Behavioral Grooves Podcast

Deborah Small, PhD: Processing Probabilistic Events and Making Donations

29 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Deborah Small, PhD is a professor of marketing in the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research crosses the intersections of psyc...

Covid-19 Crisis: Rodd Wagner on The Zen of Staying Safe

28 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Rodd Wagner is a Forbes columnist and bestselling author of books on leadership, employee engagement and collaboration. Rodd’s books have been publi...

Covid-19 Crisis: Annie Duke on Hedging and the Last Disaster Syndrome

27 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Annie Duke is an author, corporate speaker, and consultant in the decision-making space. Her most recent book, Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisi...

Covid-19 Crisis: Ali Fenwick, PhD on Leveraging the Crisis for Good

25 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ali Fenwick, PhD is a Professor of Organizational Behavior at Hult International Business School in London and Dubai. He specializes in applying behav...

Covid-19 Crisis: James Brewer on Changing His Mind

24 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

James Brewer is the Director of Marketing Platforms and Global Customer Operations for Eli Lilly and Company.  Over the years, Kurt and Tim have work...

Covid-19 Crisis: Don’t Outsource Your Critical Thinking with Christian Hunt

23 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Christian Hunt is the founder of Human Risk, a Behavioral Science consulting and training firm specializing in risk, compliance, conduct & culture. Pr...

Covid-19 Crisis: Barry Ritholtz on Keeping Perspective

22 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Barry Ritholtz is the CIO of Ritholtz Wealth Management and the host of the Bloomberg podcast Masters in Business, where he talks almost as much about...

Covid-19 Crisis: Emotional Impact of WFH with Liz Fosslien

21 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Liz Fosslien was our guest on Episode 56 and we asked her back to kick off our series on the behavioral aspects of how life is changing with quarantin...

Managing Coronavirus - An Introduction to Weekly Grooves

17 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This is an episode originally produced for Weekly Grooves. We hope you enjoy! Coronavirus and the disease it’s created – Covid-19 – is alive and...

Chiara Varazzani: Behavioral Science Needs More Neuroscience

15 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Chiara Varazzani, PhD is the Principal Advisor at the Behavioral Insights Unit in the Victorian Government's Department of Premier and Cabinet in Aust...

John Fuisz: Tracking Emotional Vectors

08 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

John Fuisz is co-founder of Veriphix and a marketer who believes in building great brands. He does so with a sophisticated system that, on the surface...

Andrew Wagner: The Economics Inside Online Games

01 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Author and economist Andrew Wagner’s new book, The Economics of Online Gaming, shares how economic decisions get made by players of online games. We...

Ethical Application of Behavioral Science in the Workplace

23 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this special edition, bestselling author and Forbes contributor, Rodd Wagner, organized a question-and-answer session with Kurt and Tim in front ...

Adam Hansen: Beyond Innovation

16 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

As a new product and innovation professional, Adam Hansen has always believed in the power of possibility – accepting new approaches, questioning co...

Caroline Webb: Still Having a Great Day

09 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

For this episode, we’re republishing a terrific conversation we had with economist and author, Caroline Webb, PhD (in episode 33). We loved her boo...

Grooving: The Behavioral Diagnosis

02 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this grooving session, Kurt and Tim share how to conduct a behavioral diagnosis. A behavioral diagnosis is a tool we use to uncover the underlying ...

Announcing Weekly Grooves

30 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Kurt and Tim are producing a new podcast called Weekly Grooves, launching January 31, 2020. Weekly Grooves is the weekly podcast that offers insights ...

Steve Martin and Joe Marks: The Messenger is the Message

26 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Stephen Martin and Joe Marks, PhD dive deep into one of the most important eye-openers about communication in our world today: the importance of WHO d...

Melina Palmer: Using Behavioral Economics to Help Businesses

19 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Melina Palmer is the host of The Brainy Business podcast and she has dedicated her career to seeking answers to these questions for herself and her cl...

