Invisibilia
Unseeable forces control human behavior and shape our ideas, beliefs, and assumptions. Invisibilia—Latin for invisible things—fuses narrative storytelling with science that will make you see your own life differently.
Mon, February 24, 2025
Alternate Realities from NPR's Embedded
New from NPR's Embedded : Reporter Zach Mack thinks his dad has gone all in on conspiracy theories, while his father thinks that Zach is the one being brainwashed. In 2024, after the latest round of circular arguments, they decided to try something new, an attempt to pull each other out of the spell each of them thinks the other is under. Can one family live in two realities? This is episode 1 of a three-part series. To hear the rest, head to NPR's Embedded podcast. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Thu, August 22, 2024
Tested (Ep 2): Questions of a Physical Nature
We go back almost 100 years, to the beginning of women's inclusion in elite sports. It turns out that men had an odd variety of concerns about women athletes. Some doubted these athletes were even women at all. And their skepticism resulted in the first policies requiring sex testing. Tested is a six-part series, you can binge all the episodes now in the Embedded podcast and the CBC feed . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Thu, August 22, 2024
Tested (Ep 1): The Choice
New from NPR's Embedded podcast and CBC in Canada: Would you alter your body for the chance to compete for a gold medal? That's the question facing a small group of elite athletes right now. Last year, track and field authorities announced new regulations that mean some women can't compete in the female category unless they lower their body's naturally occurring testosterone levels. You'll meet one of those runners, Christine Mboma, a reigning Olympic silver medalist, and hear about the difficult choice she faces. Tested is a six-part series, you can binge all the episodes now in the Embedded podcast and the CBC feed . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S10 E2 · Fri, June 23, 2023
Invisibilia Presents: Buffalo Extreme
If you're a kid and a terrible thing happens, what do you do to feel safe? If you're an adult, how do you offer guidance to the kids when you can't even make sense of what's happened—and when it's your job to act as a shield to the children? Those are some of the questions that animate Buffalo Extreme, a new series from NPR's Embedded. Buffalo Extreme follows a group of Black cheerleaders, their coaches and their mothers in the year after a racist mass shooting at a supermarket just three blocks away from their gym. Several former Invisibilia staff worked on this documentary series, and we're bringing you the first of three episodes. You can listen to the rest of the series in NPR's Embedded podcast .
S10 E1 · Thu, April 27, 2023
The Goodbye Show
In their final episode, Invisibilia searches for the right way to say goodbye. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S10 Enull · Wed, March 29, 2023
One Last Callout
We need your help to say goodbye.
Fri, March 03, 2023
It's Been A Minute: The molten center of 'The Real Housewives' multiverse
This week, we're running an episode from our friends at It's Been a Minute that digs into the cultural phenomenon that is Real Housewives...and why so many of us can't look away.
Fri, January 13, 2023
Life Kit: What's your attachment style?
The new year is a time to be reflective and make changes - maybe to yourself or how you relate to others. With resolutions in mind, we bring you this NPR Life Kit episode exploring what attachment styles reveal about your relationships. Reported and guest hosted by our own Kia Miakka Natisse.
Fri, December 16, 2022
Revisiting Love and Lapses: A Conversation with Code Switch host B.A. Parker
Sometimes the holidays are filled with the people you love. Other times, they're marked by an absence. In this special holiday episode, new Code Switch co-host and former Invisibilia producer B.A. Parker tells a story about family, loss and preserving memories before it's too late. Then Parker joins Kia and Yowei to reflect on the making of this story, and what it means to her now. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S9 E5 · Fri, October 07, 2022
Power Tools
Bad bosses. Obnoxious coworkers. Unfair compensation. There are so many reasons people feel disempowered in the workplace. But how can our feelings about power enable or disrupt the larger dynamics we hate at work? This week, Yowei Shaw seeks answers from a power researcher and a union organizer. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S9 E4 · Fri, September 30, 2022
Freedom Diving
After months of working from home and retreating from the world, Kia Miakka Natisse is stuck - in her house, and in her head. In an attempt to break out of the funk, she's searching for wisdom at the bottom of the ocean with South Africa's first Black freediving instructor, Zandile Ndhlovu. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S9 E3 · Fri, September 23, 2022
Therapy Ghostbusters
In San Jose, California, a community clinic was stumped as to why their clients were seeing ghosts. This week, a story about grappling with ghosts of our past and one clinic's attempt to heal intergenerational trauma. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S9 E2 · Fri, September 16, 2022
A Little Bit Pregnant
This week on Invisibilia, could the rebrand of a familiar pill open up a new way to control fertility in a post-Roe America? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S9 E1 · Fri, September 09, 2022
The P-Word
Alex is a comic who feels perfectly comfortable commanding a packed, rowdy audience, but consistently submits to what other people want in everyday life. This week, a look at how uncomfortable feelings about power can backfire on ourselves and the people we love. We get the help of a power expert - a dominatrix - to untangle Alex's power dynamics, and find out what it takes to treat a power allergy . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Trailer · Tue, September 06, 2022
Invisibilia Takes Control
2022 feels like walking a tightrope. We're grappling with control of our bodies, our time, the direction of our country - while trying to not spin out and just doomscroll. So this season, Invisibilia takes on control. The narratives we have about what's in or out of our control. Invisible tools of control. The crutches we use to FEEL in control but that might not be helping. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Thu, March 03, 2022
Uncomfortable with power? Tell us about it!
