logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2024
50m 17s

Where Do Feelings Come From?

Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam
About this episode
Most of us feel that our emotions are reactions to those outside of us. Someone cuts us off in traffic, and we say that the other driver made us upset. A friend brings over food when we're sick, and we say the friend offered us comfort. But psychologist and neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett argues that our feelings are not, in fact, responses to the world ... Show More
Up next
Oct 26
The Story of Stories
Why is my friend late? How does nuclear fission work? What can I do to help my baby sleep through the night? We all feel the need to understand why certain things happen. Some researchers think the drive to explain the world is a basic human impulse, similar to thirst or hunger. ... Show More
1h 30m
Oct 19
Do You Have Trouble Sleeping?
Millions of us move through our days without getting enough sleep. We know that sleep deprivation can affect our physical health and our mood. But sleep researcher Chris Barnes says a chronic lack of good sleep can also affect how we make decisions and even what we value. He join ... Show More
1h 30m
Oct 12
Why Am I Unhappy?
We often imagine that feelings of unhappiness come from outside us — in our circumstances or the difficult people in our lives. But what if the forces that erode our happiness come from within? Psychologist George Loewenstein joins us to explore why our minds nudge us toward the ... Show More
1h 33m
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2018
You aren't at the mercy of your emotions -- your brain creates them | Lisa Feldman Barrett
Can you look at someone's face and know what they're feeling? Does everyone experience happiness, sadness and anxiety the same way? What are emotions anyway? For the past 25 years, psychology professor Lisa Feldman Barrett has mapped facial expressions, scanned brains and analyze ... Show More
18m 37s
May 2017
616: Lisa Feldman Barrett | How Emotions Are Made
Lisa Feldman Barrett (@lfeldmanbarrett) is the Director of IASLab at Northeastern University, an innovator in the field of psychology, and one of the world's foremost researchers on emotion. Her new book, How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain, is out now. The Cheat ... Show More
52m 36s
Jun 2017
Emotions
A thief knocks down your door and you are flooded with fear. Your baby smiles up at you and you are filled with love. It feels like this is how emotions work: something happens, and we instinctively respond. How could it be any other way? Well, the latest research in psychology a ... Show More
54m 18s
Jan 2025
Ep86 "What are emotions?"
Are emotions something that happen to you, or are they bodily signals we interpret? Does everyone show emotions in the same way -- that is, are there particular markers of the face or the body that always mean anger, sadness, or joy? And what does this have to do with Charles Dar ... Show More
50m 7s
Jan 2021
Best of: We don’t just feel emotions. We make them.
How do you feel right now? Excited to listen to your favorite podcast? Anxious about the state of American politics? Annoyed by my use of rhetorical questions? These questions seem pretty straightforward. But as my guest today, psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett, points out there ... Show More
1h 33m
Nov 2023
Best of Series: Surprising Truths about the Human Brain with Lisa Feldman Barrett
In this episode, I talk to renowned neuroscientist Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett about emotions and the brain. She reveals what the true function of the brain is⎯and it’s not for thinking. We also discuss the impact of past experiences on our cognition and what we can do to overcome o ... Show More
1h 29m
Nov 2021
Lisa Feldman Barrett || Surprising Truths about the Human Brain
In this episode, I talk to renowned neuroscientist Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett about emotions and the brain. She reveals what the true function of the brain is⎯and it’s not for thinking. We also discuss the impact of past experiences on our cognition and what we can do to overcome o ... Show More
1h 29m
Jan 2021
Lisa Feldman Barrett - Your Emotions Aren't What You Think
We launch our second season featuring a conversation with psychologist, neuroscientist, and emotion researcher Lisa Feldman Barrett. She and Wendy discuss a broad range of topics about the mind, including: her unexpected path into studying emotions; how our brains construct and p ... Show More
1h 15m
Apr 2021
How Your Emotions Are Made | Lisa Feldman Barrett
Today's guest is at the forefront of understanding human emotions: what they are, why humans evolved to have them, how they're different from feelings, and what science says about how to manage them (rather than get yanked around by them all the time). Dr. Lisa Feldman-Barrett is ... Show More
1h 13m
Nov 2021
Best of the Archives: How Your Emotions Are Made | Lisa Feldman Barrett
<p>Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett is at the forefront of understanding human emotions: what they are, why humans evolved to have them, how they're different from feelings, and what science says about how to manage them. She is a University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at North ... Show More
1h 7m