Grooving on Our Favorite Podcast Episodes of 2019

12 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Too often, in our estimation, people make recommendations to us with the intent to improve our life but the effect on us is the opposite of that. Rath...

Rory Sutherland: The Opposite of a Good Idea is a Good Idea

07 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Rory Sutherland is a British advertising executive who became fascinated with behavioral science. Between his TED talks, books and articles, he has be...

Jana Gallus: The Role of Precision in Incentives

29 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jana Gallus, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Strategy and Behavioral Decision Making at UCLA’s Anderson School of Business and our discussion disse...

Reuben Kline: When Too Many Choices Might Be Just Right

23 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The research that Reuben Kline, PhD is working on is focused on climate change mitigation. As an associate professor of political science and the dire...

Eugen Dimant: What to Do About Bad Apples

15 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Eugen Dimant, PhD is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Master of Behavioral and Decision Sciences Department and a Senior Research Fellow at the Identi...

Grooving: Kiki and Bouba Minds

11 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Imagine that the two drawings below are called Kiki and Bouba in some alien language.  If you had to guess which one was Kiki and which one was Bouba...

Cristina Bicchieri: Social Norms are Bundles of Expectations

08 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Cristina Bicchieri, PhD is the S. J. Patterson Harvie Professor of Social Thought and Comparative Ethics, a Professor of Philosophy and Psychology at ...

Grooving: 2019 Reading List

05 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Kurt and Tim like to read about behavioral science and a variety of related fields. To help those interested in the subject, but unsure how to pick go...

The 100th Episode Celebration in Philadelphia

01 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This is Behavioral Grooves’ 100th episode! Who would have thought when we started out two years ago without a clue about HOW to produce and publish ...

Katy Milkman: Behavior Change for Good

24 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Katy Milkman is no ordinary behavioral scientist. She’s a Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions at Wharton and has a secondary faculty ...

Chris Nave: Educating BeSci Practitioners at UPenn

17 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Nave, PhD is the Associate Director of the Master of Behavioral and Decision Sciences Program at the University of Pennsylvania. We caught up wi...

Chris Brown: Avalanches and System 1 Thinking

10 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Brown is in human risk management and practice is set in backcountry snow. He grew up outside of Philadelphia and after graduating with a degree...

Zarak Khan and Erik Johnson: Action Design Network and Beyond

02 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes things just go better in twos and that was the case regarding our guests for this episode. Zarak Kahn is the Behavioral Innovation Director ...

Victoria Shaffer: End of Life Decision Tools

27 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria Shaffer is a researcher and professor at the University of Missouri. Victoria focuses on applying decision psychology and behavioral economic...

Grooving: UPenn Norms and Behavioral Change Workshop

20 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Kurt and Tim were invited to attend the Norms and Behavioral Change (NoBeC) workshop at the University of Pennsylvania on October 17 and 18, 2019, and...

Paul Hebert: 7 Deadly Incentive Sins

13 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Hebert knows incentives. He is the Vice President of Individual Performance Strategy at Creative Group, Inc. and a writer, speaker and consultant...

Grooving: On Goals

09 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Goals are often misunderstood. Goals are much more than just objectives that are handed down to subordinates. Rather, goals are self-determined in the...

Brad Shuck: Being Ignored is Worse Than Having a Stapler Thrown at You

06 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Brad Shuck, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, Evaluation, and Organizational Development at the University of...

Jim Guszcza: Data Science AND Behavioral Science, New Wine in a New Bottle

29 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jim Guszcza is the chief data scientist at Deloitte Analytics. His title paints a picture that he’s a total numbers geek. And that would be a fair, ...

Gina Merchant: Combating Misinformation

22 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Gina Merchant, PhD is a behavioral scientist who wound her way through academia and into the corporate world for the purpose of improving the health o...

Annie Duke: Revisiting the Matrix

15 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We are re-sharing our original September 2018 discussion with Annie Duke to announce the Behavioral Grooves 100th Episode on the evening of October 17...