Invisibilia is seeking stories about discomfort with power. Stories about leaders denying their power, organizations with supposedly flat power structures and invisible hierarchies, or personal relationships with difficult power dynamics. If you have a story about power – at a workplace, in a band, on a high school basketball team, etc... – send a short summary with the subject line – POWER – to invisibiliamail@npr.org. The deadline is March 11th.
Thu, December 09, 2021
The Nostalgia Bone from Throughline
This week at Invisibilia, we're bringing you an episode from NPR's Throughline about an emotion you might be feeling a lot these days: nostalgia. Longing for 'simpler times' and 'better days', many of us have been turning to 90s dance playlists, TV sitcoms, and sports highlights. We're looking for comfort and safety in the permanence of the past, or at least, what we think the past was. But, when it first appeared, nostalgia itself wasn't considered a feeling; it was a deadly disease. This episode traces the history of nostalgia from its origins as an illness to the dominating emotion of our time.
Bonus · Thu, November 18, 2021
How To Make Friends from Life Kit
It's the end of the friendship season! We'll be back next year with more Invisibilia. In the meantime, if you're hungry for more friendship content, our friends over at Life Kit have done several episodes about it - from how to be a better listener, to what to do when a friendship changes. In this episode: practical tips on how to make new friends.
S8 E6 · Thu, November 04, 2021
Therapy, with Friends
Would you ever consider going to therapy with a friend?Two best friends who call themselves brothers were drifting apart, so they asked psychotherapist Esther Perel to help — and we listened in. This episode was recorded in collaboration with Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel and a companion episode can be heard on her podcast. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S8 E5 · Thu, October 28, 2021
Poop Friends
Sh*t happens. So why is it so hard to talk about? This week, the ways that poop divides and binds us in our friendships. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S8 E4 · Thu, October 21, 2021
Friends with Benefits
A lot of us think that it's a bad idea to get physical with friends. We worry it'll get messy, maybe even ruin the friendship. But if physical intimacy between friends weren't so taboo, what could our friendships look like? In this episode, we explore the gray zone of sex and friendship, following a man who deliberately kept his friendships with women hazy and now wants to apologize, and a pair of BFFs who became close through sex. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S8 E3 · Thu, September 30, 2021
International Friend of Mystery
You know the old saying--keep your friends close and your enemies closer. But what if you can't tell the difference? In this episode, the story of two friends who got caught up in a Top Secret operation that tested their assumptions about trust, betrayal, loyalty, and power. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S8 E2 · Thu, September 23, 2021
Nun of Us Are Friends
It's a basic tenet of friendship that you get to choose your friends. We look at two institutions that took away that choice: convents circa the 1960s and a summer program with unusual rules. What do we lose and what do we gain when we give up our preferences and try to make friends with everyone equally? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S8 E1 · Thu, September 16, 2021
A Friendly Ghost Story
It's one of the most common and infuriating friend mysteries out there - a friend disappears into thin air. But where do these ghosts go? And why are we so haunted by them? If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Trailer · Tue, September 14, 2021
The Friendship Season
Friendship gets the Invisibilia treatment. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Bonus · Wed, July 07, 2021
Presenting: On Our Watch
A 16-year-old Black kid walks into a gas station in Stockton, Calif. to buy gummy worms for his little sister. When the teen gets in an argument with the clerk over a damaged dollar bill, a white officer in plainclothes decides to intervene — with force. We bring you an episode of On Our Watch, a new podcast from NPR and KQED that traces the ripple effects of this incident over the next 10 years in a department trying to address racism and bias.
