New to Hidden Brain? Here's a great place to start. hiddenbrain.org/featured-epi…

How much do you know about your family’s hard times, not just the happy ones? Psychologists Robyn Fivush and Marshall Duke found the most resilient kids could answer that question. The hard stories might matter as much as the good ones.

During a family trip to New York City, Lia Eastep’s father lost his balance on a crowded subway. The stranger who caught him became a role model for how she hopes to respond when others need help. hiddenbrain.org/unsunghero/l…

Why does one bad experience have the power to overshadow an otherwise good day? Psychologist Alison Ledgerwood explores the negativity bias, the deeply human tendency to hold on to what went wrong and overlook what went right. She explains why our minds are drawn to losses and threats, and what it takes to rebalance our attention. apple.co/4w8ReCi

"Once we think about something in negative terms, that way of thinking about it tends to stick in our minds and resist subsequent attempts to change it.” In this week’s episode, we talk to psychologist Alison Ledgerwood about why our minds are biased toward the negative. hiddenbrain.org/podcast/step…

There may be a hidden benefit to your love of horror films. Researcher Coltan Scrivner found that horror fans handled COVID lockdowns with less psychological distress. Scary movies might double as rehearsal for real fear. What scares you on screen? It might be preparing you for something real.

“We don't fully understand the magnitude of the impact that we're having on another person.” We feel good when people are kind to us, yet we underestimate just how powerful our own kindness can be. This week, how to overcome our own failures of kindness. And how doing so can make life better for others — and ourselves. apple.co/4fQtHkJ

We tend to treat forgetting as a flaw, a sign our memory is failing us. Then you meet someone like Jill Price, who can recall nearly every day of her life in vivid detail, including the ones she'd give anything to lose. Her story reveals something strange about the mind: forgetting isn't a malfunction. It's how we heal, how we grow, and how we keep moving forward. The thing you wish you could remember better might be the thing protecting you.

During his first year of college, Stephen Parker was devastated by the loss of a relationship he didn't yet fully understand. One difficult night, a roommate listened with compassion, never pushing him to confront feelings he wasn't ready to face. hiddenbrain.org/unsunghero/s…

We know kindness is a good thing. So when we think of doing something nice for someone, why do we often hold back? This week, the psychological barriers that stand in the way of helping others. open.spotify.com/episode/2i9…

“I'm not the first person to suggest that being kind to other people improves wellbeing, and yet we have tons of opportunities to be kind to other people that we don't take advantage of.” We all have moments in our lives when we see someone who could use a helping hand. It could be a friend who recently went through a breakup, or an older person trying to load groceries into their car. We tell ourselves we should help, but then something stops us. This week, psychologist Amit Kumar helps us understand what keeps us from taking a moment to be kind, and how to overcome these barriers to create stronger, happier connections. hiddenbrain.org/podcast/a-se…

We spend so much energy trying to make things comfortable for the people we love. Easy outings, smooth weekends, no friction. But the research on identity fusion suggests something we don't expect: it's often the hard moments we go through together that bind us, not the pleasant ones. Think about the people you feel closest to. Odds are, you struggled through something with them.

After learning she was a candidate for brain surgery, Rebecca Simonitsch boarded a flight home feeling overwhelmed and scared. The stranger beside her turned out to be exactly the person she needed. hiddenbrain.org/unsunghero/r…

“The mask that I'm wearing at any given moment is not me.” For two decades, Eric Oliver has taught a university class designed to help students answer a big question: who are you? You’re not the same person with your friends as you are with your co-workers or your kids. So, who are you, really? In this week’s episode, the search for our true selves. open.spotify.com/episode/0Vc…

“ We are not nouns. We are verbs. There's no part of us...that's static.” For years, political scientist Eric Oliver searched for a deeper understanding of who he really was, through relationships, therapy, and personal achievement. Instead of finding one clear and consistent self, he found conflicting desires pulling him in different directions. This week, he explores why we often feel divided within ourselves, and how we can learn to live more peacefully with those contradictions. hiddenbrain.org/podcast/who-…

As a new mom, Missy Nicholson checked herself into a psychiatric ward for depression. During a group session, a fellow patient reached over and held her hand as she cried. hiddenbrain.org/unsunghero/m…

We’ve all been there. You’re stuck on an impossible problem. Then you go for a walk or a drive or take a shower and —bam!—the solution comes to you in a flash of insight. Why does this happen? What are the mental mechanisms responsible for our most creative moments? This week, we talk to psychologist Ap Dijksterhuis about the psychology of creativity and inspiration. apple.co/4x9PFFq

“There's something about the unconscious that can come up with something that is very pure, very beautiful.” You know those eureka moments, when an idea hits you like a bolt of lightning? Where do those ideas come from? This week, the science of inspiration. open.spotify.com/episode/6Y8…

“At a certain point, you have this sudden flash of insight.” For centuries, people have described creativity as something mysterious—a light bulb moment, a whisper from the muse, a sudden epiphany that arrives out of nowhere. Psychologist Ap Dijksterhuis explores the hidden mental processes that shape creativity, and why breakthroughs often emerge when the mind is at rest. hiddenbrain.org/podcast/unle…

“If you look at the few centuries after these towns throughout Europe adopt a clock, you actually see an uptick in economic growth in the centuries after the clock arrives.” We like to think that our choices, habits, and behaviors are entirely our own. But our behaviors are shaped by centuries of cultural evolution. Take something simple: the invention of the clock. Anthropologist Joseph Henrich says it didn’t just change how we measure time. It changed how we think, work, and coordinate. This week, how a single cultural innovation can reshape an entire society. apple.co/3Pt7fDC

Mike Lopes’ wife was dying after years of cancer treatment, and she could no longer recognize the people around her. Then her longtime chemotherapy nurse arrived. hiddenbrain.org/unsunghero/m…