People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology Podcast

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology Podcast

This is a podcast about deciphering human behavior and understanding why people do the things they do. I, Zach Elwood, talk with people from a wide range of fields about how they make sense of human behavior and psychology. I've talked to jury consultants, interrogation professionals, behavior researchers, sports analysts, professional poker players, to name a few. There are more than 135 episodes, many of them quite good (although some say I'm biased). To learn more, go to PeopleWhoReadPeople.com.

Episodes

The Orgasmic Meditation story: Origins and psychology of OneTaste and Nicole Daedone

November 18, 2025 • 73 mins
I talk with journalist Ellen Huet, whose new book Empire of Orgasm digs into the strange origins and evolution of Nicole Daedone and OneTaste, and goes into more detail than the Netflix doc titled Orgasm Inc. We talk about where OneTaste’s orgasmic meditation practices actually came from, how Daedone built a movement around it, and how that movement shifted into something far more high-control and ultimately criminal. Topics discus...
Mark as Played

Can behavior clusters help determine a lie? Tim Levine on deception detection science

November 13, 2025 • 52 mins
Many people think there are telltale signs of lying — shifty eyes, nervous fidgeting, maybe a quick smile — that can give someone away to trained observers. But according to decades of research, that’s a myth. Still, some scientists push back on that consensus. A recent paper by well-known researcher David Matsumoto (of the company Humintell) argues that combinations of nonverbal cues might be highly useful for revealing deception....
Mark as Played

Tracking people over terrain: What's real, what's fiction?

October 26, 2025 • 50 mins
Have you ever wondered how tracking people actually works? You’ve probably seen a lot of Hollywood depictions of how law enforcement track people over external terrain, and maybe you’ve wondered what’s real and what’s exaggerated. I talk with Rob Speiden, an instructor in what’s called “sign cutting." Rob breaks down real search-and-rescue, law-enforcement, and military use-cases; why “broken twigs” and deep foot prints are actuall...
Mark as Played

NLP pseudoscience and its use by Chase Hughes and other con artists and deceptive faux-gurus

October 20, 2025 • 141 mins
You’ve probably heard of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). It’s a popular thing. It’s the foundation for the work of popular life/business coach Tony Robbins, and there are many other popular trainers and “gurus” who have used NLP ideas as the basis for their work. The con artist Chase Hughes, whose lies and unethical behaviors I’ve examined on this podcast, is one such false guru whose origins are in NLP. This is a reshare of an...
Mark as Played

Is the internet a methamphetamine of the masses?

October 14, 2025 • 38 mins
Is it possible that internet communication, by speeding up and distorting our interactions, is agitating us and deranging us? Is it possible that by putting human interactions “on speed,” the internet amplifies some of the darker aspects of our social psychology? Are we being driven crazy by this technology? If the internet is deranging and dividing us, what are the psychological processes by which it does that? Learn more about yo...
Mark as Played

"They're the violent, crazy ones!": How polarization warps our views of our political opponents

October 6, 2025 • 20 mins
A major barrier to reducing toxic polarization is that so many of us—especially those who are highly politically involved—see our current toxic conflict as clearly the other side’s fault. People in both groups focus on the grievances that alarm them most but often struggle to understand what bothers their adversaries. From the outside, our opponents’ complaints can look minor, silly, or misinformed compared to our concerns, which w...
Mark as Played

Are you and I (and everyone) the same person? A talk on Open Individualism with Joe Kern

September 27, 2025 • 96 mins
What if your sense of existence, your self-awareness, isn’t unique at all—but the very same “I” that exists in everyone, everywhere? What if you and I—and everyone—are essentially the same person? In this episode, I talk with Joe Kern, author of “The Odds of You Existing,” about Open Individualism: the radical view that there is only a single subject of consciousness, which is shared by all aware beings. Put another way: instead of...
Mark as Played

The psychology of Bad Vegan: Sarma Melngailis on narcissistic abuse and life after

September 8, 2025 • 88 mins
The documentary "Bad Vegan" was about Sarma Melngailis’s nightmarish journey from successful New York City restaurant owner to Rikers inmate jailed for stealing millions. How did this happen? Sarma was the victim of a narcissistic con man named Anthony Strangis, who manipulated her into believing (or semi-believing) a number of wild, delusional ideas (like that he might be a non-human being with immense, other-worldly powers). He u...
Mark as Played

The surprising power of nostalgia — and how it can be used on you

August 31, 2025 • 61 mins
What does nostalgia do to our minds — and our wallets? In this talk with Jannine Lasaleta, we talk about her research into the surprising psychological and emotional effects of nostalgia. Why do people become more generous and loose with money when they’re feeling nostalgic? How are companies — and even political campaigns — harnessing nostalgia to influence us? What’s the link between our craving for “authentic” experiences, like ...
Mark as Played

My life-changing experience with meditation

August 19, 2025 • 37 mins
In the summer of 2024, I went on a five-day solo retreat in the mountains of New Mexico. It was the first time I’d ever really committed to meditation, and to my surprise it turned out to be a deeply meaningful and lasting experience. In this episode, I talk about what led me to try it, what those days of fasting, solitude, and meditation were actually like, and the unexpected effects I noticed afterward in my everyday life. I also...
Mark as Played