Bonus · Sat, June 12, 2021
American Slow Radio
Let's get slow. Producer Abby Wendle picks up the gauntlet that was thrown down in the last episode " The Great Narrative Escape ." Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S7 E5 · Thu, May 20, 2021
The Great Narrative Escape
Imagine a TV show with no plot, no characters, no tension... and yet, it went viral! In this episode, we have a story that questions storytelling as we know it. Plus, co-hosts Kia Miakka Natisse and Yowei Shaw take a spectacularly unspectacular train ride. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S7 E4 · Thu, May 13, 2021
The Chaos Machine: A Looping Revolt
Is 209 Times helping or hurting the community it claims to serve? What does the site mean for the future of local news in America? And what can be done about it? In the final installment of "The Chaos Machine" series , Yowei finds herself in the middle of a long-standing tug of war over who owns the truth. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S7 E3 · Thu, May 06, 2021
The Chaos Machine: Wrathful Lord
The man behind 209 Times is not who you'd expect. In Part 2, co-host Yowei Shaw discovers the website's surprising origin story, and ends up at the frontlines of a revolt against the mainstream media and a fight over who gets to own the truth. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S7 E2 · Thu, April 29, 2021
The Chaos Machine: An Endless Hole
Yowei gets a tip about Russian trolls in Stockton, California and falls down a hole of swirling conspiracy theories. At the center is a scrappy, controversial website that has become one of the most popular sources of local news in town. Some say it's doing important investigative journalism while others say it's spreading hateful lies about progressive leaders. In part 1 of The Chaos Machine series, what happens when traditional local news runs out of resources and reporting the narrative of a community is anybody's game? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S7 E1 · Thu, April 22, 2021
Eat The Rich
Invisibilia explores a social experiment with money, focused around a contentious topic: reparations. What happens when you demand white people give up their wealth? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Trailer · Mon, April 19, 2021
Season 7: New Stories. New Hosts.
Invisibilia is back! Stories that help you see the world differently, with new hosts Kia Miakka Natisse and Yowei Shaw. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S6 E7 · Sat, June 13, 2020
Trust Fall
Hacking, phishing, surveillance, disinformation... these are tools used to silence dissidents and influence elections. But what happens when these same methods are used against an ordinary citizen? The story of a man fighting an enemy he can't see and becoming increasingly paranoid.Which makes him a lot like the rest of us. What happens when you no longer know how to trust? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S6 E1 · Fri, April 10, 2020
Two Heartbeats A Minute
The strange story of an unlikely crew of people who band together to take on one of our largest problems using nothing but whale sounds, machine learning, and a willingness to think outside the box. Even stranger, several of the world's most accomplished scientists seem to think they might have a good idea. | To learn more about this episode, subscribe to our newsletter . Click here to learn more about NPR sponsors . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S6 E4 · Fri, April 03, 2020
White v. White?
A city council candidate says he's black. But his opponent accuses him of being a white man pretending to be black. If race is simply a social construct and not a biological reality, how do we determine someone's race? And who gets to decide? We tell the story of a man whose racial identity was fiercely contested... and the consequences this had on an entire city. | To learn more about this episode, subscribe to our newsletter . Click here to learn more about NPR sponsors . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S6 E3 · Fri, March 27, 2020
An Unlikely Superpower
What if you had a superpower that allowed you to see part of the world that was to come? At the age of 60, a Scottish woman named Joy Milne discovers she has a biological gift that allows her to see things that will happen in the future that no one else can see. A look at how we think about the future, and the important ways the future shapes the present. | To learn more about this episode, subscribe to our newsletter . Click here to learn more about NPR sponsors . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S6 E2 · Sun, March 22, 2020
The Confrontation
Welcome to what is possibly the most tense and uncomfortable summer program in America! The Boston-based program aims to teach the next generation the real truth about race, and may provide some ideas for the rest of us about the right way to confront someone to their face. | To learn more about this episode, subscribe to our newsletter . Click here to learn more about NPR sponsors . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S6 E5 · Mon, March 16, 2020
The Reluctant Immortalist
Daniel Martinez discovered the unthinkable: a creature that breaks one of the most fundamental laws of life. In the wake of his discovery--which has been widely confirmed by the scientific community--all kinds of people have thrown themselves into trying to unlock the secrets of how this creature seems to cheat death. Cellular biologists, aging researchers, and the biotech industry all hold high hopes that there may be some application to slow human aging. Millions of dollars are being poured into the dream of extending the human lifespan, which looks increasingly possible. But Daniel? He trashed his experiment. He completely abandoned the pursuit of unlocking the secrets of immortality. Perhaps because he believes that dream is all wrong. Invisibilia co-founder Lulu Miller went down to visit him in California to try to find out why. Please take our short, anonymous listener survey: npr.org/invisibiliasurvey . | To learn more about this episode, subscribe to our newsletter . Click here to learn more about NPR sponsors . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S6 E6 · Sun, March 08, 2020
The Last Sound
Bernie Krause was a successful musician as a young man, playing with rock stars like Jim Morrison and George Harrison in the 1960s and '70s. But then one day, Bernie heard a sound unlike anything he'd ever encountered and it completely overtook his life. He quit the music business to pursue it and has spent the last 50 years following it all over the earth. And what he's heard raises this question: what can we learn about ourselves and the world around us if we quiet down and listen? | To learn more about this episode, subscribe to our newsletter . Click here to learn more about NPR sponsors . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Trailer · Mon, March 02, 2020
