Shankar Vedantam

Pollsters across the ideological spectrum predicted Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 presidential election. They got it wrong. But one man did not: historian Allan Lichtman.

Researchers have found an unconscious bias in the way contestants play the game show Jeopardy.

Decades ago, researchers introduced a new theory of policing. It's called "broken windows" and is seen by many as a cure-all for crime. But the idea is often used in ways its creators never intended.

U.S. presidential candidates advertise in battleground states to increase voter turnout. But a new study says ads also have a big impact on campaign contributions.

Women in power often have to choose between being seen as likeable but incompetent, or competent but cold. We explore what's known as "double bind" — assumptions about men, women and leadership.

Several years ago, sociologist Brooke Harrington decided to explore the secret lives of billionaires. What she found, she said, shocked her.

U.S. politics have long been marked by disagreement and even rancor. But 2016 feels worse than usual. NPR's Hidden Brain podcast offers one explanation why, from deep in our psychological frameworks.

Many immigrant groups faced prejudice and suspicion when they first arrived in the U.S. quickly turn around and exhibit the same kinds of prejudice and suspicions toward those who come after them.

A century after women won the vote in the U.S., we still see very few of them in leadership roles. Researchers say women are trapped in a catch-22 known as "the double bind."

Economic disruption has been a big part of the political conversation. Free trade might be a net benefit to the U.S., but there are large areas of the country that bear the brunt of negative effects.

The U.S. is a nation of immigrants. But historian Maria Cristina Garcia says many of us have lots of misconceptions about earlier waves of newcomers.

New research explores why people support voter identification laws.

NPR's Hidden Brain podcast looks at the math — and the myth — of coincidences. They are not as unlikely as they seem, and the psychological reasons behind why we can't help but search for meaning in them anyway.

When we see someone perform an action in a slow-motion replay, we tend to believe the action had more intentionality behind it. This has implications in sports and in the criminal justice system.

This week on Hidden Brain: coincidences. Why they're not quite as magical as they seem, and the psychological reasons we can't help but search for meaning in them anyway.

Research collaborations often involve scientists from all over the world. A new study looks at plane ticket prices, and how they relate to the direction of science.

Researchers found by telling people the risk of HIV is lower than they thought, they get people to act in safer ways. But when people think the risk is very high, they sometimes act less responsibly.

This week on Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam explores how unconscious ideas about the family shape the way we think about politics.

Researchers find that one reason some people cheat over and over again is because we all tend to suffer from "unethical amnesia" — our minds are prone to forgetting the bad stuff we've done.

Analyzing an event by breaking it down into details might seem like a good way to predict the outcome, but social science research suggests that when most of us do it, we make worse predictions.