For centuries, people have described creativity as something mysterious: a flash of insight, a whisper from the muse, a sudden idea that seems to arrive out of nowhere. Psychologist https://www.apdijksterhuis.nl/ explores the hidden mental processes...
May 25 · 56 min
The Past is Never Dead
How does the culture in which you live shape the life that you lead? We all know that culture affects the languages we speak and the foods we eat. But anthropologist https://henrich.fas.harvard.edu/ says the impact of culture goes even further,...
May 18 · 1 hr 36 min
The Empathy Gym
Some people are good at putting themselves in another person's shoes. Others may struggle to relate. But psychologist https://psychology.stanford.edu/people/jamil-zaki argues that empathy isn't a fixed trait. This week, we revisit a favorite episode...
May 11 · 1 hr 37 min
The Cowboy Philosopher
In 2009, an old man died in a California nursing home. His obituary included not just his given name, but a long list of the pseudonyms he’d been known to use. In this classic 2019 episode, we trace the life of Riley Shepard, a hillbilly musician,...
May 4 · 1 hr 37 min
Radical Acceptance
Last week, we looked at the hidden beliefs that can leave us feeling stuck in life. This week, in the second part of our conversation with behavioral scientist https://lifedesignlab.stanford.edu/team, we talk about radical acceptance. Dave shares why...

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