Behavioral Scientist

Loading the mail truck before the day begins, dealing with aggressive dogs and bad weather, and keeping a neighborhood connected by showing up every day with John Ayala, a retired mail carrier in Los Angeles. How did a golf club help him deliver packages? And what does a mail carrier learn about us from our mail? [buzzsprout episode='19556309' player='true'] View the episode transcript About What…

Digging line to redirect the country's fiercest wildland fires, sleeping in the dirt after a 16-hour day, and turning physical endurance into a public service with Ben Strahan, a hotshot crew superintendent in California. What does a wildfire sound like up close? And where does a crew go when the fire threatens to overrun them? [buzzsprout episode='19534994' player='true'] View the episode transc…

The year was 1948. Only three years had passed since the Axis powers signed the instrument of surrender effectively ending the Second World War. Fifty nations had taken part in the conflict that saw genocide and the first use of nuclear weapons. An estimated 50 million lives were lost and another 19–28 million died in the aftermath from disease and famine. Borders had been redrawn across Europe. …

Pitching airline executives during route-planning speed dates, opening a $1.7 billion new terminal, and making space for emotional airport reunions with Christina Cassotis , CEO of Pittsburgh International Airport. Why does she have a beekeeper on contract? And what did a missing freight elevator teach her about leadership? [buzzsprout episode='19294751' player='true'] View the episode transcript…

Designing runways for hot air and heavy planes, inspecting pavement cracks with measuring wheels, and protecting vicious little owls from construction crews with Eileen Vélez-Vega , a civil aviation engineer in Puerto Rico. What does the color of runway lights reveal to a pilot? And what's a “spall”? [buzzsprout episode='19322848' player='true'] View the episode transcript About What It's Like to…

For your intellectual travels this summer, we’ve curated a baker’s dozen of behavioral science books newly published this year. Explore the mysteries of life and consciousness, glimpse the power of constraints and the games that define our lives, navigate life’s cliffs, and find the places that will make you who you are. — Heather Graci, Editor and Evan Nesterak, Editor-in-Chief Exploring life, d…

Sequencing departures like a moving puzzle, scrambling when a jet takes off without clearance, and catching what radar misses with a glance out the window with Michael Rejent, an air traffic controller. What does "tally ho" mean to a pilot? What phrase makes every controller in the cab look up? [buzzsprout episode='19294755' player='true'] View the episode transcript About What It's Like to Be...…

Hugging a mother through an anxiety attack, bidding for the best routes, and absorbing strangers' confessions at 35,000 feet with Linda Beall, a flight attendant. What does it mean when the cabin bells ring three or four times? And what makes a trip a “dog”? [buzzsprout episode='19322844' player='true'] View the episode transcript About What It's Like to Be... In each episode of What It's Like to…

For Sonja, researching happiness means being asked over and over again, “What is the secret to happiness?” Sonja has always dreaded that question. It’s ridiculous, it’s reductive, and it’s restrictive. But mostly she has dreaded it because she has never had a solid, science-based answer that she could offer with any confidence. There is no secret to happiness. But there are huge contributors to h…

Shooting cat-three landings in the fog, using the “voice of God” on unruly passengers, and declaring Mayday after an engine fire with Paul Drusch, a commercial airline pilot. Why does the pilot’s paycheck start with the parking brake? And what does “sterile cockpit” mean? (Spoiler: it doesn’t mean “clean.”) [buzzsprout episode='19294742' player='true'] View the episode transcript About What It's …

Untangling who gets to speak for a dying patient, weighing a treatment's benefits against its burdens, and searching for clarity in the grayest corners of healthcare with Esther Berkowitz, a clinical ethicist. What is the "dignity of risk"? And how do you know which "version" of a person to trust? [buzzsprout episode='19262736' player='true'] View the episode transcript About What It's Like to Be…

Each summer, we read a novel and explore its themes through conversations with leading thinkers at the intersection of science and culture. This summer, we’ll read Flights by Polish author Olga Tokarczuk, the recipient of the 2018 Nobel Prize in literature. Flights is an enigma of a novel—part memoir, part short story collection, part ethnography of travel—that explores the human impulse toward m…

The game was over. Babe, who had made one of his famous drives that day, was tired and wanted to go home. “Not tonight, Babe,” I said. “Tonight you go to college with me. You're going to take scientific tests which will reveal your secret.” “Who wants to know it?” asked Babe. “I want to know it,” I replied, “and so do several hundred thousand fans. We want to know why it is that one man has achie…

Grinding through 16-hour shifts, standing behind inmates (never in front), and trying to stay human in an inhuman environment with Bill Farrell, a correctional officer in Massachusetts. What happens when an officer gets "frozen"? And why does the sound of scuffling sneakers stop him in his tracks? [buzzsprout episode='19183441' player='true'] View the episode transcript About What It's Like to Be…

A man was arrested for entering a New York subway station through an emergency gate without paying the fare. When police patted him down, they found he was illegally carrying a loaded gun. When another man was arrested for fare evasion at a different stop, police found he was carrying 38 decks of heroin and a loaded gun that had been reported as stolen. Yet another was arrested for not paying the…

Harvesting five million bushels of wheat and corn from Texas to Montana, outrunning hailstorms that decimate a year's income in 20 minutes, and running a multimillion-dollar convoy of equipment down the highway with Josh Beckley, a third-generation custom harvester from Kansas. Why do farmers outsource the harvesting of their own crops? And what happens when you drive a combine into a ditch? [buz…

In 2010, Joseph Henrich, Steven Heine, and Ara Norenzayan showed that 96 percent of the data that scientists had relied on to understand human psychology and behavior was from W.E.I.R.D. research participants—people living in Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic countries. That biased sample, they argued, severely limited what we could say we really knew about ourselves. Their …

There is a popular belief that technological innovation will solve climate change without fundamental shifts in society and politics. For example, the World Economic Forum claims “we must invent our way out of climate change.” Solving climate change, the thinking goes, means investing in innovation. Technocratic policies, such as the carbon tax, also assume a direct path between problem and solut…

Guiding grieving families through arrangement meetings, orchestrating meaningful memorial services within days, and preparing bodies for viewing with Heather Hill, a funeral director in North Carolina. What's different about doing makeup on a dead person? And what is it like to field a death call? [buzzsprout episode='19046716' player='true'] View the episode transcript About What It's Like to Be…

Approximately 2 billion people live in conflict-affected areas. Yet the field of behavioral science has developed most of its theories, run most of its experiments, and built most of its interventions in stable contexts. When behavioral scientists do work in conflict settings, we tend to follow a familiar pattern: take what worked elsewhere, “localize” it, and evaluate it. But this isn’t enough. …