Rhaina Cohen
NPR
Washington, DC, United States
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Past articles by Rhaina:
Tower Of Babble: Non-Native Speakers Navigate The World Of 'Good' And 'Bad' English
The demand for "proper" English can be used to shut people out of spaces and opportunities. The folks at NPR's "Rough Translation" podcast have a story to tell. → Read More
'People Will Forget About Us': The Capital Gazette Shooting Survivors, Years Later
After the shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper, the surviving staff resolve to rebuild their paper. → Read More
Rewriting The Travel Guidebook With Nanjala Nyabola
What happens when your guidebook isn't written with you in mind? Nanjala Nyabola on her new book: Travelling While Black. → Read More
The Halo Effect: Why It's So Difficult To Understand The Past
Judy, Lyn and Donna Ulrich were driving to a volleyball game when their Ford Pinto was hit from behind by a Chevy van. The Pinto caught fire, and the three teenagers were burned to death. This week on Hidden Brain, we talk to a former Ford insider who could have voted to recall the Pinto years before the Ulrich girls were killed — but didn't. And we ask, is it possible to fairly evaluate our… → Read More
Why Nobody Feels Rich: The Psychology Of Inequality
If you've ever flown in economy class on a plane, you probably had to walk through the first class cabin to get to your seat. Maybe you noticed the extra leg room. The freshly-poured champagne. Maybe you were annoyed, or envious. Social psychologist Keith Payne says we tend to compare ourselves with those who have more than us, but rarely with those who have less. This week, we revisit our 2019… → Read More
You 2.0: The Mind's Eye
Some challenges feel insurmountable. But psychologist Emily Balcetis says the solutions are often right in front of our eyes. This week, as part of our annual series on personal growth and reinvention, Emily explains how we can harness our sight to affect our behavior. → Read More
Tired of video chats and calls? Try sending your friend a voice memo.
The technology offers glimpses of life in the wild → Read More
The Night That Lasted A Lifetime: How Psychology Was Misused In Teen's Murder Case
Not long after his sixteenth birthday, Fred Clay was arrested for the murder of a cab driver in Boston. Eventually, Fred was found guilty — but only after police and prosecutors used questionable psychological techniques to single him out as the killer. This week on Hidden Brain, we go back four decades to uncover the harm that arises when flawed ideas from psychology are used to determine that… → Read More
Justifying The Means: What It Means To Treat All Suffering Equally
When we are asked to make a moral choice, many of us imagine it involves listening to our hearts. To that, philosopher Peter Singer says, "nonsense." Singer believes there are no moral absolutes, and that logic and calculation are better guides to moral behavior than feelings and intuitions. This week, we talk with Singer about why this approach is so hard to put into practice, and look at the… → Read More
All The World's A Stage—Including The Doctor's Office
In recent months, many of us have become familiar with the sense of fear expressing itself in our bodies. We may feel restless or physically exhausted. At times, we may even have trouble catching our breath. The deep connection between mind and body that seems so salient now was also at the center of our episode about the placebo effect. This week, we return to this 2019 story that asks what… → Read More
The Choices Before Us: Can Fewer Options Lead To Better Decisions?
An abundance of choices is a good thing, right? In the United States, where choice is often equated with freedom and control, the answer tends to be a resounding 'yes.' But researchers say the relationship between choice and happiness isn't always so clear-cut. This week, we talk with psychologist Sheena Iyengar about making better decisions, and how she's thinking about the relationship between… → Read More
Stop The Presses! Newspapers Affect Us, Often In Ways We Don't Realize
On this week's radio show, we trace the history of fake news. Plus, in a time when accurate information is so important, we ask who ultimately bears the cost when no one wants to pay for local news. → Read More
Starving The Watchdogs: Who Foots The Bill When Newspapers Disappear?
Amidst the confusion and chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have sought out a long-trusted lifeline: the local newspaper. Though the value of local journalism is more apparent now than ever, newspapers are not thriving. They're collapsing. For many communities, this means fewer local stories and job losses. But new research suggests there's another consequence that's harder to spot — one… → Read More
A Social Prescription: Why Human Connection Is Crucial To Our Health
Confined to our homes, many of us are experiencing a newfound appreciation for our social relationships. What we may not realize — and what physicians and researchers have only recently started emphasizing — is the importance of these connections to our physical health. This week, we talk with former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy about why he considers loneliness a matter of public health,… → Read More
An Unfinished Lesson: What The 1918 Flu Tells Us About Human Nature
A virus is more than a biological organism. It's a social organism. It detects fissures in societies and fault lines between communities. Historian Nancy Bristow shares the lessons about human behavior that we can take away from a century-old pandemic. → Read More
The Bomb That Didn't Explode: Why Our Fears About Population Growth Didn't Come True
We know that we live in an ever-changing world, but one thing we often overlook is demographic change. Whether the world's population is growing or shrinking can affect many aspects of our lives, from the number of kids we have to the likelihood that we'll live to old age. This week on Hidden Brain, we explore how our planet's population is changing, and what that means for us in the century to… → Read More
Looking Back: Reflecting On The Past To Understand The Present
Why are we so often pulled into memories of the past? This week, we bring you a 2018 episode about our ruminations on what we could have done differently, and what we wish we could do again. → Read More
The Influence You Have: Why We Fail To See Our Power Over Others
Think about the last time you asked someone for something. Maybe you were nervous or worried about what the person would think of you. Chances are that you didn't stop to think about the pressure you were exerting on that person. This week, we explore a phenomenon that psychologists refer to as "egocentric bias," and look at how this bias can lead us astray. → Read More
Passion Isn't Enough: The Rise Of 'Political Hobbyism' in the United States
Many Americans feel an obligation to keep up with political news. But maybe we should be focusing our energies elsewhere. Political scientist Eitan Hersh says there's been a rise in "political hobbyism" in the United States. We treat politics like entertainment, following the latest updates like we follow our favorite sports teams. Instead, he says, we should think of politics as a way to… → Read More
How To See The Future (No Crystal Ball Needed)
When disaster strikes, we want to know, who screwed up? This week we explore the psychology of warnings: Why some warnings get heard, and why some of us are better at seeing what lies ahead. → Read More