Hidden Brain

Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human b

Episodes

Total: 561

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." It's been 45 years since John Le

It’s no exaggeration to say that the world in 2025 can be ... a lot. Sometimes it may seem that tuni

We all have to make certain choices in life, such as where to live and how to earn a living. Parents

From time to time, all of us are called upon to do hard or even seemingly impossible things. Do we r

We’re often drawn to people who appear to be true to themselves. Yet showing our authentic selves to

It's happened to all of us: We're in the shower, or on a walk, and boom — a big idea or a brilliant

Every day, we leave small traces of ourselves online. And we might not realize what these traces say

With the holidays fast approaching, many of us are hunting for that special something for the specia

What makes ordinary people do evil things? It was a question that long fascinated the psychologist P

There's a tradition around many Thanksgiving dinner tables that's as consistent as stuffing and pump

Neuroscientist Doug Fields was on a trip to Europe when a pickpocket stole his wallet. Doug, normall

Many of us go to great lengths to be happy. But is our singular focus on feeling good actually makin

Sometimes we feel just one single feeling with overwhelming force. We're joyously happy. We're crush

For centuries, philosophers and theologians have warned about the dangers of pride and hubris. It’s

This week, we kick off our new series, Emotions 2.0, with a special double episode about the emotion

We humans are a social species, and so it's not surprising that we care a lot about what other peopl

I. Me. My. You. He. She. They. It. To. Of. For. These are all words we use without a second thought.

It can sometimes be exciting when we don't know what's coming next. Other times, the unknown can be

Money worries are one of the biggest sources of anxiety in our lives. Psychologist Brad Klontz says

Every morning, you wake up and face the world. What does it look like to you? Do you see a paradise