Mind Reading 2.0: Our Better Angels

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

On The Gist, the 2020 candidates' proposals shouldn't be compared to some progressive ideal, but to some of the stuff we spend taxpayer dollars on now. In the interview, the pace of technological change means we might only be catching onto malicious disinformation techniques afte ...  Show more

Humans have a built-in “negativity bias,” which means we give bad news much more power than good. Would the Covid-19 crisis be an opportune time to reverse this tendency?

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Many adults perform worse in tests of literacy and numeracy than the average ten year old. And results have worsened in the past decade. Are our brains rotting? Russia’s economy could finally be nosediving (7:20). And remembering Eichmann’s jailer, Shalom Nagar (14:00).  Listen t ...  Show more

Fraud is everywhere around us — but not everyone steals for the same reasons. This hour, forensic accountant Kelly Richmond Pope explores the motivations and implications of why we cheat the system. TED Radio Hour+ subscribers now get access to bonus episodes, with more ideas fro ...  Show more