Guessing Games

From childhood, we're taught that honesty is the best policy. Yet in everyday life, we hedge, soften our words, and leave things unsaid. This week, we talk with psychologist Steven Pinker about why indirect speech is such a fundamental part of human relationships. How long can yo ... Show More

Think about the last time a piece of music stopped you in your tracks, or a novel kept you up late at night. Why do these experiences feel so powerful? Psychobiologist Daisy Fancourt says engagement with the arts can help to regulate our emotions, build resilience, and support lo ... Show More

When we look at the people we love, how clearly do we really see them? This week, we talk with psychologist Edward Lemay about how our fears, desires, and insecurities can shape our perceptions of our partners — sometimes creating the very reality we expect. He explains how we ca ... Show More

This week the guys talk about the future: expectations vs. reality. What did people in the past predict the future would be like? Were they accurate? Will we be accurate if we attempt to do the same…? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 

Do brains time travel? What is a prediction error? What does any of this have to do with the 2008 crash of the economy, how we keep internal price tags, or a rational approach to drug addiction in society? Join Eagleman to learn how your 3-pound universe spends its whole existenc ... Show More

Our brain likes to play tricks on us, so it allows us to see the things we want to see and formulate biased conclusions, accordingly. In this episode, Rawane Affara explains how, at times, a child’s behavior is misunderstood and underestimated.Listen to The Ringlet on Podeopodeo. ... Show More

Today’s episode of Uncertain is about the ways that studies can leave us overconfident and how “just-so stories” can make us feel overly certain about results that are still a work in progress. And sometimes studies get misleading results because of random error or weird samples ... Show More

In a year when billions of people have been to the ballot box, what do stickleback fish have to do with it? Alex Lathbridge, Tristan Ahtone and Candice Bailey discuss some unexpected elements of electoral studies.Can ancient geology really map election outcomes? What has machine ... Show More