Are you a psychopath? Debunking myths and looking for nuance in "dark" traits

August 8, 2025 • 68 mins
What does the word “psychopath” really mean—and how often are we getting it wrong? Can someone have some psychopathic traits and still be empathetic? How often are we embracing simplistic ideas of what the terms psychopath and sociopath mean? Are those online “Are you a psychopath?” quizzes harmless fun, or could they actually shape how we see ourselves? And what about all the CEOs, politicians, and anti-heroes people quickly label...
Mark as Played

Penalty kick mind games: Reading and using body language in sports

August 2, 2025 • 64 mins
I talk with sports psychology and behavior researcher Philip Furley about how athletes' body language communicates far more than we realize — and how it can affect teammates, opponents, judges, and even the outcome of the game itself. Other topics discussed: celebratory behaviors and how that can influence perceptions of people, including judges; behaviors and strategies of penalty kickers and goalkeepers in soccer; some specific b...
Mark as Played

Madness explained: How trauma and stress can break the mind

July 26, 2025 • 59 mins
I talk to psychologist Richard Bentall about psychosis, schizophrenia, and the psychological roots of mental illness. Bentall is the author of the well known book "Madness Explained." We explore how symptoms like hallucinations and delusions can often be traced to trauma, stress, and isolation—and how the label of “schizophrenia” may obscure more than it explains. We also discuss the fine line between delusions and widely shared be...
Mark as Played

Our memory and sense of self are full of illusions | with Anne Wilson

July 19, 2025 • 52 mins
Psychologist Anne Wilson studies how we construct our identities over time—how we remember the past, imagine the future, and tell ourselves stories that shape who we believe we are. In this episode, we explore why our memories are often less reliable than we think, and how that inaccuracy might actually be a feature, not a bug. Anne shares insights from her work on temporal self-appraisal theory, including surprising research showi...
Mark as Played

Are you a narcissist? The psychology and spectrum of narcissism

July 12, 2025 • 68 mins
What if we’ve been thinking about narcissism all wrong — and some forms of it are not only normal, but healthy? Why do we so often confuse genuine confidence or ambition with something pathological? Could your most “humble” or “selfless” friend actually be showing a hidden form of narcissism? And how might political polarization be pushing all of us to act a little more narcissistic than we’d like to admit? I talk with Craig Malkin...
Mark as Played

The "deep whys" behind autistic behaviors | with Barry Prizant

June 27, 2025 • 70 mins
I talk to Barry Prizant, author of the popular book "Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism," about the often misunderstood world of autism. We explore the idea that many so-called “autistic behaviors” are actually meaningful responses to stress, overwhelm, or attempts to communicate—and that looking for the “deep why” behind people's behavior is essential. We talk about sensory sensitivity and the complexities of the aut...
Mark as Played

The psychology of how we react when our sense of meaning is threatened

June 15, 2025 • 65 mins
Why do we feel so unsettled and agitated when the world doesn’t make sense? In this episode, I talk with psychologist Steven Heine about his Meaning Maintenance Model — a theory that explains how we react when our sense of meaning is threatened. We explore how disruptions to our mental frameworks can lead us to double down on our beliefs, seek comfort in nostalgia, or shift our focus to other sources of meaning. We discuss what thi...
Mark as Played

A Bitcoin for news? Could Aemula.com revolutionize journalism and reduce polarization?

June 11, 2025 • 62 mins
Can blockchain tech reinvent journalism—and reduce toxic political polarization in the process? Zach Elwood talks with Don Templeman, founder of Aemula (Aemula.com), a radically new kind of news platform. Inspired by the decentralization and transparency of cryptocurrency and other blockchain-based technologies, Aemula aims to create a bias-resistant newsroom of the future—one where algorithms are public, incentives reward nuance, ...
Mark as Played

Can eye direction reveal a lie? Or is that psychology bullshit? | with Tim Levine

May 27, 2025 • 59 mins
Maybe you’ve heard that you can get clues about whether someone is lying by what direction they look when they talk. The most common form of this idea is that if someone is looking up and to their left, they’re more likely to be accessing real visual memories (associated with truth), and if they’re looking up and to their right, they’re more likely to be constructing visual images (associated with lies). But there is no basis for t...
Mark as Played

Why some see liberals as the undemocratic ones: A talk about democracy and polarization with Elizabeth Doll

April 14, 2025 • 86 mins
Many Americans think Trump is harming democracy; they see him as acting undemocratically in various ways. At the same time, Republicans and Trump supporters can view Democrats/liberals as themselves acting in highly undemocratic ways: as embracing various beliefs and actions that violate the spirit of democracy. I talk to Elizabeth Doll, who has worked in the political depolarization/bridge-building space for several years; she is ...
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    Stuff You Should Know

    Stuff You Should Know

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    Ruthie's Table 4

    Ruthie's Table 4

    For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

    Dateline NBC

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    The Bobby Bones Show

    The Bobby Bones Show

    Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.

    The Breakfast Club

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

Explore

iHeart

Live Radio

Podcasts

Artist Radio

Exclusives

News

Features

Events

Contests

Photos

Information

About

Advertise

Blog

Brand Guidelines

Contest Guidelines

Subscription Offers

Jobs

Get the App

Automotive

Home

Mobile

Wearables

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.