Please regard this as a menu, not a college course

October 16, 2019 9:52 PM

NPR's podcast Hidden Brain recently completed their 2019 edition of their series, You 2.0. Across six episodes, it explores ways people might be able to improve themselves and break old patterns to move into renewed progress in their lives. Episodes run from around 30 minutes to around an hour. Episode 1 is The Empathy Gym [53m] "On this episode of Hidden Brain, we talk about calibrating our empathy so we can interact with others more mindfully."

Episode 2: Tunnel Vision "This week on Hidden Brain, we'll explore the concept of scarcity and how it affects people across the globe — from sugar cane farmers in India to time-starved physicians in the United States."

Episode 3: Our Better Nature "This week on our You 2.0 summer series: why trees, grass, gardens and flowers don't just brighten our lives — they help us become our better selves."

Episode 4: Rebel With A Cause [a rebroadcast, see below] "This week, we'll follow Gino on her mission to understand the minds of successful rule breakers. What are their secrets? And how can we discover our own rebel talent?"

Episode 5: Deep Work "This week on Hidden Brain, we look at how to cultivate deep attention and what we gain when we immerse ourselves in meaningful work."

Episode 6: Decide Already! "This week, Shankar talks to Dan Gilbert about where we go wrong in making our predictions and how we can use this research to lead happier lives."

posted by hippybear (9 comments total)

The 2018 edition of Hidden Brain's summer series:

Episode 1: Rebel With A Cause "This week, we'll follow Gino on her mission to understand the minds of successful rule breakers. What are their secrets? And how can we discover our own rebel talent?"

Episode 2: Dream Jobs "This week on Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam talks with Wrzesniewski about how we find meaning and purpose at work."

Episode 3: The Ostrich Effect "This week, as part of our You 2.0 series, we return to this discussion about information aversion, and why our brains are inclined to avoid information that's painful — even if it's information that we need."

Episode 4: When Did Marriage Become So Hard "This week we talk with Finkel and with historian Stephanie Coontz about the evolution of marriage and where we are today."

Episode 5: Originals "But Wharton professor Adam Grant says these defects are actually fundamental to originality. In his new book, Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, Adam investigates who comes up with great ideas, how, and what we can do to have more of them. This week, we bring you our conversation with him as part of our summer series, You 2.0."

Episode 6: Check Yourself "Today on Hidden Brain, we'll go inside the operating room with Gawande to explore the subtle biases that cause very smart and very skilled people to become their own worst enemies."
posted by hippybear at 9:52 PM on October 16, 2019 [2 favorites]

I'm not sure where it fits in terms of series, but I really enjoyed their piece Creating God last year.
posted by needs more cowbell at 3:18 AM on October 17, 2019

Neat! Thanks for posting this.
posted by bardophile at 3:52 AM on October 17, 2019

I need episode 5 and 6 so badly!

Podcasts that are similar for people:
Happiness Lab, by Dr. Laurie Santos who created and teaches the famous course on meaning and happiness at Yale
Good Life Project, great interviews with all sorts of artists, therapists, creators, everyone
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 6:50 AM on October 17, 2019

I've always really disliked the short social science pieces Vedantam does on Morning edition. I don't know if it is a fair impression, but they always felt like recaps of recent papers made to sound like they were solid definitive things that scientists now "know" rather than snapshots of cutting edge research that really need to be put into broader context.
Anyway, promotional pieces for The Hidden Brain podcast (and this post) make it sound really interesting... until I see the host. Is the podcast a lot better than the stuff he does on Morning Edition? The longer format could definitely make space for more nuance and context... or it could just be a lot more of the same.
posted by 3j0hn at 9:20 AM on October 17, 2019

This is my go-to podcast when I'm driving long distances! I missed a few of these. Looking forward to catching up on the next trip.
posted by sweetjane at 12:38 PM on October 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

3j0hn, I think you should give the podcast a try. The podcast is good. Solid enough, suspicious of its own source material and experts where it needs to be (without being relentlessly contrarian in a way that ties everything up in knots), and, unlike so much that's out there in the science space, jerk-free and not exclusively dominated by white men.

What you're hearing in Morning Edition is the classic short-space compromise. It's different stuff.
posted by Mo Nickels at 2:28 PM on October 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

Following the ongoing community discussion here while remaining out of it largely, I think based on the things I've been reading in various threads on the Grey might recommend a listening to 2019 Episode 1: The Empathy Gym. It addresses a lot of topics, and also goes in directions which lay out traps that many might be falling into. I found it a useful hour to listen to in general but was reminded of things here a lot while listening, so I thought I'd mention it.
posted by hippybear at 8:24 PM on October 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

Hidden Brain is my jam, and their You 2.0 series just kicked everything up to 10. Many of the episodes are re-listen worthy. Many of the episodes have helped me through mental health crises and difficulties just by knowing some of the noise in my head is normal. Also Shankar’s voice has become a soothing reassurance all on its own.

The episode that got me hooked is Stereotype Threat; I recommend anyone not sure to start here. (Note, early episodes had volume issues and were working out some segments that were hokey and scrapped.)

There is also the 2017 You 2.0 series: Deep Work, Dream Jobs, Embrace the Chaos, WOOP, There It Is, Decide Already, and Getting Unstuck. Deep Work and Decide already being so good they replayed them for 2019, and Dreamjobs in 2018.
My personal favorite is Becoming Unstuck. But they are all so good.

Gosh, I think I might end up listening to all the You 2.0s over the next week.

Also will someone please run a dance class with clicker training near me?

(I’m actually quit annoyed I didn’t think to post this- I always struggle to think what would make a good fpp which is why I rarely post them. Never crossed my mind, so thank you, Hippybear! and the title; ha! I'm going back to school and acing my psych 101 class without studying, largely due to listening to Hidden Brain for the past two and a half years. )
posted by [insert clever name here] at 7:49 AM on October 18, 2019