People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology Podcast

A talk with Brendan Bartholomew, a San Francisco bus driver and writer. Brendan talks about how understanding human behavior plays an important role in his duties as a city bus driver. Topics discussed: the importance of thinking ahead about potential pedestrian/traffic dangers; how bus drivers know who’s waiting for a bus and who’s not; thoughts on handling unruly and/or mentally ill passengers;...

A talk with Dr. Christopher Moyer, PhD, about measuring skin conductance, also called electrodermal activity (EDA) and galvanic skin response (GSR): what it is, what it's thought to measure, and how it's been used in psychology research, including his own research. Dr. Moyer is a counseling psychologist who has published research on the anxiety-reducing effects of massage therapy and the neurologi...

A talk with Polina Vorozheykina, a software engineer based in Portland who is skilled at social deduction games like Secret Hitler, Werewolf/Mafia, Resistance, and Avalon. We do a review of the rules of the game Secret Hitler, and Polina talks about common behaviors/tells that can give away information (e.g., length of time looking at cards; consistency of claims; talkativeness; body language; use...

I talk with Olu Popoola, a forensic linguistic analyst, deception researcher, and fraud investigator, about spotting indicators of false, deceptive text. Topics discussed include: what linguistic analysis for deception entails; using "coherence relations" (i.e., how the phrases and sentences in a text relate to each other) to detect deception; indicators of fake Amazon book reviews and true/honest...

A talk with Benjamin Moots, who served 15 years in prison for second degree murder, mostly in maximum security settings. Topics include: his account of what led to his murder conviction; what prison life was like, including differences between the perception and the reality; prison slang (e.g., differences between “convict” and “inmate”); sexual and physical assault dynamics; how prison encourages...

A talk with DBrandi Fink, a psychology researcher who has done work analyzing the interpersonal dynamics of couples and families, including couples and families having physical abuse and drug/alcohol abuse issues. We talk about: common physical and verbal behaviors that point to relationshipo problems; the work of famous relationship psychology expert John Gottman, who Fink worked with; the reason...

A talk about how psychology and reading behavior play a role in successful door-to-door sales. I interview two experienced door-to-door salespeople: Conrad Smith, who was a top salesman for a well-known home security system company, and David Mock, who did door-to-door sales for a large, well-known home remodeling company. Topics discussed include: conversation scripts large companies use, and how...

A talk with Robin Dibble, an experienced service industry professional based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Robin has worked all sides of the restaurant business, from waiting tables, to cooking, to managing restaurants and nightclubs. Topics discussed include: the role of psychology and perception-manipulation in the restaurant and service industries; psychological strategies that get servers higher...

A talk with Robert Drysdale, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts expert and world champion, on the roles psychology and predicting opponent behavior can play in professional fighting. Topic discussed: the role of psychology, mental preparation, and action-anticipation in MMA and jiu-jitsu; basics of MMA and jiu-jitsu for people not familiar; importance of predicting opponent behavior in c...

A talk with Seth Baldwin about the sport of fencing and the role psychology and predicting opponent behavior can play in the sport. Baldwin is an experienced fencer who, at the peak of his game, got 3rd at the 2004 U.S. National Championships. Topics discussed include: basics of fencing maneuvers and strategy; the role of skill vs luck/variance in individual fencing matches; the role psychology an...

A talk with Jenny Radcliffe, an expert in social engineering, which involves the manipulation of people to gain access to information and materials. Radcliffe talks about her work infiltrating companies as a paid security consultant, and discusses some of the psychological and behavioral aspects of that work. Radcliffe has her own podcast about psychology and security: The Human Factor. Her websit...

A talk with David Zulawski, an expert in interrogation/interview techniques. Zulawski is co-owner of Wicklander Zulawski and Associates (w-z.com), a firm specializing in interview and interrogation consulting and education. Zulawksi is co-author, with Wicklander, of the respected and widely-used book "Practical Aspects of Interview and Interrogation." We talk about interrogation techniques, with a...

A talk with Dr. Christina Marinakis, J.D., Psy. D., jury selection and voir dire expert. Marinakis is the Director of Jury Research at Litigation Insights, a large trial consultancy firm. Dr. Marinakis answers questions about: how the jury selection process works; strategies used to expose potential juror bias; and how psychology, stereotyping, and human behavior can play a role in that work.  Lea...

An interview of Mark McClish, an expert in analyzing written and verbal statements. McClish is a former U.S. Marshal and law enforcement trainer on interview and interrogation techniques. He's the author of two books on Statement Analysis®: "I Know You Are Lying," and "Don't Be Deceived." Topics discussed in this episode include: common deceptive patterns, why people find it difficult to straightf...

An interview with comedian Alex Falcone about the role of understanding and using human psychology and behavior in stand-up comedy.  Learn more about this show at behavior-podcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices