Many of us spend our workdays responding to a never-ending stream of emails and texts. We feel stressed out and perpetually behind on our to-do list. But what if there was a better way to work? This week, we revisit a favorite conversation about "deep work" with computer scientist Cal Newport . And we'll visit a lab that's studying whether brain stimulation can improve our ability to handle multitasking and interruptions. If you like this show, please check out our new podcast, My Unsung Hero ! ...
Nov 15, 2021•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we're sharing another episode of our new podcast, My Unsung Hero. To hear more stories like this, subscribe, and enjoy! It's a few days after her mother's death, and Terri Powers is at the checkout line in a grocery store. As she turns to leave, the bagger stops her, and asks a question.
Nov 12, 2021•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast The world of play and the world of work are often seen as opposites. But they may have more in common than we think. In the second installment of our new Work 2.0 series, Ethan Mollick makes the case that we can make our jobs more engaging by incorporating elements of games. If you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about human behavior and ideas that can improve your life, subscribe to our newsletter at news.hiddenbr...
Nov 08, 2021•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Introducing new ideas is hard. Most of us think the best way to win people over is to push harder. But organizational psychologist Loran Nordgren says a more effective approach is to focus on the invisible obstacles to new ideas. If you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about human behavior and ideas that can improve your life, subscribe to our newsletter at news.hiddenbrain.org ....
Nov 01, 2021•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast We’ve grown accustomed to viewing climate change as an enemy we must urgently defeat. But is that the right metaphor for the greatest existential problem of our time? This week, we consider how to reframe the way we think about life on a changing planet. If you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about human behavior and ideas that can improve your life, subscribe to our newsletter at news.hiddenbrain.org ....
Oct 25, 2021•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we're sharing another episode of our new podcast, My Unsung Hero. Subscribe, and enjoy! In 2008, while driving to work, Rick Mangnall crashes into a slab of granite rock. He's hanging upside down in his seatbelt when he sees an old Ford truck pull over across the road.
Oct 22, 2021•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast In 1978, Judy, Lyn and Donna Ulrich were driving to a volleyball game when their Ford Pinto was hit from behind by a van. The Pinto caught fire, and the three teenagers died. This week, we revisit a 2020 episode with a former Ford insider who played a key role in weighing the risks associated with the Pinto. And we consider what his story tells us about a question we all face: is it possible to fairly evaluate our past actions when we know how things turned out? If you like our work, please cons...
Oct 18, 2021•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Self-criticism is often seen as a virtue. But psychologist Kristin Neff says there’s a better path to self-improvement — self-compassion. She says people who practice self-compassion are more conscientious and more likely to take responsibility for their mistakes. If you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about human behavior and ideas that can improve your life, subscribe to our newsletter at news.hiddenbrain.org ....
Oct 11, 2021•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast My Unsung Hero is here! We're excited to share one of the first episodes of our new podcast. Episode one features listener Jackie Briggs from Portland, Oregon. In 2006, a stranger noticed an unusual mark on Jackie's arm, and realized something was wrong. You can subscribe to My Unsung Hero here.
Oct 08, 2021•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast When we want something very badly, it can be hard to see warning signs that might be obvious to other people. This week, we bring you two stories about how easy it can be to believe in a false reality — even when the facts don’t back us up. If you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about human behavior and ideas that can improve your life, subscribe to our newsletter at news.hiddenbrain.org ....
Oct 04, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Many Americans feel an obligation to keep up with political news. But maybe we should be focusing our energies elsewhere. In this episode from 2020, political scientist Eitan Hersh says there's been a rise in "political hobbyism" in the United States. We treat politics like entertainment, following the latest updates like we follow our favorite sports teams. Instead, he says, we should think of politics as a way to acquire power and persuade our neighbors to back the issues we support....
Sep 27, 2021•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Longtime Hidden Brain listeners know that for years, we've thanked an unsung hero at the end of every episode. Now, we're launching a new show inspired by that tradition. Each week, we'll share a short story about a moment when one person helped another in a time of need. And we'll show you how these acts of heroism — some big, some small — transformed someone's life.
Sep 24, 2021•3 min•Transcript available on Metacast How do the groups you identify with shape your sense of self? Do they influence the beer you buy? The way you vote? Psychologist Jay Van Bavel says our group loyalties affect us more than we realize, and can even shape our basic senses of sight, taste and smell. If you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about human behavior and ideas that can improve your life, subscribe to our newsletter at news.hiddenbrain.org ....
Sep 20, 2021•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Casual sex typically isn't about love. But what if it's not even about lust? Sociologist Lisa Wade studies "hookup culture," and believes the rules and expectations around sex and relationships are different for college students today than they were for previous generations. This week we revisit our 2017 conversation with Wade, and consider how the pandemic may be changing students' views on hookups and intimacy....
Sep 13, 2021•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast We all think we know what will make us happy: more money. A better job. Love. But psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky says happiness doesn't necessarily work like that. This week, we explore why happiness often slips through our fingers, and how to savor — and stretch out — our joys. I f you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about human behavior and ideas that can improve your life, subscribe to our newsletter at news.hid...