Announcements: Minneapolis and Philadelphia Events

09 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Groovers, a couple of announcements for you: 1. Kurt and I are hosting a meetup immediately after Customer Focus North in Minneapolis on September 19...

Christian Hunt: Mitigating Human Risk and The Algorithmic Mind

08 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Christian Hunt is the founder of Human Risk, a Behavioral Science Consulting and Training firm specializing in the fields of Risk, Compliance, Conduct...

Brian Ahearn: Influencing People Ethically

02 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Brian Ahearn is Behavioral Grooves’ first repeat guest. (He was first featured in Episode 39: The Heart of Reciprocity.) We recently reconnected wit...

Alex Blau: The Implementation-Intention Framework

25 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Alex Blau is a vice president at ideas42 with projects in consumer finance, design and decision-making, and international development. In our discuss...

Steven Sisler: Seeing People as We Are

18 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Steven Sisler may not be a household name, but he should be. Steve is a Master Level Behavioral Profiler and the lead Behavioral Analyst at The Behavi...

Chris Matyszczyk: Listening to Music While You Work

12 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest in this episode is a prolific writer and observer of the human condition, Chris Matyszczyk (pronounced ma-TIS-chick). We talked with Chris a...

Scott Jeffrey: On Justifiability

05 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Because we're taking a little break, we are republishing one of our favorite episodes: a conversation with Scott Jeffrey, PhD from Monmouth University...

Grooving: On Behavioral Songs

28 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Kurt and Tim groove on where behavioral science shows up in popular music. Social norms, loss aversion…all at its best. The human condition is redol...

Grooving: On Cognitive Dissonance

21 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We met up with Kathleen Vohs, PhD at our Behavioral Grooves Meetup in Minneapolis on the evening that her op-ed article appeared in the Washington Pos...

Matt Loper: Helping Patients Adhere to Medication Plans

14 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we spoke with Matt Loper, CEO and Co-Founder of Wellth, an app that helps people with chronic conditions improve their health through...

Grooving: On Liking

07 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Kurt and Tim explore Robert Cialdini’s Fifth Principles of Influence: Liking. In it, we groove on the very powerful tool for influe...

Nurit Nobel: De-Biasing the Recruiting Process

30 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we spoke with Nurit Nobel, who is living in Stockholm, Sweden where she’s working on her PhD. Nurit is a co-founder of Impactually,...

Thomas Steenburgh: On Selling New Products

23 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We are excited to re-share our favorite episodes from time to time and this discussion with Tom was terrifically informative about the sales managers ...

Jonathan Mann: Integrating Behavioral Science into User Experience

16 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The role of the User Experience (UX) designer is growing in corporations around the world. UX Designers have a great deal of influence over how a cust...

Grooving: On Scarcity

09 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is a discussion on the principle of scarcity. Kurt and Tim illuminate the power of this very fundamental effect in behavioral science wit...

Terry Esau: Carbon Fiber Therapist

02 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Terry Esau is the founder of Free Bikes 4 Kids, a non-profit based in Minneapolis that collects and distributes tens of thousands of bikes to needy ch...

Roger Dooley: Friction and Engagement

26 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Roger Dooley is the author of Friction, his newest book that summarizes great examples of companies do good things to reduce friction for customers an...

Alex Imas: Clawback Incentives and Tom Waits

20 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Alex Imas is an assistant professor of economics in the Social & Decision Sciences department at Carnegie Mellon’s Dietrich College. His research do...

Grooving: The Uber Science Symposium

15 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On May 3, 2019, Kurt and Tim attended an invitation-only Science Symposium featuring a track on behavioral science at the San Francisco headquarters o...

Russell Golman: On Information Avoidance

12 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Russell Golman is an Assistant Professor of Behavioral Economics and Decision Sciences in the Social & Decision Sciences Department at CMU.  His pion...

