How Our Brains Learn
Hidden Brain
Aug 18
How Our Brains Learn
How Our Brains Learn

Hidden Brain
Aug 18
Shownote
Shownote
Have you ever fallen asleep in school or during a work meeting? Maybe you felt your eyes glaze over as your boss or a teacher droned on and on about a topic that had no relevance to you. What's missing from these classrooms and conference rooms is engageme...
Highlights
Highlights
Many of us have experienced the dull haze of disengagement in classrooms or meetings, where learning feels irrelevant and motivation fades. But what if the key to transforming education and work lies not in rote instruction, but in deep emotional engagement? In this episode, psychologist and neuroscientist Mary Helen Immordino-Yang explores how passion, meaning, and transcendent thinking can reignite curiosity and reshape the way we learn.
Chapters
Chapters
Why do students and workers often feel disconnected from what they're learning?
00:00How did passion and autonomy shape one educator's early learning journey?
06:39What happens in the brain when teens engage deeply with emotional stories?
13:16Can thinking beyond the surface help teens build resilience and stronger brains?
23:36How does exposure to violence affect brain development—and how can thinking help?
27:36What role does emotion play in how teachers connect with and inspire students?
35:27Is it possible to transform education by focusing on big, meaningful ideas?
42:09What do truly engaging classrooms look like—and how do they differ from the norm?
49:12How should we redesign curricula to inspire curiosity and real-world thinking?
58:47Why does meaning matter more than ever in how we teach and how we learn?
1:01:53What would it look like to build education around students, not just subjects?
1:09:01Transcript
Transcript
Shankar Vedantam: This is Hidden Brain. I'm Shankar Vedantam. There's a scene in the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off that has become iconic. It's a spot-on portrayal of what it feels like to be disengaged and disaffected. In the film, actor Ben Stein p...