Hidden Brain

Ep. 67: The Hole

April 04, 2017 01:01 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MB

Imagine a concrete room, not much bigger than a parking space. You're in there 23 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is the reality of solitary confinement at prisons across the United States. Keramet Reiter, a criminology professor at UC Irvine, says that while some inmates in solitary are dangerous, others are there because they're difficult for prisons to manage, or because of bureaucratic inertia. This week on Hidden Brain, we look at what happens in solitary confinement, and the psycholog...

Ep. 67: The Hole

April 04, 2017 01:01 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MB

Imagine a concrete room, not much bigger than a parking space. You're in there 23 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is the reality of solitary confinement at prisons across the United States. Keramet Reiter, a criminology professor at UC Irvine, says that while some inmates in solitary are dangerous, others are there because they're difficult for prisons to manage, or because of bureaucratic inertia. This week on Hidden Brain, we look at what happens in solitary confinement, and the psychologi...

Ep. 66: Liar, Liar

March 28, 2017 01:00 - 27 minutes - 25.2 MB

Editor’s note: Since this episode first aired, researchers have raised concerns about a number of studies authored by Dan Ariely, including one cited in this episode. That study included data from an insurance company that purported to show that people are more truthful when they sign an ethics declaration at the beginning of a form than at the end. In an independent review, a group of researchers found evidence of data fabrication in that study. You can read more about their findings here, ...

Ep. 66: Liar, Liar

March 28, 2017 01:00 - 27 minutes - 25.2 MB

Everybody lies. This is not breaking news. But what separates the average person from the infamous cheaters we see on the news? Dan Ariely says we like to think it's character — but in his research he's found it's more often opportunity. Dan Ariely is a professor at Duke University and the author of the book The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone — Especially Ourselves.

Episode 65: Tunnel Vision

March 21, 2017 01:00 - 34 minutes - 31.5 MB

When you're hungry, it can be hard to think of anything other than food. When you're desperately poor, you may constantly worry about making ends meet. When you're lonely, you might obsess about making friends. This week on Hidden Brain, we explore the psychological phenomenon of scarcity and how it can affect our ability to see the big picture and cope with problems in our lives.

Episode 65: Tunnel Vision

March 21, 2017 01:00 - 34 minutes - 31.5 MB

When you're hungry, it can be hard to think of anything other than food. When you're desperately poor, you may constantly worry about making ends meet. When you're lonely, you might obsess about making friends. This week on Hidden Brain, we explore the psychological phenomenon of scarcity and how it can affect our ability to see the big picture and cope with problems in our lives.

Ep. 64: I'm Right, You're Wrong

March 14, 2017 01:00 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MB

There are some topics about which it seems no amount of data will change people's minds: things like climate change, or restrictions on gun ownership. Neuroscientist Tali Sharot says that's actually for good reason. As a general rule, she says, it's better to stick to your beliefs and disregard new information that contradicts them. But this also means it's very difficult to change false beliefs. This week, we look at how we process information, and why it's so hard to change our views.

Encore of Ep. 24: Tribes and Traitors

March 07, 2017 02:00 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MB

Nearly a year ago, we ran an episode about one of the world's most intractable divides: the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Since that story aired, a solution seems even more out of reach. We wanted to play this episode again, because it offers something we don't often hear in the news: empathy for the other side.

Ep. 63: "I'm Not A Terrorist..."

February 28, 2017 02:00 - 22 minutes - 20.6 MB

Making jokes about politics is a tradition as old as America itself. These days, of course, comedians have a new target: President Donald Trump. We talk with Iranian-American comedian Maz Jobrani about finding humor in the midst of deep political divides, and how he uses an understanding of human nature to craft a successful punchline.

Episode 62: On The Knife's Edge

February 21, 2017 05:00 - 26 minutes - 24.1 MB

What would drive someone to take another person's life? When researchers at the University of Chicago asked that question, the answer was a laundry list of slights: a stolen jacket, or a carelessly lobbed insult. It made them wonder whether crime rates could be driven down by teaching young men to pause, take a deep breath, and think before they act. We'll go inside a program that teaches Chicago teens to do just that, and explore the research on whether this approach actually works.

