unconscious biases

We like to tell kids, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But from a very early age, we humans are doing just that — judging others based on how they look. This week, we bring you the second part of our look at the science of beauty and talk with psychologists Vivian Zayas and Stefanie Johnson about how appearances can often lead us astray.

If you haven't yet heard the first episode in this series, be sure to check it out! It's called "The Mystery of Beauty," and you can find it in this podcast feed, or on our website. 

We all have preferences when choosing who to date, but when do they cross the line into sexual racism? Daily Show correspondent Ronny Chieng, UMass Amherst sociology professor and associate dean, Jennifer Lundquist, and “Dates & Mates” podcast host, Damona Hoffman join Roy Wood Jr. to discuss how dating apps amplify users’ racial biases and how this impacts those looking for love online.

Original air date: May 31, 2022

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It's easy to spot bias in other people, especially those with whom we disagree. But it’s not so easy to recognize our own biases. Psychologist Emily Pronin says it’s partly because of our brain architecture. This week on Hidden Brain, we explore what Pronin calls the introspection illusion.

Listen in this week to discover why the framing of intuition as something you use to categorize an experience doesn’t serve you, how it gets confused with feelings of anxiety, and the role of cognitive bias here. You need to examine the assumption that you should act on something without question if it’s coming from your intuition, and I’m guiding you through this process today.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://unfuckyourbrain.com/148

Congress wants to give itself a raise. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez insists that they need a raise or else they’ll be corrupt. We'll talk about why that argument is insane. Also, Justin Trudeau babbles nonsensically. I'll play that clip because it’s hilarious. And 60 percent of male managers say they’re uncomfortable around women in the workplace. Gee, I wonder why. Date: 06-12-19

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It's normal to feel drawn to people you share something with — whether that's a name, or a birthday, or a common background. But did you know that women named Georgia also gravitate toward the state of Georgia? And Virginias are slightly more likely to move to Virginia? Or that people with the last name Carpenter are actually more likely to be carpenters? This week on Hidden Brain, we talk about all the subtle ways we prefer things that have something to do with us, and why that means, for example, we prefer that IKEA furniture we built ourselves. This phenomenon — which we're calling the Narcissus Effect — can have much bigger implications than we might at first think.

This week on Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam looks at what we find funny and what, well, crosses the line. Comedian Bill Burr joins us to talk about why race, gender and Caitlin Jenner can be so funny.