Psycholinguistics 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

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

Cory Shain discusses efforts to map language processing in individual brains with greater precision. Combining measurements from different recording methods, the research aims to explain how people understand and produce language and to inform future technologies for restoring communication.

Hosted by Nicholas Weiler