Nicholas Epley: Talking to strangers

Alan and executive producer Graham Chedd introduce season 35 of Clear and Vivid. Topics include how music inspires daydreams, the mind games of championship tennis, a year living with robots, the challenges of an expert witness and the sheer joy of joy. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There is more to successful communication than picking the right words. We need to understand that our understanding of others is shaped by factors we are mostly unaware of, ranging from our upbringing to how well we slept. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Opposition to vaccines goes back to their invention. And while doubts about vaccine safely may have been justified 300 years ago, those same doubts have lingered among those opposing vaccines today – vaccines that are overwhelmingly safe and have saved millions of lives. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

An encounter on his commuter train led to 20 years of research that changed his life for the better. You too can be friendlier, kinder, more open, more curious – and the first step could be a smile and a hello to the stranger sitting next to you. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A neuroscientist who also writes novels –  including one that became an award-winning movie – Lisa Genova lets us experience the stories lived by people with brain diseases ranging from Alzheimer's to bipolar disorder. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Vivid stories of scientists whose claims were ignored or ridiculed, from Galileo to Kati Karikó – the woman whose work was critical in developing the mRNA Covid vaccine that saved millions of lives. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mutations sound scary. But the DNA that shaped us is has been mutating since we were born. Some mutations are bad for our health while others are helping us stay alive, sprucing up our livers and fighting off germs. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today an MS NOW host, in 2004 he was writer/producer on the popular NBC series The West Wing tasked with introducing a new character – a Republican Senator running for president. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the eve of our nation's 250th, Walter Isaacson takes a deep dive into the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence. It's what he calls "the greatest sentence ever written." Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A decade on from being diagnosed with a deadly cancer – and eight years since her first visit with Clear and Vivid  – she tells of the many ways she has been taken by surprise by joy, as recounted in her new book – Joyful, Anyway Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.