Shankar Vedantam, MA ’93, is the host and executive editor of the Hidden Brain podcast and radio show. Hidden Brain receives millions of downloads per month and is heard on more than 400 public radio stations across the United States. Shankar has explored the science of human behavior for more than three decades. He was NPR’s social science correspondent between 2011 and 2020, and he spent 10 years as a reporter at The Washington Post. From 2007 to 2009, he was the Post's Department of Human Behavior columnist. 

 Shankar and Hidden Brain have been recognized with the Edward R. Murrow Award as well as honors from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the International Society of Political Psychology, the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Webby Awards, the American Public Health Association, and the Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellowship. In 2009-2010, Shankar served as a fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

On this trip, Shankar will explore behavioral insights from Hidden Brain, as well as ideas related to evolution and natural selection. His lectures will examine key psychological tenets of a successful life—topics he discusses as part of his engaging Perceptions Tour—and show how evolutionary forces continue to shape modern human psychology, decision-making, and social dynamics. Collectively, these lectures will offer provocative perspectives on why we think and act the way we do—and how we can bring about changes in our lives.

• Host and creator, Hidden Brain podcast and radio show

• NPR social science correspondent, 2011–2020

• Reporter, The Washington Post, 2001–2011

• Columnist, Department of Human Behavior, The Washington Post, 2007–2009

• Nieman Fellow, Nieman Foundation for Journalism, Harvard University, 2009–2010

• Author, The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars and Save Our Lives (2010)

• Co-author, Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain (with Bill Mesler, 2021)

• Stanford Alumni Association Board of Directors, 2021–2026

• MA '93, journalism, Stanford University

• BE, electronics engineering, Bangalore University, India