Make me smarter • 2013 • episode "S1E1" • Redesign my brain

59:09

Rhod Gilbert is painfully shy. He might hide it well, but he can't even go into a cafe to buy a coffee. No joke. In fact, his social anxiety has had a massive effect on his life. Rhod's going to try find out why and what can be done. Talking to fellow shy comedian Greg Davies, other shy sufferers, and scientists, Rhod comes up with a radical solution for how we can all stand up to shyness. Rhod can stand up in front of 20,000 people and make them laugh for two hours solid. But he has always found it virtually impossible to talk to people one to one. From childhood, it has been a life-limiting condition. And in this Rhod is certainly not alone. It is estimated that nearly half the population in the UK have some manifestation of shyness and social anxiety. For many it is a minor irritation, for some it is a condition that can virtually destroy a life.

2018 • Brain

48:23

A plush country house is fixed with surveillance cameras while a group of unwitting test subjects - former pupils of a UK school - are first exposed to youthful memories to test if it can improve their health. This episode looks at how we behave in groups and puts our notions of hierarchy to the test.

3/5 • Meet the Humans • 2017 • Brain

58:27

To prove that brain training can overcome fear, Todd uses all his previous brain training to face his fears and achieve the ultimate challenge - a skywalk between two buildings 21 floors high.

S2E3 • Redesign my brain • 2015 • Brain

49:32

The second episode takes us into a sci-fi world that reminds us of a 'Terminator'-like scenario, where machines are on their way to becoming ’almost human’.

S1E2 • Supersapiens Rise of the Mind • 2017 • Brain

28:28

How are our moral decisions influenced by factors we’re not aware of? A phenomenon known as Moral Licensing claims that when we do something good, we often subconsciously allow ourselves to then do something bad. In this episode, I take a look at whether those who donate money to charity become more likely to let a kid take the blame for a crime they know they committed.

S3E2 • Mind Field • 2018 • Brain

41:31

Why do we hate? Humans are capable of love and cooperation --so why do we treat each other with cruelty and violence? Evolutionary anthropologist Brian Hare searches for the origins of hate in our distant past, and in our contemporary environment.

1/6 • Why We Hate • 2019 • Brain