MESHELLE on NPR Podcast “Hidden Brain” Hosted by Shankar Vedantam

 

Coming In September: NPR’s New Social Sciences Podcast

NPR’s Newest Podcast, Hidden Brain, Premieres September 22, 2015

With Host Shankar Vedantam, NPR Science Correspondent

August 10, 2015; Washington, DC – NPR listeners have consistently expressed their love for Shankar Vedantam’s Hidden Brain social science stories with comments ranging from “a morning Hidden Brain segment is like a shot of thought-espresso” to “I stop talking to the cats when Hidden Brain is on.”

Connect with the show

Twitter: @HiddenBrain

Facebook: Facebook.com/HiddenBrain

Podcast: Subscribe here

The fans have spoken and NPR listened: Starting September 22, Vedantam’s (full name pronounced SHUN-ker veh-DAHN-tahm) insights on human behavior will be available for download anytime, anywhere in a weekly 20-minute podcast. A teaser is available now at NPR.org.

Like Shankar’s engaging radio reports, the Hidden Brain podcast will connect science with listeners’ everyday experiences. Linking psychology and neurobiology with art, music and literature, Hidden Brain will reveal patterns that drive human behavior, biases that shape our choices, and imperceptible forces that influence our relationships.

“The goal of Hidden Brain isn’t merely to entertain, but to give you insights to apply at work, at home and throughout your life: the way you park your car, the way you read restaurant reviews, will be different once you listen to Hidden Brain,” said Anne Gudenkauf, Senior Supervising Editor of NPR’s Science Desk. “Shankar has been covering these topics his entire career and will bring not just his knowledge but his humor and personality to the show.”

NPR Science Correspondent and Host of Hidden Brain Shankar Vedantam. (Download Image / Credit: Photo via Shankar Vedantam) Photo via Shankar Vedantam hide caption

itoggle caption Photo via Shankar Vedantam

NPR Science Correspondent and Host of Hidden Brain Shankar Vedantam. (Download Image / Credit: Photo via Shankar Vedantam)

NPR Science Correspondent and Host of Hidden Brain Shankar Vedantam. (Download Image / Credit: Photo via Shankar Vedantam)

Photo via Shankar Vedantam

“You can take ideas seriously without taking yourself seriously,” said Vedantam. “We hope the podcast will help you see your life differently, with fresh eyes — like a tourist. And provide excellent fodder for dinner table conversation!”

Each episode will find creative ways to make social science research accessible. Recurring segments include “Mad Scientist,” where guests try to predict what an experiment found, and “Stopwatch Science” – a rapid-fire exchange of ideas. Topics from early episodes include “Switchtracking,” which is what happens when two people think they are talking about the same thing but are really on their own tracks, why the bond between students and teachers makes a big difference in education, and how a female poker champion learned to use the stereotypes her rivals had about her to her own advantage.

ABOUT NPR PODCASTS
Since 2005, NPR has produced and distributed some the country’s most popular podcasts – longtime favorites Fresh Air, Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!, Latino USA and All Songs Considered, as well as newer shows including Invisibilia, Microphone Check and TED Radio Hour, one of the most downloaded podcasts in the English language. Hidden Brain is the newest add to NPR’s podcast catalogue – more than 30 programs covering science, music, pop culture, comedy and news which together account for an average of 72 million downloads each month. Each week, more than 26 million radio listeners tune into NPR programming and nearly 9 million unique visitors access NPR.org, making NPR one of the most trusted sources of news and insights on life and the arts.

Contact

NPR Media Relations: Isabel Lara
Email: mediarelations (at) npr.org