Is insomnia really a problem of modern life... or is the struggle for sleep older than you think? It's a common lament: this new world of smartphones and constant connectivity makes it nearly impossible to get enough sleep. But Shakespeare's characters were up all night, sleepwalking, and freaking out about their daily lives. Just how have our sleeping patterns really changed since the invention of the electric light? Dessa dives deep into the science of sleep to find out what we need, what...

Why are we so judgemental about how others beautify themselves? Do you wear eyeliner? Dye your hair? Ever gone under a laser, needle, or knife? When it comes to beautification, how far do you think is too far? And why are there such strong moral overtones to our conversations about where to draw the line? From Instagram Face to pretty privilege, the male gaze to “anti-feminism”, cultural appropriation to the capitalist machine - a tour of the cosmetic cuts surprisingly deep. See...

Why do we hate one another - and how can we stop? How and when does conflict metastasize into hatred? Dessa picks apart the science of hostility, with help from a criminologist who identifies the tipping point between prejudice and hate, and an Israeli psychologist who's studied one of the longest conflicts in the world today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why do you have all that stuff? What drives us to get and keep so much stuff - even objects that we rarely, if ever, use? Psychologists working on cortisol levels found that living in a messy or cluttered home may correlate to higher rates of depression and that conspicuous consumption may be affecting our well-being. When does your stuff start to own you? Dessa talks with experts about how animal hoarding behaviors compare with our own, and speaks to a money-saving guru who might make you...

Why do we form social hierarchies? From corporate ladders to military chains of command, formal caste systems to playground pecking orders, humans are particularly sensitive to social status. And we display our rank in all sorts of ways, even without realizing it - through our posture, vocal pitch, and patterns of eye contact. Join Dessa to learn how social hierarchies are formed, how they might be dismantled, and the many ways in which they color our daily exchanges. See...

Why do you love the way you do? We're expected to love only one romantic partner at a time. But we can love more than one parent, sibling, and friend - so why do so many cultures demand monogamy in romance? Is it time to reconsider the old model? Dessa speaks with a philosopher, an economist, and sexpert Dan Savage to talk about love, sex, and commitment. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why do we use intoxicants?

Why do we use intoxicants? Whether it’s booze, weed, opiates, or even caffeine, the drive to catch a buzz seems almost universal for members of our species. For big parts of the world, drinking alcohol plays a huge role in our social lives, in religious rituals, and in some eras it was even a prerequisite for civic engagement. Find out how the phrase “take him down a peg or two” was derived from a drinking game, which animals consume alcohol, and hear from the professor inventing an alcohol...

Why do crowds move us?

Why do we care so much about what people wear?

Why aren’t you naked?

Why do our bodies react to rhythm?

Heyo, why do you talk like that? Do French babies cry in French? Our accents may start to take shape well before we learn our first words. Dessa investigates why we speak the way we do - how our accents and dialects serve us; hamper us; and might even, in rare cases, lead to life-or-death consequences. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Monogamy, sleep deprivation, high fashion, and avant-garde Japanese dance—that’s right Deeply Human is coming back with a bang. In season 2, Dessa, speaks to psychologists, animal behaviorists, mathematicians, historians, and one legendary DJ to ask the evergreen question: why do you do what you do? Why does music animate our bodies? Why are we so keen to form social hierarchies? Why do humans use intoxicants? We’re talking about everyone’s favorite topic—you. Learn more about your...

It’s time to talk. It is never too late for a rigorous conversation about death activism, the guillotine and the ferocity of human love — unless, of course, you are dead already. It is time to meet the death doulas who can help you through this, and learn why a “good death” might not be a good thing, and why it might be time to sit down with a pen and a pad and do a little thinking about your own exit. Deeply Human is a BBC World Service and American Public Media coproduction with...

What if everything you experienced felt like you had already lived it before? Meet the people for whom déjà vu is every day.  It’s that moment when you mix up past and present, the real and the imagined, and you can no longer trust your senses. How is it that the world is the same but the experience is completely weird? It’s like tasting your own tongue. What is going on in the mechanics of your mind? Welcome to Déjà Ville, a virtual world designed to induce déjà vu in order to understand...

The experiences of being a teenager are deep and lasting — first break-ups, fierce arguments with parents, that time a friend tried to skateboard off the roof. Why is that time of life experienced so intensely and remembered so vividly? Dessa finds that many answers lie in neuroanatomy and the way our brain wires itself as we grow. She meets teens and a brain scientist to find out why the rollercoaster highs and lows of teenage life might be good for us in ways adults just don’t get. Deeply...

Listening to sad songs is a weird, counterintuitive thing to do. Why listen to something that moves you to tears? As someone who’s sensitivity to sad songs sometimes means pulling over until the tears clear, Dessa mulls major versus minor, explores what melody has in common with the sound of human crying, and quizzes a fellow songwriter about the power of screaming. Do sad songs reveal some secrets about empathy? Deeply Human is a BBC World Service and American Public Media coproduction...

If you think you’re too young to learn about menopause, you’re wrong. Prepare to be both surprised and entertained — and maybe even become a kinder son or daughter.   Our understanding of menopause has changed dramatically, and it’s our distant relatives the whales that may help explain what it’s for. And Dessa has a heart-to-heart with her dad about her grandmother, exploring the parts of our lives we should share more, generation to generation.  Deeply Human is a BBC World Service and...

Why, when we’re alone, do we sometimes feel like we’re not? Why are we eager to find signs of life in our surroundings — to see faces in clouds, or to get creeped out when the house creaks at night?  Dessa investigates some of the most mystical, disorienting and disturbing experiences a person can have. She discovers that neuroscience, the study of our brains, might just help explain this big, important chunk of being human. Deeply Human is a BBC World Service and American Public Media...

Our ideas of what’s beautiful are tied to symmetry. Symmetry attracts. Why? What’s so compelling about faces that are the same on both sides of that nose in the middle?  To study symmetry we dive into the world of asymmetry – where things are different. Dessa talks with a professor who studies right- and left-handedness, a graphic designer who explains the appeal of a bit of asymmetry and a woman who grew up with a distinctly asymmetrical face – and ended up in a very surprising profession...

Budging. Cutting in line. Skipping. Butting. Doesn’t it make your blood boil? The standing line evokes strong feelings about justice — breaking what we see as the rules for waiting in line can arouse anger and even violence that feel totally out of proportion to the length of our wait. Why are we such raging moralists when it comes to waiting our turn? Dessa finds out what standing in line can reveal about social status and hidden power dynamics — and that the serpentine line in her local...

Most female mammals schedule their sex life into just the couple of days in their cycle when they’re fertile. So why do humans do it whenever the mood strikes? (Well, in theory, at least.) To find out, Dessa explores stinky t-shirt tests and all sorts of things we’d better not mention here. Parental discretion is strongly advised.  Deeply Human is a BBC World Service and American Public Media coproduction with iHeartMedia.

High-stakes lies have all sorts of consequences: perjurers are imprisoned and slanderers are sued. But when your coworker asks your opinion on his new haircut, a little lie feels obligatory. You lie much more than you’re probably aware of — but is that a bad thing?  Dessa finds out why lying can be a dangerous habit. She discovers whether polygraph machines really work, and why a professor of psychology rejoiced when a hidden camera caught his three-year-old son fibbing.  Deeply Human is a...