Cognitive Psychology podcasts

Sana Qadar explores the cognitive processes involved in reading and the effects of narrative fiction with Genevieve McArthur, Lili Yu and Raymond Mar. The episode considers literacy difficulties, reading research and the relationship between stories, cognition and wellbeing, alongside readers' personal experiences.

Hosted by Sana Qadar

Linguist Deborah Tannen examines how differences in conversational style create unintended conflict in families, friendships and workplaces, and how greater awareness can improve communication. This release revisits an earlier interview with Tannen, a professor at Georgetown University, and adds a new Your Questions Answered segment in which Emma Levine addresses listener questions about the psychology of lying. Hosted by Shankar Vedantam and published by Hidden Brain Media on 14 September 2026. The official episode page offers public audio, research references and a transcript, with a warning that the transcript may reflect an earlier version.

Hosted by Shankar Vedantam

Nature reporters discuss the chemical signal used by naked mole-rat queens to maintain reproductive hierarchy and how people reason when learning unfamiliar games.