Season 6 Trailer
You hear the train barreling towards you and you're tied to the tracks. It's an impossible situation. Most people would panic, and then a tiny handful would think up improbable workarounds. This season on Invisibilia: inventors in desperate times. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S5 E12 · Fri, December 20, 2019
VIDEO: The (Future) Friendship Machine
A special gift during this season of giving: An original animated video in two parts! Part 1 explores a small but strange study about a machine that could predict human friendships. Then, in collaboration with fictionalist Ian Chillag (Everything Is Alive), we ask, What would the machine have to say about all of this, if it could talk? If you are having trouble viewing the video, you can watch it at npr.org/invisibilia. And, if you want to reciprocate this little gift, don't forget to donate to your NPR station before the end of the year at donate.npr.org/invis.
S5 E11 · Tue, December 17, 2019
Raising Devendra
What happens when you treat artificial intelligence with unconditional love? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S5 E10 · Fri, November 22, 2019
Love and Lapses
Producer B.A. Parker started recording her calls with her father because she was concerned about the care at his nursing home. But the recordings gave her a window into something very different: their relationship. So she started recording her calls with her grandmother as well. A story of relationships told through the small recorded calls between people who love each other. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Fri, October 25, 2019
Back When I Was Older
As a parent, what do you do when your four-year-old starts telling you about memories that can't possibly be his? Memories that he says are from a past life? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Fri, October 18, 2019
Rough Translation: Liberté, Égalité and French Fries
Alix presents a new episode from NPR's Rough Translation about residents of an immigrant neighborhood in Marseille, France who considered their local McDonalds to be a home of sorts, so when the owner tries to sell it, they take extreme measures to try and save it.
S5 E8 · Fri, September 20, 2019
The Profile
A mysterious profile pops up on a dating app - leading to a bubble of chaos and confusion. A story about trying to sort fact versus fiction, how destabilizing that can be, and a very strange confrontation with the truth. NOTE: Since this story was originally published, we have added some background reporting and context to the episode. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S5 E7 · Fri, August 23, 2019
Kraftland
Richard Kraft was in a fog of grief when he bought his first Disney collectible at an auction. But once he started, he couldn't stop. In the first episode of our new fall season, we explore the role of positive distraction in the face of adversity. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S5 E6 · Fri, April 12, 2019
The End of Empathy
Invisibilia is a show that runs on empathy. We believe in it. But are we right? In this episode, we'll let you decide. We tell the same story twice in order to examine the questions: who deserves our empathy? And is there a wrong way to empathize? If you or somebody you know might need help, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255 or at suicidepreventionlifeline.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S5 E5 · Fri, April 05, 2019
A Very Offensive Rom-Com
A young woman discovers a pattern in her dating habits that disturbs her - a pattern that challenges her very conception of who she is and what she believes in. The realization sets her off on a quest to change her attractions. But is this even possible? And should we be hacking our desire to match our values? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S5 E4 · Fri, March 29, 2019
The Remote Control Brain
What would it be like if you could control your mood with a hand held device? Literally turn the device to different settings and make yourself happier and sadder? Alix Spiegel talks to a woman who has that power. If you or somebody you know might need help, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255 or at suicidepreventionlifeline.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S5 E3 · Fri, March 22, 2019
The Weatherman
In this episode of Invisibilia, we explore our relationship with uncertainty through the eyes of a chief meteorologist. We wonder: what do you do when you don't know what to do? And how do we handle it when that question has no answer? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S5 E2 · Fri, March 15, 2019
Post, Shoot
What is the relationship between the version of you that lives online and the one that walks around the earth? We think of our online selves as shadow versions of us which we can control. But in this age when facts are malleable, something strange is happening: our online selves are sometimes eclipsing our real ones, even when we don't want them to. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S5 E1 · Fri, March 08, 2019
The Fifth Vital Sign
We look at how our culture's massive effort to address pain has paradoxically increased it. And we follow one young girl as she struggles through a bizarre and extreme treatment program. NOTE: The treatment in this episode is administered by trained professionals in a hospital setting (and should not be implemented without medical supervision). Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Trailer · Mon, March 04, 2019
Season 5 Trailer
This moment in our culture can feel fraught. From 'fake news' to the opioid crisis, there's a lot of uncertainty about the future. So this season, Invisibilia helps you discern truth from fiction, cure your pain, and find your true love with conviction. It's your very own Emotional Survival Guide! Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Bonus · Fri, December 21, 2018
BONUS: Youth Radio Girl Mystery
Years ago, producer Yowei Shaw taught high school students how to make radio. And in one of her classes, something bizarre happened with one of her students, something that she's never been able to make sense of. In this episode, Yowei tracks down her former student and uncovers a story much stranger than she ever expected. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Bonus · Fri, December 07, 2018
BONUS: The Prayer
Five years ago, Leena Sanzgiri was living her childhood dream... New York city apartment, job at Vogue, and a boyfriend she planned to marry. Until the July day she woke up in the hospital, and everything changed. Support for this episode provided by Charles Schwab: https://www.schwab.com/. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Bonus · Tue, October 16, 2018
BONUS: Who Do You Let In?
