Hidden Brain

A Secret Source of Connection

Most of us think about what we say to others. We think about whether our words might hurt or please them, whether we're saying the right things at the right time. But we rarely think about how we listen. We assume we're doing it fine, or well enough. Yet listening is one of the most powerful things we can do for another person.

Book of the Day

'The Yahoo Boys' investigates Nigeria’s network of cyber crime 'sweetheart scams'

I know that all these scams sound preposterous to most people. But I think when talking about these victims, one has to make the effort to put themselves in their shoes. And we are talking about people who have gone through hell.

Hidden Brain

A Secret Source of Connection

We all have moments in our lives when we see someone who could use a helping hand. We tell ourselves we should help, but then something stops us.

The Daily

Steven Spielberg on the Real Life Evidence That Inspired 'Disclosure Day'

The thing that we need to preserve in our society more than anything else, which is something which I believe is as fragile as democracy, is empathy.

Book of the Day

ABC News' Martha Raddatz on 'The Hero Next Door,' her collection of veterans’ stories

I have always considered myself kind of a bridge. I can help those people who do not understand the military, who don't understand that these are the guys next door who four days before they were in a war zone were in a minivan taking their kids to school.

Hidden Brain

The Empathy Gym

Some people are good at putting themselves in another person's shoes. Others may struggle to relate. But psychologist Jamil Zaki argues that empathy isn't a fixed trait.

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

Brandi Carlile helps us say goodbye to Bill Kurtis!

I was on Interstate 5 in over in the Pacific Northwest where I live and one of those big trucks that's got all the chickens in it like bombing down the highway and I looked at it and a chicken looked into my soul.

Book of the Day

Two new murder mysteries cleverly explore the meta — in two very different ways

If I spoke to every person on this bus and asked them about their life story, I bet it would be so much better than any fiction that I could write because you wouldn't believe what people have survived and triumphed and seen and done and the grief and the loss and the joy.

Fresh Air

Palestinian & Israeli activists share a vision of peace

People, I think, don't realize one small action, one kind word. You never leave the person you meet the same after you've interacted with them, and I wanted to do that for Ma'oz and for others.

Fresh Air

John Lithgow

You look for ways you can empathize with every character. And if you're playing a scoundrel of any stripe, you just try to make it interesting. You try to figure out what made him that way.

TED Radio Hour

How does your brain perceive the world?

Our minds are black boxes to each other. I think if we actually switched consciousnesses, if we had like a Freaky Friday situation, initially we'd be totally lost in the wilderness.

TED

A Different Way to Measure Success in Health Care | Andrew Bastawrous | TED

The greatest gift I could give her was not her sight but to have her be truly seen.

TED Radio Hour

How does your brain perceive the world?

Our minds are black boxes to each other. I think if we actually switched consciousnesses, if we had, like, a Freaky Friday situation, initially we'd be totally lost in the wilderness.