Hidden Brain

Hidden Brain
  • 4.6 (40K)
  • SOCIAL SCIENCES
  • UPDATED SEMIWEEKLY
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.

  1. 2 DAYS AGO • HIDDEN BRAIN+ ONLY

    How To Protect Yourself Online

    Marketers, political campaigns and technology platforms know a great deal about us. They know where we shop, what we buy, and who our friends are. In part two of our conversation with computational social scientist Sandra Matz, we explore the downsides of digital surveillance and why we may need new kinds of interventions to keep ourselves safe.   If you missed part one of our interview with Sandra Matz, it's the episode titled "What Your Online Self Reveals About You," available on the Hidden Brain podcast or at hiddenbrain.org.

    26 min
  2. What Your Online Self Reveals About You

    2 DAYS AGO

    What Your Online Self Reveals About You

    Every day, we leave small traces of ourselves online. And we might not realize what these traces say about us. This week, computational social scientist Sandra Matz explores how understanding what we actually do online — not just what we think we do — can help us improve our lives.

    52 min

  3. 5 DAYS AGO • HIDDEN BRAIN+ ONLY

    Your Questions Answered: Vanessa Patrick on Saying No

    It’s just a tiny little word, a single syllable. And yet it’s one of the hardest things for most of us to say: no. This week, Vanessa Patrick returns to Hidden Brain to answer your questions about how to turn down requests in a way that preserves relationships. Also, if you missed our initial conversation with Vanessa Patrick, you can find it here: https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/you-2-0-how-to-say-no/

    25 min
  4. The Secret to Gift-Giving

    DEC 9

    The Secret to Gift-Giving

    With the holidays fast approaching, many of us are hunting for that special something for the special someones in our lives. So why is it so hard to find the right gift? This week, we revisit a favorite 2022 conversation with researcher Jeff Galak. We'll discuss why the presents we give for holidays and birthdays often miss their mark, and how to become a better gift-giver.

    46 min
  5. How Monsters are Made

    DEC 2

    How Monsters are Made

    What makes ordinary people do evil things? It was a question that long fascinated the psychologist Philip Zimbardo, who died in October. Zimbardo was best known for the controversial Stanford prison experiment, in which he created a simulated prison in the basement of a university building and recruited volunteers to act as prisoners and guards. This week, we explore how Zimbardo came to create one of psychology's most notorious experiments – and inadvertently became the poster child for the human weaknesses he was trying to study.

    47 min
  6. The Power of Family Stories

    NOV 25

    The Power of Family Stories

    There's a tradition around many Thanksgiving dinner tables that's as consistent as stuffing and pumpkin pie: the family stories that get told year after year. Sometimes these stories are funny; sometimes they make us roll our eyes. No matter how we feel about these tales, we rarely pause to consider how they shape who we are and how we view the world. This week, we talk to psychologist Robyn Fivush about the profound impact that family stories can have on our lives.

    57 min

  7. NOV 25 • HIDDEN BRAIN+ ONLY

    How to Bind Your Family Together

    As we heard in part one of our conversation with psychologist Robyn Fivush, the stories that we tell around the dinner table or at family get-togethers can have surprising psychological benefits. In this episode, exclusively for subscribers to Hidden Brain+, we talk with Robyn about the gender dynamics of family narratives, and techniques to elicit stories from parents and children.

    24 min
  8. Emotions 2.0: The Logic of Rage

    NOV 18

    Emotions 2.0: The Logic of Rage

    Neuroscientist Doug Fields was on a trip to Europe when a pickpocket stole his wallet. Doug, normally mild-mannered, became enraged — and his fury turned him into a stranger to himself. This week, we revisit a favorite 2020 episode about the secret logic of irrational anger.

    47 min
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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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