Episode 61: Just Sex

February 14, 2017 05:01 - 22 minutes - 20.8 MB

We all know casual sex isn't about love. But what if it's not even about lust? Sociologist Lisa Wade believes the pervasive hookup culture on campuses today is different from that faced by previous generations. This week on Hidden Brain, we explore what this culture means for those who choose to participate, and for those who opt out.

Encore of Episode 20: Remembering Anarcha

February 07, 2017 05:00 - 23 minutes - 21.2 MB

A recent paper found that black patients receive less pain medication for broken bones and cancer. Black children receive less pain medication than white children for appendicitis. The research is new, but the phenomenon is not. This week, we revisit an episode from our archive that looked at the intersection of race, pain, and medicine. It might not be suitable for young children.

Episode 60: Fortress America

January 31, 2017 05:00 - 21 minutes - 19.5 MB

Barely a week after assuming office, President Donald Trump set off a worldwide firestorm when he decided to temporarily ban entry to migrants from seven Muslim-majority countries and refugees from all over the world. In response, many people are looking to the past, to see what history can teach us. But this process can fraught with psychological peril. On today's Hidden Brain, we revisit a specific incident from World War II – the American decision to refuse entry to Jewish refugees aboard...

Episode 59: The Deep Story

January 24, 2017 05:00 - 21 minutes - 19.3 MB

In the months since the presidential election, many have noted that lots of Americans live in bubbles — echo chambers filled with the voices of people who mostly agree with us. Sociologist Arlie Hochschild felt this long before the rise of Donald Trump, and five years ago she went on a mission to understand the other side. She left her own liberal bubble in Berkeley, California for a conservative one, deep in the Louisiana bayou.

Episode 58: Pedestals and Guillotines

January 17, 2017 05:00 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MB

It's inauguration season, which means balls, parades, and celebrations. We may love the pomp and circumstance, but there's another, darker side to our psychology, too. Whether we like the new president or not, human beings have a strange and contradictory relationship with power and celebrity. We idolize the rich and famous, but also enjoy seeing them fall from their pedestals. This week on Hidden Brain, we explore this paradox: from Hollywood, to the White House, to the forests of Tanzania.

Episode 57: Slanguage

January 10, 2017 05:00 - 24 minutes - 22.3 MB

Young people have always used language in new and different ways, and it has pretty much always driven older people crazy. But the linguist John McWhorter says all the "likes" and LOLs are part of a natural – and inevitable –evolution of language. This week on Hidden Brain, why language can't "sit still."

Episode 56: Getting Unstuck

January 03, 2017 05:00 - 27 minutes - 24.8 MB

At one time or another, many of us feel stuck: in the wrong job, the wrong relationship, the wrong city – the wrong life. Psychologists and self-help gurus have all kinds of advice for us when we feel rudderless. This week on Hidden Brain, we explore a new idea, from an unlikely source: Silicon Valley.

Encore of Episode 15: Loss and Renewal

December 27, 2016 05:00 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MB

Maya Shankar was well on her way to an extraordinary career as a violinist when an injury closed that door. This week, we look at how she wound up at the top of another field: the social sciences.

Encore of Episode 32: The Scientific Process

December 20, 2016 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MB

There is a replication "crisis" in psychology: many findings simply do not replicate. Some critics take this as an indictment of the entire field — perhaps the best journals are only interested in publishing the "sexiest" findings, or universities are pressuring their faculty to publish more. But this week on Hidden Brain, we take a closer look at the so-called crisis. While there certainly have been cases of bad science, and even fraudulent data, there are also lots of other reasons why per...

Episode 55: Snooki and the Handbag

December 13, 2016 05:00 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MB

Look down at what you're wearing. You picked out that blue shirt, right? And those boots — you decided on those because they're warm, didn't you? Well, maybe not. Researcher Jonah Berger says, we tend to be pretty good at recognizing how influences like product placement and peer pressure affect other people's choices... but we're not so good at recognizing those forces in our own decision-making.

