Ep 339: What Makes a Song Appealing?

I’ve decided, after 13 years, to bring the show to a close. Time to move on to other things. It’s been great, I’ve learned so much and I wanted to thank all of my listeners! Take care. - Michael 

Do you like to bungee jump? Perhaps you’re into parachuting or wing suit flying? If so, you’re probably a “high sensation seeker”. In this fascinating interview with Dr. Kenneth Carter, author of the new book “Buzz!”, we talk about what kind of personality a sensation seeker has ...  Show more

Whether it’s a doot doot doot of an opening riff or a random mix of words from the chorus, 99 per cent of people admit to getting songs stuck in their heads. So what is it about certain songs that make them so catchy? How does a song get stuck in your head? For transcripts of thi ...  Show more

We all know music can influence our moods, but can it actually boost our memory? How do musical memories emerge at the borders of identity, experience and culture? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore these questions and discuss the curious ways we r ...  Show more

This “anti-trivia” episode lists the best-selling songs of all time, as measured by sales of singles. We also go over the best-selling albums. What do you want to learn? Leave your question at  http://MasterOfMemory.com/. Music credit: Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet, 2nd movement, ...  Show more

The right song can make us feel chills, help pull us out of a bad mood, or take us back in time to the first time we heard it. Elizabeth Margulis, PhD, director of the Music Cognition Lab at Princeton University, talks about how music, memory, emotion and imagination intertwine; ...  Show more