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If you're a parent or a teacher, you've probably wondered how to balance play and safety for the kids in your care. You don't want to put children in danger, but you also don't want to rob them of the joy of exploration. This week, we talk with psychologist Peter Gray about how this balance has changed — for parents and children alike — and what we can do about it.

Do you dread conversations with a relative or co-worker whose political views are different from your own? Psychologist Kurt Gray returns to the show to answer listener questions about how we can better connect with our political adversaries — whether they be a stranger, neighbor, family or friend.

If you missed our original conversation with Kurt Gray, you can find it in this podcast feed — it's the episode called "US 2.0: What We Have In Common." Or you can find it here on our website: https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/us-2-0-what-we-have-in-common/

We've all had those days when all we want is a little treat. Maybe it's a bag of chips, an ice cream sundae or a glass of wine. But sometimes, these desires become all-consuming. This week on the show, psychiatrist Judson Brewer helps us understand the science of cravings, and how we should respond to them.

Anthropologist Tom Pearson was devastated after his daughter Michaela was diagnosed with Down syndrome. When he began to examine that emotional response, he found himself wrestling with questions that have roiled his field for decades. Early anthropologists would often compare people of different backgrounds and abilities, asking questions like: How is one group different from another? Which one is stronger or smarter? And how do we understand people who don’t fit our expectations? This week, we talk with Pearson about his family’s story, and the evolution of our thinking on disability and difference.

The modern world is full of distractions, often created by the devices on which we rely. Fully unplugging isn’t an option for many of us. But psychologist Gloria Mark says there are still ways to claw back our attention without undertaking a full “digital detox.” This week, she returns to Hidden Brain to answer listeners’ questions about how to create space for the focus that we crave.

Did you miss our original conversation with Gloria Mark? It’s the episode in this feed called “Finding Focus,” or you can also find it here: https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/finding-focus/

If you've ever taken an economics class, you were probably taught that people are rational. But about 50 years ago, the psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky began to chip away at this basic assumption. In doing so, they transformed our understanding of human behavior. This week, we remember Kahneman, who recently died at the age of 90, by revisiting our 2018 and 2021 conversations with him.