Brain Candy

We've all been there: bored in class, bored at work, bored in standstill traffic. But why do we find boredom so unbearable? Hidden Brain investigates – hopefully, without boring you.

Great pumpkin pie is elusive. You could end up with a soggy crust or a grainy filling. Reporter Maanvi Singh embarked on a months-long quest to crack the code for the ideal pie.

Entrepreneur and philanthropist Bill Gates stresses our dire need for a system that can take on the challenges of the next global health epidemic.

Historian Yuval Harari explains how human imagination powered the growth and spread of homo sapiens around the world.

Physician and social scientist Nicholas Christakis explains how face-to-face social networks and their structures influence behaviors and phenomena in human society and the natural living world.

Entrepreneur and blogger Seth Godin describes how the marketing of ideas has changed since the invention of sliced bread, as well as the type of ideas that stick in consumer's minds.

Neuroscientist Sophie Scott studies laughter, specifically its effect on our body and brain. She discusses laughter's contagious nature, as well as its role in maintaining social bonds.

NPR's Skunk Bear blog received 300 nominations for our Golden Mole Award for Accidental Brilliance. We have a winner: Elizabeth Tibbetts found her luck, and scientific insight, in tiny insect faces.