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Hidden Brain

liuo
Patience
Self-Disclosure
Mattering
Nonviolent Resistance
Charisma
Awe
Debt
Self-Concealment
Violent Resistance
Nature
All-Or-Nothing Marriage
Relationships
Uncertainty
Goal Gradient
Stuckness
Education
Design Thinking
Radical Acceptance
Flow
Love

Why do I feel stuck? How can I become more creative? What can I do to improve my relationships? If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions, you’re not alone. On Hidden Brain, we help you understand your own mind — and the minds of the people around you. (We're routinely rated the #1 science podcast in the United States.) Hosted by veteran science journalist Shankar Vedantam.

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes609Founded23 days ago
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Artwork for Hidden Brain

Latest Episodes

Some people are good at putting themselves in another person's shoes. Others may struggle to relate. But psychologist Jamil Zaki argues that empathy isn't a fixed trait. This week, we revisit a favorite episode about how to exercise our empathy muscl... more

In 2009, an old man died in a California nursing home. His obituary included not just his given name, but a long list of the pseudonyms he’d been known to use. In this classic 2019 episode, we trace the life of Riley Shepard, a hillbilly musician, wr... more

Last week, we looked at the hidden beliefs that can leave us feeling stuck in life. This week, in the second part of our conversation with behavioral scientist Dave Evans, we talk about radical acceptance. Dave shares why accepting reality as it is c... more

We tell ourselves that meaning comes from impact, passion, or finding the “one right path.” But these beliefs can leave us feeling stuck — even when our lives look perfectly fine on paper. Behavioral scientist Dave Evans describes a new approach, bor... more

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Similar Podcasts

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Hidden Brain
Hidden BrainHidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam
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Recent Guests

Dave Evans
At Stanford University, co-author of How to Live a Meaningful Life
Stanford University
Episode: Radical Acceptance
Sonja Lyubomirsky
UC Riverside psychologist and co-author on How to Feel Loved
University of California, Riverside
Episode: Do You Feel Loved?
Harry Reese
Co-author with Sonja Lyubomirsky on How to Feel Loved
University of California, Riverside
Episode: Do You Feel Loved?
Erica Chenoweth
Political scientist studying nonviolent resistance and conflict
Harvard University
Episode: How to Change the World
John Dinsmore
John Dinsmore studies financial decision making at Wright State University
Wright State University
Episode: The Debt Trap
Jay Van Bavel
Psychologist at New York University
New York University
Episode: Group Think
Coltan Scrivner
Researcher and author of Morbidly Curious
Arizona State University and Aarhus University
Episode: Group Think
Molly Worthen
Historian, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Episode: The Secret of Charisma
Antonio Pascual-Leone
Psychologist at the University of Windsor
University of Windsor
Episode: The Secret of Charisma

Host

Shankar Vedantam
Host of the show, experienced science journalist.

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Talking Points

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The Reset Button
Q: What is transcendent thinking and how does it relate to learning and education?
Transcendent thinking is the ability to move beyond immediate details to consider larger ideas, beliefs, values, and future implications; in education it helps students connect what they learn to real-world contexts, fostering curiosity, autonomy, and the capacity to handle complex problems.
The Path to Enough
Q: How can parents, teachers, and communities address kids' phone and digital-device use more effectively?
The panel suggests top-down school policies that limit devices during school hours, practical tools like sealed pouches to restrict access, and the importance of reconnecting students socially and emotionally away from screens, along with broader societal efforts to balance screen time with healthier activities.
The Path to Enough
Q: What is the difference between passion and addiction, and when does it cross the line into problematic behavior?
Anna explains that addiction is a pattern of continued use despite harm, but the line is culturally shaped and based on whether the behavior harms the individual or others. It's not simply intensity; it's the functional impairment and the inability to regulate the behavior. Clinical judgment, patient history, and impact on relationships all inform whether something is an addiction.
You 2.0: Trusting Your Doubt
Q: How can leaders use doubt as a decision-making tool rather than a liability?
By actively engaging doubt, generating hypotheses, evaluating strengths and weaknesses of options, and using premortems to anticipate failure and plan mitigations.
You 2.0: Trusting Your Doubt
Q: What are the three brain systems that regulate our behavior in situations of uncertainty?
The Pursue System (prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum for anticipation and goal-directed action), the Protect System (amygdala, hypothalamus, adrenal cortex for threat response), and the Pause and Piece Together System (a network that coordinates attention and working memory to evaluate conflicting interpretations).

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Frequently Asked Questions About Hidden Brain

What is Hidden Brain about and what kind of topics does it cover?

This show explores how the human mind works through rigorous, research-informed conversations with scientists and thinkers across psychology, neuroscience, political science, and leadership. Episodes frequently center on how we think, feel, and relate—covering topics like courage and doubt, self-disclosure and trust, intelligence and creativity, and the psychology of belonging. Guests are typically researchers, professors, and practitioners who translate complex data into practical insights for everyday life, leadership, education, and public behavior. The program often combines historical or real-world case examples with accessible explanations of experiments, highlighting actionable takeaways such as decision-making strategies, communicat... more

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Which podcasts are similar to Hidden Brain?

These podcasts share a similar audience with Hidden Brain:

1. Hidden Brain
2. This is Love

How many episodes of Hidden Brain are there?

Hidden Brain launched 23 days ago and published 609 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on Hidden Brain?

Recent guests on Hidden Brain include:

1. Dave Evans
2. Sonja Lyubomirsky
3. Harry Reese
4. Erica Chenoweth
5. John Dinsmore
6. Jay Van Bavel
7. Coltan Scrivner
8. Molly Worthen

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