Hidden Brain

Hidden Brain Hidden Brain explores the unconscious patterns that shape human behavior.

Led by Host & Executive Editor Shankar Vedantam, our work makes ideas accessible and useful. We get millions of downloads each week and appear on more than 425 public radio stations

“Awe is encountering vast mysteries that we don't understand.” —psychologist Dacher Keltner This week, we revisit an ep...
12/26/2025

“Awe is encountering vast mysteries that we don't understand.”
—psychologist Dacher Keltner

This week, we revisit an episode on a simple source of joy — one that’s all around us.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7MaYo8PQP7yk7mZNlZcJOV

Hidden Brain · Episode

Looking for a holiday gift for a Hidden Brain fan? How about tickets to one of our live shows? Join Shankar for one of t...
12/24/2025

Looking for a holiday gift for a Hidden Brain fan? How about tickets to one of our live shows? Join Shankar for one of the 2026 stops on Hidden Brain’s live tour – more info and tickets at

Are there parts of our minds that are hidden from us? This question launched the Hidden Brain podcast ten years ago. Since then, the program has helped millions of listeners accomplish their goals, improve their relationships, and develop a deeper understanding of their emotions. Now, host and creat...

“I think one of the deepest mysteries...right now in the social sciences is, why does music speak to us and why does it ...
12/23/2025

“I think one of the deepest mysteries...right now in the social sciences is, why does music speak to us and why does it speak to our soul?”

What happens in the mind when we feel moved by a really good song, a beautiful view, or even a simple but lovely walk? This week, we revisit a conversation with psychologist Dachner Keltner about awe — how it works, and where to find it.

Social Sciences Podcast · Updated Biweekly · Why do I feel stuck? How can I become more creative? What can I do to improve my relationships? If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions, you’re not alone. On Hidden Brain, we help you understand…

“Awe quiets this egoistic self-focused sense of personal identity and opens you up to the big things that you're connect...
12/22/2025

“Awe quiets this egoistic self-focused sense of personal identity and opens you up to the big things that you're connected to.”

Many of us rush through our lives, chasing goals and just trying to get everything done. But that can blind us to a very simple source of joy. This week, we revisit a conversation with psychologist Dacher Keltner about what happens when we stop to savor the beauty all around us.

Many of us rush through our days, weeks, and lives, chasing goals, and just trying to get everything done. But that can blind us to a very simple source of joy that’s all around us. This week, in the fourth and final installment of our Happiness 2.0 series, psychologist Dacher Keltner describes wh...

“To expect ourselves to be able to change without changing our environment in a dopamine-overloaded world is just expect...
12/19/2025

“To expect ourselves to be able to change without changing our environment in a dopamine-overloaded world is just expecting us to not be human.”

Last week we talked about how an endless pursuit of pleasure ultimately leads to pain. This week, how to reset our relationship to pain and pleasure in a way that produces enduring satisfaction.

Podcast Episode · Hidden Brain · 12/15/2025 · 1h 32m

This week on My Unsung Hero: A Christmas Eve drive in a new town left Mary Klein lost and alone — until a couple pulled ...
12/18/2025

This week on My Unsung Hero: A Christmas Eve drive in a new town left Mary Klein lost and alone — until a couple pulled over to help. What they did next turned her loneliest holiday into a lifelong memory.

A Christmas Eve drive in a new town left Mary lost and alone — until a couple pulled over to help. What they did next turned her loneliest holiday into a lifelong memory.

"We’ve reached some kind of tipping point in terms of abundance, where what started out as a good thing…is actually cont...
12/16/2025

"We’ve reached some kind of tipping point in terms of abundance, where what started out as a good thing…is actually contributing now to our suffering."

This week, we continue our two-part conversation with psychiatrist Anna Lembke on the downsides of overabundance, along with techniques for resetting your brain.

This week, we bring you the second part of our conversation on the perils of too much pleasure. Psychiatrist Anna Lembke explains the neuroscience behind compulsive consumption, and how it alters our brains. She also shares techniques she’s learned from her patients to overcome the lure of addicti...

This week on My Unsung Hero: On her first Christmas rush shift, teenage Stephanie Cole froze at the register — until a c...
12/12/2025

This week on My Unsung Hero: On her first Christmas rush shift, teenage Stephanie Cole froze at the register — until a customer helped her breathe again. The woman’s insistence that she “take your time” has stayed with her for decades.

On her first Christmas rush shift, teenage Stephanie froze at the register — until a customer helped her breathe again. The woman’s insistence that she “take your time” has stayed with her for decades.

“It's not that dopamine is good or bad, it's that dopamine is essential for survival. And it keeps us moving and always ...
12/09/2025

“It's not that dopamine is good or bad, it's that dopamine is essential for survival. And it keeps us moving and always looking for the next thing."

Anna Lembke studies the science of addiction. She says our understanding of what it means to be addicted is far too narrow. This week, we revisit a two-part episode on modern addiction and the mechanisms that keep us in a state of constantly seeking pleasure.

All of us think we know what addiction look like. It’s the compulsive consumption of drugs, alcohol, or ni****ne. But psychiatrist Anna Lembke argues that our conception of addiction is far too narrow — and that a broader understanding of addiction might help us to understand why so many people ...

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