Hidden Brain

Psychologist Martin Seligman continues his discussion of learned helplessness by examining how people interpret discouraging thoughts and develop a sense of agency. The conversation explores ways of recognizing possibilities and building confidence in the capacity to influence future events. This is the second part of the interview, following the episode published on 21 September 2026.

Hosted by Shankar Vedantam

Psychologist Martin Seligman joins Hidden Brain to discuss learned helplessness and why some people act on opportunities while others believe their actions cannot change outcomes. The conversation examines how interpretations of setbacks influence later behaviour and how optimism can help people recover a sense of agency. Seligman is a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Hosted by Shankar Vedantam and published by Hidden Brain Media on 21 September 2026, this is the first part of How to Make a Difference. The official episode page provides a public audio player.

Hosted by Shankar Vedantam

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. 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

Cognitive scientist Nafees Hamid discusses research on the motivations of people approaching or already committed to violent extremism. The conversation examines sacred values, social relationships and how psychological research may help disengage people from extremist ideas. The supporting research includes behavioural and neuroimaging studies of willingness to fight and die for a cause. Hosted by Shankar Vedantam. Hidden Brain Media dates this public episode release to 10 September 2026 and provides audio, research references and a transcript. The publisher notes that transcripts can reflect an earlier episode version.

Hosted by Shankar Vedantam

Psychologist Anthony Klotz discusses how unexpected experiences interrupt familiar routines and change the way people make decisions about their lives. He examines how these moments can clarify personal goals and future choices. In a later conversation, psychologist Ap Dijksterhuis answers listeners’ questions about creative breakthroughs.

Hosted by Shankar Vedantam

Psychologist Steven Pinker joins Shankar Vedantam to explore why people communicate indirectly despite learning that honesty is desirable. The conversation examines hedging, softened wording and meanings left unstated, and considers the role these patterns play in human relationships.

Hosted by Shankar Vedantam

Psychobiologist Daisy Fancourt of University College London discusses research on how engagement with music, painting, storytelling and other arts relates to emotional regulation, resilience and longer-term wellbeing. The conversation follows her work from arts programmes in hospitals to systematic studies of their psychological effects, and considers practical ways to bring creativity into everyday life.

Hosted by Shankar Vedantam

Anjan Chatterjee discusses how neuroscience can investigate beauty and aesthetic experience, including what neurological changes and responses to faces reveal about perception and judgement. Shankar Vedantam then speaks with physicist Frank Wilczek about the role of beauty in scientific discovery. The episode connects empirical questions about the human response to beauty with the use of aesthetic intuitions in developing physical theories.

Hosted by Shankar Vedantam