An uncomfortable encounter with a stranger sets producer Abby Wendle on a quest to answer the question: who do you let in and who do you keep out? In her search for balance between openness and caution – she navigates the struggles of her long-distance relationship and chats up musician John Prine. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Bonus · Fri, September 14, 2018
BONUS: Leave A Message
In this story, comedian Cord Jefferson tells a heartfelt personal story and offers up some illuminating science about the power of the human voice. Support for this episode was provided by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: https://afsp.org/. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Bonus · Thu, June 14, 2018
BONUS: Invisibilia Live with Story District
Our first live event!! We explored the In Between with Alix, Hanna and several DC-based storytellers, who talked about charting their own path in a world of absolutes. We couldn't feature all the amazing storytellers in this bonus episode, but you can see videos of performances by Vijai Nathan, Mike Kane, Carly Ciarrocchi on our website: http://npr.org/invisibilia. The videos from Hanna's story are there too! For more information about Story District, visit their website: http://storydistrict.org/. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S4 E6 · Fri, April 13, 2018
The Callout
A lot of communities today are taking a hard stand against sexual harassment and assault. Using social media shaming, ostracism, professional excommunication, whatever punishment is painful enough to shift the moral code by brute force. Through one incident in the Richmond Virginia hardcore music scene, we chronicle a social media callout and ask what pain can accomplish. CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains obscenities and descriptions of sex and violence. For resources on handling accountability for harm done, please visit: n.pr/2GZqccC. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S4 E5 · Fri, April 06, 2018
Everything Good
Today we introduce you to Allie n Steve, who is one person. For half the day she can be Allie and the other half he is Steve. For many of us this would be a disorienting experience. But after a shattering experience in their life, Allie n Steve has learned to live comfortably in this in between space. And Allie n Steve has lessons to teach us about the beauty of not retreating to black and white. We also talk to a woman who suffers from a little known condition called "maladaptive daydreaming." She is so addicted to her fantasy life that she's finding it hard to manage her real one. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S4 E4 · Fri, March 30, 2018
The Pattern Problem
A panel of judges sits to decide the fate of the young woman. She's the child of addicts and an ex-addict and ex-felon herself, and she's asking the court to trust her to become an attorney. The outcome of her case hinges on a question we all struggle with: are we destined to repeat our patterns, or do we generally stray in surprising directions? - a question increasingly relevant in an age when algorithms are trying to predict everything about our behavior. CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of sexual abuse. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S4 E3 · Thu, March 22, 2018
What Was Not Said
Your aging mother lives in another country. Then a tenant moves into her house – he's clean, polite, helpful. At first you are relieved, until you begin to suspect that man has sinister motives. That's the situation two brothers found themselves in, in Taiwan. Then something happened between the tenant and the mother that unsettled the brothers' lives even more. We examine how leaving things unsaid with our intimates can lead to misunderstandings and missed connections. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S4 E2 · Fri, March 16, 2018
The Other Real World
Reality TV may be popular around the world, but it's also roundly mocked as formulaic and contrived. So, can that kind of fragile fantasy world meaningfully influence reality? We look at the goals and impact of a UN-backed reality show called "Inspire Somalia," that attempted to model democracy and freedom in a country racked by decades of clan warfare and oppression by extremist groups like al-Shabab. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S4 E1 · Fri, March 09, 2018
I, I, I. Him
In this episode, we talk to a 74-year-old woman who decides the only way to get over her husband's death is to jump out of an airplane. And to a third generation beekeeper whose entire collection of hives has been stolen - he believes by Russian mobsters. After losing so much can they tell themselves new stories about themselves that allow them to function? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Trailer · Fri, February 23, 2018
Season 4 Trailer
We're living in a black and white world, where the stories we tell ourselves lock us into one side or the other. These stories define us – imprison or liberate us. In their fourth season, co-hosts Hanna Rosin and Alix Spiegel map the grey areas. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Bonus · Fri, December 22, 2017
BONUS: Catch-Up with Max Hawkins