The Value of Understanding Microexpressions for Leaders

05 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Todd Fonseca is an executive in clinical research and communication for Medtronic and holds an interesting array of certifications including Certified...

Julie Downs: From Sexual Health to the Sahel

28 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Julie Downs, PhD is an associate professor of psychology in the Social and Decision Sciences department at Carnegie Mellon’s Dietrich College and fi...

George Loewenstein: On a Functional Theory of Boredom

21 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

George Loewenstein, PhD is the Herbert A. Simon Professor of Economics and Psychology in the Social and Decision Sciences Department in the Dietrich C...

Silvia Saccardo: Ethics of Decisions and Italian Rap

17 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Silvia Saccardo, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Management in the Social and Decision Sciences department in the Dietrich College of Humanities & S...

Grooving: Listeners, can you help us?

16 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

At this writing, we’ve recorded and published 64 episodes of Behavioral Grooves and we’d like to make sure we’re on the right course for our lis...

Danny Oppenheimer: Governance and Helicopter Parenting

14 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel Oppenheimer, PhD, known to all as “Danny,” is a professor of psychology in the Social and Decision Sciences department in the Dietrich Coll...

Jeff Galak: High Heels and Hedonic Decline

10 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jeff Galak, PhD is a professor at the Social and Decision Sciences department in the Dietrich College of Humanities & Social Sciences at Carnegie Mell...

Linda Babcock: Helping Women Build Better Careers at Carnegie Mellon

07 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This is the first in a series featuring researchers from Carnegie Mellon University’s Social and Decision Sciences (SDS) department in the Dietrich ...

Amit Sood: The Ultimate Happiness Doctor

31 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Looking for a simple 5-step plan to be happier? Our guest has one. Amit Sood, PhD is an author and physician at the world-renowned Mayo Clinic, in Roc...

Francesca Gino: Curiosity and Rebellion Makes Your Career

24 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Imagine a company where 100% of the employees are rebels – would it be chaotic or wonderful? Our guest from the Harvard Business School, Francesca G...

Jeanie Whinghter and Afra Ahmad: Balance vs. Harmony

17 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with two guests: Jeanie Whinghter, PhD and Afra Ahmad, PhD. Jeanie is the Chair of Industrial and Org...

Michael Kaplan: Seeking Naysayers

10 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Kaplan is a private equity and angel investor who was part owner and president of the wildly successful carpet cleaning franchise called Zeror...

Grooving on Reciprocity

06 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This is the second episode in a series on the 6 Principles of Persuasion as identified by Robert Cialdini, PhD, in his 1984 book, Influence. (The firs...

Liz Fosslien: The Smile File

04 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Liz Fosslien is the co-author and illustrator of No Hard Feelings: The secret power of embracing emotions at work.  The book is a wickedly funny guid...

Luke Battye: The Peak-End Effect and Fast Food

25 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Luke Battye is a product/service consultant with a background in Experimental Psychology and innovation. Luke founded a behavioral design consultancy,...

Saurabh Bhargava: A More Serene Path to Financial Wellbeing

18 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Saurabh Bhargava, PhD is a professor and researcher at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and he joined us in the Behavioral Grooves studio dur...

John Sweeney: Everything Is a Story

11 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

John Sweeney is the author of Innovation at the Speed of Laughter: 8 Secrets to World Class Idea Generation, corporate keynote speaker, improvisationa...

Rodd Wagner: This Episode Could Save Your Life

04 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The safety insights from our guest could save your life!  Rodd Wagner is The New York Times bestselling author of the book "Widgets: The 12 New Rule...

Thomas Steenburgh: How to Sell New Products

28 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Thomas Steenburgh, PhD is a senior professor of Business Administration and Senior Associate Dean at the Darden School of Business at the University o...

Robert Cialdini, PhD: Littering, Egoism and Aretha Franklin

21 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Robert Cialdini, PhD is counted among the greatest psychological researchers alive today and his published works have been cited thousands of times. H...

