Hidden Brain - Podcast Rankings and reviews

The Hidden Brain podcast is one of my favorites not only because Shankar Vendantam is a great host but it’s all the little details that make it worth listening. The music intros and outros are perfectly placed and the overall pace provides the listener with the necessary ‘white space’ to process the information or story being shared. The stories themselves are thought-provoking, interesting and timely and I’m always glad I made time to listen to an episode. Thanks to the entire team for producing this excellent show. Your work is appreciated!

I just recently started listening to Podcasts and this show is my favorite hands down. It’s some of the most well written media I’ve experienced - the Mind Reading 2.0 series has made a major impact on the way I think about my interactions with other people and a new perspective on relationships and communication. Shankar’s voice and the way he speaks give me such comfort, even when the episode focuses on a topic that most would consider heavy or sad. Listening to Shankar and his guests is a safe space for me where I can learn and never feel judged and I am truly grateful.

This is my favorite podcast. I listen every day. I love that the host doesn’t do a podcast to hear his own voice. He is excellent at guiding conversations with guests without having excessive chit chat. Stays on topic without adding random conversation. The topics are extremely varied. The guests are so interesting. I have learned so much. It is very easy to listen to. I found that I even like Episodes that I expected to dislike due to the topic. I’m going to be very sad when I listen to all of them. Love this podcast!

There are few podcasts that I look forward to as much as Hidden Brain. Sure, the host has a sexy accent, but if he didn’t have CONTENT, he couldn’t hold my attention. But every single episode is interesting and thought-provoking. Not only does the content leak into my social conversations, it sticks with me so that often, I find myself re-listening to past episodes! The guests are well-chosen, expert, yet accessible. The storytelling is mesmerizing. Subscribe, and support this podcast!!

The episode about complaining was a wildly misinformed ride. Rather than examining the reasons why people have reason to complain, the focus is for some reason using “complaining” as the red herring. Are people unhappy and disillusioned with their jobs and supervisors because they are complainers? Likely not, since most workplaces operate to extract as much productivity and labor as possible from employees. The “data” uses ridiculous proxies for measuring the effects of complaining, such as “good citizen behavior” (I.e. willingness to do extra or free work). Turns out if you don’t feel trusted/supported by your boss, you don’t feel like doing extra work for their benefit - glad that was worth publishing a paper on! It really misses a major point, that there are larger systemic issues at play driving dissatisfaction, and complaining is a symptom of that dissatisfaction. It’s like saying “bleeding profusely is bad for your health, work, and relationships” without investigating why that person might be bleeding profusely and how to address the source of the problem.

This was beat by beat a series of missed opportunities to examine the material world surrounding the “complaints” - and what role valid criticism has for finding validation from peers when you’re mistreated, creating accountability, and visualizing the kind of changes we want to see to improve our working lives.

Such a shame since this platform is capable of so much better.

I have been a listener and monthly financial contributor to Hidden Brain for years and have considered it to be intelligent, well-researched, and for common good. However, I am appalled and revolted by the episode, “Are Your Memories Real?” wherein Shankar only interviews Elizabeth Loftus. We know it is true that aspects of memory are malleable, but this episode suggests false victimization/victim fabrication and provides NO COUNTER PERSPECTIVE on how trauma *that has actually occurred* works in the brain. It only points to how one can create memories of events or details that did not happen; it does nothing to share what research also shows about traumatic events that did happen. This is a major failure on the part of Hidden Brain and I don’t think the production team understands the damaging repercussions this can have on real victims’ lives. They should know better than to ignore nuance and complexity. I’m stunned, gravely disappointed, and canceling my longtime subscription.