Episode 6: The Science of Fear

Have you ever fallen asleep in school or during a work meeting? Maybe you felt your eyes glaze over as your boss or a teacher droned on and on about a topic that had no relevance to you. What's missing from these classrooms and conference rooms is engagement: A state of being abs ... Show More

Aging isn’t just a biological process. Our outlooks and emotions also change as we age, often in ways that boost our well-being. This week, we revisit a favorite conversation with psychologist Laura Carstensen, who helps us unpack the science behind this surprising finding, and s ... Show More

Why do some people risk their own lives to help another person, or give away their fortunes for the benefit of strangers? This week, we talk with psychologist and neuroscientist Abigail Marsh, who studies the science of altruism. We'll explore what's known about the brains of peo ... Show More

Cemeteries and other places where we inter or honor the dead are often at least a little unsettling. Learn about the psychology and philosophy behind this phenomenon in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/afterli ... Show More

The Halloween tradition continues -- even as Halloween comes to a close. Robert and Joe dive into the rich history of TV horror and sci-fi anthology series to focus on the STBYM topics they might not otherwise get to discuss on the show. This year, they examine episodes of the 19 ... Show More

Plenty of things are scary these days, so why do people pay good money to see horror movies and go to 'haunted' houses? Learn why psychologists say these fearful experiences are helpful in this episode of BrainStuff.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastn ... Show More

At Denmark’s largest haunted house attraction, it’s not just about the screams. Researchers are studying the effects – good and bad – that fear has on humans READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-science-of-horror-fear 

Surf the Internet long enough and you’ll happen upon creepypasta: little cut-and-paste snippets of horror that blur the lines between reality and the fantastic. These collectively assembled amalgams of pop culture influences take on their own amorphous power -- and more than a fe ... Show More

October may be the month that our fascination with all things ghoulish and grisly reaches its peak, but for many people, a fascination with the darker side of life isn’t limited to Halloween. Coltan Scrivner, PhD, talks about why people are drawn to horror, true crime and other s ... Show More

With another season of “Stranger Things” just around the corner, the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast explores the mind rending science behind government research into psychic phenomena, sensory deprivation tanks, interdimensional travel and the real-life researcher lurking behind ... Show More

This is Episode 35 of PsychCrunch, the podcast of the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest, sponsored by Routledge Psychology. From haunted houses to scary movies, many of us find a thrill in a good scare. But… isn’t that a bit counter-intuitive? In this episode, we as ... Show More

It was a dark and stormy night around the time of Halloween. A secret message arrived addressed to Rutherford & Fry from a mysterious woman called Heidi Daugh, who demanded to know: "Why do people like to be scared? For example, going on scary amusement park rides and watching ho ... Show More