Episode 54: Panic in the Streets

December 06, 2016 05:00 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MB

It sounds like the plot of a movie: police discover the body of a young man who's been murdered. The body tests positive for a deadly infectious disease. Authorities trace the killing to a gang. They race to find gang members linked to the murder... who may also be incubating the virus. This week on Hidden Brain... disease, panic, and how a public health team used psychology to confront an epidemic.

Episode 53: Embrace the Chaos

November 29, 2016 05:00 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MB

Many of us spend lots of time and energy trying to get organized. We KonMari our closets, we strive for inbox zero, we tell our kids to clean their rooms, and our politicians to clean up Washington. But Economist Tim Harford says, maybe we should embrace the chaos. His new book is Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives.

Episode 52: Losing Face

November 22, 2016 05:00 - 22 minutes - 20.7 MB

It happens to all of us: someone recognizes you on the street, calls you by name, and says hello... and you have no idea who that person is. Researchers say this struggle to read other faces is common. This week on Hidden Brain, super-recognizers, and the rest of us.

Episode 51: What Happened?

November 15, 2016 05:00 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MB

On the morning after election day, pundits, pollsters, politicians, and citizens woke up feeling stunned. All signs, all year, had been pointing towards a victory for Democrat Hillary Clinton. So, what happened? We ask one of the few people who didn't get it wrong: the historian Allan Lichtman.

Encore of Episode 27: Losing Alaska

November 08, 2016 05:00 - 24 minutes - 22.4 MB

We didn't hear very much about climate change during this election cycle — and social science research might give us some insight as to why not. This week, an encore of one of our favorite episodes about why it's so hard for us to wrap our heads around climate change.

Episode 50: Broken Windows

November 01, 2016 04:00 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MB

In the early 1980s, a couple of researchers wrote an article in The Atlantic that would have far reaching consequences. The article introduced a new idea about crime and policing. It was called Broken Windows. The idea was simple: A broken window is a sign of a neglected community, and a neglected community is a place where crime can thrive. The researchers said, if police fixed the small problems that created visible signs of disorder, the big ones would disappear. Today, we explore how ide...

Episode 49: Filthy Rich

October 25, 2016 04:00 - 20 minutes - 19 MB

Several years ago, sociologist Brooke Harrington decided to explore the secret lives of billionaires. What she found, she said, shocked her.

Episode 48: Men: 44, Women: 0

October 18, 2016 04:00 - 19 minutes - 18.2 MB

A century after women won the vote in the US, we still see very few of them in leadership roles. Researchers say women are trapped in a catch-22 known as "the double bind." Note: an early version of this episode incorrectly stated that Carol Moseley Braun was the first African-American U.S. Senator. She was in fact the first female African-American Senator.

Episode 47: Give Me Your Tired...

October 11, 2016 04:00 - 20 minutes - 18.4 MB

Our airwaves are filled with debates about migrants, refugees, and undocumented immigrants... Who should be in the United States, who shouldn't, and who should decide? Immigration is, without question, a flash point in this year's political debates. It's an issue that seems to get to the core of who we are, who we want to be, and where we're headed as a nation. Today we're going to take a fresh look at the issue by exploring what history can teach us about the patterns and paradoxes of immig...

Episode 46: Blessings in Disguise?

October 04, 2016 04:00 - 20 minutes - 18.8 MB

We have lots of ways to describe the good that can come from bad: a blessing in disguise, a silver lining — but what if the bad thing was truly awful? This week on Hidden Brain, framing and re-framing a tragedy.

Episode 45: What Are The Odds?

September 27, 2016 04:01 - 27 minutes - 25.3 MB

This week on Hidden Brain, coincidences. Why they're not quite as magical as they seem... and the reasons we can't help but search for meaning in them anyway.

Trailer: Hidden Brain 2.0

September 22, 2016 04:00 - 2 minutes - 2.15 MB

We have an anniversary to celebrate. We've been bringing you Hidden Brain for a year now, and we are so glad and thankful you've come along with us. We've learned a lot about what you like, and what we like. Specifically, deep dives into stories or topics that reveal something true about human behavior. Now, it's time to double down on that with a string of ambitious new episodes. Here's a sneak peek.

