Hidden Brain

Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human b

Episodes

Total: 547

When should you stay the course in life, and when should you shift with changing tides? This week, w

Have you ever downplayed some aspect of your identity? Maybe you don’t hide it, but you don’t bring

What would you have done? It's one of the most enduring questions in psychology. We all like to thin

Last week on the show, we looked at the science of conversation, and how even ordinary chats can inv

Just because we’ve been doing something for a long time doesn’t mean we’re doing it right. One part

Holding a grudge can feel like a form of justice, a way of punishing those who have wronged us. But

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." It's been 45 years since John Le

It’s no exaggeration to say that the world in 2025 can be ... a lot. Sometimes it may seem that tuni

We all have to make certain choices in life, such as where to live and how to earn a living. Parents

From time to time, all of us are called upon to do hard or even seemingly impossible things. Do we r

We’re often drawn to people who appear to be true to themselves. Yet showing our authentic selves to

It's happened to all of us: We're in the shower, or on a walk, and boom — a big idea or a brilliant

Every day, we leave small traces of ourselves online. And we might not realize what these traces say

With the holidays fast approaching, many of us are hunting for that special something for the specia

What makes ordinary people do evil things? It was a question that long fascinated the psychologist P

There's a tradition around many Thanksgiving dinner tables that's as consistent as stuffing and pump

Neuroscientist Doug Fields was on a trip to Europe when a pickpocket stole his wallet. Doug, normall

Many of us go to great lengths to be happy. But is our singular focus on feeling good actually makin

Sometimes we feel just one single feeling with overwhelming force. We're joyously happy. We're crush

For centuries, philosophers and theologians have warned about the dangers of pride and hubris. It’s