Hidden Brain Hidden Brain

Think about the last time you were struck by a gorgeous painting in a museum, or heard a song that brought you to tears. All of us know what it’s like to be stopped in our tracks by a beautiful sight. But scientists are still puzzling over why this is the case. What’s the point of beauty? Why is it seemingly so important to us? This week on the show, neuroscientist Anjan Chatterjee explains the function of beauty in our daily lives. Then, Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek describes how beauty served a purpose in some of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of our time.

Why is it so hard to say 'I'm sorry?' In the final episode of our Healing 2.0 series, we talk with psychologist Tyler Okimoto about the mental barriers that keep us from admitting when we've done something wrong, as well as the transformative power of apologies

Psychologist KristIn Neff spends a lot of time thinking about why we say harsh things to ourselves. She studies why so many of us fail to show self-compassion, and how this affects our lives. This week, Kristin returns to Hidden Brain to answer listener questions about self-compassion, and to share more insights about how we can all become kinder to ourselves.

If you missed Kristin's original conversation with us, you can find it in this podcast feed. It's the episode called "Being Kind to Yourself." And if you know someone who you think would enjoy Hidden Brain+, please share this episode with them. Thanks!

In 2019, Justin Harrison's mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer. But by the time she died, he had figured out how to keep a part of her alive...forever. This week, the strange and provocative story of a man who believes that grief is not inevitable — that we can, in a way, cheat death.

You've probably heard that people who lose a loved one may go through what are known as the "five stages" of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. But many people find that their grief doesn't follow this model at all. In the latest installment of our Healing 2.0 series, we revisit our 2022 conversation with resilience researcher Lucy Hone. Lucy shares the techniques she learned to cope after a devastating loss in her own life.

All of us, at various points in our lives, will have to deal with loss, heartache and tragedy. When these moments arrive, our grief can seem vast and endless. Yet researchers who study how we cope with devastating setbacks have found that we are more resilient than we assume. In the latest in our Healing 2.0 series, we talk with psychologist Anthony Mancini about a loss in his own life, and what he's learned about how to make it through life's toughest challenges.