Hidden Brain

About the podcast Hidden Brain

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

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Science

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2022
You 2.0: The Mind's Eye
Some challenges can feel insurmountable. But psychologist Emily Balcetis says the solutions are often right in front of our eyes. This week, as part of our annual series on personal growth and reinvention, we revisit a favorite 2020 conversation about how we can harness our sight to achieve our goals. If you like this show, be sure to check out our other work, including our recent episode about how to make peace with your negative inner voice. Also, if you'd like to support our work, you can do so at support.hiddenbrain.org. Thanks!
August 15, 2022
50 min
You 2.0: How To See Yourself Clearly
How well do we know ourselves? Maybe the better question to ask is how well can we truly know ourselves? Psychologist Tim Wilson says introspection only gets us so far, and that we often make important decisions in life and love for reasons we don't even realize. But he says there are some simple ways to improve our self-knowledge. If you like this show, be sure to check out our other work, including our two recent episodes on how our mindsets shape our lives in subtle but profound ways. Episode 1 looks at how we respond to stress, and episode 2 examines how our beliefs about food and exercise affect our bodies. Also, if you'd like to support our work, you can do so at support.hiddenbrain.org. Thanks!
August 8, 2022
51 min
You 2.0: Befriending Your Inner Voice
You know that negative voice that goes round and round in your head, keeping you up at night? When that negative inner voice gets switched on, it's hard to think about anything else. Psychologist Ethan Kross has a name for it: chatter. He says it's part of the human condition, but there are ways to keep our negative emotions from morphing into chatter. If you like this show, be sure to check out our other work, including our two recent episodes on how our mindsets shape our lives in subtle but profound ways. Episode 1 looks at how we respond to stress, and episode 2 examines how our beliefs about food and exercise affect our bodies. Also, if you'd like to support our work, you can do so at support.hiddenbrain.org. Thanks!
August 1, 2022
53 min
Reframing Your Reality: Part 2
We often assume that we see ourselves and the world around us accurately. But psychologist Alia Crum says that our perceptions are always filtered through our mindsets — and these mindsets shape our lives in subtle but profound ways. In the second of two episodes, Alia explains how our beliefs about food and exercise affect our bodies. If you haven't yet listened to our first episode about mindsets, you can find it here. And if you'd like to support our work, you can do so at support.hiddenbrain.org.
July 25, 2022
51 min
Reframing Your Reality: Part 1
We often assume that we see ourselves and the world around us accurately. But psychologist Alia Crum says that our perceptions are always filtered through our mindsets — and these mindsets shape our lives in subtle but profound ways. In the first of two episodes, Alia explains how mindsets affect our response to stress. If you like this show, be sure to check out our other work, including our recent episode about how group identities can affect our behavior. And if you'd like to support our work, you can do so at support.hiddenbrain.org.
July 18, 2022
49 min
Separating Yourself from the Pack
Have you ever gotten into a heated argument about politics? Maybe you’ve said something you're not proud of during game night with friends, or booed the opposing team at a sporting event. Psychologist Mina Cikara studies what happens in these moments — when our mindset shifts from “you and me” to “us and them.” This week on the show, Mina shares the profound ways that becoming a part of a group shapes our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. If you like this show, be sure to check out our other work, including our recent episode exploring whether there's any merit to the idea that "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Also, check out our new podcast, My Unsung Hero! And if you'd like to support our work, you can do so at support.hiddenbrain.org.
July 11, 2022
55 min
What We Gain from Pain
We've all heard the saying, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." But is there any truth to this idea? This week, we explore the concept of post-traumatic growth with psychologist Eranda Jayawickreme. He finds that suffering can have benefits — but not necessarily the ones we expect. If you like this show, be sure to check out our other work, including our recent episode about how we define intelligence. Also, check out our new podcast, My Unsung Hero! And if you'd like to support our work, you can do so at support.hiddenbrain.org.
July 4, 2022
51 min
A Founding Contradiction
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." Those words, penned by Thomas Jefferson 246 years ago, continue to inspire many Americans. And yet they were written by a man who owned hundreds of enslaved people, and fathered six children by an enslaved woman. This week, as we prepare to mark Independence Day in the United States, we revisit our 2018 conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed. We talk about the contradictions in Jefferson's life — and how those contradictions resonate in our own lives. If you like this show, be sure to check out our other work, including our recent episode about the power of subtraction. Also, check out our new podcast, My Unsung Hero! And if you'd like to support our work, you can do so at support.hiddenbrain.org.
June 27, 2022
50 min

About the podcast Hidden Brain

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

Hidden Brain

About the podcast Hidden Brain

Categories

You 2.0: The Mind's Eye

You 2.0: How To See Yourself Clearly

You 2.0: Befriending Your Inner Voice

Reframing Your Reality: Part 2

Reframing Your Reality: Part 1

Separating Yourself from the Pack

What We Gain from Pain

A Founding Contradiction

About the podcast Hidden Brain

Categories