The genesis of this podcast may be responsible for its "bare-bones" nature. There's no intro music. No explanation of what the podcast is about. No outro music. No guests.
The show is highly reminiscent of what podcasts sounded like in 2007.
Having stated that, however, there is nothing wrong with the skeletal nature of the show. The show has good bones, as they say in real estate.
Dr. Britt continues: "It is aimed at anyone curious about human behavior, such as students taking a course in psychology, those majoring in psychology, and instructors of psychology will find the podcast particularly of interest."
Episodes are actively downloaded daily (~3.5k/day) and the total downloads for all the episodes is currently over 22 million worldwide. Britt's website is linked to by thousands of high schools, colleges and universities around the world. Typical listeners are college students and their professors, critical thinkers of all ages, and life-long learners.
In the episodes, Britt is the narrator and there are usually no guests. Thankfully for the listeners, he is a capable enough narrator with a solid grasp of the material to maintain interest throughout the episodes.
Episode length can vary from 10 to 40 minutes, but Britt is concise, organized, and interesting when presenting his material.
The podcast itself is bare bones with solid sound quality, yet no intro music and no explanation of the podcast's theme at the beginning of each show. I assume that because of the intended use as learning material by students, Britt eliminates the usual podcast format for something more academic sonically.
Britt's intellectual curiosity leads him onto some fascinating episode topics. He's released close to 400 episodes, and still finds fresh material to review.
Some of my favorite episodes include From Insane Asylum to Psychiatric Center: A Brief History, where Britt has a guest who reviews the history of psychiatric care, and the practices and treatments that have evolved tremendously over the years.
In 2022, The Psychology of Tipping episode explored how can waiters increase their tips? Britt explains: "Would you believe psychologists have devoted a great deal of research to this question? We've looked at the effect of smiley faces, touching, crouching, telling jokes, giving customers a fun task to do, and drawing suns on checks (yes, suns). Join me as we take a look at what waiters and waitresses can do to increase the amount of the tip their customers give them."
Earlier in 2022, in the episode Motivational Interviewing and the TV Show Columbo, Britt explains: "Hopefully you've watched the TV show Columbo. Curious about what this character has to do with psychology? You'd be surprised. In this episode, I analyze Columbo in terms of the psychological technique called motivational interviewing. I also take a look at the criminal lineup scene in the Jennifer Garner movie, Peppermint. I also explain why you remember how to ride a bike but can't remember where you put your cell phone. Along the way, we learn about Semantic vs. Procedural memory."
The core benefit of The Psych Files is that the intellectual inquisitiveness of Dr. Michael Britt enables listeners to enjoy the probes he launches into topics often not associated with psychology podcasts. After all, who does episodes on The Browser Doorway Effect, Demonic Possession or A Lack of Skeptical Thinking, Why Do You Get So Absorbed in that Book (or Movie), and The Psychology of A Quiet Place and Mission Impossible?
Check out The Psych Files. It's indie podcasting at its most raw technically, but Dr. Britt has brilliantly monetized his show, and enabled listeners to join him on his quest to use psychology in almost every aspect of life.
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