Grooving: Political Stalemates - Insights on Consistency

18 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is first in a series called Exploring the Principles of Influence, named for Robert Cialdini, PhD’s principles in his 1984 book, Influe...

Ori Brafman: On Starfish, Burning Man and Efficient Markets

14 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we had a discussion with Ori Brafman about decentralization and how our brains respond to cash and cocaine. Ori is a multiple New Yo...

Barry Ritholtz: How to Reduce Evolutionary Panic

06 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this special edition, we sat down with Barry Ritholtz, a Wall Street investment maven, host of the podcast Masters In Business, a regular contribut...

Grooving on Too Much Stuff

31 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

After the gift-giving holidays – Hanukkah and Christmas – homes and apartments are bursting at the seams with more stuff.  Knick-knacks, noveltie...

Grooving: Top 10 Podcasts of 2018

28 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

During 2018, Behavioral Grooves published 44 episodes and expanded our viewers into more than 90 countries. To celebrate our successful first year, Ku...

Sam Tatam: Smelling the Brand

24 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Sam Tatam is the behavioral strategy director at Ogilvy in London. Sam helps his clients develop new ways to manage behavioral issues they have with t...

Will Leach: Marketing to Mindstates

17 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Will Leach is a marketer, econometrician and author whose recent book, Marketing to Mindstates, captured our attention before it was even published. H...

Grooving on: New Year's Resolutions

10 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Every year, millions of people make resolutions at the start of the new year and researchers indicate that 91% of those resolutions are sunk by the en...

Michael Hallsworth: From MINDSPACE to EAST

03 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we spoke with Dr. Michael Hallsworth PhD, the Managing Director of the North American Behavioral Insights Team. We met up with him at...

Re-Grooving on Annie Duke

28 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This is a special Re-Grooving session for your speedy listening enjoyment. In this re-grooving episode, we are re-sharing the Grooving Session (only t...

Brian Ahearn: The Heart of Reciprocity

26 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Brian Ahearn is the Chief Influence Officer at Influence People, LLC, and one of only 20 Cialdini Method Certified Trainers in the world. Brian’s ex...

Linnea Gandhi: Crushing on Statistics

19 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

University of Chicago MBA professor Linnea Gandhi talked with Kurt and Tim recently about her consulting work, her passion for statistics, grading pap...

Grooving on Civil Discourse at the Thanksgiving Table

16 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Political discussions in many places around the world have become more contentious than at any time in our recent history. It seems almost impossible ...

David Yokum: Science is Hard

12 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

David Yokum may not be a household name but that shouldn’t stop you from listening. If you’ve ever wondered about police officer body cameras and ...

Grooving on Waiting: Why we don't like to be idle

07 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

While Kurt and Tim were waiting for a podcast interviewee to log in recently, we decided to discuss the behavioral and psychological aspects of waiti...

Koen Smets: The Altered Chord

05 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Koen Smets is not a household name, but it ought to be. Pronounced KEWN, our guest in this episode is Belgian by birth and has lived in the UK for mor...

Caroline Webb: Having a Good Day

30 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Caroline Webb is an overachiever. Oxford, Cambridge, Levy Economics Institute, McKinsey & Associates, Carnegie Hall performer, Davos World Economic Fo...

Grooving on Books: Our Top 10 Recommended books on Behavioral Science

14 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this grooving session, Kurt and Tim discuss books that they believe every behavioral science nerd should (yes: should) read. Kurt was limited to 5...

Leaving the Matrix: Annie Duke and Insights into how you can improve your thinking!

30 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

 Annie Duke’s latest book, Thinking in Bets, Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts, is a masterful mash-up of her life as a ...

Education: The Path to a More Prosperous Life with Sarita Parikh

26 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Sarita Parikh is the Senior Director of Consumer Experience and Strategy at GED Testing Service, a business that helps adults use education as a path ...