logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2023
35m 7s

Why does some music make us sad?

Bbc World Service
About this episode
CrowdScience investigates the link between music and emotion to try and understand why certain songs can have such a profound impact on our mood. From breakup songs to upbeat holiday hits, many of us have made playlists that reflect how we feel, whether that’s down in the dumps or high as a kite. This week CrowdScience investigates the link between music an ... Show More
Up next
Oct 3
Why are some animals black and white?
Listener Jude in Canada wants to know why some animals are black and white. Why do zebras risk being so stripy? Why do pandas have such distinct marking? And do they have something in common? Presenter Caroline visits Pairi Daiza, a zoo in Belgium. Together with her guide for the ... Show More
27m 2s
Sep 26
Answers to even more questions
Sometimes in science, when you try to answer one question it sparks even more questions. The CrowdScience inbox is a bulging example of that. We get tons of new questions every week and many of those are following up on episodes we’ve made. Sometimes you want us to go deeper into ... Show More
26m 28s
Sep 19
Do birds understand us?
CrowdScience listener David is a bird whisperer. On his family farm in Guinea, he would mimic the call of the black-headed weaver. He could replicate it so well that the birds would fly in close, curious to find out who was calling. David has been wondering if he was actually com ... Show More
26m 29s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2021
A sense of music
Music can make us feel happy and sad. It can compel us to move in time with it, or sing along to a melody. It taps into some integral sense of musicality that binds us together. But music is regimented, organised. That same 'sense' that lets us lean into Beethoven makes a bad not ... Show More
27m 14s
Apr 2021
How Music Soothes Us
What is it about certain melodies that can relax our nerves and rock us to sleep? We explore the science of calming music with pianist Rosey Chan. Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2ys7mf5d 
17m 58s
Oct 2021
Ep 28: Why songs get stuck in our heads
Why do some songs get stuck in our heads? In this episode, our presenter Ginny Smith explores the psychology of earworms. Ginny hears about the possible evolutionary reasons for why we experience the phenomenon, learns what earworms can teach us about memory — and finds out how t ... Show More
24m 59s
Mar 2024
How music, memory and emotion are connected, with Elizabeth Margulis, PhD
The right song can make us feel chills, help pull us out of a bad mood, or take us back in time to the first time we heard it. Elizabeth Margulis, PhD, director of the Music Cognition Lab at Princeton University, talks about how music, memory, emotion and imagination intertwine; ... Show More
41m 12s
Dec 2023
A year in music science: wonder, volume and animals that groove
As 2023 comes to a close, Short Wave teamed up with our friends at All Things Considered to round up some of our favorite stories of the year — this time, about the science behind music. First, science correspondent Rob Stein talks to researchers (and Phish's Mike Gordon) about w ... Show More
10m 56s
May 2022
Far Flung presents: More Than A Feeling
Great news—Far Flung will be back for another season in June. We can't wait to take you on ten new audio journeys across the world, from Puerto Rico to Nepal to Somalia to Chicago and beyond. But before that, something different. We're sharing an episode of another podcast Saleem ... Show More
36m 9s
Oct 2023
Adam Blum et al., "Here I'm Alive: The Spirit of Music in Psychoanalysis" (Columbia UP, 2023)
Today we have a group session (read: an hour and a half) with the authors Adam Blum, Peter Goldberg, and Michal Levin discussing their new book Here I’m Alive: The Spirit of Music in Psychoanalysis (Columbia University Press, 2023). Acknowledging that “We’re not the first to thin ... Show More
1h 37m
Apr 2022
The Power of Music
Have you ever gone through a breakup and listened to a sad song on repeat? Why do we have such strong emotional connections to music? Well, the answer lies in our brains. On this episode, CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks to Professor Assal Habibi, a pianis ... Show More
25m 30s
Sep 2012
Why does music provoke emotion?
A well-crafted piece of music can bring us to incredible highs and crushing lows, sometimes within the same song. Why does music affect humans this way? Join Chuck, Josh and special guest cellist Ben Sollee as they get to the bottom of music and emotion. Learn more about your ad- ... Show More
1h 4m
Oct 2021
The Healing Power of Pop with Esperanza Spalding
It. Has. Been. A. Year. We’ve felt it; you’ve felt it. Sometimes, it’s comforting to consider how universal that overwhelming sense of blah is. Other days, woof, it can be tough to see the light. That’s the subject of today’s episode, brought to you by our producer Megan Lubin. W ... Show More
35m 27s