Is mass hysteria more common than you think?

Warning, you’ll hear a lie in this episode. You won’t be told it's a lie. And 29% of those who listen probably won’t spot the lie. But if you listen till the end, you’ll learn the proven tips to spot lies like these. Today on Nudge, Professor Richard Wiseman explains: 1) How to s ...  Show more

There's a pill on Amazon called Fukitol. It contains nothing. And yet people buy it, swear by it, and give it five stars. Today, Nir Eyal explains the remarkable science behind why placebos work. --- Listen to the bonus episode: https://nudge.kit.com/40414a1b44 Nir’s book Beyond ...  Show more

Throughout the history of the world, there have been many cases of what is known as collective hysteria - groups of people, usually young women, who all exhibit the same physical symptoms of non-existent conditions. Is it psychosomatic? Is it group think? Find out in this clas ...

Rediffusion Le roman d'Horace McCoy, "On achève bien les chevaux", dont Sidney Pollack tira, en 1969, un film remarqué, évoque avec force ces marathons de danse organisés pendant la Grande Dépression, qui frappa les États-Unis durant les années 1930.Ils voyaient s'affronter des c ...  Show more

When people think of Medieval diseases, hysterical dancing is not usually what first comes to mind. Yet in 14th and 15th century Germany, dozens of ordinary people claimed to be infected by the ‘dancing plague’. What was this mysterious phenomenon? What caused it? And was it e ...

CIA agents in Havana complaining of mental fog, dizziness and ear pain in 2016. Children in Miami in 1974, hyperventilating and wracked with abdominal pain. A medieval outbreak of the “dancing plague”. A chorus of meowing nuns. These mysterious and seemingly disparate events may ...  Show more