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PODCAST

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology Podcast

This is a podcast about deciphering human behavior and understanding why people do the things they do. I, Zach Elwood, talk with people from a wide range of fields about how they make sense of human behavior and psychology. I"ve talked to jury consultants, interrogation professionals, behavior researchers, sports analysts, professional poker players, to name a few. There are more than 135 episodes, many of them quite good (although some say I"m biased). To learn more, go to

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All Episodes

37:57

My life-changing experience with meditation

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/08/19

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, and to my surprise it turned out to be a deeply meaningful and lasting experience. In this episode, I talk about what led me to try it, what those days of fasting, solitude, and meditation were actually like, and the unexpected effects I noticed afterward in my everyday life. I also share some of the doubts and anxieties I carried into the

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68:13

Are you a psychopath? Debunking myths and looking for...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/08/09

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? How often are we embracing simplistic ideas of what the terms psychopath and sociopath mean? Are those online “Are you a psychopath?” quizzes harmless fun, or could they actually shape how we see ourselves? And what about all the CEOs, politicians, and anti-heroes people quickly label as psychopaths—are there really so many psychopaths around us, or

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64:15

Penalty kick mind games: Reading and using body...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/08/02

I talk with sports psychology and behavior researcher Philip Furley about how athletes' body language communicates far more than we realize — and how it can affect teammates, opponents, judges, and even the outcome of the game itself. Other topics discussed: celebratory behaviors and how that can influence perceptions of people, including judges; behaviors and strategies of penalty kickers and goalkeepers in soccer; some specific behaviors from recent World Cup games; challenges in finding general

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60:54

The psychology of insanity: How trauma and stress can...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/07/26

I talk to psychologist Richard Bentall about psychosis, schizophrenia, and the psychological roots of mental illness. Bentall is the author of the well known book "Madness Explained." We explore how symptoms like hallucinations and delusions can often be traced to trauma, stress, and isolation—and how the label of “schizophrenia” may obscure more than it explains. We also discuss the fine line between delusions and widely shared beliefs, how social connections help shape our sense of reality, and

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52:53

Are your memories filled with illusions? | with Anne...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/07/19

Psychologist Anne Wilson studies how we construct our identities over time—how we remember the past, imagine the future, and tell ourselves stories that shape who we believe we are. In this episode, we explore why our memories are often less reliable than we think, and how that inaccuracy might actually be a feature, not a bug. Anne shares insights from her work on temporal self-appraisal theory, including surprising research showing how people often rewrite their pasts to make it seem like they're

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69:56

Do we all have narcissistic traits? The spectrum and...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/07/12

I talk with Craig Malkin, author of the best-selling Rethinking Narcissism: The Secret to Recognizing and Coping with Narcissists, in which he explains that narcissism is a spectrum. It's healthy and normal to have some positive and grandiose illusions about your place in the world, as long as those illusions don’t become pathologically unhealthy and toxic. Topics discussed: the spectrum of narcissism, ranging from more normal forms of narcissism to pathological, malignant, dangerous forms; common

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01:06:32

The "deep whys" behind autistic behaviors | with...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/06/27

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. We explore the idea that many so-called “autistic behaviors” are actually meaningful responses to stress, overwhelm, or attempts to communicate—and that looking for the “deep why” behind people's behavior is essential. We talk about sensory sensitivity and the complexities of the autism label. Barry shares stories from his decades of work, including

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01:01:28

Why we freak out when the world stops making sense |...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/06/18

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 Maintenance Model — a theory that explains how we react when our sense of meaning is threatened. We explore how disruptions to our mental frameworks can lead us to double down on our beliefs, seek comfort in nostalgia, or shift our focus to other sources of meaning. We discuss what this tells us about political polarization, existential crises, and even

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00:58:21

How blockchain tech could revolutionize journalism...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/06/11

Can blockchain tech reinvent journalism—and reduce toxic political polarization in the process? In this episode, Zachary Elwood talks with Don Templeman, founder of Aemula, a radically new kind of news platform. Inspired by the decentralization and transparency of cryptocurrency and other blockchain-based technologies, Aemula aims to create a trustless, bias-resistant newsroom of the future—one where algorithms are public, incentives reward nuance, and toxic polarization is nudged downward by

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00:55:14

Can eye direction reveal lies? Or is that behavior...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/05/27

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 is that if someone is looking up and to their left, they’re more likely to be accessing real visual memories (associated with truth), and if they’re looking up and to their right, they’re more likely to be constructing visual images (associated with lies). But there is no basis for this; in fact, many studies have found evidence against that claim

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01:22:54

Why some see liberals as the undemocratic ones: A...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/04/14