Sep 06, 2021•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast We all have regrets. By some estimates, regret is one of the most common emotions we experience in our daily lives. In the final episode of our You 2.0 series, we bring you a favorite interview with Amy Summerville, the former head of the Regret Lab at Miami University in Ohio. After years of studying this emotion, she says she's learned something that may seem counterintuitive: regret doesn't always have to be a negative force in our lives. If you like our work, please consider supporting it! S...
Aug 30, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our memories are easily contaminated. We can be made to believe we rode in a hot air balloon or kissed a magnifying glass — even if those things never happened. So how do we know which of our memories are most accurate? This week, psychologist Ayanna Thomas explains how we remember, why we forget, and the simple tools we all can use to sharpen our memories. If you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about human behavio...
Aug 23, 2021•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Marriage is hard — and there are signs it's becoming even harder. In the third episode of our You 2.0 summer series, we examine how long-term relationships have changed over time, and whether we might be able to improve marriage by asking less of it. If you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about human behavior and ideas that can improve your life, subscribe to our newsletter at news.hiddenbrain.org ....
Aug 16, 2021•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast In a fit of anger or in the grip of fear, many of us make decisions that we never would have anticipated. As part of our You 2.0 summer series, we look at situations that make us strangers to ourselves — and why it's so difficult to remember what these "hot states" feel like once the moment is over. I f you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about human behavior and ideas that can improve your life, subscribe to our n...
Aug 09, 2021•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Having a sense of purpose can be a buffer against the challenges we all face at various stages of life. Purpose can also boost our health and longevity. In the kick-off to our annual You 2.0 series, Cornell University psychologist Anthony Burrow explains why purpose isn't something to be found — it's something we can develop from within. I f you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about human behavior and ideas that ca...
Aug 02, 2021•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast As floods, wildfires, and heatwaves hit many parts of the world, signs of climate change seem to be all around us. Scientists have been warning us for years about the looming threat of a warming planet. And yet it’s really hard for many of us to wrap our minds around this existential challenge. Why is that? This week, we bring you a favorite episode about why our brains struggle to grasp the dangers of global climate change. I f you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can h...
Jul 26, 2021•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast The pressure. The expectations. The anxiety. If there's one thing that connects the athletes gathering for the Olympic games with the rest of us, it's the stress that can come from performing in front of others. In this week’s episode, we talk with cognitive scientist Sian Beilock about why so many of us crumble under pressure –– and what we can do about it. I f you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about human behav...
Jul 19, 2021•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast What is it like to be the only woman at the (poker) table? Or a rare man in a supposedly "feminine" career? In this favorite episode from 2019, we tell the stories of two people who grappled with gender stereotypes on the job, and consider how such biases can shape our career choices. I f you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about human behavior and ideas that can improve your life, subscribe to our newsletter at ne...
Jul 12, 2021•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Think about the resolutions you made this year: to quit smoking, eat better, or get more exercise. If you're like most people, you probably abandoned those resolutions within a few weeks. That's because change is hard. Behavioral scientist Katy Milkman explains how we can use our minds to do what's good for us. I f you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about human behavior and ideas that can improve your life, subscr...
Jul 05, 2021•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Think about the last time you asked someone for something. Maybe you were nervous or worried about what the person would think of you. Chances are that you didn't stop to think about the pressure you were exerting on that person. This week, we revisit a favorite episode about a phenomenon known as "egocentric bias," and look at how this bias can lead us astray. I f you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about human be...
Jun 28, 2021•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast In December 1988, two sets of identical twins became test subjects in a study for which they had never volunteered. It was an experiment that could never be performed in a lab, and had never before been documented. This week, we revisit this fascinating story, told by psychologist Nancy Segal , about the eternal tug between nature and nurture in shaping who we are. I f you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about huma...
Jun 24, 2021•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Why is it so hard to say 'I'm sorry?' In part two of our series on forgiveness and apologies, we talk with psychologist Tyler Okimoto about the mental barriers that keep us from admitting when we've done something wrong, as well as the transformative power of apologies. I f you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about human behavior and ideas that can improve your life, subscribe to our newsletter at news.hiddenbrain....
Jun 21, 2021•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Granting forgiveness for the wrongs done to us can be one of the hardest things we face in life. But forgiveness can also be transformative. In the first of a two-part series on apologies and mercy, we talk with psychologist Charlotte Witvliet about the benefits of forgiveness, for both the mind and the body. If you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about human behavior and ideas that can improve your life, subscribe...
Jun 14, 2021•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Coincidences can feel like magic. When we realize that a co-worker shares our birthday or run into a college roommate while on vacation, it can give us a surge of delight. Today, we revisit a favorite episode about these moments of serendipity. Mathematician Joseph Mazur explains why coincidences aren't as unlikely as we think they are, and psychologist Nicholas Epley tells us why we can't help but find meaning in them anyway....
Jun 11, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Have you ever opened your computer with the intention of sending one email — only to spend an hour scrolling through social media? Maybe two hours? In this favorite episode from our archives, we look at how media, tech, and entertainment companies hijack our attention. Plus, we consider how the commercials we saw as children continue to shape our behavior as adults. If you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org . And to learn more about huma...
Jun 07, 2021•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
