Booking Overview
Metrics
Episodes: 629
Frequency: Weekly
Rating: 4.6/5.0
Estimated listeners: 100,000 - 1M
Listener location: USA
Instagram: 88.0k followers
Contact Information
Publicly listed emails
ideas@hiddenbrain.org
tara@hiddenbrain.org
business@hiddenbrain.org
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Host
Shankar Vedantam - Veteran science journalist and creator and host of Hidden Brain, known for explaining psychological and behavioral research for a broad public audience.
Booking Intelligence
Booking Requirements
Recent Guest Discussions
Martin Seligman - Learned Helplessness, Optimism, Pessimism, And How People Respond To Setbacks.
Deborah Tannen - Indirect Communication, Conversational Styles, And Conflict In Relationships.
Ap Dijksterhuis - Creative Breakthroughs And The Psychological Experience Of Jolts.
Anthony Klotz - Unexpected Life Jolts, Intentional Decision-making, Quitting Work, And Career Change.
Steven Pinker - Indirect Speech, Honesty, And The Role Of Unspoken Communication In Relationships.
Recent Topics
Episodes
When Bad Things Happen to Good People
October 05, 2026
When historian Kate Bowler was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, she became fascinated by the ways people try to impose order on events they can't control. She joins us to explore what it means to live fully when life offers no satisfying explanation for the tragedies we may face. Then, in the latest installment of "Your Questions Answered," psychologist Lisa Miller returns to answer listener questions about the relationship between science and spirituality. In our companion conversation f...
How to Make a Difference: Part 2
September 28, 2026
Think about the last time you had a discouraging thought. Maybe you told yourself, "This won't work. I'm not cut out for this." Did you take that thought as fact? Last week, we talked with psychologist Martin Seligman about why some people come to believe that their actions don’t matter. In the second part of our conversation, he explains how we can strengthen our sense of agency, learn to see new possibilities, and build confidence in our ability to shape what happens next.Anyone who has str...
How to Make a Difference: Part 1
September 21, 2026
Why do some people act on the possibilities before them, while others come to believe that nothing they do will make a difference? Psychologist Martin Seligman describes his groundbreaking research on learned helplessness, and explains how the stories we tell ourselves about setbacks can shape what we do next. We also explore how optimism can help us rediscover our ability to change things for the better.If you have a question or comment about the science of optimism and pessimism that you'd ...
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Publicly listed emails
ideas@hiddenbrain.org
tara@hiddenbrain.org
business@hiddenbrain.org
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