Episode 59: The Deep Story
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 Hochs...
24 Jan 201721min
Episode 58: Pedestals and Guillotines
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 presiden...
17 Jan 201721min
Episode 57: Slanguage
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 n...
10 Jan 201724min
Episode 56: Getting Unstuck
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...
3 Jan 201727min
Encore of Episode 15: Loss and Renewal
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. Hos...
27 Dec 201624min
Encore of Episode 32: The Scientific Process
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 pub...
20 Dec 201628min
Episode 55: Snooki and the Handbag
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...
13 Dec 201624min
Episode 54: Panic in the Streets
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 ...
6 Dec 201623min
