This past year, COVID-19 and the U.S. elections have provided fertile ground for conspiracy theories—with sometimes disastrous consequences. Karen Douglas, PhD, of the University of Kent in the United Kingdom, discusses psychological research on how conspiracy theories start, why they persist, who is most likely to believe them and whether there is any way t ... Show More
Oct 8
Dyslexia myths, misconceptions and facts, with Tim Odegard, PhD
Dyslexia is one of the most common learning differences, yet it’s still widely misunderstood. Tim Odegard, PhD, talks about how dyslexia is diagnosed and defined; his own experience growing up with dyslexia; how kids at risk can be identified early; what interventions work best; ... Show More
39m 5s
Oct 1
Lefties, righties and mixed-handers: The psychology of brain asymmetry, with Sebastian Ocklenburg, PhD
Left-handers make up about 10.6 percent of the world’s population. Sebastian Ocklenburg, PhD, talks about why handedness and other brain asymmetries exist; the genetic and environmental factors that influence handedness; whether there’s any truth to the stereotype that lefties ar ... Show More
36m 46s
Sep 24
Teens, AI and the science of risky decisions, with Valerie Reyna, PhD
You might think the best way to make decisions is to know all the facts. But psychologists’ research suggests that getting the “gist” – the core meaning behind the facts – is more important than focusing on every last detail. Valerie Reyna, PhD, talks about why gist matters; how ... Show More
34m 33s
Nov 2018
30th anniversary, Incivility of politicians, Arctic scientists' mental health
Happy Birthday to us! All in the Mind is 30 years old this month and to celebrate we’ve searched the archive to bring you clips of Anthony Clare, the original presenter of the programme, and a very young Claudia Hammond as a reporter. Professor Catherine Loveday is in the studio ... Show More
28m 11s
Nov 2023
Belief in conspiracy theories, exercising before work, and living with OCD
It’s not hard to find headlines about conspiracy theories these days, and on social media, they appear everywhere. It would be easy to think that more people are falling victim to conspiracies than ever before, but is there any evidence that this is the case? Claudia Hammond talk ... Show More
27m 59s
Jan 2022
We Don't Need No Thought Control: The Psychology of Disinformation and Cult Mentality
On this episode of the pod we are joined by a special guest, Dr. Jay Van Bavel, who is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at New York University, to discuss the anti-vaccine movement, cult-mentality, and the predilection for conspiratorial thinking. We summar ... Show More
1 h