This Is Your Brain With Dr. Phil Stieg

  Why do some people bounce back from setbacks while others feel powerless to change their circumstances? Dr. Martin Seligman, founder of positive psychology and author of  Agency: The Psychological History of Human Progress , joins Dr. Phil Stieg to explore how optimism, resilience, and our belief in our ability to shape the future influence everything from mental health to human progress.  He ex...

Dr. Martin Seligman , founder of positive psychology and author of  Agency: The Psychological History of Human Progress , joins Dr. Phil Stieg to explore how optimism, resilience, and our belief in our ability to shape the future influence everything from mental health to human progress.

  Do you scroll on your phone for hours but then quit a meaty news story in 15 seconds? Maybe your attention span isn't the problem!    Dr. Ronald Yaros thinks the way to get people to pay attention is better content delivery that's designed to work with their busy lives.    Find out what actually captures and keeps our attention... and why.    

Do you scroll on your phone for hours but then quit a meaty news story in 15 seconds? Maybe your attention span isn't the problem!    Dr. Ronald Yaros thinks the way to get people to pay attention is better content delivery that's designed to work with their busy lives.    Find out what actually captures and keeps our attention... and why.  

Every time AI answers for you, part of your brain may switch off. Theoretical neuroscientist Dr. Vivienne Ming explains why, including a striking claim about GPS use and Alzheimer's risk.  Dr. Ming shares her own fix for using AI. She calls it the nemesis prompt, a technique for turning AI into your harshest critic instead of your biggest fan.   Vivienne joins Dr. Stieg to unpack what it actually...

For 17 years, the Unabomber skillfully eluded investigators, leaving behind no fingerprints, DNA, or usable forensic evidence but in the end it was his own words that gave him away.  Dr. Phil Stieg speaks with retired FBI criminal profiler James Fitzgerald , a pioneer of forensic linguistics whose analysis of Ted Kaczynski's writings helped crack one of the most notorious investigations in FBI his...

Can't remember the fourth item on your grocery list? Nelson Dellis, a professional "memory athlete," can remember 100 things or more (though he still may forget the butter). Hear how Dellis learned to memorize lists so long that he became a five-time USA Memory Champion, and how you can use some of his strategies to improve your own memory. Dellis explains how he uses tricks like the "memory palac...

The human brain resists uncertainty — whether it's an approaching tiger or a global pandemic, we've evolved to move from fear and chaos to order and resolution. Dr. Beau Lotto, founder of the Lab of Misfits, explains why the brain takes small steps instead of large leaps, and why we need to teach kids to think more like scientists. Plus... why we react to a pandemic by hoarding toilet paper! https...

What is awe? It's not wonder, or surprise, or pleasure — it's a state of mind that Dr. Beau Lotto calls "finding the impossible in the common."  Dr. Lotto is a neuroscientist who specializes in perception; he once actually measured awe in the brains of people watching Cirque du Soleil. Learn where awe originates, why it evolved, and even how military leaders might weaponize it. Plus... why Dr. Lot...

Candace Pert discovered the opioid receptor, created a drug to stop AIDS in the brain, and identified stress as a cause of disease.   She also inadvertently unleashed the overdose epidemic, got kicked out of the NIH, and was denied credit for much of her work.   Largely forgotten, Pert was a trailblazing yet mercurial neuroscientist. Emmy award winning writer and producer Pamela Ryckman shines a l...

New parents - especially moms - experience profound changes in the brain when they are expecting and welcoming a new baby. Health journalist Chelsea Conaboy explains how the caricature of "mommy brain" and its cognitive fog has it all wrong - parenthood actually has a neuroprotective effect, as the brain adapts to meeting the needs of children. It happens to all parents, not just mothers, but it's...

Where in the brain is that little something that makes top performers feel so confident in their ability? Can that confidence be developed in someone who is naturally more timid? Dr. Nate Zinsser, director of West Point's Performance Psychology Program and author of  The Confident Mind , explains how a sense of mastery develops, and why butterflies in your stomach are a signal from the brain when...

