Invisibilia

NPR

Unseeable forces control human behavior and shape our ideas, beliefs, and assumptions. Invisibilia—Latin for invisible things—fuses narrative storytelling with science that will make you see your own life differently.

#6 in the Top 100 social sciences All time chart

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39 Listeners

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Top 10 Invisibilia Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Invisibilia episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Invisibilia for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Invisibilia episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Power Tools

Invisibilia

10/07/22 • 34 min

Bad bosses. Obnoxious coworkers. Unfair compensation. There are so many reasons people feel disempowered in the workplace. But how can our feelings about power enable or disrupt the larger dynamics we hate at work? This week, Yowei Shaw seeks answers from a power researcher and a union organizer.
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8 Listeners

1 Comment

The Nostalgia Bone from Throughline

Invisibilia

12/09/21 • 56 min

This week at Invisibilia, we're bringing you an episode from NPR's Throughline about an emotion you might be feeling a lot these days: nostalgia. Longing for 'simpler times' and 'better days', many of us have been turning to 90s dance playlists, TV sitcoms, and sports highlights. We're looking for comfort and safety in the permanence of the past, or at least, what we think the past was. But, when it first appeared, nostalgia itself wasn't considered a feeling; it was a deadly disease. This episode traces the history of nostalgia from its origins as an illness to the dominating emotion of our time.

7 Listeners

An Unlikely Superpower

Invisibilia

03/27/20 • 50 min

What if you had a superpower that allowed you to see part of the world that was to come? At the age of 60, a Scottish woman named Joy Milne discovers she has a biological gift that allows her to see things that will happen in the future that no one else can see. A look at how we think about the future, and the important ways the future shapes the present. | To learn more about this episode, subscribe to our newsletter. Click here to learn more about NPR sponsors.
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7 Listeners

1 Comment

Therapy, with Friends

Invisibilia

11/04/21 • 39 min

Would you ever consider going to therapy with a friend?Two best friends who call themselves brothers were drifting apart, so they asked psychotherapist Esther Perel to help — and we listened in. This episode was recorded in collaboration with Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel and a companion episode can be heard on her podcast.
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6 Listeners

1 Comment

Poop Friends

Invisibilia

10/28/21 • 44 min

Sh*t happens. So why is it so hard to talk about? This week, the ways that poop divides and binds us in our friendships.
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5 Listeners

1 Comment

Eat The Rich

Invisibilia

04/22/21 • 51 min

Invisibilia explores a social experiment with money, focused around a contentious topic: reparations. What happens when you demand white people give up their wealth?
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5 Listeners

1 Comment

How To Make Friends from Life Kit

Invisibilia

11/18/21 • 24 min

It's the end of the friendship season! We'll be back next year with more Invisibilia. In the meantime, if you're hungry for more friendship content, our friends over at Life Kit have done several episodes about it - from how to be a better listener, to what to do when a friendship changes. In this episode: practical tips on how to make new friends.

4 Listeners

1 Comment

International Friend of Mystery

Invisibilia

09/30/21 • 35 min

You know the old saying--keep your friends close and your enemies closer. But what if you can't tell the difference? In this episode, the story of two friends who got caught up in a Top Secret operation that tested their assumptions about trust, betrayal, loyalty, and power.
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3 Listeners

1 Comment

Therapy Ghostbusters

Invisibilia

09/23/22 • 47 min

In San Jose, California, a community clinic was stumped as to why their clients were seeing ghosts. This week, a story about grappling with ghosts of our past and one clinic's attempt to heal intergenerational trauma.
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3 Listeners

Uncomfortable with power? Tell us about it!

Invisibilia

03/03/22 • 0 min

Invisibilia is seeking stories about discomfort with power. Stories about leaders denying their power, organizations with supposedly flat power structures and invisible hierarchies, or personal relationships with difficult power dynamics. If you have a story about power – at a workplace, in a band, on a high school basketball team, etc... – send a short summary with the subject line – POWER – to [email protected]. The deadline is March 11th.

2 Listeners

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