In this bonus episode, we catch up with a character from Season 3 of Invisibilia... Max Hawkins, a San Francisco-based computer programmer who initially built an app to help him break out of his predictable bubble. Recently, Max, and others he's inspired to "bubble-hop," have been led to confront situations they feel have crossed the line from uncomfortable...to morally repugnant. These experiences have meant grappling with when to shut down, and when to engage. Invisibilia is supported by GoToMeeting: https://www.gotomeeting.com/ Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Bonus · Tue, September 12, 2017
BONUS: Catch-Up with Bill Millar
In a special podcast bonus, co-host Hanna Rosin checks in with Bill Millar, who we met in Season 2's "Flip the Script." They talk about dating, cats, and how love can look different for everyone. Listen to the original episode here: http://apple.co/2x0aWE3. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S3 E1 · Thu, June 22, 2017
Emotions
A thief knocks down your door and you are flooded with fear. Your baby smiles up at you and you are filled with love. It feels like this is how emotions work: something happens, and we instinctively respond. How could it be any other way? Well, the latest research in psychology and neuroscience shows that's not in fact how emotions work. We offer you a truly mind-blowing alternative explanation for how an emotion gets made. And we do it through a bizarre lawsuit, in which a child dies in a car accident, and the child's parents get sued by the man driving the other car. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S3 E2 · Thu, June 22, 2017
High Voltage (Emotions Part 2)
Can you discover an emotion? We travel to the jungles of the Philippines where an anthropologist named Renato Rosaldo lived with the Ilongots, an isolated tribe of headhunters. There he learns about legit, an emotion so intense, and varied, and scary to him, that he can't really map onto the usual palette of American emotions. It takes many years, and a shocking and tragic event, for Rosaldo to fully grasp legut. Then we follow a young woman who does something on dates that virtually guarantees their failure. Along the way , she gains insight into her own emotions, and those of a generation of kids raised to be happy. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S3 E3 · Thu, June 15, 2017
Reality
How is it that two neighbors can look out their window at the exact same thing, and see something completely different? This is a question many people in America are asking now. We explore it by visiting a small community in Minnesota, called Eagle's Nest Township, that has a unique experience with the reality divide: some of the people in the town believe that wild black bears are gentle animals you can feed with your hands, and others think they are dangerous killers. This divide leads to conflict and, ultimately, a tragic death. So, is there a "real" truth about the bear, or is each side constructing its own reality? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S3 E4 · Thu, June 15, 2017
Bubble-Hopping (Reality Part 2)
The concept of bubbles (social bubbles, media bubbles, political bubbles) has become popular lately as people grapple with the unexpected outcomes of the 2016 election. We talk to two people who are making attempts to break out of their bubbles, and expose themselves to new points of view. We start with a woman seeking to break out of the confines of the human bubble altogether, by teaching herself to experience the world more like a dog. Then we meet a young man named Max, who has made a life out of hopping from bubble to bubble. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S3 E5 · Thu, June 08, 2017
The Culture Inside
Is there a part of ourselves that we don't acknowledge, that we don't even have access to and that might make us ashamed if we encountered it? We begin with a woman whose left hand takes instructions from a different part of her brain. It hits her, and knocks cigarettes out of her hand and makes her wonder: who is issuing the orders? Is there some other "me"in there I don't know about? We then ask this question about one of the central problems of our time: racism. Scientific research has shown that even well meaning people operate with implicit bias - stereotypes and attitudes we are not fully aware of that nonetheless shape our behavior towards people of color. We examine the Implicit Association Test, a widely available psychological test that popularized the notion of implicit bias. And we talk to people who are tackling the question, critical to so much of our behavior: what does it take to change these deeply embedded concepts? Can it even be done? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S3 E6 · Thu, June 01, 2017
Future Self
What do you want to be when you grow up? This is a question we ask children, and adults. In American culture the concept of the future self is critical, required. It drives us to improve, become a richer, more successful, happier version of who we are now. It keeps us from getting blinkered by the world we grew up in, allowing us to see into other potential worlds, new and different concepts, infinite other selves. But the future self can also torture us, mocking us for who we have failed to become. We travel to North Port, Florida, where the principal of a high school did something extreme and unusual to help his students strive for grander future selves - a noble American experiment that went horribly wrong. If you or somebody you know might need help, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255 or at suicidepreventionlifeline.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S3 E7 · Thu, June 01, 2017
