517 episodes

Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.

Hidden Brain Hidden Brain

    • Science
    • 4.6 • 38.4K Ratings

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

    The Ventilator

    The Ventilator

    Many of us believe we know how we’d choose to die. We have a sense of how we’d respond to a diagnosis of an incurable illness. This week, we revisit a 2019 episode featuring one family’s decades-long conversation about dying. What they found is that the people we are when death is far in the distance may not be the people we become when death is near.

    • 49 min
    Escaping the Matrix

    Escaping the Matrix

    A little more than a decade ago, researchers began tracking an alarming trend: a dramatic uptick in anxiety and depression among young Americans. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt, like many other researchers, says the increase is related to our use of social media and devices. But he believes it’s also deeper than that — connected to our deepest moral beliefs and how they shape the way we view the world. He says there are simple steps we can take to improve the mental health of kids growing up in the smartphone era.

    • 49 min
    Six Practices to Elevate Your Life

    Six Practices to Elevate Your Life

    Deeply-embedded intuitions guide our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors -- often without our awareness. In part two of our conversation with Jonathan Haidt, we explore how we can purposefully deploy these moral foundations in our every day lives.

    If you liked this episode and know someone else who would enjoy Hidden Brain+, please share this episode with them. Thanks for listening.

    Fear Less

    Fear Less

    Fear is a normal and healthy response to things that may harm us. But fear can also hold us back from doing the things we want to do. This week, we talk to psychiatrist and neuroscientist Arash Javanbakht about the psychology of fear — how it helps us, how it hurts us, and what we can do to harness it.

    • 51 min
    US 2.0: Lincoln's Dilemma

    US 2.0: Lincoln's Dilemma

    Over the past few weeks, we've been exploring the psychology of partisanship, and how to effectively handle disagreements with those around us. This week, we conclude our US 2.0 series by turning to the past. We’ll explore how one of the most important leaders in American history — Abraham Lincoln — grappled with the pressing moral question of his time. When, if ever, is it worth compromising your own principles for the sake of greater progress?

    • 52 min
    US 2.0: Where Loyalties Lie

    US 2.0: Where Loyalties Lie

    Have you ever seen a post on Facebook or Twitter that seems blatantly false, and yet thousands of people have liked and shared it? Or perhaps you have a relative who forwards you emails with news articles that are factually inaccurate. This week on the show, psychologist Clara Pretus takes us inside the brains of people who share fake news, and explores ways to decrease the spread of misinformation.

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
38.4K Ratings

38.4K Ratings

Id in ID ,

This show helped me transform my world view…

Hidden Brain does such a great job moving the listener through stories and discussions about thought-provoking topics.

If you are in a place where you’re challenging your own personal growth, trying to overcome interpersonal or cultural challenges, or just interested in science updates about how our brains work then this podcast is for you.

The full hidden brain team does great work. This podcast continually helps me in overcoming life’s challenges through thought provoking discussions and encouraging logical decision making.

kspo_co ,

One of the best

Captivating, engaging, and thought-provoking with a 5 star presentation/production. Shankar's voice and presentation alone make it worth it. Thank you!

Marie_0822 ,

“Love this show, but the matrix misses the mark.

“If a societal moral system exists, it’s because it has helped people coexist”

Yeah, right. Coexist. Or it has helped one group of people control and keep down another. If that’s how you define “coexist”.

Traditionally most societal moral systems have built in systems for shaming , controlling and making property out of women. I guess that’s “coexisting.”

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