Hidden Brain

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

Episodes

Total: 543

When was the last time you set a goal and struggled to reach it? Perhaps you're trying to write a no

We like to tell kids, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But from a very early age, we humans are do

Think about the last time you were struck by a gorgeous painting in a museum, or heard a song that b

Why is it so hard to say 'I'm sorry?' In the final episode of our Healing 2.0 series, we talk with p

In 2019, Justin Harrison's mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer. But by the time she died, he had

You've probably heard that people who lose a loved one may go through what are known as the "five st

We’ve all heard the saying, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” But is there any truth to th

We all tell stories about ourselves, often without realizing we’re doing so. How we frame those stor

One of the mysteries of human behavior is that it’s often easier for us to focus on what’s going wro

As we move through our lives, we have to make decisions both big and small. Some are banal: What wil

We like to think that con artists only prey upon the weak, or gullible. But psychologist Dan Simons

Perfectionism is everyone’s favorite flaw. It’s easy to assume that our push to be perfect is what l

It's easy to think that the best teams are collections of highly accomplished or talented individual

After we make a decision, we often tell ourselves a story about why our choice was the right one to

Think about the last time you did something you knew was wrong. How did you explain your actions to

How often do you say something negative to yourself that you'd never utter to someone else? Self-cri

Sorrows have a way of finding us, no matter how hard we try to avoid them. Joys, on the other hand,

You 2.0: Slow Down!

2023/8/21

It’s understandable that we sometimes dwell on things that upset us. But our negative emotions can k

Have you ever set a goal and had a really difficult time sticking to it? Maybe you decide you want t

There are times in life when the challenges we face feel insurmountable. Authors succumb to writer's