True You
What happens when you discover a part of yourself that is so different from who you think you are? Do you hold on to your original self tightly? Do you explore this other self? We travel to England to meet an insect with a split personality. Then we talk to an internet famous cartoonist who's been hiding a part of himself for years, and a woman who records herself sleep talking, and is amazed at what she finds. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Bonus · Tue, May 30, 2017
Rules for Road Tripping
Season 3 has ended but we're hard at work on Season 4! We'll see you soon, but in the meantime, we wanted to share Invisibilia's tips for a successful road trip. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Trailer · Thu, May 18, 2017
Season 3 Trailer
On June 1, Invisibilia is back for Season 3! Invisibilia explores the invisible forces that shape human behavior – thoughts, emotions, assumptions, expectations. Check out the trailer for the upcoming season! Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S2 E7 · Fri, July 29, 2016
Outside In
There's a popular idea out there that you can change from the outside in. Power posing. Fake it 'til you make it. If you just assume the pose, inner transformation will follow. We examine to what extent this is true, by following the first all-female debate team in Rwanda, a country that has legislated gender equality. We also see how an app reshaped the relationship of twin sisters. And we end our season at the beach, with a man whose life was transformed by a seagull named Mac Daddy. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S2 E6 · Fri, July 22, 2016
The Secret Emotional Life of Clothes
We know about the power of clothes to affect how others see us. But does clothing have the power to actually change us on the inside? To boost our intellectual skills or melt our fear? Co-hosts Hanna Rosin and Lulu Miller, along with new contributors, explore the invisible ways clothes can seep into our skin and change us in surprising ways. This hour, stories about a guy who uses sunglasses to fight off bullies, the science of how wearing a doctor's coat can make you smarter, a tailor who may or may not have survived the Holocaust by wearing a Nazi officer's shirt, a family for whom what outfit to wear is a life or death decision, and why shoes may be the root of all human evil. Maybe. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S2 E5 · Fri, July 15, 2016
Flip the Script
In this episode we look at situation where someone flips the script – does the opposite of what their natural instinct is, and in this way transforms a situation. The clinical term is "complementarity." Usually when someone is hostile to us, we are hostile right back. But then in rare cases someone manages to be warm, and what happens as a result can be amazing. The episode starts with a story about a dinner party in DC, when an attempted robbery was foiled by... a glass of wine and some cheese. Then we travel across the pond, to Denmark, where police officers are attempting to combat the growing problem of Islamic radicalization with... love. And finally, we talk to a man who attempted to flip the script on one of our most basic animal functions: finding a mate. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S2 E4 · Fri, July 08, 2016
Frame of Reference
What shapes the way we perceive the world around us? A lot of it has to do with invisible frames of reference that filter our experiences and determine how we feel. Alix Spiegel and Hanna Rosin interview a woman who gets a glimpse of what she's been missing all her life – and then loses it. And they talk to Daily Show correspondent Hasan Minhaj about which frame of reference is better – his or his dad's. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Bonus · Tue, July 05, 2016
Bonus: Mr. Kitt
In this special podcast bonus, Lulu Miller tells the story of William Kitt, a resident of the Broadway Housing Communities, featured in our episode "The Problem with the Solution". William Kitt was insane, by his own definition. But he no longer believes he is, because of what he calls the Greatest Scheme of All. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S2 E3 · Fri, July 01, 2016
The Problem with the Solution
In this episode we find that the solution can be the problem. The hour begins with a charming couple from Utah who stumble across a clever fix to their clogged drain problem one day while they are showering together. For them, the impulse to fix the problem leads to a happy adventure into the world of patenting and manufacturing a new product. From there, the hour takes a turn to explore how this very same impulse to fix a problem — the impulse that has led the human species to invent telephones and bicycles and rocket ships — has surprising consequences when it comes to the problem of mental illness. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Bonus · Tue, June 28, 2016
Bonus: Four-Minute Mile
In a special podcast bonus, Lulu Miller tells the story about a young runner who always thought he had it in him to break the four-minute mile, until a potential change in personality made him question if he was the same runner. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S2 E2 · Fri, June 24, 2016
The Personality Myth
