University College London
Cognitive neuroscientist Tali Sharot is director of the Affective Brain Lab and associate professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London. She is the author of The Optimism Bias: A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain and The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals about Our Power to Change Others.
How to change minds… and have your mind changed The human brain has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to the point where we could put a man on the Moon and explore the universe. A new book raises the question, as one reviewer put it, "If humans are so smart, why are we so dumb?" A new book that addresses that question is The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals about Our Power to Change Others . Warren Olney speaks with the author, Tali Sharot, a neuroscientist who founded the Affective Brain Lab at University College London, about the science of why emotion trumps reason.
Why Don't Facts Matter? In this divided nation, more and more people respond only to new information that reinforces their established opinions. When they're presented with facts that contradict what they believe, their opinions get stronger — even when the contradictory evidence is irrefutable. Has the country become the Emotional States of America, or is there something about the way the human brain is wired? Is it the consequence of our culture, our politics or the way our brains are structured? We talk to a neuroscientist, a foreign-policy expert, and an obstetrician who performs abortions in Alabama in the name of science… and Christianity.
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.