Episode 52: Losing Face

When historian Kate Bowler was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, she became fascinated by the ways people try to impose order on events they can't control. She joins us to explore what it means to live fully when life offers no satisfying explanation for the tragedies we may face. ... Show More

Think about the last time you had a discouraging thought. Maybe you told yourself, "This won't work. I'm not cut out for this." Did you take that thought as fact? Last week, we talked with psychologist Martin Seligman about why some people come to believe that their actions don’t ... Show More

Why do some people act on the possibilities before them, while others come to believe that nothing they do will make a difference? Psychologist Martin Seligman describes his groundbreaking research on learned helplessness, and explains how the stories we tell ourselves about setb ... Show More

How do we recognise faces? What part of the brain helps us discern a stranger from a friend? And could you be a Super Recogniser? In this focus episode of How We’re Wired, join producer Dr Eva Higginbotham as she explores the science of facial recognition, from face blindness to ... Show More

Imagine not being able to recognize the people you see every single day; your coworkers, your friends, your loved ones. “Prosopagnosia,” or “face blindness,” as it’s commonly known, is a disorder that impacts about 1 in 50 people, and some may not even know about it. They may go ... Show More

It’s not that the person who can never remember meeting you is snobby or even absent-minded; they may have a fascinating – and often difficult – neurological condition called prosopagnosia, known more commonly as face blindness.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

We think our faces are our own. But technology can use them to identify, influence and mimic us. This week, TED speakers explore the promise and peril of turning the human face into a digital tool. Guests include super recognizer Yenny Seo, Bloomberg columnist Parmy Olson, visual ... Show More

<p>Now, we know that when names consist mainly of a medley of Xs, Qs and Zs, it can be easy to lose it under pressure. So, when that friend that you just ran into is looking into your eyes with an anticipative look, you might just, understandably, come up short. This situation af ... Show More

Many of us have experienced imposter syndrome at some point in our lives. Often it's at work, where we doubt our own skills and accomplishments. But what happens when you feel like a fraud simply for being yourself? In this episode, we travel from New York State to a national par ... Show More

Ever feel like everyone in the Zoom call is looking at you? Ever astonished to find your contribution to a project goes unrecognized, or that your latest faux pas didn’t destroy you? Perhaps you’re not the central character in this narrative after all. In this episode of Stuff to ... Show More

Why do we have so much circuitry in the brain devoted to faces? Why does your electrical plug seem to look like a little face? Did aliens plant a signal for us on Mars, or are we looking at a quirk of our own brains? What is face blindness and what is a super recognizer? What doe ... Show More

<p>What are we to make of the mirror world? We surround ourselves with looking glasses, yet rarely understand exactly what we're observing. Our reflected doubles gaze back at us, affecting the way we carry ourselves and the way we experience our own bodies. Travel through the loo ... Show More

Are you the type of person that forgets peoples names? You're not alone, although it could be time to start making an effort. We all have a lot on our minds these days so in this episode we focus on being present when someone introduces themselves to you for the first time. For m ... Show More