People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology Podcast
Kanaal Besonderhede
People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology Podcast
This show will help you understand human behavior and psychology so you can better navigate your personal and professional life and better connect with people. The host Zachary Elwood, known for his Reading Poker Tells trilogy of books, talks with a wide range of guests who have unique real-world in...
Onlangse Episodes
209 episodes
How recruiters spot fake, deceptive job applicants, with Dani Tepedjiyska
What if some job applicants aren’t actually trying to get jobs — but are instead trying to infiltrate companies? Dani Tepedjiyska, who works with the...
Why the best interrogators don't focus on reading nonverbal behavior
Many people think police interrogations often involve reading body language and catching “tells” of deception. Interrogation trainer Mark Anderson exp...
How do visa officers read visa-seeker behaviors?, with Travis Feuerbacher
Visa officers make life-changing decisions in minutes—often after just a brief conversation through a glass window. I talk with former U.S. visa offic...
Cards Against Humanity's David Pinsof, PhD, has deep theories on status-seeking and humor
What if much of human behavior—from everyday interactions to politics and culture—is driven by hidden “status games” we’re all playing without realizi...
MK Ultra fact vs. fiction: Exaggerated claims of mind control and Manchurian candidates | with Stephen Kinzer
Did MK Ultra actually accomplish anything impressive in brainwashing- and mind-control-related areas? Did the US government, as some people claim, cre...
The dangers of “reading people,” with former behavior pseudoscience believer Vincent Denault
Vincent Denault once believed he was learning how to read people’s hidden thoughts through analyzing body language. As a young lawyer in Quebec, he at...
Con man Chase Hughes' military record versus his grandiose claims
How does someone who makes wildly grandiose claims about mind control, interrogation mastery, neuroscience credentials, and secret military psychology...
Epstein Hysteria! Moral panic and dumb overreactions from Kyle Kulinski, others
The Epstein files release has resulted in many people seeming to lose their minds: engaging in moral panic, having hysterical overreactions, filtering...
Is your existence improbable? Or inevitable? Exploring universalism with Arnold Zuboff
Many view the fact that they are here, experiencing the world, as something insanely improbable... but what if it were instead entirely inevitable? Th...
Waco negotiator Gary Noesner shares tips on de-escalation and reading behavior
What actually works to avoid violent outcomes when someone is armed, emotional, and on the edge? I talk with former FBI chief hostage negotiator Gary...
Pro negotiator on body language and the “power of nice” | with Andres Lares
What actually makes negotiations work—and why do so many “tough” tactics backfire? In this episode, Zach talks with professional negotiator Andres Lar...
FBI agent discusses interrogation tactics, body language, the lie detector, and more
A talk with Eric Robinson, a recently retired Federal Bureau of Investigation agent and former pastor, about what actually works in real-world interro...
Some scoff at political bridge-building efforts. What are they missing?
A talk with Doug Teschner and Beth Malow—co-authors of the book Beyond the Politics of Contempt—about an aspect of bridge-building/depolarization-aime...
Ex-CIA officer on exposing top-secret imposters Wayne Simmons and Chase Hughes
A talk with former CIA officer Kent Clizbe about his exposure of Wayne Simmons, a man who spent more than a decade on Fox News posing as a CIA counter...
The psychology of narcissistic abuse—and how it can continue after separation
A talk with Jackie Miller, host of the podcast “Out of Crazy Town: Your Guide to Divorcing a Narcissist.” Jackie shares her personal story of escaping...
Body language lies: The pseudoscience and silliness spread by alleged behavior "experts"
Can you really tell who’s lying just by watching their body language? Are there any practical takeaways you can reliably and regularly get from studyi...
How a news site uses social network mapping to reduce polarization
Aemula is a new kind of news media platform that’s trying to tackle a big problem: the fact that the structure of our news media leads to various outc...
Does contempt for Trump voters help Trump? Are we in a feedback loop?
For many people, Trump represents a uniquely dangerous figure in American history. But what if the contemptuous, maximally pessimistic ways many peopl...
The Orgasmic Meditation story: Inside Nicole Daedone's OneTaste organization
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 goe...
Can behavior clusters point to a lie? Tim Levine on behavior and deception detection science
Many people think there are telltale signs of lying — shifty eyes, nervous fidgeting, maybe a quick smile — that can give someone away to trained obse...
Tracking people over external terrain: What's real, what's fiction?
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...
NLP pseudoscience and its use by Chase Hughes and other con artists and deceptive faux-gurus
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 Ton...
Is the internet a methamphetamine of the masses?
Is it possible that internet communication, by speeding up and distorting our interactions, is agitating us and deranging us? Is it possible that by p...
"They're the violent, crazy ones!": How polarization warps our views of our political opponents
A major barrier to reducing toxic polarization is that so many of us—especially those who are highly politically involved—see our current toxic confli...
Are you and I (and everyone) the same person? A talk on Open Individualism with Joe Kern
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...
The psychology of Bad Vegan: Sarma Melngailis on narcissistic abuse and life after
The documentary "Bad Vegan" was about Sarma Melngailis’s nightmarish journey from successful New York City restaurant owner to Rikers inmate jailed fo...
The surprising power of nostalgia — and how it can be used on you
What does nostalgia do to our minds — and our wallets? In this talk with Jannine Lasaleta, we talk about her research into the surprising psychologica...
My life-changing experience with meditation
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...
Are you a psychopath? Debunking myths and looking for nuance in "dark" traits
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?...
Penalty kick mind games: Reading and using body language in sports
I talk with sports psychology and behavior researcher Philip Furley about how athletes' body language communicates far more than we realize — and how...
Madness explained: How trauma and stress can break the mind
I talk to psychologist Richard Bentall about psychosis, schizophrenia, and the psychological roots of mental illness. Bentall is the author of the wel...
Our memory and sense of self are full of illusions | with Anne Wilson
Psychologist Anne Wilson studies how we construct our identities over time—how we remember the past, imagine the future, and tell ourselves stories th...
Are you a narcissist? The psychology and spectrum of narcissism
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 con...
The "deep whys" behind autistic behaviors | with Barry Prizant
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....
The psychology of how we react when our sense of meaning is threatened
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 M...
How blockchain tech could revolutionize journalism and reduce polarization
Can blockchain tech reinvent journalism—and reduce toxic political polarization in the process? Zach Elwood talks with Don Templeman, founder of Aemul...
Can eye direction reveal a lie? Or is that psychology bullshit? | with Tim Levine
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...
Why some see liberals as the undemocratic ones: A talk about democracy and polarization with Elizabeth Doll
Many Americans think Trump is harming democracy; they see him as acting undemocratically in various ways. At the same time, Republicans and Trump supp...
On hypnosis and mind control: separating psychology fact from fiction | with Martin S. Taylor
A talk about hypnosis and mind control with Martin S. Taylor, a well known British hypnotist (hypnotism.co.uk). Martin is known for his stage hypnosis...
What happened to Keith Olbermann? A look at his descent.
In March of 2024, the newsman and sports commentator Keith Olbermann tweeted that the “Supreme Court had betrayed democracy” and called for it to be “...