Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.
479 episodes transcribedNot long after his sixteenth birthday, Fred Clay was arrested for the murder of a cab driver in Boston. Eventually, Fred was found guilty — but only a...
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." These words, penned by Thomas Jefferson more than 240 years ago,...
Policymakers have a tried-and-true game plan for jump-starting the economy in times of severe recession: Push stimulus packages and lower interest rat...
In the past few weeks, the nation has been gripped by protests against police brutality toward black and brown Americans. The enormous number of demon...
President Trump said this week that a few "bad apples" were to blame for police killings of black people. But research suggests that somethi...
If we do a favor for someone we know, we think we've done a good deed. What we don't tend to ask is: Who have we harmed by treating this person with m...
When we are asked to make a moral choice, many of us imagine it involves listening to our hearts. To that, philosopher Peter Singer says, "nonsen...
In recent months, many of us have looked back with longing at our lives before COVID-19. For many of us, that world was one of bustle and activity — m...
Far from being "the great equalizer," COVID-19 has disproportionately sickened and killed African Americans and Latinos in the U.S. Many of...
In the months since the spread of the coronavirus, stories of selfishness and exploitation have become all too familiar: people ignoring social distan...
Commencement ceremonies allow us to take stock of what we've accomplished and where we're headed. This is one of the key opportunities that students a...
In recent months, many of us have become familiar with the sense of fear expressing itself in our bodies. We may feel restless or physically exhausted...
An abundance of choices is a good thing, right? In the United States, where choice is often equated with freedom and control, the answer tends to be a...
Amidst the confusion and chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have sought out a long-trusted lifeline: the local newspaper. Though the value of...
Confined to our homes, many of us are experiencing a newfound appreciation for our social relationships. What we may not realize — and what physicians...
From stone statues to silicone works of art, we have long sought solace and sex from inanimate objects. Time and technology have perfected the artific...
We all know people who prefer to follow the rules, and others who prefer to flout them. Psychologist Michele Gelfand defines these two ways of being a...
A silver lining of social distancing: you may have more time and space to pursue the projects you've bookmarked on your web browser. Whether your goal...
It sounds like a movie plot: police discover the body of a young man who's been murdered. The body tests positive for a deadly infectious disease. Aut...
We know that we live in an ever-changing world, but one thing we often overlook is demographic change. Whether the world's population is growing or sh...
