As we move through the world, it's easy to imagine we're processing everything that happens around us and then deciding how to respond. But psychologist and neuroscientist Norman Farb says our brains actually navigate the world by coming up with mental maps. These maps act like an autopilot system, allowing us to navigate our lives more efficiently. But sometimes, they can lead us astray, leaving us stuck on a path of negativity and unhappiness. This week, in a favorite episode from 2024, we talk with Norman Farb about how we can update our internal maps and see the world more clearly. Then, Dave Evans answers your questions about radical acceptance.
If you love listening to Hidden Brain, you can now watch it as well! Check out our new YouTube channel, and be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any of our upcoming videos. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
This is the abbreviated version of Checkup's call-in on road rage. As we enter the summer driving season, that means drama on Canadian streets and highways. We hear the best of Canadian's encounters on the road, and psychotherapist Julie Christiansen will tell you how to keep your own temper in check the next time you get cut off on the highway.
It's summer driving season, and that means drama on Canadian roads and highways. Hear as Canadians share their stories -- including a man who was stabbed, and a woman who broke up a fight on Christmas Eve. Also hear from psychotherapist Julie Christiansen about how turn down the heat when you're on the brink of road rage yourself.
The Ontario government is raising the speed limits on some highways this summer. Listen to whether Canadians think our roads and highways are already too fast -- or still too slow? Also listen to hear why driving instructor Sean McDonald says you may not be as good a driver as you think you are, and road infrastructure expert Matti Siemiatycki will tell us how Canadian roads can be built less for speed -- and more for safety.
This ICYMI episode takes you back to March 30, 1980. The hostage crisis in Iran was underway. It had been 149 days since Iranian students had initially taken 66 Americans hostage at the United States embassy in Tehran. Canadian diplomats had recently helped six American slip out country. The story made international headlines and was a point of pride for many Canadians. But not everyone was happy to be helping the U.S. administration. Ken Taylor was the Canadian Ambassador to Iran and helped the Americans escape. He was was on Cross Country Checkup on March 30, 1980.
Lauren Brown gets goosebumps. A lot. Sometimes several times a day. When her partner, writer Carmen Maria Machado, noticed it...she couldn't stop thinking about it. Why does she get them in so many different situations? What’s happening in her body and what does it mean? We take that question and run with it. We face chilly winds, sudden frights, and moments when the world seem to shift under your feet to figure out what the little bumps on our skin might be trying to tell us.
Special thanks to Rachel Gross, Gregory RupikEPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by Maria Paz Gutierrez
Produced by Maria Paz Gutierrez, Sindhu Gnanasambandan
Fact-checking by Angely Mercado
EPISODE CITATIONS:Videos -
Hallelujah (https://zpr.io/6ak2f), performed by Rufus Wainwright, accompanied by 1500 singers
De Ushuaia a La Quiaca (https://zpr.io/PcYbN)
Alysa Liu wins the Olympic gold medal for the United States (https://zpr.io/Q7pPNkYSTGVd)
Books -
Her Body and Other Parties, by Carmen Maria Machado
On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters, by Bonnie Tsui (https://www.bonnietsui.com/)
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Stephen Dubner had an idea for a new project. So he drove to Connecticut and knocked on the door of the master. Dubner’s new TV talk show Better in Person launches July 14 on the Freakonomics YouTube channel.
SOURCES:
Dick Cavett, writer, former talk show host.
RESOURCES:
Eye on Cavett, by Dick Cavett and Christopher Porterfield (1983).
Cavett, by Dick Cavett and Christopher Porterfield (1974).
"The Dick Cavett Show" YouTube Channel.
"Better in Person" Trailer.
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Last week, we talked with psychologist Lisa Miller about the science of spirituality. Today, we explore what those ideas can look like in everyday life. Miller explains why moments of connection, spiritual practices, and even periods of suffering can sometimes open the door to deeper meaning and growth. And on Your Questions Answered, behavioral scientist Dave Evans returns to respond to your comments on designing a meaningful life.
Hidden Brain is now on YouTube! Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any of our upcoming videos.
Episode illustration by Riswan Ratta for Unsplash+ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
This is an abbreviated version of Checkup's topic on the debate over manditory air conditioning in rental properties. New Westminster, BC now forcing landlords to keep at least one room under 26 degrees C in the units they rent. Landlords and tenants weigh in, plus legal advice to help ease the heat.
This ICYMI episode takes you back to 1971. As smog and polluted waterways were becoming impossible to ignore, the global environmental movement was starting to take shape. In Canada, the federal government at the time announced it would create a new ministry of the environment. Liberal MP Jack Davis was to be the first minister pending the approval of the House of Commons. On January 3rd, 1971, he was on Cross Country Checkup taking questions from callers about the future of Canada's environment.
Floods in Manitoba, wildfire evacuations in Northwest Territories, and heat alerts across the country. This summer is starting to feel more like a stress test. Canadians share how extreme weather has upended their summer and in some cases, their lives. Plus, the latest climate analysis on the summer of "super" El Niño.
Canadian summers are getting hotter, and the debate over manditory air conditioning is heating up. New Westminster, BC now mandates landlords to keep at least one room under 26 degrees C in their rental properties. Landlords and tenants weigh in, plus legal advice to help ease the heat.
Back in the 1950s, facing the threat of nuclear annihilation, federal officials sat down and pondered what American life would actually look like after an atomic attack. They faced a slew of practical questions like: Who would count the dead and where would they build the refugee camps? But they faced a more spiritual question as well. If Washington DC were hit, every object in the the National Archives would be eviscerated in a moment. Terrified by this reality, they set out to save some of America’s most precious stuff. Today, we look back at the items our Cold War era planners sought to save and we ask the question: what objects would we preserve now?
We first released this episode back in 2020, but with our big fourth of July – 250 years! – just around the corner, we thought it was a strange but profound reflection on what this whole America thing that we’re celebrating… actually is.
Special thanks to Luke Manon, Ben Irving, Bill Pretzer, Jason Spier, and Garrett Graff for all his reporting that made this episode possible.
LATERAL CUTS -The Cataclysm Sentence (https://radiolab.org/podcast/cataclysm-sentence)
EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by - Simon Adler
with help from - Tad Davis
Produced by - Simon Adler
Original music and sound design contributed by - SIMON ADLER
and Edited by - Pat Walters
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Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.
Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Dartmouth president Sian Beilock, a psychologist by training, made her name studying why people choke. Now she’s applying those insights to one of the most scrutinized jobs in America. No pressure!
SOURCES:
Sian Beilock, president of Dartmouth College.
RESOURCES:
"Growing share of Americans say the U.S. higher education system is headed in the wrong direction," by Kim Parker (Pew Research Center, 2025).
"Standardized Test Scores and Academic Performance at Ivy-Plus Colleges," by John N. Friedman, Bruce Sacerdote, Douglas O. Staiger, and Michele Tine (NBER, 2025).
"Americans’ Trust in One Another," by Laura Silver, Scott Keeter, Stephanie Kramer, Jordan Lippert, Sofia Hernandez Ramones, Alan Cooperman, Chris Baronavski, and Bill Webster (Pew Research Center, 2025).
Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To, by Sian Beilock (2011)
EXTRAS:
"Why Does Vanderbilt Keep Winning?" by Freakonomics Radio (2026).
"'A Low Moment in Higher Education,'" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
"'If We’re All in It for Ourselves, Who Are We?'" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
"Why We Choke Under Pressure (and How Not To)," by Freakonomics Radio (2018).
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