Hidden Brain

We’re often drawn to people who appear to be true to themselves. Yet showing our authentic selves to the world can be terrifying. This week, we kick off 2025 with a new series, “Wellness 2.0.” We’ll go beyond New Year’s resolutions to take a deep look at how we can approach our lives with a sense of meaning and purpose. Today on the show, we begin our series with researcher Erica Bailey [https://haas.berkeley.edu/faculty/erica-r-bailey/], who studies authenticity and what it means to truly be ourselves. Happy New Year from all of us at Hidden Brain! If you liked today's episode, please check out our companion Hidden Brain+ conversation with Erica Bailey. We've extended our free trial period to 30 days for listeners who sign up via Apple Podcasts during the month of January. To try Hidden Brain+ on Apple Podcasts, click the "try free" button on our show page in the app, or go to apple.co/hiddenbrain [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-brain/id1028908750?at=1010l3ab3&ct=hiddenbrain_podcasts&itsct=hiddenbrain_podcasts&itscg=30200S&ls=1].

It's happened to all of us: We're in the shower, or on a walk, and boom — a big idea or a brilliant solution appears out of nowhere. These sorts of insights often seem to arise without explanation. But researchers increasingly find there is a science to cultivating creativity. This week, social psychologist Sheena Iyengar [https://business.columbia.edu/faculty/people/sheena-iyengar] shares research and case studies of innovation, and discusses what these examples tell us about the alchemy of creative breakthroughs.  Looking for a last-minute holiday gift for a fellow fan of Hidden Brain? Consider giving them a gift subscription to Hidden Brain+ [https://patreon.com/hiddenbrain/gift]!

Every day, we leave small traces of ourselves online. And we might not realize what these traces say about us. This week, computational social scientist Sandra Matz [https://business.columbia.edu/faculty/people/sandra-matz] explores how understanding what we actually do online –  not just what we think we do – can help us improve our lives.  Looking for a last-minute holiday gift for a fellow Hidden Brain fan? You can now give a gift subscription [https://www.patreon.com/hiddenbrain/gift] to Hidden Brain+!

With the holidays fast approaching, many of us are hunting for that special something for the special someones in our lives. It’s how we show we care about them. So why is it so hard to find the right gift? This week, we revisit a favorite 2022 conversation with researcher Jeff Galak [https://scholars.cmu.edu/2187-jeffrey-galak]. We'll discuss why the presents we give for holidays and birthdays often miss their mark, and how to become a better gift-giver.  Looking for a holiday gift for a fellow Hidden Brain fan? You can now give a gift subscription to Hidden Brain+ [https://www.patreon.com/hiddenbrain/gift]! Or if material gifts are more your style, go to shop.hiddenbrain.org [https://www.podswag.com/collections/hidden-brain] to find Hidden Brain t-shirts, mugs, stickers and more.

What makes ordinary people do evil things? It was a question that long fascinated the psychologist Philip Zimbardo, who died in October. Zimbardo was best known for the controversial Stanford prison experiment, in which he created a simulated prison in the basement of a university building and recruited volunteers to act as prisoners and guards. This week, we explore how Zimbardo came to create one of psychology's most notorious experiments – and inadvertently became the poster child for the human weaknesses he was trying to study.   We're bringing Hidden Brain to the stage in San Francisco and Seattle in February 2025! Join our host Shankar Vedantam as he shares seven key insights from his first decade hosting the show. Click here for more info and tickets [https://hiddenbrain.org/tour/].