Update: #AirbnbWhileBlack

September 20, 2016 04:01 - 23 minutes - 21.4 MB

A few months ago, Hidden Brain investigated claims that Airbnb users were facing discrimination on the platform. Now, we bring you an update on the company's response.

Episode 44: Our Politics, Our Parenting

September 13, 2016 04:04 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MB

In the midst of a rancorous election, we present a new theory to explain why the two sides of the aisle seem irreconcilable sometimes.

Episode 43: The Perils of Power

September 06, 2016 04:00 - 26 minutes - 24.1 MB

We've all heard the old adage that "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," but psychologist Dacher Keltner at UC Berkeley has found evidence to prove it. His book is The Power Paradox: How We Gain and Lose Influence.

Encore of Episode 21: Stroke of Genius

August 30, 2016 04:01 - 24 minutes - 22.1 MB

Derek Amato wasn't born a musical savant. He became one—almost instantly—after hitting his head on the bottom of a swimming pool.

Episode 42: Decide Already!

August 23, 2016 04:01 - 22 minutes - 20.3 MB

This week, Harvard researcher Dan Gilbert tells us why we're bad at predicting our future happiness, how that affects our decision making, and why we are actually happier after making a decision that feels irrevocable.

Encore of Episode 11: Forgery

August 16, 2016 04:04 - 23 minutes - 21.4 MB

This week on Hidden Brain, we explore real and fake, from fine art to fine wine. Shankar speaks with Noah Charney, author of The Art of Forgery, about why art forgers are compelled to spend their lives copying the great masters, and why so many of them want to get caught. Also this week: why we love studies that prove wine connoisseurs wrong.

Episode 41: Defeated

August 09, 2016 04:04 - 20 minutes - 19 MB

While everyone is focused on the Olympic winners in Rio, we're zooming in on loss. We have the story of how a world-champion judo player reacted to a devastating defeat, plus a Stopwatch Science on how losing affects us all.

Episode 40: Silver and Gold

August 02, 2016 04:05 - 22 minutes - 20.5 MB

The rush of victory or crush of defeat in the Olympics can flash by very quickly. But if you slow those moments down, there's a lot to learn about human behavior.

Encore of Episode 7: Lonely Hearts

July 26, 2016 04:05 - 32 minutes - 30.2 MB

Jesse always wanted to fall in love. So when the perfect woman started writing him letters, it seemed too good to be true. Because it was. This week, a story about a con — with a twist. When the con was exposed, its victims defended the con artists. They still wanted to believe the lie

Episode 39: Vacations

July 19, 2016 04:01 - 16 minutes - 15.3 MB

Summer vacations often take time, energy and money to plan. Expectations can run unreasonably high. This week in Stopwatch Science, we dive into what research says about how to have a better getaway.

Episode 38: Me, Me, Me

July 12, 2016 04:05 - 22 minutes - 20.5 MB

It doesn't take a psychologist to see narcissism in our culture of selfies. But we decided to talk to one anyway. Jean Twenge is a researcher and author of the books The Narcissism Epidemic, and Generation Me.

Episode 37: Smoke & Mirrors

July 05, 2016 04:12 - 22 minutes - 20.9 MB

Six months ago, Hidden Brain's Max Nesterak made a resolution to quit smoking. But as we all know... resolutions are made to be broken. This week, we check in with Max to find out how he's fared, and give you social science insight to help you quit your bad habits too.

Episode 36: Science of Deception

June 28, 2016 04:05 - 19 minutes - 17.8 MB

This week on Hidden Brain, we find out what makes humans of all ages cheat. Plus in Stopwatch Science, Dan Pink comes armed with studies on how our social context influences our cheating habits.

Episode 35: Creature Comforts

June 21, 2016 04:00 - 27 minutes - 24.8 MB

This week, Hidden Brain considers the power of touch. First, Alison MacAdam tells us the story of her security blanket, called Baba. Then, Shankar interviews writer Deborah Blum about groundbreaking experiments into the importance of affection for young children.

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