Shankar Vedantam

Parents may think they treat their children equally, but new research shows that parents show bias when forced to choose between spending on sons and daughters.

Many parents think they can shape their child into a particular kind of adult. Psychologist Alison Gopnik says the science suggests otherwise.

Chaos is a part of all of our lives. Sometimes we try to control it. And other times, we just have to live with it.

All of us think back to turning points in our lives, and imagine how things could have unfolded differently. Why do we so often ask ourselves, "What if?"

How many ads have you encountered today? On this week's radio replay, we discuss the insidiousness of advertising in American media.

It doesn't just keep them entertained. New research highlights an unexpected positive impact — and also shows that when a parent sings to a child, the parent can benefit, too.

To us non-babies, babbles like "ah-gah" and "dadadadada" can sound like cute gobbledygook. But they don't have to be such a mystery. We'll get a primer on how to decipher the dialect of tiny humans.

Olutosin Oduwole was a college student and aspiring rap star when he was charged with "attempting to make a terrorist threat." Did public perceptions of rap music play a role?

The researchers believe this is because politicians in gerrymandered districts are less likely to advocate for goods on behalf of their constituents.

The parable of the fox and the hedgehog tells us that there are some who are guided by one big idea. That's the story of Don Laub, a surgeon whose single-mindedness led to both triumph and tragedy.

How many ads have you encountered today? On this week's radio show, we discuss the insidiousness of advertising in American media.

The eugenicists were utopians, convinced that they were doing hard but necessary things. And that included making decisions about who gets to have children.

In the ruins of the recently-ended Rwandan civil war, a team of radio performers attempted to unite Hutus and Tutsis through a soap opera.

How do you convince a generation of people who once slaughtered each other to reconcile? In Rwanda, a team of psychologists, writers and policymakers came up with an unusual idea: a radio soap opera.

Violent crimes committed by Muslims are much more likely to be reported as "terrorism." And that has disturbing consequences for the way Muslims are perceived.

When we think of lies, we think of the big stuff. We say, "I could never do something like that." But big lies start with small deceptions. Dan Ariely talks about why we lie and why we're honest.

Workers with a strong sales record were likely to be promoted into managerial positions, yet they tended to be worse at managerial jobs than those who were low-performing workers.

Have you ever noticed that when something important is missing in your life, your brain can only seem to focus on that missing thing? Two researchers have dubbed this phenomenon "scarcity."

Imagine seeing a cockroach skitter across your kitchen counter. Does the thought alone gross you out? This week on Hidden Brain, we discuss disgust.

Many of us find our circle of friends gets smaller as we get older. Researchers say it is especially true for men and that social isolation can have grave effects on their physical and mental health.