In America personality is often seen as destiny. Whether you're a famous CEO like Steve Jobs or a serial criminal like Hannibal Lecter, most of us think that our position in life has a lot to do with our personality. This episode looks more closely at this belief. We start at a Court House where lines of people who are getting married describe the personality of the person with whom they are to be joined for life. Then travel to a prison in Ohio where a woman has struck up a work relationship with a prisoner who it turns out did something far worse than she imagined. Finally Lulu talks to a scientist to come up with a complete catalogue of all the things about us that actually do stay stable over the course of our lives. They look at everything from cells to memories until ultimately they come up with a list — but it's a really short list. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S2 E1 · Fri, June 17, 2016
The New Norm
You probably don't even notice them, but social norms determine so much of your behavior - how you dress, talk, eat and even what you allow yourself to feel. These norms are so entrenched we never imagine they can shift. But Alix Spiegel and new co-host, Hanna Rosin, examine two grand social experiments that attempt to do just that: teach McDonald's employees in Russia to smile, and workers on an oil rig how to cry. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Trailer · Fri, May 20, 2016
Season 2 Trailer
On June 17th Invisibilia is back for Season 2! Invisibilia explores the invisible forces that shape human behavior – thoughts, emotions, assumptions, expectations. Check out the trailer for the upcoming season! Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Bonus · Sat, February 14, 2015
BONUS: Inside Out!
Alix and Lulu present a bonus podcast about why "Inside Out" was considered as a possible name for the show, but ultimately wasn't chosen. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S1 E5 · Fri, February 13, 2015
Our Computers, Ourselves
In Our Computers, Ourselves, a look at the ways technology affects us, and the main question is : Are computers changing human character? You'll hear from cyborgs, bullies, neuroscientists and police chiefs about whether our closeness with computers is changing us as a species. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S1 Enull · Fri, February 06, 2015
The Power Of Categories
The Power Of Categories examines how categories define us — how, if given a chance, humans will jump into one category or another. People need them, want them. The show looks at what categories provide for us, and you'll hear about a person caught between categories in a way that will surprise you. Plus, a trip to a retirement community designed to help seniors revisit a long-missed category. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S1 E4 · Fri, January 30, 2015
Entanglement
In Entanglement, you'll meet a woman with Mirror Touch Synesthesia who can physically feel what she sees others feeling. And an exploration of the ways in which all of us are connected — more literally than you might realize. The hour will start with physics and end with a conversation with comedian Maria Bamford and her mother. They discuss what it's like to be entangled through impersonation. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Bonus · Fri, January 23, 2015
BONUS: Falling Off a Cliff
A podcast BONUS for you today. We didn't have enough room in our Batman show for this lovely story about Julee-anne Bell, one of the many people who have learned Daniel Kish's echolocation technique. Enjoy! Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S1 E3 · Fri, January 23, 2015
How to Become Batman
In "How to Become Batman," Alix and Lulu examine the surprising effect that our expectations can have on the people around us. You'll hear how people's expectations can influence how well a rat runs a maze. Plus, the story of a man who is blind and says expectations have helped him see. Yes. See. This journey is not without skeptics. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S1 E2 · Fri, January 16, 2015
Fearless
In "Fearless," co-hosts Alix Spiegel and Lulu Miller explore what would happen if you could disappear fear. A group of scientists believe that people no longer need fear — at least not the kind we live with — to navigate the modern world. We'll hear about the striking (and rare) case of a woman with no fear. The second half of the show explores how the rest of us might "turn off" fear. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
S1 E1 · Fri, January 09, 2015
The Secret History of Thoughts
In "The Secret History of Thoughts," co-hosts Alix Spiegel and Lulu Miller ask the question, "Are my thoughts related to my inner wishes, do they reveal who I really am?" The answer can have profound consequences for your life. Hear the story of a man gripped by violent thoughts, and explore how various psychologists make sense of his experience. Also, meet a man trapped inside his head for 13 years with thoughts as his only companion. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Trailer · Thu, December 18, 2014
Invisibilia Preview
Starting January 9th, NPR brings you Invisibilia, a six episode series about the invisible forces that shape human behavior – ideas, beliefs, assumptions and thoughts. Invisibilia interweaves personal stories with scientific research that will ultimately make you see your own life differently. Your co-hosts Lulu Miller and Alix Spiegel give you a sneak preview of their first show: The Secret History of Thoughts. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
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