Podcast: Hidden Brain

Neuroscientist Doug Fields was on a trip to Europe when a pickpocket stole his wallet. Doug, normally mild-mannered, became enraged — and his fury turned him into a stranger to himself. This week, we revisit a favorite 2020 episode about the secret logic of irrational anger.

Many of us go to great lengths to be happy. But is our singular focus on feeling good actually making us miserable? This week, psychologist Jordi Quoidbach explores what happens when we try to live in an emotional monoculture, and makes a case for letting it all in — the ups ... and the downs.

Sometimes we feel just one single feeling with overwhelming force. We're joyously happy. We're crushingly sad. But sometimes it's more complicated than that: We feel happy and sad at the same time. This week, we revisit a favorite 2022 episode with psychologist Naomi Rothman, who shares her research on the mixed emotion of ambivalence. She explores how being of two minds changes the way we think, and how it changes the way others see us.

For centuries, philosophers and theologians have warned about the dangers of hubris. It’s an emotion that can make us arrogant, egotistical, and reckless. But psychologist Jessica Tracy suggests this caution is too broad. She argues that when we see pride only as a negative emotion, we miss out on all the powerful ways it can also be a driver of creativity, altruism, and accomplishment.

This week, we kick off our new series, Emotions 2.0, with a special double episode about the emotions we experience with other people. We often think that emotions like happiness or sadness live inside our individual minds. But if you've ever gone to a music concert in a big stadium or attended a political rally with like-minded voters, you know that emotions can move through crowds in powerful ways. We begin with psychologist Amit Goldenberg, who studies how emotions spread and ratchet up in intensity as more people experience them. Then, we bring you a favorite 2022 conversation with anthropologist Dimitris Xygalatas, who takes us inside the world of fire walking to explore the emotional power of rituals.

We humans are a social species, and so it's not surprising that we care a lot about what other people think of us. It's also not surprising that many of us stumble when we try to manage others' views of us. This week, organizational psychologist Alison Fragale explains why that is, and offers better ways to win friends and influence people.

I. Me. My. You. He. She. They. It. To. Of. For. These are all words we use without a second thought. But psychologist James Pennebaker says if we pay close attention to the patterns in speech and writing, we can understand profound things about others, and even ourselves.

It can sometimes be exciting when we don't know what's coming next. Other times, the unknown can be deeply troubling. This week, we talk with researcher Dannagal Goldthwaite Young about how we respond to uncertainty, and why this psychological trait plays a surprisingly large role in shaping our behavior, perspectives — even our political beliefs.

Money worries are one of the biggest sources of anxiety in our lives. Psychologist Brad Klontz says these worries are shaped by more than the number in our bank accounts — they’re often driven by our unconscious beliefs. This week, we bring you a favorite 2022 conversation with Klontz, who says it’s possible to identify and change what he calls our “money scripts."

Every morning, you wake up and face the world. What does it look like to you? Do you see a paradise of endless opportunities, where people are friendly and helpful? Or a world filled with injustice, where people cannot be trusted? In the final installment of this year's You 2.0 series, we talk with psychologist Jamil Zaki about how we become disillusioned and distrustful of the world, and how to balance realism with hope.

It happens to the best of us — we blank on someone's name, or forget an important meeting, or bomb a test we thought we'd ace. In this week's installment of our You 2.0 series, we talk to cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham about the mysteries of memory: how it works, why it fails us, and how to build memories that stick.

Saying no to someone who asks for something is often easier said than done. Maybe it's a boss who wants you to take on a new assignment. Or your kid's teacher, seeking volunteers for a field trip. Or a friend who asks you to lend her money. How should we respond to these demands on our time, energy, and resources? This week, psychologist Vanessa Patrick explores why it's so hard to say no, and how we can set boundaries that will make it easier to do so.

Many of us feel like there aren't enough hours in the day. We struggle to make time for all the competing demands at work and at home, and inevitably feel like we're letting someone down. But what if there were a way to reclaim our time and, as a result, get more joy out of our lives? In the second episode of this year's You 2.0 series, psychologist Cassie Mogilner Holmes explains how we've fallen victim to the illusion of time scarcity, and what we can do to spend our time more wisely.

Are you someone who strikes up a conversation with the person next to you on the train? Or do you keep your eyes fixed on your phone? Do you offer gratitude to friends and family? Or do you assume that they already know how you feel? This week, in the kickoff to our annual You 2.0 series, we talk with psychologist Nicholas Epley about our interactions with other people, and how we can make them more rewarding.

Whether in your personal life or at work, you've probably experienced what it’s like to have people reject your requests. To be told that what you want is unfair, or heavy-handed. And you've likely been in the opposite position as well — pushing back against requests that step on your freedom. This week, we talk to psychologist Benjamin Rosenberg about how we respond to infringements on our sense of autonomy, and how we can avoid sparking this resistance in our interactions with other people.

When we meet new people, we’re often drawn to those with a commanding presence or a dazzling personality. But it turns out that a very different trait — humility — is important in the long term. This week, in the first of a two-part discussion, we talk with psychologist Daryl Van Tongeren about different kinds of humility, and how this overlooked quality can play a powerful role in workplace dynamics and romantic relationships.

When we think about misinformation, we often focus on blatant errors or deliberate attempts to deceive us. But in recent years, social scientists have found that misinformation comes in many flavors — many of which are far more subtle than obvious falsehoods. These forms of misinformation prey on our mental blindspots, and take advantage of our passions and loyalties. This week, economist Alex Edmans explores the many insidious forms of misinformation, and how we can all get better at separating fact from fiction.

We're always told to reach for that next ring, work that third job, go to that boisterous party after a long day at work. You only live once ... right? But psychologist Netta Weinstein says that when we constantly engage in achievement and distraction, we lose something essential about ourselves. This week, she makes a case for solitude, and examines what happens when we seek a quieter, more reflective interior life.

As we move through the world, It's easy to imagine we're processing everything that happens around us and then deciding how to respond. But psychologist and neuroscientist Norman Farb says our brains actually navigate the world by coming up with mental maps. These maps act like an autopilot system, allowing us to navigate our lives more efficiently. But sometimes, they can lead us astray, leaving us stuck on a path of negativity and unhappiness. This week, we talk with Norman Farb about how we can update our internal maps and see the world around us more clearly.

Cognitive scientist Nafees Hamid studies the minds of people drawn to radical or fringe ideas. This week, he takes us on a deep dive into the motivations of people on the brink of extremism -- and those who have already been radicalized. We examine what prompts people to turn to violence, and how to pull them back from the seductive appeal of extremist ideas.