NPR's Hidden Brain Goes Independent

 The host and founder of NPR’s Hidden Brain is leaving the network to produce the show and related projects through an independent production company.

 National Public Radio's (NPR) Hidden Brain podcast has consistently ranked as one of the most popular shows in the podcasting universe. On the podcast, host Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.

On August 3, Shankar Vedantam announced his departure via an email to NPR staff. In the email, Vedantam said his nine years with NPR was the “highlight” of his career. After leaving the network, he is planning to expand beyond podcasting and radio to look into apps, television and a publication imprint.

“In this new vision for Hidden Brain, being an independent entity and being able to chart my own course will be valuable,” Vedantam wrote. “NPR will always have my gratitude and respect, and I am hoping there will be many opportunities for collaboration in the future.”

 Under the new arrangement, which starts Oct. 1, NPR will continue to distribute the Hidden Brain radio show. The show airs on nearly 350 stations. The network will continue to receive royalties from Hidden Brain.

Before starting the show, Vedantam worked as a reporter and columnist for The Washington Post. In 2010 he published The Hidden Brain, a book about the psychological basis for our unconscious biases and decisions.

Hidden Brain podcast host Shankar Vedantam

 

Vedantam became a social science correspondent for NPR and appeared in a recurring segment on Morning Edition. Hidden Brain began as a podcast in 2015 and became a radio show in 2017.

“We have had a wonderful and productive relationship with Shankar over the past 9 years and are very proud of the radio show and podcast we developed together,” said an NPR spokesperson in an email. “… We hope to continue working together in future projects.”

 Recent episodes include You 2.0 -- Our Pursuit Of Happiness where Vedantam kicks off the podcast's annual You 2.0 summer series with happiness researcher Elizabeth Dunn, who explains how to fight the treadmill feeling where no matter how hard people try to get happier, they end up back where you started.

 In The Edge Effect -- released July 27 --Vedantam revisits a favorite 2018 episode about the powerful connection between the ideas we dream up and the people who surround us, and what it really takes to think outside the box. 

Check out the Hidden Brain podcast here.

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