We all do it - put things off, tell ourselves we'll start tomorrow, and somehow still miss the deadline. But chronic procrastination isn't just a bad habit; it's self-sabotaging behavior that can derail our goals, relationships, and even our health. Psychologist Dr. Joseph Ferrari, a leading expert on procrastination, breaks down the emotional roots of procrastination, debunks the myth that we "wo...

Nancy Jarecki's stroke could have reduced her to a statistic.   But her determination, humor and style paved a different path to recovery.   For our Season Six Finale we are recognizing Stroke Awareness Month with a very special episode of This Is Your Brain.   This is a story told by Nancy Jarecki, - a businesswoman, wife and mother - whose resilience and good humor while recovering from a seriou...

Most of us have a bad hair day or we're not happy if we have a little pimple on our face. But that's quite different from the experience of people with body dysmorphic disorder.   (BDD)   More than simple insecurity about one's appearance, BDD is a disorder in which a person's perception of their appearance becomes all-consuming and deeply distressing. Perfectly normal looking people can see thems...

Imagine a world where everyone looks the same and you can't recognize one person from another – even you own child! It sounds like a frightening episode from the "Twilight Zone", but it's just every day life for people with prosopagnosia, better known as "Face Blindness".   We humans use parts of our brains to see, process and recognize faces that are different from recognizing anything else in ou...

Why do we sometimes drink too much, even when we know the risks? In this episode, surgeon, author, and recovering alcoholic Dr. Charles Knowles joins us to explore the neuroscience of alcohol use and addiction. Drawing from his book "Why We Drink Too Much" and his own lived experience, Dr. Knowles describes how alcohol alters the brain's reward pathways, and how drinking problems exist on a spectr...

Although memories fade, hearing declines and our bodies suffer aches and pains, there is one benefit to aging that we can actually gain with each passing   year.   It's called wisdom.   But just because someone is older, it doesn't mean they are wiser.    It takes a certain type of person to learn important lessons from their life experiences.   Dr. Dillip Jeste reveals what he has discovered afte...

Cults and high-control groups influence beliefs and fundamentally reshape identity, decision-making, and autonomy. In this episode, Dr. Phil Stieg sits down with sociologist and cult expert Dr. Janja Lalich, Professor and author of Take Back Your Life , to explore the psychology behind cults. Drawing from decades of research as well as her own personal experience of spending a decade in a politica...

  Narcissism is a term that gets used constantly - but what does it actually mean in psychological terms, and how is it shaping our society? In this episode, Dr. Phil Stieg speaks with leading expert Dr. Keith Campbell to separate myth from science.   Drawing from his book  The New Science of Narcissism , Dr. Campbell explains the difference between everyday self-focused traits and the far rarer p...

Whether it's rock and roll, classical, hip hop, or rap, most people enjoy music in one form or another.  (Even newborn babies respond to it.) But why?  What is going on in our brains when we hear our favorite tunes?   Dr. Barbara Minton,  a psychotherapist and neuroscientist, studies exactly how our brains react to various types of music, to provide targeted music therapy.  And she goes one step f...

Artificial intelligence  is reshaping how we think, live, and make choices, but are our brains ready for it? Award-winning tech journalist Jacob Ward joins Dr. Phil Stieg to discuss how AI exploits our ancient decision-making systems, why we're so easily manipulated, and what it means for our future. Drawing from behavioral science and decades of reporting, Ward explains just how predictable we ar...

If someone asks you what you are doing to prepare for your retirement, you might mention a 401K or an IRA, but what you might not realize is that you also need to prepare your mind for this major change in your life as well.    Dr. Ross Andel, a gerontologist, who has been studying what happens to our brains when we retire, reveals how it can have serious consequences for our mental health, includ...

We all know the importance of a good diet, sufficient exercise and a good night's sleep, but there's one more essential thing we all need to be healthy. Social connection.  Simply put, our brains need friends.  Neuroscientist Dr. Ben Rein reveals exactly what is happening in our brains when we interact with friends, family, even strangers, and how exactly this affects our physical and mental healt...

Touch is the first sense we develop, and one of the most powerful tools we have for connection, healing, and communication. In this episode,  social neuroscientist Dr. Michael Banissy explains how everyday gestures like hugs, handshakes, and high-fives influence our health and emotional well-being. From the biological complexity of our touch receptors to surprising studies on immune response, stre...