Useful Delusions

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

Sam Harris speaks with Derren Brown about his work as a "psychological illusionist." They discuss the power of hypnosis, the power of expectations, the usefulness of Stoic philosophy, and other topics. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to ...  Show more

Cognitive Scientist Dr. Maya Shankar is guest-hosting all week! Dr. Shankar hosts “A Slight Change of Plans,” a podcast all about who we are and who we become in the face of a big change. Over the next several episodes, she’ll talk about how to work with change, instead of agains ...  Show more

How much insight do people have into why they behave the way they do? Science journalist Shankar Vedantam, host of the Hidden Brain podcast and author of “Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain,” talks about why he is fascinated by the paradoxes of hu ...  Show more

Our book this month is a paradigm shift in a way of thinking that is deeply engrained in our society. 

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Host: Victor Menasce

email: podcast@victorjm.com