519 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

    How To Talk So People Will Listen

    How To Talk So People Will Listen

    In this follow up conversation with psychologist Guy Itzchakov, we dive deeper into one key element of effective communication.

    Are You Listening?

    Are You Listening?

    Have you ever sat across from your spouse, colleague or friend and realized that while they may be hearing what you're saying, they aren't actually listening? Poor listening can lead to arguments, hurt feelings, and fractured relationships. But the good news is that active, thoughtful listening can profoundly benefit both people in the conversation. This week on the show, psychologist Guy Itzchakov helps us understand where interactions go awry, and how to become a more attentive listener.

    • 49 min
    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

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
38.4K Ratings

38.4K Ratings

Wildlife Margrit ,

Thought provoking

Most every episode provides me with much food for thought. There’s also generally some moral or ethical dilemma that’s being explored which I love. The most recent episode “The Ventilator” is most compelling and has left me grappling with my own mortality. Thank you… and keep these quality podcasts coming.

Melissa weiss ,

Haifa is Palestine

The irony of interviewing an Israeli about listening is just too ridiculous.

Hellerbox ,

I ENJOY YOUR TOPICS DISCUSSIONS

I APPRECIATE HOW YOU WILL REPEAT THE STORY POINTS BACK WITH YOUR CLARIFICATION AND YOUR WISDOM AND INTELLECT WITH OUT SOUNT SNOOTY :)

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