Many Americans think Trump is harming democracy; they see him as acting undemocratically in various ways. At the same time, Republicans and Trump supporters can view Democrats/liberals as themselves acting in highly undemocratic ways: as embracing various beliefs and actions that violate the spirit of democracy. I talk to Elizabeth Doll, who has worked in the political depolarization/bridge-building space for several years; she is currently the Director of Braver Politics for the organization Braver

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01:02:55

On hypnosis and mind control: separating fact from...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/03/31

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 act but also for educating people about hypnosis and removing the illusions and mystique surrounding it. There are some people who make astounding claims that they can control and manipulate people using hypnosis. Some even claim they can get people to do things against their will and their ethics. Some of these people claim they can do this quickly,

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01:18:55

The Polarization of Keith Olbermann: A journey...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/02/12

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 “dissolved.” This was the second time he’d called for the Supreme Court to be dissolved: he did that also in 2022. This is a review of some of Olbermann’s more unreasonable and incendiary behavior over the last twenty years, with a focus on his political rage and how that relates to America’s toxic political polarization problem. Because clearly there

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00:52:45

Mirror selfies, duck faces, and party pics: On...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/02/08

I talk to Dr. Jess Snitko, who has researched online dating and other online communication, about the signals and messages we send, intentionally and unintentionally, with dating app profiles and pictures. Jess earned her Ph.D. in Media, Technology, and Society from Purdue University in 2020. Topics discussed: Factors in pictures and profiles that cause people to swipe right or swipe left; the so-called “duck-face” expression some girls make in photos; men’s shirtless photos; men who post pictures

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00:58:26

His kneecaps were ruptured due to a healthcare...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/01/31

Cheo Rose-Washington had an accident that ruptured his knee cap tendons. Then a medical miscommunication between healthcare providers led to him rupturing those same tendons again! That experience led to him deciding to try to do something to improve medical “hand-offs” (the sharing of a patient’s information and status from one healthcare provider to another). Hand-off mistakes are due to a range of communication problems. Cheo founded the company Hand-off to try to fix this all-too-common problem

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00:53:35

Is the left-right spectrum an illusion that harms us?...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/01/24

What if I told you the left-right political spectrum was an illusion? What if I told you there is no “left” or “right”? My guest is Hyrum Lewis, co-author of The Myth of Left and Right: How the Political Spectrum Misleads and Harms America. They argue that we’ve embraced a simplistic, faulty idea of an essential “left/liberalism” and an essential “right/conservatism.” And that, similar to embracing a faulty medical idea (like the old theory of the four humors), embracing a faulty political theory

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00:23:26

Does Trader Joe's pressure its employees to talk to...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/01/19

Every time I go in Trader Joe's, the checkout person asks me a question of some sort. I used to think everyone there was just happy and friendly, but then I heard reports that it was more of a rule or strong encouragement that employees talk to customers. I read conflicting reports about this online and wanted to talk to someone who'd worked at Trader Joe's, to see if she could shed some light on this. I talk to Twiggy, who has a YouTube channel (youtube.com/@TwiggysDollHospital) and who makes

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00:53:23

The charlatan Chase Hughes promoted by popular shows...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/01/18

The fraud Chase Hughes, whose major lies and unethical behaviors I’ve examined in past episodes, continues to succeed in getting popular podcasts with large audiences to interview him. Chase recently appeared on the podcast The Diary of a CEO with host Steven Bartlett; he also appeared on Patrick Bet-David’s podcast (PBD podcast). He's also been on Dr. Phil's show, and on Leon Hendrix's podcast DRVN. I examine some clips from Chase's appearances on a couple of these podcasts, as a public service

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00:18:24

The polarization of Elon Musk: His high-contempt...

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/01/12

In June of 2024, I got an op-ed published in TheHill.com about Elon Musk's polarization -- specifically his so-called "affective polarization," which refers to how people perceive and treat their political opponents. Like many in our highly polarized, righteously angry society, Elon Musk treats the "other side" with much contempt and disdain. You can often find him insulting and demeaning people on his social media platform, as well as claiming to know with high certainty the hidden, malicious

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00:19:09

Explanations for those 3 famous UFO videos from 2017

People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology... ·

2025/01/09

Brian Dunning, creator of the podcast Skeptoid, made a documentary that brings a skeptical, analytical eye to the recent UFO craze – including those three famous UFO videos released by the Pentagon that got a whole lot of attention in a 2017 New York Times article. His documentary has the tongue-in-cheek title “The UFO Movie They Don’t Want You To See” and you can find it at www.briandunning.com/ufo. I think more people need to see Brian’s movie; it explained a lot and now I feel like I finally

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204 results

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